Wildlife world zoo to add 55 acres » Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium

Wildlife world zoo to add 55 acres
08-07-2011

Maricopa County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to allow the expansion of the Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium today. The vote will permit the park to expand its facilities to the 55 acres on its southern perimeter.
Home to the largest collection in the state of Arizona, Wildlife world zoo, will open a new exhibit in the autumn (fall), called Dragon world, to be home to monitor lizards, anacondas, and the state's first salt water crocodile.
Another aquarium slated to open in the spring will sport a 40,000 gallon Amazon River Monster display. The Amazon River System will be home to several South American fresh water giants such as a 3-4 foot arrowana, large arapaima, giant Amazon turtles, as well as black piranhas and freshwater stingrays. The zoo plans to have a giant payara, sometimes called the "vampire fish".
The new aquarium building will also feature a 20-foot diameter display for marine turtles.

Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium to expand - CBS5 - KPHO - Phoenix News, Weather and Sports

08-07-2011

This is HUGE! I live in the same state and I cannot believe I had to learn about this from a ZooChat post from someone in the UK. Thank you for finding this.

The dragons area is news to me. Last I heard the amazon aquarium was the only development, scheduled to open November 2011. Now it looks as if it is pushed back to spring 2012 and the dragons will be fall 2011.

I am also glad to see mention at the end of the article that they have a director of conservation on staff, because I had a suspicion that they did not actively contribute to any conservation projects. Glad I am wrong. The only thing I still find odd about this zoo is that they are set up as a for profit corporation, instead of a non-profit like most zoos.

09-08-2011

Here is another article:

Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium to begin work on new safari park - Arizona News from The Arizona Republic

10-08-2011

Great expansion, but I am not too sure about the name change. One of my pet peeves is when zoos have names that are too long. At first they were Wildlife World Zoo, which is ok. Now they are Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium, which is getting a bit too much. But next they are going to expand it even further to Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium Safari Park??? Why don't they just drop all the descriptives and simply call it Wildlife World? Seems like that would cover all aspects in two simple words.

16-08-2011

Another article with news about the many future exhibits on the horizon:

It is grow or die for Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium in West Valley