Getting ready for a BIG SPLASH
Construction of $2.3M otter exhibit starts at ABQ BioPark Aquarium
Move over Jimmy and Mimi, because Mayhem and Chaos are movin’ in.
For years, Mimi, a loggerhead sea turtle, and Jimmy, a hawksbill sea turtle, have been among the top attractions at the ABQ BioPark Aquarium. But Mayhem and Chaos, two female North American river otters who will make their debut at the aquarium in January, may give Jimmy and Mimi a run for the money on the popularity scale.
“They’re cute, they’re intelligent, they’re smart, they’re a lot of things,” Bernalillo County Commission Chairwoman Debbie O’Malley said Thursday during a news conference announcing that construction on the aquarium’s $2.3 million river otter exhibit has begun.
To accommodate the exhibit, an addition is being built onto the south side of the aquarium. The exhibit will feature a multilevel viewing area and a 25,000-gallon pool, said James T. “JT” Allen, chief executive of the BioPark.
“The deck that’s on the end of the building will be extended so it comes around so you can actually get out into the exhibit and get very close to the otters,” he said.
Allen said the BioPark is already the No. 1 destination in the state, with 1.5 million visits a year.
Mayor Richard Berry said, “The visitor experience over the coming years is going to be even better than it is today, thanks to the investment being made by the citizens of Albuquerque.”
Mayhem and Chaos, the two river otters who will call the exhibit home, are already in Albuquerque. They were rescued from Louisiana and brought here nearly a year ago.
Berry noted that river otters became extinct in New Mexico in the 1950s.
The otters are being housed at the zoo, but they are not yet accessible by the public.
Footage of Mayhem playing with a plastic front loader and a white hard hat was played on a monitor at the aquarium on Thursday, captivating passersby.
Mayhem pushes the hat into the water and moves it around inside the pool with her head.
“We wanted them to have a presence,” BioPark marketing coordinator Greg Jackson said, referring to the footage.
“Mayhem is a lot more outgoing,” said Madeline Gandara, one of the otter trainers. “She likes to show off for everyone.”
“Chaos is very shy,” said Ashley Baca, another trainer. “She keeps to herself.” She said Mayhem is always the first to try something, and Chaos usually follows.
Gandara and Baca have been working with Mayhem and Chaos, getting them used to crates, so that when the time comes to move them to the aquarium, they won’t be stressed.
Gandara said they are also trying to get Mayhem and Chaos used to noise so they will be ready when they make their debut.
Most of the funding for the exhibit, $2 million, came from a bond package proposed by the Bernalillo County Commission and approved by voters in November 2014. The other $300,000 is coming from state capital outlay funding previously approved by state lawmakers and Gov. Susana Martinez.
Southwest Capital Bank has agreed to kick in another $105,000 for interactive educational programs for the otter exhibit. Commissioner Lonnie Talbert, who is also chief operating officer for Southwest Capital, said Greg Levenson, president and CEO of the bank, and the Levenson family were happy to support the exhibit.
“To be able to be a part of something that is going to be here hopefully forever, it was an easy decision,” Talbert said.
Berry and Allen thanked the county, the state, Southwest Capital Bank and voters for coming through with the funding for the exhibit. And they thanked the New Mexico BioPark Society for being the driving force and for its work in helping to secure the funding.
Allen said that designing the exhibit took a year,and that building it will take about 300 days. TA Cole & Sons General Contractors Inc. began construction on the project earlier this month. Van H Gilbert Architect PC designed it.