{"id":103890,"date":"2025-12-21T16:04:35","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T16:04:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/103890\/"},"modified":"2025-12-21T16:04:35","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T16:04:35","slug":"santa-ana-zoo-unveils-rivers-edge-a-new-immersive-multi-species-exhibit-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/103890\/","title":{"rendered":"Santa Ana Zoo unveils River\u2019s Edge, a new immersive multi-species exhibit \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Santa Ana Zoo celebrated on Saturday, Dec. 20, the opening of River\u2019s Edge<\/a>, a new multi-species exhibit that officials called the largest and most complex project in the zoo\u2019s more than 70-year history.<\/p>\n

The celebration continues Sunday, Dec. 21, with a second day of free admission for Santa Ana residents.<\/p>\n

Construction on the roughly $8.6 million habitat began in 2022, replacing an aging exhibit with a modern space designed to prioritize animal comfort and well-being.<\/p>\n

Guest feedback has been \u201cvery positive\u201d in the short time the animals have been in the habitat, Santa Ana Zoo Director Ethan Fisher said. He said he overheard a visitor remark, \u201cWow, this is like Disneyland!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Children<\/p>\n

Children strain to get a look at an Asian small-clawed otter as it glides past them at the Santa Ana Zoo\u2019s new exhibit \u2014 River\u2019s Edge on Saturday, December 20, 2025. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Asian<\/p>\n

Asian small-clawed otters, Honey and Simon, are the center of attention as visitors to the Santa Ana Zoo watch them frolic on Saturday, December 20, 2025. The River\u2019s Edge exhibit just opened. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Visitors<\/p>\n

Visitors to the Santa Ana Zoo watch two of its newest residents, Asian small-clawed otters Honey and Simon, from a viewing deck on Saturday, December 20, 2025. They are part of the new River\u2019s Edge exhibit. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A spider monkey watches its human counterparts celebrate the opening of River\u2019s Edge, Santa Ana Zoo\u2019s newest exhibit on Saturday, December 20, 2025. The habitat is home to three species of monkeys and two Asian Small-clawed otters. The project cost $8.6 million.(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A golden lion tamarin monkey explores its new habitat at the Santa Ana Zoo on Saturday, December 20, 2025. River\u2019s Edge is the zoo\u2019s newest exhibit. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Metal<\/p>\n

Metal sculptures decorate the Santa Ana Zoo\u2019s new River\u2019s Edge exhibit that opened on Saturday, December 20, 2025.
\n(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An Asian small-clawed otter captivates visitors at the Santa Ana Zoo on Saturday, December 20, 2025. The new River\u2019s Edge exhibit just opened. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An Asian small-clawed otter tries out the furniture in its habitat and the Santa Ana Zoo\u2019s newest exhibit \u2014 River\u2019s Edge. It opened on Saturday, December 20, 2025. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Liana<\/p>\n

Liana Iwase, 2, gets a fleeting glimps of an Asian small-clawed otter at the Santa Ana Zoo\u2019s newest exhibit \u2014 River\u2019s Edge on Saturday, December 20, 2025. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A spider monkey watches its human counterparts celebrate the opening of River\u2019s Edge, Santa Ana Zoo\u2019s newest exhibit on Saturday, December 20, 2025. The habitat is home to three species of monkeys and two Asian Small-clawed otters. The project cost $8.6 million.(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Saturday,<\/p>\n

Saturday, December 20, 2025. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An Asian small-clawed otter captivates visitors at the Santa Ana Zoo on Saturday, December 20, 2025. The new River\u2019s Edge exhibit just opened. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Six-year-old<\/p>\n

Six-year-old Alice Vreeland of Costa Mesa, looks for Asian small-clawed otters inside the Santa Ana Zoo\u2019s newest exhibit \u2014 River\u2019s Edge on Saturday, December 20, 2025. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Liam<\/p>\n

Liam Ly, 2, meets a giant otter during Santa Ana Zoo\u2019s opening celebration of the River\u2019s Edge exhibit on
\nSaturday, December 20, 2025. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Santa<\/p>\n

Santa Ana councilmember David Penaloza, left, and his 2-year-old daughter, Penny, take part in the opening day celebration of the Santa Ana Zoo\u2019s new exhibit \u2014 River\u2019s Edge. Councilmember Phil Bacerra, center, and Mayor Valerie Amezcua, right, also took part on Saturday, December 20, 2025. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Asian<\/p>\n

Asian small-clawed otters, Honey and Simon, hang out in their habitat at the Santa Ana Zoo\u2019s newest exhibit \u2014 River\u2019s Edge. It opened on Saturday, December 20, 2025. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 16<\/p>\n

Children strain to get a look at an Asian small-clawed otter as it glides past them at the Santa Ana Zoo\u2019s new exhibit \u2014 River\u2019s Edge on Saturday, December 20, 2025. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

The habitat includes an overhead treetop trail system for three monkey species: black howler monkeys, golden lion tamarins and spider monkeys. An underwater viewing area lets visitors watch the zoo\u2019s Asian small-clawed otters. The otters are considered the smallest and most social of the 13 otter species.<\/p>\n

Later, they will be replaced by giant river otters from South America, one of the largest otter species. The otters are coming to the zoo through an exchange program with a European zoo, but there was a delay.<\/p>\n

And, at least two monkey species were transferred to the exhibit from other zoos through a similar cooperative breeding and management program for threatened and endangered animals. Fisher said the zoo was able to participate because it recently regained full accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, a milestone the zoo recently celebrated.<\/a><\/p>\n

The independent, nonprofit association sets the standards for zoos and aquariums across the country and globally. The accreditation, which the city-owned zoo had lost in 2017<\/a>, signifies Santa Ana now meets its rigorous standards for animal care, veterinary services, facility safety, and financial health. The new River\u2019s Edge exhibit helped with the reaccreditation.<\/p>\n

The habitat\u2019s stars are nine rescued spider monkeys \u2014 eight juveniles less than a year old and one adult, which has been integrated into the group to help the young, orphaned \u201cspiders\u201d develop natural behaviors. Many of the monkeys were victims of illegal wildlife trafficking from Mexico and Central America and are part of the zoo\u2019s conservation efforts.<\/p>\n

River\u2019s Edge is one of several upgrades underway at the Santa Ana Zoo,<\/a> which has also been able to increase its staffing. \u00a0Since 2021, approximately $24 million has gone toward completed upgrades and ongoing projects, Fisher said previously. The zoo received about $8 million in state and private funding. Another $1.6 million was raised by the Friends of Santa Ana Zoo Foundation, with the rest covered by city funding.<\/p>\n

Educational activity stations are available during the grand opening weekend. Residents 18 or older must show a current ID with a Santa Ana address, or an old ID along with a current utility bill showing a Santa Ana address.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Santa Ana Zoo celebrated on Saturday, Dec. 20, the opening of River\u2019s Edge, a new multi-species exhibit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103891,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,7,179,23,611,338,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-103890","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-anaheim","8":"tag-anaheim","9":"tag-anaheim-headlines","10":"tag-anaheim-news","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-community","13":"tag-local-news","14":"tag-orange-county","15":"tag-santa-ana","16":"tag-top-stories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}