Wetlands Trail (completed)

The total revitalization of our Wetlands Trail, this beautiful 1/4 mile walking path through Rhode Island's most endangered habitat now includes interactive features aimed at encouraging visitors to engage with the natural world around them. These include a cedar bird blind, artists' easels, an exploration station and identification signs for the native plants and animals, designed to look like notes and sketches in the pages of a nature journal.
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Fabric of Africa (completed)

It’s an unforgettable experience in Africa with new and unique viewing opportunities that bring you closer to wildlife than ever before. Significant upgrades and renovations have been completed and include a brand new interpretive theme, major improvements to the giraffe and elephant habitats, as well as the addition of two new species to the area, wildebeests and African wild dogs.
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Veterinary Hospital (completed)

Behind-the-scenes, dramatic improvements to the Zoo include a much-needed, freestanding veterinary hospital for continued top-notch healthcare for our approximately 350 animals, including many threatened and endangered species. The new hospital, with 55% more square footage, will provide appropriate and separate facilities for each function of medical care, an expanded animal care center for sick and quarantined animals, a spacious state-of-the-art surgical suite and more.
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Hasbro’s Our Big Backyard

This new kind of children's zoo, opening in Summer 2012,  will offer families an experience unlike any other in the Zoo. Components will include Our House, an indoor activity space that will host everything from interactive story times and up-close animal encounters to birthday parties; The Backyard, an ultimate play space featuring three separate activity zones – The Creativity Corner, The Sticks & Stones Building Zone and The Drip Dry Water Garden; and Beyond the Fence, where visitors will “escape” through a hole in the fence to explore a trail teeming with wildlife like river otters, wild turkeys, great horned owls, lynx and porcupine. At the end of the trail will be the CVS Caremark All Kids Can Tree House, a fully accessible tree house where you’ll find activities to engage all your senses.
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North American Trail

A splendid new American bald eagle exhibit was opened in 2007 on the site of the old polar bear exhibit. This represented an important new addition to our collection of North American conservation success stories, which also includes red wolf and bison.

With the sustained regional economic downturn in the Rhode Island area, the Zoo’s leadership has concluded that construction of a new polar bear exhibit with significantly expanded indoor holding and outdoor space and a saltwater pool with costs ranging from $15 – 20 million, is not feasible.  Instead, in response to visitor demand for big cats, Zoo management is engaged in preliminary planning for a tiger exhibit. In addition, numerous new animals are being considered as exciting additions including but not limited to African red river hogs, king vultures, takins, venomous snakes, vampire bats, moose, additional monkeys and a walkthrough lorikeet exhibit where visitors can feed a flock of these colorful and playful birds.