San Antonio Zoo teases return of Brackenridge park Sky Ride as April Fools’ joke

Keeping with a tradition, the San Antonio Zoo trotted out its annual April Fools prank on Monday, claiming in a phony news release that it’s resurrecting the Alamo City’s long-gone Sky Ride.

For those new to town, the Sky Ride was a gondola attraction at Brackenridge Park that offered riders an aerial view of the zoo, the Japanese Tea Garden and the park grounds. It operated from 1964 until it was decommissioned in 1999.

On Monday, Zoo officials pulled a fast one on local reporters and unsuspecting residents, announcing it will use the gondolas to connect its facilities to the booming Peal district.

“On almost a daily basis, someone will mention the Sky Ride to me and ask when or if it will return,” San Antonio Zoo President and CEO Tim Morrow said in a statement.” We’ve been wanting to bring this iconic ride back to San Antonio, and this new concept is a perfect complement to the growth of midtown and its incredible amenities.”

But alas, it was all a joke. And a cruel one at that. Who wouldn’t want to see the Sky Ride make a return?

Be that as it may, at least one media outlet appeared to take the bait. Talk radio station WOAI-AM initially ran an on online article on the zoo’s plan then took it down.

The San Antonio Zoo has seized on April 1 as an excuse to pull fast ones on unsuspecting San Antonio residents since at least 2020. That year, the zoo issued a news release saying keepers had allowed three of its elephants to roam around Brackenridge Park and take a dip in the San Antonio River.

KSAT and national publication The Hill both reported the elephant story before realizing they’d been had.

Last year, the zoo joked that it was opening a Boerne-based beaver exhibit dubbed “Beaver Tales Wilde Life Park” in collaboration with the truck stop operator Buc-ees, whose mascot is — you guessed it — a smiling, buck-toothed beaver.

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This article appears in Mar 20 – Apr 2, 2024.