OAKLAND — Sleek glass-encased gondolas will, beginning Monday, start whisking visitors at the Oakland Zoo over the rolling hills of Knowland Park to a new restaurant at the Kaiser Permanente Visitor Center.

The opening marks the first phase of the zoo’s California Trial expansion, a $70 million project that doubled the size of the complex to roughly 100 acres. Beginning in the summer of 2018, visitors will be able to get up-close views of eight native California animal species, including grizzly bears, bald eagles, gray wolves, California condors, mountain lions, jaguars, black bears and American bison, said Joel Parrott, president and CEO of the Oakland Zoo.

“Each of these species (has) their own story to tell about conservation, and all are California natives,” he said. “This will be a gift, not just to Oakland, to all nine counties of the Bay Area.”

Until then, visitors will be able to utilize the eight-person electric gondolas, custom-made by the Austrian-Swiss company, Doppelmayr. Quick, four-minute rides will take passenger to the three-story visitor center, which houses The Landing Cafe, a new floor-to-ceiling glass-walled restaurant with an observation deck and views of the San Francisco Bay.

Related Articles A spectacular sight from Oakland Zoo’s California time capsule Although construction of the California Trail began in Sept. 2015, plans for the project had been in the works for more than two decades. It is part of an $81 million redevelopment effort that included opening of its Veterinary Hospital in 2012, the Oakland Zoo Biodiversity Center in 2013 and the Condor Recovery Center in 2014, furthering the zoo’s mission of conservation.

Educating future generations about the importance of conservation couldn’t come at a more critical time, said Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. With news on Thursday that President Trump will withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord, she blasted Trump for breaking a promise “with the world and with future generations.”

“In Oakland, we believe in science,” she said. “And this is a place where we are going to inspire our next generations of scientists. … We will inspire our next generation of activists, of environmentalists, of biologists. This is where people will get what is at stake.”

The gondola and restaurant open to the public Monday, June 5. For more information, visit OaklandZoo.org.