GRAND OPENING of San Antonio Zoo’s new tropical realm, NEOTROPICA
San Antonio Zoo invites everyone to the grand opening of NEOTROPICA, the zoo’s new tropical realm, this Friday at 9 am, following a private ribbon-cutting for donors at 8:30 am. As the city’s newest destination this fall, NEOTROPICA will be home to endangered jaguars as well as birds from the amazon, monkeys, and other mammals, fish, and reptiles.
NEOTROPICA has a unique ecosystem design that allows animals from the tropics to coexist side by side within a thematic overlay of a South American fishing village. The $1.7M project was completely funded by donors. The zoo works in places like Peruvian Amazon, Chile, and Mexico to preserve rainforests and protect endangered species while inspiring San Antonians to love, engage with, act for, and protect animals and the places where they live.
The addition of the Pantera Walk to NEOTROPICA is made possible in large part with a donation from Texas A&M San Antonio, whose mascot is the jaguar. This new signature feature allows the jaguars to roam between two different habitats by way of an elevated trail system that traverses over zoo visitors and through the Amazonian Aviary, giving them more than 120% more space. Pantera Walk is the first of its kind in the world, allowing jaguars to travel through the habitats of other species.
A larger-than-life brick jaguar face featuring the names of donors on the main pathway of NEOTROPICA will also be unveiled on Friday. The jaguar brick campaign was part of a recovery effort for the zoo coming out of pandemic-related challenges in 2020.
Buy discount tickets for the San Antonio Zoo here.
