Cheers To Five Years March 29 at Al. G.C. Zoo

Cheers To Five Years March 29 at Al. G.C. Zoo

The Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo will celebrate its fifth anniversary in its current County Rd. 6 location on March 29 from 6-9 p.m. by hosting a Cheers To Five Years party featuring fine wines, whiskeys, and delicious bites. Zoo staff will accompany patrons through on strolls through the zoo campus with animal meet and greets, training demonstrations, music, and an incredible silent auction.
The Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo has been an honored tradition for families, near and far, and animal lovers of all ages for over 36 years. Your support will continue this legacy in our community for years to come. Citizen support of Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo is home to more than 300 animals. Your support provides continual care and enrichment to all of the animals who call it home. More info: algulfcoastzoo.org.

Pictured: Chucky was national news during Ivan

During the early morning hours of Sept. 16, 2004, Hurricane Ivan made a direct hit on Gulf Shores. The storm flooded the zoo in downtown Gulf Shores and spawned the television series “The Little Zoo That Could.’’ But it was Chucky, its 11-foot, 1,000-pound alligator, that captured the national media’s attention.
Chucky floated out of his enclosure as the water rose and his whereabouts were unknown for five days. He was eventually located and captured in swamp lands on zoo property near Gulf State Park with help from an alligator retrieval team from Gatorland in Orlando, Gulf Shores Police and Alabama State Troopers and placed in what was a bear’s former den while his pond was repaired.
The zoo’s longest and oldest resident, Chucky is estimated to be in his late forties, Chucky now enjoys life in his new exhibit at the zoo’s reptile house.
Zooland Animal Park opened in June 1989 as a private enterprise by Gulf Shores native and entrepreneur Joey Ward. In 1991, the Ward family formed The Zoo Foundation to operate the park as a non-profit, and in 2000, it was renamed the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo.