Brevard Zoo

One of the major attractions in the Melbourne area is the Brevard County Zoo.  Opened in 1984 after the local community raised 3.5 million dollars, the zoo now houses over 600 animals in over 120 animal exhibits.  These include the Red Wolf, White Rhinoceroses, Cheetahs, Giraffes and of course – all kinds of water animals.  Not content to stay as is, the zoo continues to grow and develop.  In fact, they’ve recently made several very exciting announcements.

The brand new meerkat exhibit is now open!  This exhibit, called the Meerkat Hamlet, has lots of tunnels for these burrowing creatures.  Meerkats live in underground warrens and have a pretty complex and active social life with each other.  Kids of all ages love to watch the meerkats stand on their hind legs, scurry through their tunnels and play with each other.  In fact, the kids can now crawl through their own tunnel and watch the meerkats as they move around underground. Following a name-the-meerkat contest, the alpha male is now known as Jasper, while the alpha female is known as Kiki.  And the best news of all: Kiki is thought to be pregnant!