2024 – Avian (Bird) Propagation Tour

Avian (Bird) Tour Overview

Tour Dates: March 9, September 28

Tour Time and Meeting Place: 9:45 a.m. Guests meet at the Stedman Education Building to board a private bus to the propagation area. The Stedman Building is the two-story glass and concrete building facing Lot D in the North American parking area.

Minimum Age: 10 years. A paying adult must accompany children younger than 18.

Tour Overview: This tour usually ends around 11 a.m. Guests go behind the scenes to visit the Zoo’s bird breeding facilities and see the rare, endangered, and educationally-valued birds housed in this non-public space. Zookeepers will discuss their role in breeding, managing, and training these. Tour-goers will help create some enrichment items to share with the birds encountered on the tour.
Tour participants are dropped off in the Junction Plaza inside the Zoo when their tour ends.

ADA Status: This tour is ADA-accessible, but the terrain around the propagation area is somewhat uneven. Please note mobility issues on the tour order form so that we can be prepared to assist guests if necessary.

Important Health and Safety Restrictions

Safety Notes: To accommodate the needs of our staff and guests, we limit the size of the group attending this tour to 8 people.

Guests may not approach or try to touch any of the Zoo’s birds unless invited to do so by an animal keeper. If animals are fed or touched as part of a tour, guides and keepers will explain how to interact with them without causing undo stress. We want to do all we can to keep everyone safe and to keep our animals comfortable and stress-free.
 
Current Health Requirements: Currently, this tour does not require guests to wear masks during the tour. However, the Zoo may need to implement some health measures (e.g., requiring guests to wear gloves) in the future if new or more serious medical hazards emerge to threaten the well-being of our animals, guests, or staff.

If we change the medical restrictions noted on the tour after selling tickets to the program, we will email ticketholders about these changes and will also report them in the following paragraph. Ticketholders who cannot accommodate these introduced changes can receive a full refund for their tour purchase or, if they prefer, may sign up for an alternate tour with acceptable health restrictions.

Original Health Requirements Are Unchanged: The Zoo Society has not adjusted any health requirements since first posting information on this tour.