Zoo’s gone wild with BRICKLIVE

More than one million toy bricks were put together to create dozens of life-size animals that are now lurking around the Naples Zoo. BRICKLIVE Animal Paradise is in Florida for the first time and will be at the zoo through April 4.

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Andrea Stetson

Caroline Eilers, 3, loved the tiger made from 67,635 bricks. The tiger is one of more than 35 animals in the BRICKLIVE Exhibit now on display at the Naples Zoo.

The unique creations range from a rock hopper penguin made of 1,250 bricks, which weighs 5 pounds and took seven hours to build, to an elephant that is made of 149,071 bricks, weighs 2,398 pounds and took almost 600 hours to create. There is everything from a 12.4-foot giraffe to the 9-inch penguin. The builders used 1.4 million bricks to make the more than 35 creatures.

“It’s amazing the detail they can get in the face and the body with bricks,” said Courtney Jolly Goff, Naples Zoo director of marketing and public relations. “It’s amazing that they can make expressions out of bricks.”

Visitors loved them so much, it was hard to choose a favorite.

“They took photos in front of every one,” said Jennifer Wolter, who came to the zoo with her daughters Lib, 10, and Meryl, 8.

Andrea Stetson

The giraffe, at more than 12 feet, is the tallest of the more than 35 animals made from toy bricks in the BRICKLIVE exhibit now on display at the Naples Zoo.

The girls finally did choose a favorite.

“I liked the leopard one,” Lib said.

“I took a photo with the shark,” Meryl added.

Goff said her son, Jax, 3, likes the orangutan and the giraffe best.

Goff still can’t decide.

“I think this one’s my favorite,” she said as she stood by the tiger. “It’s the vibrancy and the color.”

But she also called the otters, the leopard and the lion her favorite.

“It’s so hard to have a favorite. You can’t pick a favorite,” she admitted.

Alice Modic, a nanny, brought Caroline and Matthew Eilers to see BRICKLIVE recently.

“It is very bright and colorful, and they love tigers,” Modic said. “It is thought provoking.”

Caroline Eilers, 3, loved the tiger made from 67,635 bricks. She kept walking around the brick creature petting its neck and touching its mouth.

Many of the brick animals have been placed next to the exhibit with the real animal it is designed to look like. Signs next to the sculptures display not only the size of each figure, number of bricks used, the amount of time it took to create each piece, but also facts about the real animal.

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Andrea Stetson

Visitors are amazed at the facial expressions the artist captured when creating the BRICKLIVE animals. The exhibit is at the Naples Zoo through April 4.

“What is nice about the signs is it tells you about their threat of extinction and there is a ‘Do you know’ and they can learn some information,” Goff said.

Each year the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention & Visitors Bureau sponsors an exhibit. Goff said BRICKLIVE was the perfect choice for this year.

“We wanted something different, something unique,” she explained. “We wanted something different for kids and kids love building things. And this has never been in Florida before.”

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Andrea Stetson

Many of the creations in the BRICKLIVE exhibit feature both adult and young creatures. The exhibit is at the Naples Zoo through April 4.

The brick Lemur and birds are displayed at Southwest Florida International Airport to promote the zoo. The rest of the brick creatures are seen around the zoo. Several of the creations, such as the lion, tiger, panda, bear and otters feature both adult and young versions of the animal.

The Naples Zoo has also recently premiered its new giraffe feeding platform, which brings guests at almost eye level with the towering spotted creatures. Guests can purchase lettuce to hand feed the giraffes from this new viewing platform. The giraffe feeding station is open daily from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and face masks are required to feed the giraffes.