OKC Zoo delays the opening of its new Expedition Africa habitat to 2024

The Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden's journey to finish its Expedition Africa has been extended to March 2024.

Initially scheduled for Oct. 12, the grand opening celebration for Expedition Africa has been postponed to next year. The new plan is to celebrate the completion of one of the largest habitat expansions in the zoo's 121-year history during spring break.

Why is the OKC Zoo postponing the grand opening of its Expedition Africa?

"Anytime you build something, you have your plans and you have your dates, and then things happen," said Candice Rennels, the OKC Zoo's public relations director.

"You have weather. There's been some supply chain issues throughout the duration of the entire project. (It's) very regular things that occur with projects of this size."

Expedition Africa eventually will be home to more than five dozen species native to the African continent, and those creatures also need time to acclimate to their new environment before they can be put on public view.

"Our giraffes, they need a lot of time; they do things on their own schedule. They just have to be very comfortable with the new situation and new surroundings," Rennels said. "That's what our giraffes are doing now: They're just becoming comfortable and getting to know the space."

How big is Expedition Africa and what animals will live there?

Along with the OKC Zoo's giraffe herd, the 12-acre Expedition Africa will feature new homes for 60-plus additional species native to the African continent, including wildebeest, honey badger, hyena, meerkat, okapi, ostrich, gazelle, zebra and more.

One of the showpieces of Expedition Africa will be the new state-of-the-art giraffe barn, which will provide indoor viewing areas of the giraffe herd. The project also includes the $10 million renovation of the historic Pachyderm Building, the one-time home to famed OKC Zoo denizens Judy the elephant and Mathilda the hippopotamus.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021, the Pachyderm Building has been reimagined as a climate-controlled event space as well as a habitat for African animals like the naked mole rat, mongoose and various reptiles and amphibians.

More: End of an era: OKC Zoo set to demolish Aquaticus, here's what's coming next

"There were just a lot of pieces to that, having to be mindful of all the historical elements that we had to keep in the building and working around them," Rennels said.

Situated in the heart of the OKC Zoo's 140-acre grounds, Expedition Africa will connect to the existing Predator Pass and Lion Overlook habitats. Ground was broken on the new attraction in November 2020.

What's the price tag on Expedition Africa and how is it being funded?

Expedition Africa is a $35 million project that's being paid for through private fundraising efforts combined with funding from the dedicated 1/8-of-a cent sales tax approved by Oklahoma City voters in 1990 to modernize and improve the OKC Zoo.

"It has helped us immensely, that sales tax," Rennels said. "It started with Great EscApe, then it was Cat Forest and Oklahoma Trails, then the Children's Zoo and the Entry Plaza."

Expedition Africa is the biggest habitat expansion for the OKC Zoo since the two-phase opening of the 14 1/2-acre Sanctuary Asia. That included the 2011 opening of the largest Asian elephant zoo exhibit in the country, followed by the 2018 debut of the two-level Lotus Pavilion restaurant and event venue as well as the homes for the Indian rhinos, Komodo dragons, red pandas, tanuki, cassowaries and more.

The Africa habitat also is the largest and one of the last pieces of the 10-year, $71 million master plan the Oklahoma City Zoological Trust approved in 2017. Previous projects already completed range from the orangutan climbing structure and the Galapagos tortoise habitat in the Children's Zoo to the Wetlands Walkway outdoor amphibian environment and the Raptor Ridge condor habitat.

The new sea lion exhibit is the last project the OKC Zoo is slated to take on as part of the 2017 master plan, Rennels said. That project is scheduled to begin with the demolition of Aquaticus, formerly the home of the zoo's dolphin shows, in early 2024.

What animals can OKC Zoo visitors already see in Expedition Africa?

Although construction is ongoing, the OKC Zoo started debuting parts of the ambitious and immersive new habitat experience over July 4 weekend.

The zoo's new ring-tailed and red-ruffed lemurs are now on public view in Expedition Africa, and visitors can see the flock, or flamboyance, of flamingos that was recently relocated to the new habitat, too.

The zoo will continue the "rolling opening" for Expedition Africa ahead of next spring's rescheduled grand opening. The zoo staff will open certain pathways and buildings in the new area as the habitats are completed and the animal denizens have adjusted to their new environments.

People can follow the OKC Zoo on Facebook, X, Instagram, Linktree, Threads and TikTok to get updates on Expedition Africa as the construction and "rolling opening" continues.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Zoo postpones new Expedition Africa habitat to 2024