California Trails
Rare
California condors, the symbol of endangered species, are the centerpiece
of California Trails, a $7.5 million exhibit complex at the
Santa Barbara Zoo that features creatures that are in danger of disappearing
from the wild in the Golden State.
California Trails officially opened with a ribbon-cutting on Earth Day 2009, Wednesday, April 22 and the public was invited to a day-long, activity-filled celebration on Saturday, April 25.
“There has been a dream to create a condor exhibit in Santa Barbara that would support recovery efforts,” said Rich Block, Zoo CEO, “as well as help build a stronger public constituency for the conservation of this symbol of California’s priceless wildlife resources. The dream has become a reality and we celebrate a conservation effort of heroic proportions that has returned condors to the skies over California.”
Five dramatically large condors, featuring a nine-and-a-half foot wing span, are on view in a spacious hilltop aviary overlooking part of their historic range, the Santa Ynez Mountains. Exhibits feature the small Channel Island fox, found only on the islands off the California Coast; desert tortoises, once commonplace, but now facing habitat destruction; bald eagles, who are making a comeback after pesticides ravaged their numbers; and local raptor, amphibians and reptiles.
The Zoo took advantage of this exhibit construction to renovate the former barbecue area into a food concession area called The Wave. The Explore Store demonstrates how buying “green” directly helps protect the habitats of these creatures, both around the world and in California.
California Trails is the largest construction project in the Zoo’s nearly 50-year history.
Photo credit: David Orias