The Fort Worth Zoo’s many conservation programs benefit endangered and threatened species around the world like this female Fiji banded iguana, according to the zoo. In the past 30 years, it has successfully bred and released hundreds of iguanas and other animal species back into the wild. (Photo/Sally Verrando/TCU)
When it comes to a zoo outing, some TCU students may hearken back to those chaotic family times with kids running, parents shouting and someone ending up crying.
But a visit to a zoo as an adult, without children in tow or being a youngster, offers another experience altogether with time—leisurely and lingering.
The Fort Worth Zoo — a five-minute drive north of the TCU campus — will celebrate 30 years and $300 million of habitat improvements, added attractions and conservation programs at the 30th Anniversary Festival on Nov. 19. Visitors get half-price admission to the all-day festival.
The celebration will include live music and entertainment, freebies while they last, photo-ops and enrichment activities at some of the animal exhibits, said Avery Elander, the Fort Worth Zoo spokesperson. The zoo’s baby western lowland gorilla that was born on Nov. 6. will also be at the festival.
Phase III of the current $130 million makeover, “A Wilder Vision,” is underway for big cat habitats and is expected to open spring 2023, Elander said. The zoo plans to have Forests and Jungles, the final Phase IV of “A Wilder Vision,” open by 2025.
This photo essay, taken at the Fort Worth Zoo on Oct. 10, offers a glimpse of what visitors can expect: