Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium
The Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Highland Park, is among the six large zoo-aquarium complexes in the United States. The zoo lies on 77 acres (31 ha) of parkland. It houses over 4,000 animals representing 475 species. Around 20 rare or endangered species are also part of the zoo.
The Pittsburgh Zoo's Master Plan went into effect in 1980. In 2015, the zoo's accredited membership in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) was revoked. Currently, the famous Pittsburgh Zoo is organized into eight major entertaining areas.
The first and the most interesting one is the Kid's Kingdom. It first opened its doors to the public in 1949 as the Children's Zoo. A naming contest was held in 1994 to find a new name for the substantially extended territory. The winner of this contest was Adam Mellinger of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. This zoo segment is an interactive children's area with a petting zoo full of tamed animals.
The second one is PPG Aquarium which is a 45,000-square-foot, two-story aquarium. It was built in 1967 and was formerly known as AquaZoo. Later on, the facility was restored in 2000. The aquarium's theme is "Water Diversity."
Forest Passage, which was previously named Asian Forest, is a game area. It mimics a journey from the Himalayas to Indonesia by containing a wide variety of different species from Eastern and Southeast Asia. This section contains information about some of Asia's most severely endangered large cats.
The Tropical Forest is another major area of Pittsburgh Zoo. It is a 0.5-acre indoor rainforest that debuted in 1991. This structure is mostly dedicated to primates, with a total of 16 species.
Next, the African Savanna, just like the Asian Forest, is a consequence of the zoo's Master Plan from 1980. This area of the zoo, which first opened in 1987, is designed to give visitors the sensation that they are wandering down a river in an enchanting African savanna.
The three bear displays were erected under the Works Progress Administration program in the year 1937. They are the zoo's earliest attractions. Three types of bears are on show here which are American black bears, Spectacled bears, and a Kodiak bear.
Some of the other major entertaining areas at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium are Water's Edge, The Islands, and Jungle Odyssey. The Water’s edge is the most amazing among these as it is designed to seem like a coastal fishing hamlet and depicts how humans interact with marine species in coastal places.