A five-acre expansion has been proposed at Pittsburgh Zoo in Pennsylvania, US.

The new project will sit on a section of land at the top of the zoo and will consist of a new veterinary hospital and education centre, a 10,000sq ft (930sq m) facility for reptiles and amphibians and 10 to 13 outdoor exhibits.

The animals being considered are the snow leopard, orangutans and Komodo dragon.

Tracy Gray, a spokesperson for the zoo, told Leisure Opportunities: "We don’t have sizes or anything concrete at this time.  We are strictly in the design phase and working with an architectural firm to determine how and where each phase of the project will be built.

"We will start the design work and will be constructing the project in three phases beginning with the two story animal care facility. Included in the animal care facility is a room for kids who can play vet by dressing up and using a toy stethoscope and work with plush animals as a real vet would.  They can also insert a disc that will let them listen to animal’s heartbeat and also take the animal’s temperature with a pretend thermometer.  It will be very interactive for kids and adults. 

"We are very excited to begin researching and design meetings this fall, but [the project] is still very much in the infancy stage. "