SANTA ANA : Zoo ‘Amazon’s Edge’ Project Is Underway

City officials, with the help of two colorful South American parrots named Lou and Pedro, on Thursday kicked off the Santa Ana Zoo’s “Amazon’s Edge” project, which will create a simulated riverbank teeming with howler monkeys and other exotic animals.

“This is Santa Ana’s best-kept secret, this little zoo right here. And I hope that with this project, the secret’s going to be out of the bag,” said Councilwoman Patricia A. McGuigan at a groundbreaking ceremony.

The project is the first part of an ambitious, 10-year, $10-million expansion program intended to transform the zoo into a showcase for South American animals. Although the 21-acre zoo will not increase in size, its animal population will double to about 600.

“We chose the South American theme because we have such marvelous zoos around us,” said zoo Director Ron Glazier. “We decided to make our own little niche. South America is really a good choice for zoos because South America has such a wide variety of habitats (and) a lot of animals that the public doesn’t always get to see.”

The $800,000 Amazon project will open by late next summer, Glazier said. When complete, it will feature a large, simulated riverbank populated with howler monkeys and capybaras--large, semiaquatic rodents that can weigh up to 100 pounds. Later exhibits will emphasize natural environment over plain cages and will include llamas, jaguars, parrots, penguins, macaws and monkeys.

During the groundbreaking ceremony, Glazier and a double-yellow-headed South American parrot named Pedro entertained the crowd with a brief series of questions and answers about the zoo, in which the bird often strayed from the script. For example, instead of answering Glazier’s repeated question, “Do we have goats?” with an imitation of a goat, Pedro remained silent for a while and then burst into a sing-song “La-la-la-la-la-la-la.”

City Manager David N. Ream said he was pleased to see the project, which was conceived in 1984, spring to life. “If you look at the city as a department store, this is the toy department, and this is where you want to be,” he said.