New pygmy hippos exhibit planned for John Ball Zoo

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – If on the lookout to understand more about endangered species, John Ball Zoo options to roll out a new exhibit in 2023 showcasing a person of the most unique species, the pygmy hippo.

The two pygmy hippos are predicted to get there in November 2022, weigh amongst 300 to 600 kilos, according to the John Ball Zoo newsletter.

There are less than 3,000 or these rare hippos left in the wild, the zoo claimed. Transferring them into the zoo’s habitat will be a aspect of the Species Survival Breeding Prepare to preserve them.

When the zoo brings in animals they generally have to set them into quarantine for a period of time of ordinarily two weeks, mentioned Jennifer Czekai, marketing director for John Ball Zoo. However, the exceptional pygmy hippos will need to have about four months to get made use of to their habitat once they arrive, she reported.

Design on the exhibit has been underway for in excess of a year. The enclosure for the hippos is slated to incorporate an expansive out of doors place with a huge pool, a mud wallow and an underwater viewing location, the zoo said. Attendees will be equipped to appreciate observing the hippos yr-round from the indoor viewing region.

“It’s very intriguing,” Czekai said about observing the stout animal.

Czekai explained John Ball Zoo CEO Peter D’Arienzo has remarked that animals need to be residing in the wild, but the challenge is men and women.

“People have torn down their habitats, and they are going into extinction,” she stated about D’Arienzo’s sentiments. “And so zoos exist now to enable animals arrive out of extinction. Which is the entire reason.”

Czekai reported the zoo is targeted on giving that enable.

Zoo leaders are asking the group assistance its Time to Soar fundraising marketing campaign in advance of the of the formal April. 14, 2022 community start. The mission is explained as “inspiring our neighborhood to be actively engaged in the conservation of wildlife and wild locations.’

The funding would assist the pigmy hippos and other endangered species, enhancing guest features and habitats and accessibility to the zoo, the Time to Soar marketing campaign will officially start in April. 14, 2022. To donate, check out the zoo’s internet site.

As the zoo awaits the arrival of the pygmy hippos, guests can also assume other new animals for the 2023 year, like sitatungas, white storks, koalas and Australian black swans.

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