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A breeding pair of black rhinoceros is on the wish list for Blank Park Zoo’s upcoming expansion.

Culture and education are focus areas of the estimated $9 million “Gateway to Africa” project, which is expected to get under way this summer as the quiet portion of the zoo’s capital fund-raising campaign draws to a close.

In lieu of bars and mesh, a moat will separate visitors from a pavilion where they can view several new exhibits housing a variety of animal species. Ostriches, giraffes, tortoises, meerkats and wild dogs are among the animals expected to make their way to Des Moines.

“It’s basically a 1,000-foot loop that you will see these animals on,” said zoo CEO Mark Vukovich.

Near the entrance of the new exhibit, a plaza representing an African village will help visitors understand how people live and interact with animals in their native environments, Vukovich said. One proposed building will provide space for an indoor viewing area, as well as entertainment and educational functions, where “you can get a feel for the wide range of African animals and biology,” he said.

A quarantine barn will be one of the first structures to be constructed on the site, in which all arriving animals will spend 30 days. Vukovich expects to begin collecting the creatures in early winter as construction continues.

The 3.25-acre exhibit is scheduled to open in spring 2012.

“We will start adding things as we go,” he said. “By then, we should have a full complement of animals available.”