© 2024 WVIK
Listen at 90.3 FM and 98.3 FM in the Quad Cities, 95.9 FM in Dubuque, or on the WVIK app!
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Niabi Zoo Opens

Niabi Zoo
Meerkats at Niabi Zoo in Coal Valley
Credit Niabi Zoo

Two months after the new season was supposed to begin, the Niabi Zoo in Coal Valley has opened. Starting Friday members are welcome to visit, and Saturday it'll open to the general public.

Zoo Director Lee Jackson says because of the pandemic some new rules are in effect:

- it will re-open at 25 per cent of its normal capacity,

- visitors to Niabi must sign up for tickets online, and can choose between either morning or afternoon - 9 am until noon, or noon to 3 pm,

- and face coverings are required for guests and staff.

In addition, hand washing and sanitation stations have been installed around the zoo, and visitors are asked to maintain social distancing. 

Jackson says there are are three, new outdoor exhibits, including a Eurasian Eagle Owl and the four fennec fox pups that were born earlier this year.

A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois.