Although the Dakota Zoo is still in the planning phase of a campaign to add more animal exhibits, it already has received an enormous head start.

Call it a $400,000 boost, courtesy of longtime Bismarck resident Joyce Schuchart.

"I can't put 'thank-you' into words about how we feel about Joyce's contribution," a pleased zoo director Terry Lincoln said Thursday.

The campaign is aimed at raising $1.9 million to build a new complex to house Siberian tigers and snow leopards, a new primate center, a new Animals of the World building and a new rest area on the zoo's north side.

The tiger-leopard complex would be a permanent exhibit, Lincoln said, and Siberian tigers and snow leopards are most adaptable to Bismarck's climate.

"With more and more emphasis on being open year-round, tigers are out most every day," he explained.

The tiger exhibit would be larger but similar to the zoo's bear habitat, Lincoln said.

"It would have a pond, boulders, taller plants and viewing windows so people can view through glass or be outside," Lincoln said.

The only tigers the zoo has now are cubs that are on loan. And they are headed home on Saturday, Lincoln added.

The new primate center would house about 10 species of monkeys and lemurs, meaning the zoo would be adding species, Lincoln said.

Schuchart said she has been a fan of the zoo "since it was one building." And she enjoyed watching the tiger cubs during her visits.

"We have to get some of our own," she said, "and that's the plan, to build our own habitat."

And she is happy that some of the other buildings will be rebuilt, as well. "It will become a more wonderful zoo than it is already," she said. She used to do volunteer work, and she still visits the zoo a couple of times each season.

The contribution is the largest donation in history to a zoo campaign, Lincoln said.

Lincoln expects the fund-raising campaign to run for three years. Although it's in the early stages now, the zoo already has received about $500,000 in donations. In about a month, Lincoln plans to take the campaign to the community.

(Reach reporter Richard Hinton at 701-250-8256 or richard.hinton@;bismarcktribune.com.)