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The Zoospecies · habitats · children's zoo · care
Museum Story Works · Bradenton, FL

The Zoo

Walk out under the sky: elephants at the waterhole, gibbons swinging overhead, polar bears on the ice, camels in the dunes and a barnyard for the youngest visitors. Every animal has a specimen plate in the catalog, 202 species in 8 classes so far.

The map

Choose a path

Tap a zone to walk in. Cafés and restrooms are marked; the Sea lab is through the east gate. Animation stops for visitors who turn on reduced motion.

Counts are read live from the species catalog.QR code CC68A3CC68A3
Zones

Outdoor habitats

Africa · grassland and waterhole · 15 species

African savanna

Three elephants side by side, two zebras, two rhinos, giraffes, lions, cheetahs and hippos around one waterhole.

Africa, Asia, Madagascar, South America · 12 species

Primates

Baboons, gibbons swinging arm over arm, chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, orangutans, lemurs and the golden lion tamarin.

Arctic and Antarctic shores · 26 species

Polar coast

Polar bears, harbor and gray seals, walruses, sea lions, arctic foxes, snowy owls and a whole colony of penguins.

Sahara, Arabia, Gobi, Kalahari · 7 species

Desert

Dromedary and Bactrian camels, meerkat sentries, fennec foxes, and the Arabian oryx that zoos brought back from extinction in the wild.

India, China, Southeast Asia · 18 species

Asian forest

Tigers in the stream, the Asian elephant, giant pandas, sloth bears, clouded leopards, and the red panda that is not a bear.

Prairie, rainforest and Florida · 13 species

The Americas

Bison, jaguars, two kinds of sloth, the Florida panther, manatees, otters, bears, capybaras, anteaters and the opossum.

Indoors · warm and humid · 14 species

Reptile house

Alligators and crocodiles, tortoises, the Komodo dragon, snakes, iguanas, poison frogs, axolotls and two invaders.

Walk-through dome · 8 species

Aviary

Flamingos, spoonbills, macaws, toucans, hornbills, cranes, the bald eagle and the Florida scrub-jay.

Australia · 8 species

Outback

Kangaroos, koalas, the platypus, wombats, echidnas and the Tasmanian devil: marsupials and monotremes.

Grades K–5 · 12 animals

Children's zoo

Goats, sheep, rabbits, chickens, ducks, ponies, alpacas and guinea pigs, with sound buttons, a zookeeper game and a coloring page.

How a good zoo works

Best practices, and the hard questions

The Smithsonian model, AZA accreditation, the Five Domains of welfare, enrichment, breeding and research; then the debate, fairly told, for grades 6–12.

Best practices The ethics debate Behind the scenes

For teachers

Classes and walks

Four walks by grade band, a drawer and a quiz for every zone, and lessons on newSchoolWorks.com lit for your view.

Classes and walks Species catalog