By: Brittney Corrado, Alisha Bains, and Laila Schwin
May 14, 2021
The Akron Public Zoo will be introducing a new and expanded home for Sumatran tigers, red pandas, and primates (known as white-cheeked gibbons), and this exhibit will be titled Wild Asia.
Wild Asia promises to expand the red panda natural habitat, but unfortunately, these pandas face endangerment and are severely threatened by pelt hunting. They are also being threatened by shrinking habitats from agricultural encroachment and climate change. The red panda is about the size of a raccoon. They live in forests, and they primarily eat bamboo leaves. Along with the Sumatran tigers (all tigers in particular) being endangered, they now call the Akron Zoo their home.
The zoo is also introducing white-cheeked gibbons during this tour. They are 10-20 pound primates that are very energetic. They are small apes who form from highly-social families. These gibbons are endangered largely due to deforestation from palm oil cultivation. The Akron Zoo’s survival plan for the gibbons will help save this species from extinction. Every newborn will be calling the Akron zoo their home, also.
The zoo’s director of capital projects and sustainability Chris Norman said that Wild Asia is in the process of being built on what was previously called Tiger Valley, which was built in 1998 on a hillside looking over Edgewood Avenue on the West Side of Akron. Wild Asia is meant to recreate Southeast Asian jungles and Himalayan forest conditions through its habitats to accommodate the conditions that the animals are used to in their native lands.
The main focus of Wild Asia is to educate people on environmental topics such as climate change and deforestation and how these have affected the species now included in the exhibit. It is meant to teach them about how their actions can affect the environment and the importance of conservation for species that are progressively being drawn closer to extinction. All of the species in this exhibit are endangered and being driven out by hunting and deforestation.
The Akron Zoo is also utilizing the addition of these endangered species as an attempt at species conservation, as the tigers and gibbons are both breeding pairs, and a male will likely be added with the red pandas to allow for a breeding pair as well. The continuation of these species through breeding pairs is a step toward conservation and for retaining a normal population, despite the issues affecting these animals.
The habitats for all of these animals are meant to reflect the needs of their species in the wild, such as the tigers each having their own individual fields to reflect their solitary nature, the red pandas having a climate-controlled cave, and the white-cheeked gibbons having trees designed specifically for them to be able to swing from.
While the pandemic has delayed the development of this Wild Asia exhibit and severely limited the number of people allowed to visit, the near-opening of this exhibit is a sign of the continued development of species conservation and perseverance.
The Wild Asia exhibit at the Akron Zoo is expected to be completed and opened on May 29, 2021, and there are future plans for expansion of other sections of the zoo, such as the Pride of Africa exhibit.
There is much to look forward to. Whether it is the Cleveland Zoo or the Akron Zoo, these animals are being taken care of, so make sure to visit both of these great zoos.
{Information for this article was retrieved from Cleveland.com and Akronzoo.org.}
THE RETURN OF THE EYE 