- Turtle Back Zoo
Turtle Back Zoo, located in West Orange,
New Jersey , is azoo inNew Jersey . Situated on 18 acres of land inSouth Mountain Reservation , it is part of the Essex County Park System, the oldest county park system in theUnited States . Founded in 1963, the zoo was originally a showcase for animals indigenous to New Jersey, but currently features species from every continent exceptAntarctica . Located adjacent to theRichard J. Codey Arena , practice home of theNew Jersey Devils . The zoo is open year-round, recording over 340,000 visitors in 2007.Recent additions to the zoo include Filipino "golden mantled" flying foxes, making Turtle Back the first zoo in the country to show this species of
bat ; anAmerican Black Bear exhibit; the Essex Farm, which holds common farm animals and includes apetting zoo ; and an animal-themedplayground . Its most notable new feature is a $4.6 millionreptile house and education center, the zoo's first indoor exhibit, which opened in June, 2006. The center contains a pair of nine-foot-long "black dragons", a species ofmonitor lizard which was discovered inMalaysia in 2005 and has yet to receive a scientific name. The lizards at Turtle Back are believed to be the only "black dragons" on display in the world.On
September 26 ,2006 , "The Star-Ledger " reported that Turtle Back Zoo earned accreditation from theAssociation of Zoos and Aquariums , which makes the zoo eligible to participate in animal exchanges with other AZA members, and to receive state and federal funding. This is a far cry from a decade earlier, when the zoo was in a dilapidated state; Turtle Back was almost shut down in 1995, but millions of dollars in grants were used on improvements to assure that the zoo would remain open. Since 2003, Turtle Back has received approximately $20 million in funding.Two nearby universities,
Montclair State University andKean University , have provided funding for the acquisition and upkeep of animals (aRed-tailed Hawk andCougar s, respectively) which became the official mascots for each of the schools.External links
* [http://www.turtlebackzoo.org Official Turtle Back Zoo Website]
* [http://www.turtlebackzoo.org/ Zoological Society of New Jersey, Inc. website]
* [http://www.nj.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news-2/1150351329188700.xml Article on zoo improvements] from "The Star-Ledger " (Newark)
* [http://www.turtlebackzoo.org/zoonews_11.htm Article on attendance figures and recent additions to the zoo]
* [http://www.lousimeone.com/ Louis Simeone creator of the new Turtle Back Zoo Logo] [http://www.samalou.com and Louis Simeone's Illustration website]
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