Toledo Zoo: It all began with one woodchuck

Carl Hildebrand was a furniture dealer in Toledo, Ohio who had a woodchuck and an idea.

It seems that the combination of a woodchuck and a furniture store was not a good idea, as Hildebrand's woodchuck had a habit of snacking on the merchandise.

However, Hildebrand knew that Toledo's Park Board wanted to start a small zoo in a city park and decided donating his woodchuck to the cause was a much better idea.

Who knew that a single woodchuck displayed at a city park in 1900 would lead to the development of today's 74-acre Toledo Zoo, which is home to over 8200 animals representing over 730 different species?

I remember being one of more than one million people visiting the Toledo Zoo when it hosted the visit of a pair of Giant Pandas from China in 1988, but visiting the zoo last month showed me how much has changed since my last visit...and how many of the zoo's historic features remain as integral to the zoo.

I strolled along the Tembo Trail, opened in May of this year, which includes enlarged quarters for their African Elephants and a large covered overlook where visitors can see the zoo's elephants without gazing through fences.

Lucas

I got a good look at the zoo's newest elephant, Baby Lucas (born in June 2011 and named for residents in the zoo's home county) before continuing along the Tembo Trail to check out other zoo residents like rhinos, lions, otters and pretty much see eye-to-eye with one of the zoo's hippos as it swam in a specially designed aquarium.

During the 1980s, zoos began constructing exhibits that provided the zoo's animals with more natural habitats without iron-barred cages and visitors with a better idea of how animals actually lived in the wild. The Toledo Zoological Association assumed ownership and operation of the zoo from the city at that time and began modernizing the exhibits like the zoo's Hippoquarium, which was a world first when it opened in 1986.

Riding the Safari Railway is another great way to get a closer look at the Zoo's African animals living in the zoo's 5-acre savanna. The 20-minute train ride includes a narrated tour about the animals and their habitat as the train slowly circles the savanna.

As wowed as I was by the animals and the zoo's newer exhibits, the architecture geek in me couldn't help but noticing some beautiful 1930s-era buildings and art on the grounds.

I learned that the zoo has one of the largest collections of Works Progress Administration (WPA) buildings in a single location.

The WPA gave employed many Toledo-area residents constructing public works projects that remain in use today and give places like the zoo a uniquely historic character. The zoo's WPA buildings include the Reptile House, Museum of Science, Aviary and Aquarium, as well as a large Amphitheatre. They are especially distinctive with their Spanish- and Moorish-influences that give a nod to Toledo's Spanish name.

Reptile House

The zoo continues to care for, and carefully renovate and restore, the WPA buildings. The 1939-built Aquarium closes to the public next month for a $25.5 million renovation to modernize and expand the interior exhibits while restoring the building's exterior largely unaltered. The aquarium has a planned reopening date of April 2015.

There are also sculptures, murals and other art scattered throughout the zoo and done under the auspices of the 1930s Federal Art Project like a beautiful dolphin fountain created by artist Arthur Cox in 1935. Several of the murals done by FAP artists fell victim to a 1970s redecoration at the zoo, although FAP artist Woody LaPlante returned to the zoo in later years to help restore some of the destroyed murals that he originally did for the zoo in the 1930s.

Arthur Cox dolphin fountain

The Toledo Zoo is open every day except for Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day and draws an average of 875,000 visitors every year.

Winter offers a real bargain for visitors as admission is half price during November, December, January and February.

Save $1 off of each zoo admission ticket by ordering them on the zoo's Web site.

Can't make it to the zoo right away? Check out the zoo's Web cams for a peek at the elephants, hippos, polar bears, primates, seals and leafcutter ants.

For a look at the Amphitheatre and other Depression-era architecture in Toledo, check out Toledo: A History in Architecture 1914 to Century's End by William Speck.

Thanks to Xanterra Parks and Resorts, Maumee Bay State Park Lodge and Destination Toledo CVB, which provided lodging, meals and a tour of Toledo-area activities for my review during my most recent visit to Maumee Bay, with no further compensation. I was free to express my own opinions about my stay and experiences, and the opinions expressed here are mine.