"He is nervous," zoo curator Rowland Gravel said of his newest charge. ''It'll take a few days for him to settle down."
Gravel, a former curator at the Southwick Zoo in Mendon, Mass., has worked at Animal Kingdom since February.
Open to the public since 1988, the zoo has undergone a $120,000 renovation this year in the hope of drawing more visitors and boosting flagging sales at its pet store, until recently Animal Kingdom's main source of income.
In addition to larger cages and better maintained grounds, the zoo is planning to open an educational center next spring to inform visitors about endangered species, threats to the South American rain forest and other zoological concerns.
"Education is a big part of the thing, too," said Gravel, his baritone accented by a New England lilt. "Whether it's a private zoo or public, they educate the public."
The zoo's main attraction remains its population of 350 creatures, ranging
from coyotes and cockatoos to the more exotic: antelope, a zebra and, of course, the giraffes. It also boasts a dozen varieties of primates, including baboons, marmosets and three subspecies of lemurs.
Animal Kingdom is notable not only for its residents but also for its owner, controversial horse trainer Burton Sipp.
Sipp gained notoriety in racehorse circles during an approximately 20-year career for incurring numerous fines and citations. Among other things, he allegedly administered a prohibited painkiller to a horse before a race and entered horses in races for which they were ineligible.
His horse-training career came to an abrupt halt in 1984 when he was suspended indefinitely by the New Jersey State Racing Commission after being indicted by a Burlington County grand jury for insurance fraud.
