Fort Worth (WBAP/KLIF News) – The Fort Worth Zoo hopes to raise $10 million to fully fund an expansion that will include four exhibits that recreate African landscapes for its animals.
The zoo has already started construction on “African Savanna,” which is scheduled to be complete in 2018. Ramona Bass has led the fundraising effort, bringing in $90 million over the past two years.
“Fort Worth is the most generous city,” she says. “I grew up in San Antonio, I love San Antonio, but people in other cities will say, ‘I cannot believe what you get done in Ft. Worth.”
The zoo draws more than a million visitors each year. Bass says “if each person just drops a dollar, that’s a million dollars right there.”
Director Michael Fouraker says elephants, giraffes and rhinoceroses are already endangered and under increasing pressure in the African wild.
“They’re calling it the ‘silent extinction’ because of all the focus on rhinos and elephants, but giraffes are getting shot by these same poachers,” Fouraker says.
Fouraker says zoos may soon become the only place the animals are safe, so they must focus on creating an environment where the animals can thrive.
“With these endangered species comes education and awareness to the public,” he says. “Many of these animals really won’t be in the wild by the next generation,.”
Fouraker says Ft. Worth can offer opportunities for animals to thrive because Texas’ climate mimics the climate in parts of Africa.
(Copyright 2016 WBAP/KLIF News. All rights reserved)