Up close and personal in Minnesota's new Outback

APPLE VALLEY, Minn. (KMSP) - On five acres in Apple Valley, the Minnesota Zoo did their best to bring a little Outback to the Midwest. 

A few years ago the zoo scrapped their giraffe exhibit and needed to find a new use for the space, and kangaroos seemed like the next best thing. With a curator from Australia, it turned out to be a perfect fit. 

Attendees are now allowed to walk through the exhibit--no fences and no walls--up close and personal with the animals, including kangaroos and wallabys. 

"Not only do we have the look and the feel of Australia, but we also added in things like speaker boxes so when you walk through you hear dingo, you hear Kookaburra, you get to climb on a Jeep and feel like you're a researcher that just broke down," Jim Sanford, one of the exhibit's curators, said. 

Just don't forget to practice your Australian accent, he says.