Saint Louis Zoo WildCare Park in north St. Louis County is a long way from the former golf course it used to be. As animals arrive, barns are built and pasture is developed, the 425-acre property is developing into a place unlike any in the St. Louis region.
New animals arrive
It was a momentous occasion in 2023 to welcome six new animals to WildCare Park: four critically endangered addax and two endangered Grevy’s zebra.
These animals are within the Dana Brown Conservation Pasture, a large natural space dedicated for breeding and conservation efforts, which is part of the Kent Family Conservation and Animal Science Center at WildCare Park. The transition area helps the animals acclimate to their new space. The two species each will have access to 10 acres of pasture once they are fully acclimated.
The zebras and addax came to WildCare Park in fall 2023 from the Saint Louis Zoo and from other Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited zoos. When WildCare Park opens to the public in 2027, more than 250 animals are expected to be living there. Acquiring animals from other accredited facilities and building appropriate animal social groups takes time. For the public opening, the focus is on endangered ungulates — hoofed mammals — as well as birds and other threatened species.
Infrastructure is built; habitat develops
Over the last year and a half, construction at WildCare Park has consisted of demolition of a few older buildings, fence installation and grading around the perimeter of the property, restoration of 260 acres back to native grasses, construction of barns and a utility building, and renovation of the headquarters building with a new observation deck.
WildCare Park features two completely different, but highly synergistic components:
- The first is what the public will experience, a unique outdoor adventure that sends guests on a safari through herds of animals roaming wild over gently rolling grassy meadows and through native forests.
- The second component is the Kent Family Conservation and Animal Science Center, a dedicated facility within WildCare Park to sustain endangered and threatened species, made possible by the generosity of the Jerry and Judy Kent Family.
