Capital Campaign – Support Our Growth

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Under the leadership of Mike D. Thompson and Lee J. Styslinger III, volunteers and staff have raised over $11 million to date from businesses, foundations and individuals.

The Junior League of Birmingham-Hugh Kaul Children’s Zoo opened in August 2002, to record attendance of 15,000. Annual attendance has gone from 294,000 to 440,000.

The Children’s Zoo is designed around the Urban, Rural and Wild environs of Alabama. It is a place for all children to have fun and exciting experiences while learning about their natural environment through exposure to both wild and domestic animals that live in our state.

When the Children’s Zoo is completed, guests will leave the rural barn area and visit Grandma’s house and her backyard. Here they will see home-grown vegetables and an actual chicken coop and have the chance to feed the chickens or gather eggs. They will journey into the “wilds” of Alabama by going down a discovery trail scattered with wildflowers and native plants.

Children will see where a bear has been, and hear noises of nature, such as bees who may visit a nearby beehive. Wild turkeys will explore the woods near at Trapper’s Cabin, to be used by teachers to provide wildlife conservation information to their students. Children will use a hand-pump to get a cool drink of water. Bald eagles will soar overhead and skunk and opossum will seek food below. Bobcats, raccoons and a grey-horned owl will also be seen in neighboring habitats.

Continuing along the path, children will dig for the state’s fossils or see fish jumping in a nearby pond. Snakes will slither in a Plexi-glass globe, where the daring can look inside and be face to face with their fears! Otters and beavers will play in the water and along the shore of a large interactive exhibit that visitors can walk through. Once leaving this area, guests will enter the Wetlands area and journey along a boardwalk. Here they may see dragonflies or butterflies resting on cat-tails in the bog. Native and migrating birds will be heard as visitors depart their “wild” experience, and return to the comforts of Grandma’s house. They can play on a tractor and wait to hear Grandma clang a triangle bell and to call them in.

The Zoo will celebrate its 50th Birthday in 2005. The 50th Team was created to raise the remaining $5 million needed to complete the Alabama Wilds. The broad support of the community will help us realize these plans. Your donation will be instrumental in helping us meet our goal. For more information on how to make a donation, please contact Tery Young at 205.397.3856.