The River Otters at the Erie Zoo have a new home to splash and play around in. 

Zoo officials and members cut the ribbon at a special ceremony on Tuesday. 


As Roo Kojancie, the President and CEO of the Erie Zoo explained, "The otter exhibit has always been one of our most popular exhibits, everyone loves the otters, they are fun, they are engaging, energetic and playful."


The space is three times larger than their previous home and features grass, streams and pools. Brighid Doyle, a zoo visitor said, "The zoo is so fun for families and it's a great outing, we come here multiple times a week and we love that the otters are back and have this wonderful new exhibit."


Zoo officials said this otter exhibit is just one more step they are taking to regain accreditation. As Kojancie explained, "So as we work to regain accreditation, you will see more modernization efforts happen like this."


The Zoo is also working on upgrading a viewing area for their painted dog exhibits and their red panda home. Longtime zoo lovers hope that this new exhibit will also continue to bring in donors. Jeff Beach, the Chairman of Board for the Erie Zoo said, "Otters are always a big draw, so this is going to help with membership, admissions and we hope that they continue to see the improvements we are making, they will continue to step forward and provide us with funds and membership to keep us growing too."


What comes next after this expansion? Zoo officials said a new vet center is in the works. "That veterinarian center will bring together under one roof all the components of our excellent veterinary care, that c enter will include a surgery suite, recovery area, quarantine space and imaging suite", said Kojancie.


But until then, families will get to enjoy rive otters, Mimi and Max from all sorts of angles.

As far as events go, the Erie Zoo has their Wild Wednesdays for families to enjoy the zoo after hours, they also have their Felines and Wines event coming up, plus our own First Warning Weather Day.