INASLA Takes a Trip to the Zoo!

On the afternoon of April 23 a small group of INASLA members braved the cold to take a behind the scenes tour of the Indianapolis Zoo and Botanical Gardens. We began by meeting our tour guide Abby McCoy who gave us a brief overview of the botanical garden and zoo setup. Then we began the event by visiting White River Gardens. We were allowed to explore for a few minutes before being introduced to one of the horticulturists that care for the botanical gardens.

We visited the gardens a week late, as many of the spring bulbs had already flowered and had been removed, but we were able to catch a couple of tulip masses while we were there.

As the horticulturist lead us through the gardens she gave us an idea of what her daily routine is like, what her responsibilities are when it comes to design and renovation and some of her favorite plant species. It was really interesting to hear how attached the horticulture staff gets to their plantings!

Another interesting face is that the entire White River Gardens area is taken care of by only two full time people. During the height of summer a few other seasonal employees are on hand, but for the most part there are only two people there day in and day out.

After the seeing the botanical gardens we were lead through the zoo grounds and got a chance to see the different areas of the zoo. We even were lucky enough to see the Cheetah exhibit that hasn't even been open to the public.

Interesting fact #2 that we learned on our tour- many times when the zoo has trees that need to be removed, they simply hitch their elephant to the tree and ask them to walk. So much simpler then renting equipment, cutting it down and then dealing with a stump!

In addition to seeing all of the interesting plant material, and the interesting ways the material is used a true highlight of the trip was being able to see the animals in a way that many people don't get a chance to. The zoo was nearly empty when we there so it was much easier to imagine the animals in their native habitat. The animals must have been at ease too because we happened upon the walrus's during an intimate moment.

The tour was great, and it was very valuable to hear a different viewpoint on design and maintenance. We hope to be able to bring additional tour possibilities to our membership later this year!