Councilor Tan and I were given a behind the scenes tour of the Oregon Metro Zoo. We spent the day with Chris Pfefferkorn, the Deputy Zoo Director. We toured the penguin, giraffe, cougar, and black bear exhibits. The zoo broke ground on the last of the projects under the 2008 zoo bond — elephant lands. The 2008 bond money upgraded many exhibits including the penguin exhibit. Prior to the bond, the water within the exhibit was changed 2-3 times per week to maintain penguin health. The upgraded exhibit now has water filtration and no water changes are performed, saving a million gallons of water per year. A great sustainable effort!
The zoo also set a new attendance record at 1.68 million visitors this last year! They have many families events including zoo lights, concerts, train rides, and children camps. Enjoy the videos I took below to view the zoo keepers view and access to the animals. Feeding the giraffes was the highlight of the visit for our family!
Penguins Behind the Scenes
Penguins Behind the Scenes
Giraffe Feeding
Cougar Behind the Scenes
Black Bear Behind the Scenes
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