Gwangju Uchi Zoo Renovates Great Waterbird Nesting Site

Animal House Covering 2560㎡ Planned for Completion by December... Opening Scheduled for First Half of Next Year

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] A new habitat is being prepared for large water birds at Gwangju Uchi Zoo.

The Uchi Park Management Office in Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 1st that it has started an environmental improvement project for the large water birds that have been living in old and deteriorated animal enclosures.

Large water birds are characterized by their graceful appearance and loud calls.

This project involves investing 960 million KRW to renovate a 2,560㎡ animal enclosure.

The Uchi Park Management Office plans to complete the construction by December, conduct a trial operation, and open it to the public in the first half of next year.

Once the construction is completed, a total of 71 birds from 13 species, including the red-billed stork and pelican, will live in the new habitat.

The new animal enclosure will recreate an environment similar to their natural habitat by creating an artificial waterfall, artificial island, and large aquarium, and by arranging connecting bridges and trees suitable for each bird species to encourage active breeding and behavioral enrichment.

Additionally, artificial incubation rooms and indoor isolation rooms will be installed inside the expanded building to reduce unnecessary competition among individuals and ensure stable species preservation.

To prevent stress for the birds, viewing will be limited to certain sections, enhancing visitor immersion while providing a comfortable resting environment for the birds.

Previously, since 2016, Uchi Zoo has invested 7.1 billion KRW to improve the monkey enclosure, marine animal enclosure, leopard enclosure, reptile enclosure, small carnivore enclosure, and mouflon enclosure. In the future, the raptor and bear enclosures will also be renovated to establish the zoo as a representative ecological zoo in Korea.

Im Jin-taek, head of the Uchi Park Management Office, said, “We plan to improve animal welfare by renovating old animal enclosures to provide animals with environments similar to nature. We will do our best to create an ecological zoo where people and animals can coexist and interact.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.