Support Your Local Giraffe

The nearly century-old Sacramento Zoo in William Land Park is a local institution, home to 500 animals including a new celebrity: a baby giraffe born in January. But the animals and visitors are packed into an antiquated 14.7-acre site. Zoo director Jason Jacobs says the zoo desperately needs more elbow room.

BIG PLANS: The Sacramento Zoological Society is laying plans for a far larger and more modern zoo in Elk Grove, one that will offer visitors a “transformative” experience. Jacobs’ dream: Sacramento would boast the best zoo per acre in the United States, hosting 1 million visitors a year.

THE ASK: The nonprofit zoo society will need millions of dollars over time to make that happen. This year’s Big Day of Giving is a start, says Jacobs. Any contribution of any size helps, he adds. “We got $100,000 last year. We’d love to see it double this year.”

ZOO’S PITCH TO YOU: “Our region needs a new zoo that can care for populations of rare species as well as provide a unique and wonderful educational experience . . . helping foster a meaningful and inspiring connection with animals, and empathy and care in people.”

THE GIRAFFES: The zoo’s logo animal is suffering what biologists call a silent extinction in the wild.

“People aren’t aware,” Jacobs laments. The zoo’s plan is to highlight its giraffe herd and other herbivores as the centerpiece of the new zoo in a state-of-the-art savannahlike domain. “We want to inspire a million people a year to make a difference for the giraffes,” says Jacobs.

Chinese New Year story readings. The park also is looking for funds to diversify its theater program and to help care for its coterie of barnyard animals.

WHAT WON’T CHANGE: In one way, Fairytale Town remains adamantly un-modern. It is designed to be an escape from the digital world of computer screens and smartphones, and an oasis from adultorganized and directed activities. Here, children use their imaginations to create their own play experiences, partnering with playmates. Park director Kevin Smith-Fagan calls that type of play “advanced problem solving” that teaches kids skills they will use in the grown-up world.

A SERIOUS EDUCATION: Fairytale Town is, yes, whimsical, but don’t let that fool you. The education it offers is more relevant than ever, Smith-Fagan says. “This is a child development center. Kids create the narrative. It gives me hope the fundamentals of imagination and creativity are still hard-wired into our kids. Problem solving later in life comes from the ability to think novelly.”