ROANOKE, Va. – The Mill Mountain Zoo is getting ready for its busy season by making upgrades, changes and even adding new animals.
A fun animal that visitors can look forward to seeing is Frank. He is a Red Panda that was added to the zoo back in March following the well-deserved retirement of a fan favorite.
Four-year-old Frank is now in the Red Panda enclosure at the Roanoke attraction. He took over as Nova, the former Mill Mountain Zoo red panda, who is now nearly 16 years old and has moved out of the spotlight.
The zoo has also done a lot of work to make critical repairs and make it more accessible for everyone.
The Red Wolf Expansion Project is a passion project to upgrade the zoo.
The zoo has also changed some of the enclosures from wood and chain link to steel. This helps with the amount of maintenance the enclosures require and makes sure more generations can enjoy the Zoo.
Mill Mountain Zoo is getting ready to celebrate its 70th anniversary in July, so there will also be a lot of brand changes as well.
A fan favorite, the Zoo Choo!, is coming back this spring.
“We launched a 50,000 fundraising campaign to bring back the Zoo Choo!, and so far we have achieved $41,612,” said Executive Director of the Mill Mountain Zoo, Niki Voudren. “So we still have a little way to go but we hope to have it back in May.”
Another repair was given to the Zoo’s Old Mill. It was given a second life and is now running again after being out of commission for 10 years.
The Old Mill is an authentic mill wheel that was built in 1755 and is located centrally on the zoo’s grounds. George Washington supposedly visited the mill in 1756, adding to its historical value.
It was repaired personally this year by the zoo’s Facilities Director, Caleb Conner.
“When the Old Mill started turning, everything and everyone else stopped,” said Voudren. “The level of excitement throughout the staff was something to behold.”
Voudren wants the community to know that Mill Mountain Zoo is accredited by the Zoological Association of America.
“This means we uphold the highest standards in the nation for animal welfare, and with that comes upgrading our facility itself,” Voudren said. “All 150 to 200 animals in our zoo are here for the right reasons. They are ambassadors of their species.”