Located in the lake-stippled Lebanon Hills, south of Saint Paul, Minnesota Zoo gives its animals plenty of elbow room, with 196 hectares for its tenants. The zoo was founded in 1978, when local conservationists decided that the Twin Cities need a proper base for serious animal conservation and public education. The design of the zoo aimed to recreate natural habitats, with wide open spaces, carefully laid-out enclosures and cleverly located trails for visitors.
It was a radical new attitude for zoos at that time, and Minnesota Zoo still prides itself on being a trailblazer for animal welfare. There are now five themed areas, grouping together animals in settings which reproduce their natural environment. The most recently completed is Russia's Grizzly Coast, which recreates the wilderness of the Pacific Russian coast, complete with steam vents, boiling mud and washed-up whale bones. Here, the grizzlies and sea otters feast on fish swimming in a stream, and you can view them hunting through specially constructed tanks. This area also has wild boar, Amur tigers and leopards, some of the most endangered species in the world.
As well as Russia, a walk around Minnesota Zoo will take you to the Arctic – with The Northern Trail's moose, caribou and trumpeter swans – and the rainforests – with The Tropics Trail's dwarf crocodiles, monkeys and lemurs. At Discovery Bay, you'll find aquariums that are home to sharks, rays and sea dragons.
It's not all exotic animals though. The area around Minneapolis-Saint Paul has been home to a pretty exciting bunch of wild animals itself, and you'll find these in The Medtronic Minnesota Trail. Cougars, grey wolves, American beavers and bald eagles can be seen here, along with the infamous wolverines – giant weasel-like hunters known for their ferocious strength. And if you want to get a different angle on the zoo's inhabitants, try the monorail system. It provides a bird's-eye view over the wild landscapes below, and is a quick way to see all that Minnesota Zoo has to offer.
