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It's All Happening at the Zoo: Giants of Savanna Breaks out the Hard Hat

So, yes, maybe you've heard by now: Things have been busy behind the scenes at the Dallas Zoo. Construction has been underway on that much-ballyhooed 11-acre attraction, $32-million Giants of the Savanna habitat, which Park and Rec director Paul Dyer talked to us about way back in August 2008, in...

By Spike Johnson

March 12, 2010

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So, yes, maybe you've heard by now: Things have been busy behind the scenes at the Dallas Zoo. Construction has been underway on that much-ballyhooed 11-acre attraction, $32-million Giants of the Savanna habitat, which Park and Rec director Paul Dyer talked to us about way back in August 2008, in the heat of the battle over Jenny the Elephant. The habitat, of course, will house elephants, giraffes, lions and cheetahs.

Zoo officials, who gave media a sneak peek yesterday, want zoo-goers to think of this as a wild-safari adventure in the shadow of downtown. More than that, though, it's intended as a tourist attraction: Officials like to tout the involvement of top horticulturists, wildlife specialists and zoologists.

None of that, of course, will endear the Dallas Zoo to the friends of Jenny; we've already received a handful of letters from elephant lovers complaining about the addition of two new elephants to what they claim is still a woefully inadequate space.

The exhibit is set to open Memorial Day weekend. See more photos from the advance tour here.

Spike Johnson

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