ROYAL OAK, Mich. (WXYZ) — A new $6 million gift is helping to create immersive Discovery Trails at the Detroit Zoo, set to open in the summer of 2026.
On Wednesday Morning, the Detroit Zoological Society announced the $6 million gift to create the Fred and Barbara Erb Discovery Trails.
The immersive experience was first announced last October. It's set to span seven acres, and will include aerial adventures, a family-friendly multi-sensory path, and animal encounter spaces where guests can feed brush goats, feed chickens, and see bamboo sharks and stingrays.
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We're told that the gift is one of the largest in the zoo's history.
“We are deeply grateful to the Erb Family Foundation for this extraordinary contribution and for the decades of unwavering support of the Detroit Zoo,” said Dr. Hayley Murphy, executive director and CEO of the DZS. “Nearly 20 years ago, Fred and Barbara’s names were etched into the Polar Passage in our Arctic Ring of Life habitat — and now, it is especially meaningful that those same names will greet guests at a new experience that is every bit as bold and inspiring.”
For more information on the zoo's latest attractions, click here.
