Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, Zoological and botanical gardens in Jacksonville, United States.
Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens is a zoological and botanical garden in Florida covering more than 120 acres at the meeting point of two rivers. Visitors walk through several zones representing different continents, from African savanna to Asian bamboo forests.
The Municipal Zoo opened on May 12, 1914, in Springfield, with a red deer fawn as its first animal. On July 19, 1925, it moved to a 37.5-acre site on the Trout River in Northside. A jaguar named Zorro, wild-born and melanistic, arrived in August 1967 and fathered numerous cubs over 19 years; in 2003 no captive-born black jaguar in North America was found outside his line.
The jaguar area shows animals from Latin America in an environment that recalls tropical rainforest. Visitors see how the big cats climb and swim there, while keepers regularly explain their behavior.
The zoo sits at the mouth of the Trout River, off Heckscher Drive in the Northside, with a main entrance and parking lot rebuilt during the 1990s redevelopment. A train route loops through the grounds, and the walk-through aviary and Land of the Tiger trail let visitors pass among the animals on foot. Much of the 122-acre site is exposed, so plan for sun and heat.
The facility participates in nearly one hundred international breeding programs for threatened animal species. Teams on site work with researchers in South America to protect wildlife in their original habitats.
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