San Antonio Zoo teases new tropical habitat, Neotropica
A new area coming to the San Antonio Zoo will transport animal fans to a remote fishing village on the coast of Mexico.
Neotropica will let users step into a tropical coastline setting with motifs from “the Americas and nods to pre-Hispanic cultures,” according to a news release.
Renderings show some of the pre-Hispanic elements of the new habitat.
San Antonio Zoo
“Neotropica is a natural fit for the zoo and speaks to our greater conservation efforts in those parts of the world,” says Tim Morrow, president and CEO.
The announcement comes with the reveal of the name of its one-of-a-kind jaguar skywalk, the Pantera Walk, expected to open in the fall, which MySA provided an exclusive look at last week.
“It’s really the first time our zoo has done this kind of predator-prey habitat, where our predators can really see the prey and the prey can see the predators,” he says. “It’s going to be really enriching for the jaguars to kind of have that experience.”
Vine accents will help bring the Pantera Walk into into the rest of the habitat.
San Antonio Zoo
Neotropica will extend from Outpost Amazonia through the new jaguar habitat and other regional habitats and is expected to be completed in the fall as well. Morrow says the work is more of a dramatic overlay of existing structures.
Morrow says the zoo will also do a refresh of the aviary.
“We’ve been working on kind of creating more of that realm like experience where we fully immerse to get in with the sounds and the look and the culture and the animals of those regions,” Morrow says.
The San Antonio Zoo is also making it a little easier for guest to experience these new features with the an annual pass sale. From now until September 6, guests can get 20 percent off an annual pass with the code LABORDAY21 at checkout.
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