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Saint Louis Zoo Permanently Closes Children’s Zoo, Opening Dinosaur Exhibit

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The Saint Louis Zoo announced today that the Children’s Zoo will close in late fall, but will remain with free admission through the end of October.

The 3.5-acre family and children’s area will house a temporary dinosaur exhibit that will open spring 2021.

“For 51 years, the Saint Louis Zoo has offered a special area for its youngest visitors to connect with nature,” said Jeffrey Bonner, Ph.D., president and CEO of the zoo. “Since 1969, the goal of the Children’s Zoo never changed — to provide dynamic experiences for all children that will inspire a love of animals and learning. The mission of connecting families and children with animals will carry forward in the planning for this new area.”

Since the zoo reopened to the public following an 80-day closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Children’s Zoo has operated with many additional safety measures in place that greatly limit the guest experience.

“It was a heart-wrenching decision to close the Children’s Zoo, however, safety is our highest priority,” Bonner said. “The Children’s Zoo was designed for high-touch and interactive experiences, which is not conducive to a COVID or post-COVID environment.”

Animals residing at the Children’s Zoo are in the process of being relocated to other parts of the zoo or moved to other facilities.

The temporary exhibit that will occupy the current Children’s Zoo area for the next couple of years is called Dinoroarus.

“We had a similar exhibit like this back in 2008, but this time, we have much more space to include many more life-size animatronic dinosaurs in a one-of-a-kind walk-through experience,” Bonner said. “Dinoroarus will give us a chance to talk about difficult topics like extinction and how some predecessors of dinosaurs, like turtles and crocodiles, are still with us, as well as how some descendants of dinosaurs, like birds, still grace our lives.”

Admission costs and other details for Dinoroarus will be available in the future.

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