Association of Zoos and Aquariums

LINCOLN PARK ZOO RECEIVES SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENT HONOR

CONTACT: Jane Ballentine, (301)562-0777, x 252

CHICAGO, IL, September 18, 2005 – The American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) today honored the Lincoln Park Zoo with a Significant Achievement Award in the Exhibit category for "Regenstein African Journey" exhibit. Zoo officials accepted the award at the AZA's 81st Annual Conference meeting here this week.

Entrance to Regenstein African Journey exhibit This total renovation converts the former Large Mammal House opened in 1982 from a bare concrete box with few animals and limited interpretive depth into the $23.4 million Regenstein African Journey, a completely immersive trek to and through Africa completed in 2004.

Visitors begin their journey through a traditional Chicago-style brick and limestone entry and are immediately transported with maps, sights, sounds, temperature and humidity changes, and smells to a distant ranger station on the edge of an African reserve. Making their way through a mixed species primate/bird exhibit past a dwarf crocodile pool, a hissing cockroach tree, orb spider webs, and into an interactive learn/play termite mound, visitors find themselves under an abandoned fishing village viewing pygmy hippos swimming in a lush river setting.

Gradually leaving the wet forest, visitors encounter klipspringer, lovebirds, and rock hyrax in a mixed-species exhibit, view an outdoor savanna populated with giraffe, gazelle, ostrich, and Egyptian Geese, and enter a skylit dry forest with indoor giraffe viewing, meerkat and aardvark habitats. The large fresh-water cichlid river tank signals the end of indoor animal viewing and introduces extensive summary conservation messages.

Revamped outdoor habitats for wild dogs and warthogs along with the enlarged mixed-species savanna complement the existing rhino and elephant outdoor habitats to complete the African journey. Educational/interpretive components are entwined with the habitats featuring colorful graphics and interactives, a 17-channel background sound track, an audio tour, a private classroom, and distance-learning hookups at each major exhibit. Provisions were made for behind-the-scenes donor tours escorted by Development personnel without the need for attending animal management staff.

The Exhibit Award is presented by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association for outstanding dedication to conservation issues, construction of exhibit space and replication of species natural habitats.

Note: For more information contact Kelly McGrath at 312/742-2246.

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