N.C. Zoo starts its summer hours, opens new Birds in Flight exhibit this weekend
This weekend, the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro will tack on an hour to its daily schedule as it makes its annual move to summer hours and open a new exhibit that it hopes will draw crowds.
Starting in April, the zoo will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., daily. (It's open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., from November to March.) New this season will be Birds in Flight, an outdoor experience featuring exotic birds from around the world.
Birds in Flight will debut this weekend, starting Friday, March 30, and will run daily through Oct. 31. Performances are at 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on weekends and holidays, and 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on weekdays. The fee to see the show is $3 plus regular zoo admission. It's designed for all ages.
Designed by avian expert
The show is produced by Animal Behavior and Conservation Connections with the recognized avian trainer and expert Phung Luu, who was recently featured on the “Today” show performing with a few members of his flock, according to the zoo.
“We are thrilled to bring our guests up close and personal with this amazing show,” said Pat Simmons, the zoo’s director, in a press release. “It’s high-energy, educational and features beautiful exotic birds flying overhead and interacting with guests. And the timing of bringing this program to the North Carolina Zoo couldn’t be better.”
The National Geographic Society is marking 2018 as the Year of the Bird. It celebrates the centennial of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the most influential and important bird-protection law ever passed, according to the release.
“There’s a quote from the noted biologist, Thomas Lovejoy, that speaks to the importance of birds in our ecosystem,” Simmons said in the press release “He said, ‘If you take care of birds, you take care of most of the environmental problems in the world.’”
See birds soar inches away
As part of Birds in Flight, zoo visitors will see majestic macaws, sun conures, falcons, hawks, vultures and owls up close as the birds soar by just inches away, demonstrating natural behaviors and aerial acrobatics under the open sky.
The show has previously played to rave reviews at the Bronx Zoo, Philadelphia Zoo and the Birmingham Zoo.
“The North Carolina Zoo has always been a place where guests can learn about and connect with animals from around the world,” said Susi H. Hamilton, secretary of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, in a press release. “We’re always excited when a new attraction opens, especially one like this that allows our visitors to have a more interactive, up-close experience.”
Another record year?
The zoo in Asheboro, about 90 minutes from the Triangle, has been setting attendance records in recent years thanks to opening new exhibits each spring.
In 2018, the zoo set a new attendance record with 860,148 guests. The previous mark was 840,410, set in 1994, according to the Asheboro zoo.
The zoo's Zoofari, an open-air safari ride, and Air Hike, an outdoor ropes course, which opened a couple of years ago, have helped to boost the zoo's attendance numbers. In 2017, the zoo also opened its dragonfly paddle boats, letting guests float along the zoo's North America Lake. They will reopen in April.
