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Stay cool at Lowry Park Zoo's Gator Falls
Article published on Monday, June 30, 2008 |
TAMPA - Lowry Park Zoo is inviting zoogoers to get their feet wet (and a whole lot more) with the new Gator Falls water flume ride and white “albino” alligator exhibit, now open in the Zoo’s Mason M. and Charles P. Lykes Florida Wildlife Center.
“As we continue to build and diversify the Zoo’s animal collection with new animals like the white alligators, we are also adding new experiences for our guests like the Gator Falls flume ride,” said Lex Salisbury, president and CEO. “One of the ways we inspire visitors to return to the Zoo is by offering something new and different every year. We are proud to offer such a wide variety of experiences – 2,200 animals, interactive encounters, rides and water-play areas - to engage and entertain while guests learn about the natural world.”
Gator Falls allows guests to enhance their outdoor adventure with a new way to keep cool in the hot summer sun. In an area designed to resemble a historic “Florida Cracker” trail, the ride begins at ground level and climbs to nearly 30 feet. Riders will float in a log and explore “Old” Florida with a birds-eye view. Watch out for falling water as the ride weaves over the boardwalk and ends with a 30-foot drop over the alligator exhibit.
As visitors near the final drop on Gator Falls, a pair of rare white alligators are making themselves at home in the shade under a giant oak tree. Albino alligators are American alligators which lack melanin, or pigment, in their skin, creating a milky coloring and cloudy eyes which appear pink. Unlike their darker counterparts, white gators don’t soak up the Florida sun. Instead, they will spend their days basking in the shade, near a moat where they live, feed and nest. The white gator habitat is made possible by Mary Lou and Jim Bailey.
Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo is the only wildlife center in the world where guests can find most of Florida’s endangered native animals. The Lykes Florida Wildlife Center is home to many native species including Key deer, whooping crane, stingray, sandhill crane, a variety of frogs and toads, gopher tortoise, manatee, river otter, America alligator and crocodile, Florida panther, black bear, red wolf, bald eagle and more.
The Zoo plans to add a “gateway to the Caribbean” off the Florida boardwalk in the future featuring Neotropical species of animals from Central and South America.
The new albino alligator exhibit and Gator Falls flume ride are two of many opportunities that guests will enjoy as they help to celebrate the Zoo’s 20th Anniversary in 2008. Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo gratefully acknowledges the business partners who made the ride possible: The Beck Group for architectural and planning services and Cutler Associates, Inc. as the general contractor. The ride manufacturer is Skytrans.
The Zoo is located at 1101 W. Sligh Avenue in Tampa, one mile west of I-275 (exit 48). The Zoo is open seven days a week, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, with extended hours on select nights during the summer. Parking is free. The zoo is a nonsmoking facility with smoking allowed only in limited designated areas as marked by visitor information signs. Visit LowryParkZoo.com or call 813-935-8552 for more information.
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Article published on Monday, June 30, 2008
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Tampa Bay Newspapers
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