Utah's Hogle Zoo Opens Aline W. Skaggs Wild Utah Expansion
3-acre expansion highlights Utah wildlife and wild places
Utah’s Hogle Zoo will unveil the Aline W. Skaggs Wild Utah exhibit at noon on May 9, 2024. The three-acre expansion marks the culmination of years of planning to extend guest access to Hogle Zoo’s east side and opens a new chapter in the zoo’s history by highlighting one of the most diverse landscapes in the world. Resident species feature Utah wildlife, including cougars, desert bighorn sheep, burros, gray foxes, skunks, western toads, yellow-bellied marmots, and desert tortoises.
As part of the zoo’s conservation commitment, Hogle Zoo upgraded the Eccles Express train to a zero-emissions electric locomotive. With the support of Rocky Mountain Power’s Blue Sky program, Hogle Zoo installed solar panels on the train shed to generate renewable energy and charge the Eccles Express locomotive at night.
Highlights of the Aline W. Skaggs Wild Utah exhibit:
- In the Norma W. Matheson Education Animal Center, guests can experience an interactive animal care kitchen and see ambassador animals that are part of Hogle Zoo’s informal science education enhancement (iSEE) second-grade outreach program.
- Guests will see Hogle Zoo’s western toad conservation project up close in the Utah Amphibian Conservation Room.
- Bee mural by renowned artist and bee advocate, Matt Willey. Willey founded The Good of the Hive and has committed to painting 50,000 honeybees—the number necessary for a healthy, thriving hive—in murals worldwide. Hogle Zoo is Willey’s first mural in Utah.
- The Joseph M. Simmons Foundation Nature Play Area & Interpretive Campsite provides a unique opportunity to expand awareness of the natural world, sharing ways to be Wild Aware and enjoy the outdoors responsibly.
- In the Maker Space, guests can join hands-on conservation activities, including creating seed pods and planting pollinators.
