Official Ribbon Cutting for the New Cerrado Aviaries at the Charles Paddock Zoo!

The City of Atascadero and the Charles Paddock Zoo are pleased to announce the new addition of the Cerrado Aviaries Exhibit that we will celebrate on Saturday, January 18th at 3:30 pm with an official ribbon cutting! A special thank you to the Atascadero Lakeside Wine Festival Committee and the Friends of the Charles Paddock Zoo for bringing this exhibit to life!

The new aviary exhibit will house Hyacinth macaws and Toco toucans! The Zoo’s Hyacinth macaws were former pets and are a bonded pair. These beautiful blue parrots are the largest of the macaws and are an endangered species. The large colorful bill of the Toco toucan is recognizable throughout the world and this spectacular species are the largest of the toucans. The Zoo has a beautiful breeding pair.

The Cerrado biodiverse hotspot sits just below the Amazon rainforest, and covers a total area of 2 million square kilometers, taking up one fifth of Brazil, and with the capital, Brasilia, at its heart. This grassland biome is the largest Savanna in South America. With over 4,800 species of endemic plants and vertebrates, the Cerrado is one of the largest biodiversity hotspots in the world. The region’s biodiversity is an integral environmental resource for the survival, traditions, and livelihood of the local communities. Hyacinth macaws and Toco toucans are just two of the many bird species found in the Cerrado – the toucans spread the seeds of the trees the Hyacinth macaws use to nest in!

The Charles Paddock Zoo specializes in animals present in biodiversity hotspots. Around the world, biodiversity hotspots represent just 2.5% of Earth’s land surface, but they support nearly half of all bird, mammal, reptile, and amphibian species that are found nowhere else on Earth. The Zoo’s hot spot habitats are an opportunity to learn about the different species that inhabit hot spots and why biodiversity is so important to us all. As part an accredited Zoo of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Charles Paddock Zoo is dedicated to the conservation of endangered species.

Over 300 animals call the Charles Paddock Zoo home, including red pandas, monkeys, fossa, meerkats, parrots, a Malayan Tiger, a variety of reptiles and more.

The Charles Paddock Zoo is open daily and located at Atascadero Lake Park on Hwy 41/Morro Road, one mile west of Hwy 101. For information, go to www.charlespaddockzoo.org or call (805) 461-5080.