Philadelphia Zoo Readies Its New Children's Area For Saturday Grand Opening
By John McDevitt
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The final touches are being put on the Philadelphia Zoo's new $33.3-million children's area, scheduled to open to the public this Saturday.
At a ceremony this morning, a group of Girl Scouts helped zoo officials cut the ribbon for the new "KidZooU," featuring indoor and outdoor exhibit areas.
There are miniature horses in the barnyard, plus rare and unusual goats, sheep, chickens, and ducks.
Eleven-year-old Matty, from Newton, Pa., was having a blast.
"I had one goat jump up and try and eat my Girl Scout vest," she said with a laugh.
A 400-foot trail, with a tower that allows goats to climb and cross a bridge over the heads of visitors (below), was a crowd pleaser.
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Andrew Baker, the zoo's chief operating officer, says inside kids can learn about climate change and how it affects animals -- and what they can do to help out:
"Reduce our overall energy use, and thus have a long-term impact on climate change. And the species that are featured -- corral reef fish, Australian parakeets, tropical rainforest butterflies -- are all impacted one way or another negatively by climate change," Baker says.
