Giant Porpucine Graces Grand Opening Of San Diego Zoo’s Wildlife Explorers Basecamp

Hundreds of giggling, mesmerized LA-area schoolchildren witnessed the spectacular unveiling of a massive two-story world record-sized porcupine created by Jim Henson’s famed Glendale-based Creature Shop—creator of The Muppets—to herald next week’s unveiling of Denny Sanford’s Wildlife Explorers Basecamp in San Diego to bring guests of all ages closer to nature in heretofore unimagined ways.

Photo Insert: Percy the porcupine

The enthralled audience nestled in the sprawling Elysian Fields near Dodger Stadium were treated to a visit by a special menagerie of visitors from Wildlife Explorers Basecamp including alligators, African Bullfrogs, Owls, Kangaroos, Sloths, and chirping birds. Those friends represented a glimpse of the trove of wildlife from all over the planet that guests will encounter at the spectacular new attraction.

Percy the porcupine, on his journey to Basecamp’s highly anticipated unveiling next week, sensed the presence of his favorite treats of bananas and yams. Six months in the planning, the lovingly imposing “creature” took 1,000 hours of labor to construct (25 workweeks), enough gallons of paint coating the quills to paint a house, and a big lovable pink nose the size of a small car.

“Our goal was figuratively and literally to make the ‘point’ that there is no experience like this anywhere on earth,” said David Miller, chief marketing officer of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. “What better way than with a gigantic prehensile porcupine with 2,000 quills?”

With over three acres of adventures, Wildlife Explorers Basecamp is divided into four types of habitats featuring the wildlife that live in these areas—Rainforest, Wild Woods, Marsh Meadows, and Desert Dunes. Admission for Basecamp is included with admission to the San Diego Zoo.

The Rainforest area of Basecamp is centered around the 10,000-square-foot McKinney Family Spineless Marvels building featuring arachnids, a coconut crab habitat, and a real-life beehive with a larger-than-life honeycomb inviting young guests to become the bee. And at the neighboring Rady Ambassadors Headquarters guests will encounter a range of animals from all over the planet, including a two-toed sloth and a prehensile-tailed porcupine.

Wild Woods is an area for wildlife species including coatis and features the impressive Prebys Foundation Discovery Bridge and a 20-foot-tall structure designed to look like an ancient oak tree. This dynamic nature-play tree structure offers multiple points of access for guests—from a suspension bridge and net tunnel to a spiral staircase in the middle—and provides a parallel-play experience. Water-play extends into this woodland-themed area with a waterfall grotto and splash pad, water jets, and a stream—plus, a bluff area with a boulder scramble at the side for exploration.

Marsh Meadows is designed with an array of plant life, strategically designed to replicate marsh habitats and highlight how beautiful and important marshes are to the health of our waterways and planet. An outdoor watery habitat, pathways include silhouettes of kid-size frogs and fish to help convey the idea that guests are inhabiting the marsh along with the wildlife that live here.

Included in this area is the Art and Danielle Engel Cool Critters building—a two-storey herpetology and ichthyology structure that offers 7,000 square feet of immersive environments, digital media, learning opportunities, and educational classroom spaces created to engage guests of all ages. The wildlife here includes snakes, amphibians, crocodilians, turtles, and lizards, including endangered Fijian iguanas.

Desert Dunes, a dry desert wash-themed area, takes center stage in this part of Wildlife Explorers Basecamp, with boulder play opportunities for climbing, scrambling, hopping, and more. Hidden reptile sculptures and petroglyphs can be found among the rocks and cool caves that offer shaded areas for guests to beat the heat, like their desert wildlife counterparts—including the fennec fox, prairie dog, and burrowing owl.

The public ribbon-cutting ceremony to open Wildlife Explorers Basecamp will take place on Friday, March 11, 2022, hosted by Paul A. Baribault, president and chief executive officer of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.

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