The plaque on the entrance to the new exhibit, “the Islands of Southeast Asia” at the Columbus Zoo reads, “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika.” Translated these words mean “Unity in diversity” or “We are of many kinds, but we are one.”
The ribbon cutting for the exhibit was held Friday, which was also the Buddhist holiday Wesak. Wesak occurs on the day of the full moon in May and is a celebration of the birth, death and enlightenment of Buddha.
The birth of the new exhibit was the reason for celebration at the zoo.
“This is a wonderful new addition for the zoo,” said Jerry Borin, the zoo’s executive director.
Visitors are immersed by the sights and sounds of Indonesian architecture and music. “The Islands” is the third of its kind to be what Borin calls a ‘zoogeographic region.’ The first two were North America followed by the African Forest exhibits; an Australian exhibit is scheduled to open next spring.
“It’s going to be a service to the community for years to come,” Borin said.
The $8.3 million installation took 18 months to build and features eight different species of animals.
“This exhibit is part of the zoo’s master plan,” Borin said. “This is another step we took in going forward to make us the No. 1 zoo in the U.S.”
Animals featured include orangutans, Asian small-clawed otters and white-handed gibbons.
“In the exhibit all animals are part of a management survival plan, which means they need our help,” said Lisa Beebe, special events coordinator.
Animals come from breeding programs from other zoos or are orphaned and in need of special care.
“A lot of caring for the animals here is part of caring for the animals in the wild,” Beebe said.
Habitats for the Komodo dragons and white handed gibbons are designed so the creatures can be viewed indoors and outdoors.
“The Islands” features a boat ride that transports passengers around the exhibit. The boats were designed to look like Indonesian water taxis. Passengers are in for a wet ride thanks to a squirting device controlled by the two orangutans, a male and a female, in a tower perch.
The boats seat eight and cost is $2 for the five- to seven-minute ride. The boat was not operational on the day of the opening but is expected to be running in a week, Borin said.
Beebe expects the exhibit to be very busy. The manatee exhibit, which opened three years ago, had long lines of visitors waiting to get in when it first opened, she said.
On hand for the ribbing cutting were Reps. Linda Reidelbach, R-Columbus, and Jim Hughes, R-Columbus, Delaware County Commissioner Jim Ward and Franklin County Commissioner Dewey Stokes. Zoo characters Manny the Manatee and Sydney the Koala made appearances as well.
