Detroit Zoo visitors got their first look on May 22 at the Fred and Barbara Erb Discovery Trails, a seven-acre, $49 million addition that the zoo is pitching as a “new zoo within the zoo.” The new space opened in Royal Oak with stingray encounters, a barnyard play area and climbing features built for families.
For Heather England, the opening was more personal. She said she and her family had been waiting two years for the space, and she brought her son Bennett to see it as soon as it opened. “It’s a place where Bennett can run around, and he will grow with it,” she said, adding that the family comes to the detroit zoo about once a week and had been eagerly awaiting the new area because “it’s a place where he can be safe and meet other kids and be outside.”
The new attraction gives visitors a chance to pet southern and cownose stingrays in a stingray cove, along with white-spotted and brown-banded bamboo sharks. The cove holds 40 animals in all, and guests can pay extra to feed the stingrays sardines and shrimp. Nearby, the barnyard area includes chickens, miniature donkeys and alpacas, plus a “Farmer’s market” play space for younger children. A separate goat enclosure lets visitors pet and brush goats from elevated platforms, while the canopy trail adds overhead moving sections and the treetop crossing includes slides, platforms and climbing nets.
Dr. Hayley Murphy, the Detroit Zoological Society’s executive director and CEO, called the project a “new zoo within the zoo.” She said families will find a fun and engaging place and that the goal is for everyone to come and enjoy the space. The opening arrives after planning that dates to 2017 and a project delay during the pandemic, but it still is not the full buildout of the attraction.
More animal exhibits are due soon, including burrowing owls, returning prairie dogs, anteaters and a family of five bush dogs that includes two pups born on Mother’s Day. The Erb Family Foundation donated $6 million toward the Discovery Trails, which is named for Fred and Barbara Erb, longtime southeast Michigan residents, owners of Erb Lumber and philanthropists. Leslie Erb Liedtke said her parents would be so proud and said the family wanted to do something thoughtful and meaningful; for now, the new trails are open, but the next phase is what will show how much larger this new corner of the detroit zoo can become.
