TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – ZooTampa will open its new “Florida Wilds” exhibit this week, connecting visitors with some of Florida’s local species.
The new area features more spacious habitats for endangered Florida panthers, black bears and red wolves.
The area also is home to flamingos, owls, skunks and alligators.
In Florida Wilds, families can enjoy unobstructed views of the zoo’s resident animals that were unable to return to the wild due to injury. Guests will have the opportunity to see zoo staff conduct training activities with panthers and black bears and get up closer than ever.
“One of the things that we really wanted to do when building new habitats was have the opportunity for guests to interact with the animals that we have and we want them to make those connections with wildlife, that was really important for us,” said Molly Lippencott, curator of Florida and manatees at ZooTampa.
Staff at ZooTampa are looking to educate the public on these native Florida species, as many, like the black bear, can be found in backyards.
“One of the things that we really wanted to embrace here is that people live with wildlife in their backyard and a lot of the animals that we have here in the Florida realm are rescues. They came in because of human interaction and they had a lot of trouble in the wild,” said Lippencott. “So we really want to teach people how to live with nature and how to live with wildlife.”
The Florida panther is critically endangered, and Lippencott said facts like that are also part of the educational experience of Florida Wilds.
“I don’t think people realize how much trouble Florida wildlife is in and that just a little bit here with education, maybe we can change some peoples’ minds and kind of think about the actions that they take on a daily basis,” she said.
Lippencott and ZooTampa staff are excited for the new location to open and hope people will come out and “meet” all of their panthers and bears and enjoy the zoo experience.
ZooTampa broke ground on the exhibit in May of 2021. The habitat was expanded so all the zoo’s animals could be on display to guests at the same time.
