Giraffes, hippos and rhinos have new digs at the Fort Worth Zoo

In what was once mostly a Forest Park soccer field, giraffes, hippos and rhinos now roam.

The Fort Worth Zoo debuted its new 10-acre African Savanna exhibit on Thursday, complete with underwater hippo viewing, southern black rhinos, an exotic bird aviary and and a new playground for meerkats.

Once all the animals get settled the biggest attraction will likely be the giraffes since visitors will actually be allowed to feed them.

On Thursday, the giraffes were still a little shy but the zoo's staff say they'll warm up to the idea.

For Ramona Bass, co-chair of the Fort Worth Zoological Association's board of directors, the opening was worth an exclamation of "we did it" with Ardon Moore, the board's president and Michael Fouraker, the zoo's executive director.

The seeds for the $35 million African Savanna were planted nearly three decades ago and the idea was not without controversy.

It came at a time when the zoo's footprint into Forest Park was expanding and many neighbors weren't pleased. The Star-Telegram archives mention a desire for an African savanna exhibit as far back as 1987 when the zoo was still managed by the city.

"We really started thinking about an African Savanna 25 years ago In '91," Bass said. "When the zoo was privatized, the city so generously gave us the soccer field. That was our dream to do an African Savanna here but we weren't ready. We did Texas Wild. We did MOLA (Museum of Living Art). We did all that and so now we can finally use the soccer field and I think it's a pretty cool way to use it."

The African Savana is the first phase of a $100 million renovation of four major exhibits at the zoo. One new exhibit will be added every two years for the next six years. All of the money was raised through private donations, said zoo spokeswoman Alexis Wilson.

Elephant Springs comes next followed by a new predator exhibit in six years, then a forest and jungle enclosure for orangutans and jaguars two years later.

When the new predator exhibit opens, it will be impossible to miss.

"You're going to walk into the zoo and face predators," Bass said.

The Fort Worth Zoo consistently ranks as one of the top zoos in the country. Last year, it ranked 4th on USA Today's Best Zoo list.

The African Savanna exhibit helps continue the zoo's breeding program for the southern black rhino and Bass hopes that conservation message reaches visitors who come to the zoo to help save animals near extinction in the wild.

This story was originally published April 19, 2018 at 4:59 PM with the headline "Giraffes, hippos and rhinos have new digs at the Fort Worth Zoo."