July 5, 2018 – The Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo has a brand new exhibit opening this July that will give guests the closest interaction with the animals ever, and SF employees have an opportunity to get a sneak peek before the public. The Florida Walk-Through Aviary will be filled with native birds, including whistling ducks, a blue-winged teal, spoonbills, cattle egret and ibises. Guests to the zoo will have two different viewing options of the habitat. They can view them from the covered Conservation Pavilion, or, for the first time ever at the SF Teaching Zoo, they will be able to enter the animals’ habitat, walking a path along the pond.
The new walk-through aviary will open to the general public Sunday, July 15, but SF employees will be able to see the latest addition to the zoo Friday, July 13, between the hours of 9 a.m. and noon.
This project was made possible in part from the Alachua County Tourism Development Funds. Gainesville Regional Utilities and members of SF’s Facilities department donated time and personnel to help with the construction. Students in SF’s Zoo Animal Technology program worked tirelessly on construction of the exhibit, participating in everything from painting, digging, planting of vegetation and beautification.