What’s New at the Cape May County Zoo?
The Cape May County Zoo is undergoing a multimillion-dollar upgrade to improve facilities, traffic flow, and visitor amenities. Approximately $8 million in improvements and $6.1 million allocated to parking and…
The Cape May County Zoo is undergoing a multimillion-dollar upgrade to improve facilities, traffic flow, and visitor amenities. Approximately $8 million in improvements and $6.1 million allocated to parking and circulation changes are helping to ease traffic and accommodate more visitors to this New Jersey attraction.
According to The Cape May County Herald, major project components include an expanded entrance, new signage, improved parking, redesigned traffic patterns, a new main-entrance booth, and a dedicated school-bus drop-off area to streamline school trips.
Entrance improvements, totaling $1.74 million, focus on the broader parking and circulation overhaul designed to handle high-volume days. The back lot has 1,400 spaces and can accommodate up to 2,000 cars on peak days.
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Beyond the visitors, improvements are also focused on the animals themselves. Animal welfare and safety have driven design choices for the animals. They include varied fencing and containment strategies tailored to each species, plus a quarantine space costing more than $426,000 and a veterinary support facility, such as a giraffe-hoof-check setup valued at approximately $82,000.
The zoo currently houses approximately 550 animals across 250 species, including Lex and Bella, the African lions; Leela and Merlin, the siamangs; Eurasian Eagle-owls; giraffes such as Kifeda (born in 2017); capybaras; and several species on loan from other zoos.
Beyond on-site upgrades, the zoo's plans also include off-site investments and partnerships. These include a $1.1 million education-focused collaboration with Atlantic Cape Community College and the Dr. Alex Ernst Memorial Education Center, which features classrooms, offices, and an aviary.
The zoo's regional role is reinforced by accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the Zoological Association of America. It aims to continue focusing on ongoing animal education for conservation. However, plans for new exhibits, such as penguins and flamingos, are still years away, said Ronald Simone III, the assistant administrator for Cape May County.
