~Riddelle

On Friday April 4th the North Carolina Zoo celebrated the ribbon cutting for the new Watani Grasslands exhibit. The exhibit features a renovated grassland area that is to be optimized for the breeding of elephants and rhinos. The exhibit opened publicly the following Saturday, but the ribbon cutting was great. I was required to attend the event and cover the story; in the long run, it was worth it. Although it was a dreary day, and rather damp with the constant threat of rain, the overall effect turned out great. The exhibit itself features a "Tracking Station" filled with information on wild elephants. The tracking station has video interactions, a donation fund, and is filled with hands on and visual examples. In the center of the tracking center is a helicopter for the public to amuse themselves with. You can sit in it and take some rather interesting pics, and it even has a big red button *w*
There is also an elephant tracking collar on display. Imagine an electric dog collar that fits around a minivan ._.;;
The best part of the exhibit is that the elephant tracking center allows you to watch the elephants while they're in training. You get to be really close and watch the elephants act silly and give the trainers a hard time. And soon there will even be baby elephants and baby rhinos <3