Busch Gardens Tampa

The Royal Treatment with King Julien

Lauren Skowyra — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:17:54 +0000

There's a new dining experience at Busch Gardens Tampa: The Royal Treatment with King Julien. Enjoy an all-you-care-to-eat Lunch with your family at the Zambia Smokehouse. Then it’s over to Stanleyville Theater with King Julien himself.

Enjoy priority seating for “Madagascar Live! Operation Vacation.” After the show, guests of this dining experience get the first opportunity for on-stage meet-and-greets with the Madagascar characters.

Lunch menu includes:
Sliced beef brisket, BBQ chicken, BBQ pork ribs, turkey sandwich wrap, chicken nuggets, steamed veggies, mac & cheese, baked beans, raw carrots with ranch, tossed salad, oranges, strawberries, grapes, dinner roll, bread pudding, cupcakes, soda and iced tea.

Price: Adults $25 / Children (3-9) $15. Children under 3 are free! Pass member discount applies.

Book Now!

Celebrate the Premiere of Madagascar Live! Operation: Vacation with a Weekend of Unique Experiences

Lauren Skowyra — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:00:37 +0000

Busch Gardens' newest live stage show “Madagascar Live! Operation: Vacation” premieres May 18 in Stanleyville Theater. Party along the characters from DreamWorks Animation’s hit Madagascar franchise, including Alex the Lion, Gloria the Hippo and King Julien on a vacation adventure at Busch Gardens Tampa.To celebrate the arrival of the laugh-out-loud, high-energy family show, the Tampa park will host a premiere party weekend on May 18 and 19, complete with on-the-hour dance parties and meet and greets, in addition to the show’s premiere.

The lively stage show encourages families to sing, clap and dance along to original songs and party favorites on a 20-minute musical adventure. Singers, dancers and a live band join the rollicking Madagascar characters as they amp up the party to full throttle. And as part of each show, guests can meet the characters following the performance in Stanleyville Theater, which has been renovated and is now an enclosed and air-conditioned theater.

PARKWIDE PREMIERE PARTY

The excitement will extend beyond Stanleyville Theater during opening weekend. Guests can join dancers and DJs throughout the park – in Stanleyville, Gwazi and Cheetah Hunt plazas – for a chance to dance every hour on May 18 and 19. There also will be unique opportunities to encounter animals all weekend long, offering guests yet another way to enjoy the variety and excitement that Busch Gardens offers.

FIREWORKS

Saturday night only, Gwazi field will remain open thirty minutes after park closing for more character meet and greets from 8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and a special fireworks presentation at 8:30 p.m.

JACK HANNA

Plus, internationally known animal expert Jack Hanna will share animal facts and his travel tales during shows at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. each day of the premier weekend in Gwazi Park. “Jungle Jack” Hanna will follow each show with autograph signings and audience meet and greets.

Hanna is a best known as the as the star of the Emmy Award-winning television series “Jack Hanna’s Into the Wild,” in which he invites audiences to join him on his expeditions around the globe. During his travels, Hanna shares with millions of viewers his insights into the protection and conservation of some of our planet’s most precious and endangered species. His hands-on approach has won him widespread acclaim as conservationist, author, television personality and lifelong adventurer.

We hope to see you during Premiere Party Weekend, May 18 and 19!

Enjoy this and all our other events with an annual pass.

Buy an annual pass today: easy monthly payments as low as $12.41.

Share the Mothers' Day Love from Busch Gardens Tampa

Lauren Skowyra — Thu, 09 May 2013 20:44:27 +0000

We know our Busch Gardens Tampa guests and pass members are very active on social media. After all, it's the best way to share great photos -- especially those of our cute animals! We've created these Mothers' Day images for you to do just that: Share! If you're on Pinterest, pin these images to your pin boards and share the Mothers' Day love. Happy Mothers' Day from Busch Gardens Tampa!

Busch Gardens to Celebrate the Opening of Madagascar Live! Operation: Vacation with a Weekend of Unique Experiences

Lauren Skowyra — Mon, 06 May 2013 20:56:46 +0000

Busch Gardens Tampa’s newest live stage show “Madagascar Live! Operation: Vacation” premieres on May 18 in Stanleyville Theater. Guests will party along the characters from DreamWorks Animation’s hit Madagascar franchise, including Alex the Lion, Gloria the Hippo and King Julien on a vacation adventure at Busch Gardens Tampa.

To celebrate the arrival of the laugh-out-loud, high-energy family show, the Tampa park will host a premiere party weekend on May 18 and 19, complete with on-the-hour dance parties and meet and greets, in addition to the show’s premiere.

PARKWIDE PREMIERE PARTY

The energy and excitement will extend beyond Stanleyville Theater during opening weekend. Guests can join dancers and DJs throughout the park – in Stanleyville, Gwazi and Cheetah Hunt plazas – for a chance dance every hour on May 18 and 19.
There also will be unique opportunities to encounter animals all weekend long, offering guests yet another way to enjoy the variety and excitement that Busch Gardens offers. Saturday night only, Gwazi field will remain open thirty minutes after park closing for more character meet and greets from 8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and a special fireworks presentation at 8:30 p.m.
Plus, internationally known animal expert Jack Hanna will share animal facts and his travel tales during shows at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. each day of the premier weekend in Gwazi Park. “Jungle Jack” Hanna will follow each show with autograph signings and audience meet and greets.

Three Endangered Malayan Tiger Cubs Born at Busch Gardens Tampa

Lauren Skowyra — Thu, 02 May 2013 20:02:17 +0000

Three endangered Malayan tiger cubs were born at Busch Gardens Tampa Sunday, March 31. The litter consists of two males and one female.

Each cub weighs between six and seven pounds, and is currently being monitored around the clock by the park’s animal care team.

These births are critical to help preserve the species. Malayan tigers are critically endangered. Scientists estimate that only 500 remain in the wild. These newborn cubs will add to the genetic diversity of the Malayan tiger population and contribute to conservation efforts for the species.

The births are part of park’s partnership in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Plan® (SSP). The mission of the SSP is to cooperatively manage specific, and typically threatened or endangered, species populations within AZA-accredited facilities. There are currently just over 50 Malayan tigers in the Species Survival Plan.

Malayan tiger cub births in managed care are rare – just one successful birth in 2012 as part of the SSP. These are the first Malayan tigers born at Busch Gardens Tampa and the first offspring for both the mother Bzui and father Mata.

The tiger cubs, along with Bzui and Mata, are currently behind the scenes and are being monitored around the clock by the park’s animal care team.

In approximately one month, the Busch Gardens animal care team will start introducing the cubs to the Jungala habitat. The cubs will rotate separate sessions on the habitat with the Bengal tiger groups that currently reside there. Until then the cubs will remain behind the scenes with their mother and keepers. Anyone interested in the cubs can follow their progress on BuschGardensTampaBlog.com.

One of the male cubs is suffering from anemia and has developed a rare but benign skin condition that also occurs in both wild and domestic felines. The condition is being monitored by Busch Gardens’ veterinarians. The cub is currently in serious condition and is undergoing treatments.

Found only in the southern tip of Thailand and the Malay Peninsula, it’s estimated that only 500 Malayan tigers remain in the wild. Habitat fragmentation caused by logging and the development of roads and commercial poaching are the two leading causes. The species also often comes into conflict with people over livestock predation.

Jack Hanna at Busch Gardens Tampa, May 18 and 19, 2013

Lauren Skowyra — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:51:25 +0000

Join “Jungle Jack” Hanna for a day of wild animal shows, autograph signings and special meet and greets when he visits Busch Gardens Tampa for his biggest show yet, on May 18 and 19, 2013.

Show times are 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. each day in Gwazi Park.

The internationally-known animal expert will share animal facts and his travel tales during animal shows at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on May 18 and 19, 2013.

Admission to Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures is included with a day's paid admission or Annual Pass to Busch Gardens. You can also experience this event and return to Busch Gardens throughout the year with a 2013 Fun Card.

Jasiri the Baby Rhino: Six-Month Update

Lauren Skowyra — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 17:27:02 +0000

Our baby rhino Jasiri, who was named by our Facebook Fans, is 6 months old and still growing fast! She’s almost 800 lbs. and is starting to figure out how to be a rhino (eat what they eat, vocalize and “talk” the way they talk). We are also working on getting her used to working with us zookeepers. She’s doing great and we have been able to get her weight, draw blood (from an ear vein) and make sure she’s healthy. With the adults we are even able to ultrasound our ladies to track the progress of pregnancies. Our close relationship with the rhinos allowed us to watch Jasiri’s progress while Kisiri was still pregnant.

Here she is! This was taken at around the 5^th to 6^th month of pregnancy. We were able to see movement and get measurements to make sure she was healthy and growing. It was amazing to be able to see her while she was so small!

As she grew, and Kisiri got closer to her due date, we were able to see movement from the outside (similar to feeling a kicking baby in a pregnant mom.) Here is some video from about two weeks before Jasiri was born. If you watch closely you’ll see a ripple in the mom’s stomach, that’s Jasiri!

The other thing we monitor from the mother rhinos is their milk. I can now say that I have milked a rhino and it was awesome! (I’ve never actually milked a cow, but I’ve been told it is similar.)

We collect it every so often to make sure the milk has all of what the growing baby needs.

If you want to get a glimpse of our quickly growing girl, she is out on our Serengeti Plain, with her mother of course, so you’ll need to take a ride on our Serengeti Railway or take a tour on one of our Serengeti Safaris.

If you haven’t met her yet, come on out and say hello! What a difference 6 months makes!

Have you seen Jasiri yet? Leave your story in the comments below!

Leaping Lemurs! Busch Gardens’ Mongoose Lemur Twins Turn One!

Lauren Skowyra — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:34:43 +0000

I can’t believe it has already been a year since we welcomed our mongoose lemur twins, Dalia and Leena, into the world at Busch Gardens Tampa. The twin girls are some of the zaniest animals I’ve ever worked with and most of my training sessions with my girl, Dalia, include non-stop laughing.

Since my last update, I’ve got a lot of new things to tell you! We determined that both babies are girls. We can tell them apart because Dalia has developed a lighter coloration to her face than Leena. Both girls have begun their training program and will voluntarily get on a scale to be weighed and close inside a kennel in case they need to be transported anywhere. They will also move back and forth between their night quarters and their habitat easily when asked by keepers.

Dalia playing with a feather as enrichment

Just to show you a little glimpse of how energetic they can be, I filmed a short video featuring the girls. I had to learn how to do a little video editing since they both kept trying to take the camera from me and were at times more interested in climbing on me rather than being the stars of the show. Listen closely and you can hear one of their vocalizations – it sounds like they are oinking.

We all know why birthdays are important, so we threw Leena and Dalia their first birthday party.

(I hope you all got my invite and were able to attend.) We decorated their habitat with streamers and a happy birthday banner and wrapped presents which were cardboard tubes filled with fruit.

Mom, Rosalita, and the two girls diving into a few presents.

We also prepared frozen ice-pops made with apricot nectar – gorillas aren’t the only animals that enjoy a frozen sweet treat!

Even though they are a year old, they are still little snuggle-bugs. The girls can often be seen sleeping with mom and dad and all four lemurs are curled up in a ball so tight that you can’t even tell who’s who. Here, Dalia chose to have some one-on-one snuggle time with dad, Guillermo.

Since the keepers aren’t always able to watch – whats the wackiest thing you’ve seen Leena and Dalia, or some of our other lemurs do?

You're Invited to an Elephant Birthday Party, Saturday April 13

Lauren Skowyra — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 15:49:50 +0000

A message from the elephant care team:

You're Invited to an Elephant Birthday Party!

WHAT: Karnaudi's 23rd birthday celebration

WHEN: Saturday, April 13 at 2:30 p.m.

WHERE: The Elephant habitat

The festivities will be based on enrichment activities for the elephants, which help keep the animals stimulated and active. This will include birthday-themed treats and toys. Karnaudi was born at Busch Gardens, and lives with her mother, Carina and close herd members: Simba, Tina and Rosie.

We will celebrate rain or shine and we hope to see you there! Birthday parties like this are fun for our animals, our animal care staff and our guests.

For an explanation on why we hold these events, see this blog post: Animal Birthday Parties: Why so We so It?

See you tomorrow!

Check Out What's New at Lory Landing for 2013

Lauren Skowyra — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 18:55:32 +0000

2013 has brought along some fun new things to the park! A new show, some new residents and some new scenery for Lory Landing.

Just about 200 plants have been brought in to bring some new life to Lory Landing. Some of the new varieties of trees that can be seen in the habitat include: Kumquat, Ficus Alle, Bottlebrush, Pygmy Date Palms and Bamboo Palms. In addition to the trees, a variety of understory was added as well. These plants include: Hibiscus, Plumbago, Liriope , Hawiian Ti and Stromanthe.

Our Horticulture team has been working hard to beautify the area and we hope you enjoy the new look. Check out the photos below of the newly relandscaped habitat and be sure to stop in next time you are in the park!

A panoramic view at Lory Landing

New trees and plants line the walkways....

Hope to see you soon at Lory Landing! Lorikeets are the welcoming committee as brilliantly colored birds glide down to greet you and the sweet cup of fresh fruit nectar in your hand. You'll also meet hornbills, pheasants and many other intriguing friends of a feather.