Zoo Boise has raised nearly $220,000 to build a new exhibit for its patas monkeys in just five weeks after the City of Boise contributed $100,000 from its Parks and Recreation Department budget.
The Friends of Zoo Boise raised the remaining $119,000 from private donors.
Construction is expected to start this spring on a new 1,000-square-foot patas monkey exhibit to replace the previous primate exhibit, which was built in 1967. Officials hope to have the new building finished by fall.
The fundraising campaign was precipitated by a Nov. 18 break-in at the zoo that led to the death of one of the zoo's two monkeys.
Two female monkeys arrived from a New York zoo on Dec. 3 and will be gradually introduced to the remaining male after a quarantine period.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press