Coming soon to the El Paso Zoo: Penguins

Penguins are coming soon to the El Paso Zoo.

EL Paso City Council voted on and approved a new penguin exhibit at the El Paso Zoo Tuesday.

The exhibit has been a long time coming; voters approved the creation of a penguin exhibit at the zoo as part of the 2012 Quality of Life Bond.

Now, City Council is ready to move forward with bringing a warm-weather penguin to the Sun City, approving a contract with Lyons / Zaremba Associates. The corporation describes itself as “one of the foremost leaders in the field of exhibit planning and design for aquariums,” according to its website.

Council is looking to bring the Magellanic penguin species to the zoo. They are found in South America and breed mostly on the coats of Chile and Argentina.

The proposed penguin exhibit includes an underwater viewing area and interactive spaces for the penguins.

The agenda item calls for the project to not exceed the cost of $492,723.