Woodland Park Zoo
Encyclopedia
Woodland Park Zoo is a zoological garden around the Phinney Ridge
neighborhood of Seattle, Washington
. Occupying the western half of Woodland Park
, the zoo began as a small menagerie
on the estate of Guy C. Phinney, a Canadian-born lumber mill owner and real estate
developer. Opened in 1899, the 188 acres (76.1 ha) Woodland Park was sold to the city for $5,000 in cash and the assumption of a $95,000 mortgage
on December 28, 1899, by Phinney's wife (Phinney had died six years earlier, in 1893). The sum was so large that the Seattle mayor vetoed the acquisition, only to be over-ruled by the city council. In 1902, the Olmsted Brothers
firm of Boston was hired to design the city's parks, including Woodland Park, and the next year the collection of the private Leschi Park
menagerie was moved to Phinney Ridge.
As of the summer of 2010, the zoo includes 92 acres (37.2 ha) of exhibits and public spaces. It is open to the public daily, and welcomed 1.05 million visitors in 2006. Its collection includes:
Woodland Park Zoo has won more Best National Exhibit awards from the Association of Zoos & Aquariums than any other zoological institution except the Bronx Zoo
in New York
. It has long been a pioneer in the field of immersion exhibits: Woodland Park Zoo created what is generally considered the world's first immersion exhibit
, a gorilla habitat, which opened in the late 1970s.
, and usually approached from Phinney Avenue
or North 59th or 50th Streets. The park is open daily beginning at 9:30 am, until 4 pm October 1 through April 30, and 6 pm May 1 through September 30.
, a western lowland gorilla
(Gorilla gorilla gorilla, the same species as the gorillas currently living at the zoo). WPZ acquired Bobo from the Lowman family of Anacortes, Washington
, who had purchased the gorilla as an infant from a hunter in Columbus, Ohio
in 1951 and had raised him in their family home in Anacortes. Bobo drew many visitors to the zoo and was one of Seattle's main attractions in the years preceding the construction of Seattle Center
and the expansion of major-league professional sports
into the city; his popularity is credited with helping the zoo obtain funding to build a new primate house.
Anthropologist Dawn Prince-Hughes
spent many years working at Woodland Park Zoo and observing the Western Lowland Gorillas there, which she wrote about in her book Songs of the Gorilla Nation: My Journey Through Autism.
Phinney Ridge, Seattle, Washington
Phinney Ridge is a neighborhood in north central Seattle, Washington, USA. It is named after the ridge which runs north and south, separating Ballard from Green Lake, from approximately N. 45th to N. 85th Street. The ridge, in turn, is named after Guy C. Phinney, lumber mill owner and real estate...
neighborhood of Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
. Occupying the western half of Woodland Park
Woodland Park (Seattle)
Woodland Park is a 90.9 acre park in Seattle's Phinney Ridge and Green Lake neighborhoods that originated as the estate of Guy C. Phinney, lumber mill owner and real estate developer. Phinney died in 1893, and in 1902, the Olmsted Brothers firm of Boston was hired to design the city's parks,...
, the zoo began as a small menagerie
Menagerie
A menagerie is/was a form of keeping common and exotic animals in captivity that preceded the modern zoological garden. The term was first used in seventeenth century France in reference to the management of household or domestic stock. Later, it came to be used primarily in reference to...
on the estate of Guy C. Phinney, a Canadian-born lumber mill owner and real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
developer. Opened in 1899, the 188 acres (76.1 ha) Woodland Park was sold to the city for $5,000 in cash and the assumption of a $95,000 mortgage
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
on December 28, 1899, by Phinney's wife (Phinney had died six years earlier, in 1893). The sum was so large that the Seattle mayor vetoed the acquisition, only to be over-ruled by the city council. In 1902, the Olmsted Brothers
Olmsted Brothers
The Olmsted Brothers company was an influential landscape design firm in the United States, formed in 1898 by stepbrothers John Charles Olmsted and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. .-History:...
firm of Boston was hired to design the city's parks, including Woodland Park, and the next year the collection of the private Leschi Park
Leschi Park (Seattle)
Leschi Park is an 18.5 acre park in the Leschi neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, named after Chief Leschi of the Nisqually tribe. The majority of the park is a grassy hillside that lies west of Lakeside Avenue S...
menagerie was moved to Phinney Ridge.
As of the summer of 2010, the zoo includes 92 acres (37.2 ha) of exhibits and public spaces. It is open to the public daily, and welcomed 1.05 million visitors in 2006. Its collection includes:
- 1,090 animal specimens
- 300 animal species
- 35 endangered and five threatened animal species
- 7,000 treeTreeA tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s - 50,000+ shrubShrubA shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s and herbHerbExcept in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...
s - 1,000+ plantPlantPlants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
species
Exhibits at Woodland Park Zoo
Bronx Zoo
The Bronx Zoo is located in the Bronx borough of New York City, within Bronx Park. It is the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States, comprising of park lands and naturalistic habitats, through which the Bronx River flows....
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. It has long been a pioneer in the field of immersion exhibits: Woodland Park Zoo created what is generally considered the world's first immersion exhibit
Immersion exhibit
An immersion exhibit is a naturalistic zoo environment that gives visitors the sense they're actually in the animals' habitats. Buildings and barriers are hidden...
, a gorilla habitat, which opened in the late 1970s.
- Zoomazium - Zoomazium (a portmanteauPortmanteau wordA portmanteau or portmanteau word is a blend of two words or morphemes into one new word. A portmanteau word typically combines both sounds and meanings, as in smog, coined by blending smoke and fog. More generally, it may refer to any term or phrase that combines two or more meanings...
of "zooZooA zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....
" and "gymGymThe word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
nasium"), opened in May 2006, is an interactive playspace for children. It includes natureNatureNature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
-themed playspaces as well as a Nature ExchangeNature ExchangeThe Nature Exchange is a specialized learning environment that encourages people to explore nature and actively observe, collect, study and share the world around them. It is a turn-key exhibit, now used in nature-based institutions around North America...
desk and open areas for interactive programs. It was built to be extremely energy efficientEfficient energy useEfficient energy use, sometimes simply called energy efficiency, is the goal of efforts to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services. For example, insulating a home allows a building to use less heating and cooling energy to achieve and maintain a comfortable temperature...
and even includes a "green roof", with a full-scale garden of native plantPlantPlants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
s growing on the top of the building. With exhibit design done by AldrichPears AssociatesAldrichPears AssociatesAldrichPears Associates is an interpretive planning and exhibit design firm based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They specialize in developing immersive, interactive and hands-on interpretive experiences for mission-driven museums, science centers, interpretive centers, zoos, aquariums,...
and architecture by Mithun, IncMithun, IncMithun, Inc., commonly referred to as Mithun, is a multidisciplinary professional services firm headquartered in the city of Seattle in Washington state in the United States of America offering integrated design services related to architecture, land use planning, landscape architecture, interior...
, the Zoomazium received a Thea Outstanding Achievement Award from the Themed Entertainment Association in 2007.
- Tropical Rain Forest - this exhibit won a Best Exhibit award when opened in 1992. A walkway leads up to the building with viewing into a habitat for jaguarJaguarThe jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...
s (opened in 2003), complete with underwater viewing. Nearby is a jungle researcherResearcherA researcher is somebody who performs research, the search for knowledge or in general any systematic investigation to establish facts. Researchers can work in academic, industrial, government, or private institutions.-Examples of research institutions:...
's tent. Inside the building is a myriad of animals from CentralCentral AmericaCentral America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
and South AmericaSouth AmericaSouth America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, including ocelotOcelotThe ocelot , pronounced /ˈɒsəˌlɒt/, also known as the dwarf leopard or McKenney's wildcat is a wild cat distributed over South and Central America and Mexico, but has been reported as far north as Texas and in Trinidad, in the Caribbean...
s, poison arrow frogs, bushmasterLachesis (genus)Lachesis is a genus of venomous pitvipers found in remote forested areas of Central and South America. The generic name refers to one of the Three Fates in Greek mythology who determined the length of the thread of life...
s, tamarinTamarinThe tamarins are squirrel-sized New World monkeys from the family Callitrichidae in the genus Saguinus. They are closely related to the lion tamarins in the genus Leontopithecus.- Range :...
s, toucanToucanToucans are members of the family Ramphastidae of near passerine birds from the Neotropics. The family is most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five genera and about forty different species...
s, and a wide variety of tropical birdBirdBirds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s. An outdoor loop houses several African rain forest species, including red ruffed lemurLemurLemurs are a clade of strepsirrhine primates endemic to the island of Madagascar. They are named after the lemures of Roman mythology due to the ghostly vocalizations, reflective eyes, and the nocturnal habits of some species...
s, colobus monkeys, and a rambling gorillaGorillaGorillas are the largest extant species of primates. They are ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous apes that inhabit the forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies...
exhibit.
- TropicalTropicsThe tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...
AsiaAsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
- this consists of two components. The first, Elephant Forest, won a national exhibit award when it opened in 1990. It features a 1.5 acre (0.607029 ha) yard complete with a full-depth swimming pool for three female elephantElephantElephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
s, two Asian and one African. The zoo has recently come under fire from animal-rights groups stemming from two incidents involving its elephants. Hansa, an Asian elephant born at the zoo in 2000, died in her sleep from a previously unidentified herpesvirus on June 8, 2007. To date, Hansa remains the only elephant born in Washington state history (although her mother Chai may become pregnant in 2010). A year earlier, the zoo chose to send another elephant, Bamboo, to Point Defiance Zoo in nearby TacomaTacoma, WashingtonTacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
(the move did not ultimately work out and Bamboo is still at WPZ). The second part of the exhibit, Trail of Vines, takes the visitor on a journey through several different Southeast Asian rainforest habitats, featuring numerous endangered speciesEndangered speciesAn endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
. Beginning with Malayan tapirTapirA Tapir is a large browsing mammal, similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile snout. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, Central America, and Southeast Asia. There are four species of Tapirs: the Brazilian Tapir, the Malayan Tapir, Baird's Tapir and the Mountain...
s, it moves on to lion-tailed macaqueLion-tailed MacaqueThe lion-tailed macaque is an Old World monkey that is endemic to the Western Ghats of South India.-Physical Characteristics:...
s, Indian pythons, and finally large indoor/outdoor habitats for the siamangSiamangThe siamang is a tailless, arboreal, black-furred gibbon native to the forests of Malaysia, Thailand, and Sumatra. The largest of the lesser apes, the siamang can be twice the size of other gibbons, reaching 1 m in height, and weighing up to 14 kg...
s and orangutanOrangutanOrangutans are the only exclusively Asian genus of extant great ape. The largest living arboreal animals, they have proportionally longer arms than the other, more terrestrial, great apes. They are among the most intelligent primates and use a variety of sophisticated tools, also making sleeping...
s.
- Northern Trail - this exhibit also won a national Best Exhibit award when opened in 1994. It carries the visitor through the northern habitats of TundraTundraIn physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...
, TaigaTaigaTaiga , also known as the boreal forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests.Taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome. In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States and is known as the Northwoods...
, and MontaneMontaneIn biogeography, montane is the highland area located below the subalpine zone. Montane regions generally have cooler temperatures and often have higher rainfall than the adjacent lowland regions, and are frequently home to distinct communities of plants and animals.The term "montane" means "of the...
. It is landscaped to resemble an actual trail in AlaskaAlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
's Denali National Park. The Northern Trail is home to a variety of North AmericaNorth AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n animalAnimalAnimals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
speciesSpeciesIn biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
, including gray wolvesGray WolfThe gray wolf , also known as the wolf, is the largest extant wild member of the Canidae family...
, arctic foxArctic foxThe arctic fox , also known as the white fox, polar fox or snow fox, is a small fox native to Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and is common throughout the Arctic tundra biome. The Greek word alopex, means a fox and Vulpes is the Latin version...
es, grizzly bearGrizzly BearThe grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, the grizzly, or the North American brown bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America...
s, mountain goatMountain goatThe Mountain Goat , also known as the Rocky Mountain Goat, is a large-hoofed mammal found only in North America. Despite its vernacular name, it is not a member of Capra, the genus of true goats...
s, bald eagleBald EagleThe Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...
s, and Roosevelt elkElkThe Elk is the large deer, also called Cervus canadensis or wapiti, of North America and eastern Asia.Elk may also refer to:Other antlered mammals:...
(which are actually endemic to Washington).
- African Savanna - This also earned national Best Exhibit honors. The first of its kind when it opened in 1980, WPZ's savannaSavannaA savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...
inspired the building of similar exhibits across the country. The visitor enters through a model African villageVillageA village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
, which blends in elements of African cultureCultureCulture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
as well as important messages about the human/animal balance in conservationWildlife conservationWildlife conservation is the preservation, protection, or restoration of wildlife and their environment, especially in relation to endangered and vulnerable species. All living non-domesticated animals, even if bred, hatched or born in captivity, are considered wild animals. Wildlife represents all...
. The main "savanna" houses giraffeGiraffeThe giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all extant land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant...
s, zebraZebraZebras are several species of African equids united by their distinctive black and white stripes. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. They are generally social animals that live in small harems to large herds...
s, gazelleGazelleA gazelle is any of many antelope species in the genus Gazella, or formerly considered to belong to it. Six species are included in two genera, Eudorcas and Nanger, which were formerly considered subgenera...
s, oryxOryxOryx is one of four large antelope species of the genus Oryx. Three of the species are native to arid parts of Africa, with a fourth native to the Arabian Peninsula. Their pelage is pale with contrasing dark markings in the face and on the legs, and their long horns are almost straight...
es, and ostrichOstrichThe Ostrich is one or two species of large flightless birds native to Africa, the only living member of the genus Struthio. Some analyses indicate that the Somali Ostrich may be better considered a full species apart from the Common Ostrich, but most taxonomists consider it to be a...
es, while two connected exhibits house hippopotami and patas monkeyPatas MonkeyThe patas monkey , also known as the Wadi monkey or Hussar monkey, is a ground-dwelling monkey distributed over semi-arid areas of West Africa, and into East Africa. It is the only species classified in the genus Erythrocebus...
s. As of May 2007, visitors may hand-feed the giraffes for a small fee. Hidden moatMoatA moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
s allow these yards appear to be part of a continuous landscape. In addition to the herbivoreHerbivoreHerbivores are organisms that are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eat plant-based foods. Herbivory is a form of consumption in which an organism principally eats autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria. More generally, organisms that feed on autotrophs in...
s, two separate yards are home to lionLionThe lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
s and African wild dogAfrican Wild DogLycaon pictus is a large canid found only in Africa, especially in savannas and lightly wooded areas. It is variously called the African wild dog, African hunting dog, Cape hunting dog, painted dog, painted wolf, painted hunting dog, spotted dog, or ornate wolf...
s.
- In summer 2007, Woodland Park Zoo revamped and highlighted its African Savanna exhibit as part of its Maasai Journey program, which featured a mix of cultural and animal-themed programs about the East African grasslands.
- AustralasiaAustralasiaAustralasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
- Australasia has the fewest animals of all the exhibits in the zoo, but it has one of the most popular exhibits, The Willawong Station. The Willawong Station houses over 100 parrots from Australia, there are Parakeets, Cockatiels and Eastern RosellaEastern RosellaThe Eastern Rosella is a rosella native to southeast of the Australian continent and to Tasmania. It has been introduced to New Zealand where feral populations are found in the North Island and in the hills around Dunedin in the South Island.-Taxonomy:The Eastern Rosella was named by...
s. Other animals in Australasia are Kookaburras, a handful of Wallaroos, a couple of Emus and Snow LeopardSnow LeopardThe snow leopard is a moderately large cat native to the mountain ranges of South Asia and Central Asia...
s. The Wallaroos have an indoor and outdoor area.
- Temperate Forest- The Temperate Forest exhibit is home to a variety of animals from temperate regions of Asia, North America, and South America. It includes an aviary with a number of exotic birds, including hornbillHornbillHornbills are a family of bird found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly-colored and sometimes has a casque on the upper mandible. Both the common English and the scientific name of the family...
s and pheasantPheasantPheasants refer to some members of the Phasianinae subfamily of Phasianidae in the order Galliformes.Pheasants are characterised by strong sexual dimorphism, males being highly ornate with bright colours and adornments such as wattles and long tails. Males are usually larger than females and have...
s, as well as yards for cranes, Japanese SerowJapanese SerowThe Japanese serow , known in Japanese as the , is a goat-antelope found in dense woodland on Honshū, Japan....
s, Red PandaRed PandaThe red panda , is a small arboreal mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It is the only species of the genus Ailurus. Slightly larger than a domestic cat, it has reddish-brown fur, a long, shaggy tail, and a waddling gait due to its shorter front legs...
s, and a marsh exhibit featuring local waterfowl species. In 2008 a small exhibit was opened in the Temperate Forest area featuring Chilean flamingoChilean FlamingoThe Chilean Flamingo is a large species closely related to Caribbean Flamingo and Greater Flamingo, with which it was sometimes considered conspecific...
s and Southern PudúPudúThe pudús are two species of South American deer from the genus Pudu; the world's smallest deer. The name is a loanword from Mapudungun the language of the indigenous Mapuche people of southern Chile...
s, which have bred successfully at WPZ. A small alcove features interpretive exhibits on the zoo's efforts to restore the native western pond turtleWestern pond turtleThe western pond turtle , or Pacific pond turtle is a small to medium-sized turtle growing to approximately 20 cm in carapace length. It is limited to the west coast of the United States of America and Mexico, ranging from western Washington state to northern Baja California...
.
- Other highlight animals at Woodland Park Zoo include Sumatran TigerSumatran TigerThe Sumatran tiger is a tiger subspecies that inhabits the Indonesian island of Sumatra and has been classified as critically endangered by IUCN in 2008 as the population is projected at 176 to 271 mature individuals, with no subpopulation having an effective population size larger than 50...
s (which have bred several times in the past years), a RaptorBird of preyBirds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as birds that primarily hunt vertebrates, including other birds. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh....
Center and accompanying flight demonstration, and lowland anoaAnoaAnoa, also known as Dwarf Buffalo and Sapiutan, are a subgenus of Bubalus comprising two species native to Indonesia: the Mountain Anoa and the Lowland Anoa . Both live in undisturbed rainforest, and are essentially miniature water buffalo...
. Woodland Park Zoo is one of a handful of zoos outside JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
displaying Japanese SerowJapanese SerowThe Japanese serow , known in Japanese as the , is a goat-antelope found in dense woodland on Honshū, Japan....
s, a threatened relative of the mountain goatMountain goatThe Mountain Goat , also known as the Rocky Mountain Goat, is a large-hoofed mammal found only in North America. Despite its vernacular name, it is not a member of Capra, the genus of true goats...
. Woodland Park Zoo also includes a "Family Farm" exhibit, BugInvertebrateAn invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
World, snow leopardSnow LeopardThe snow leopard is a moderately large cat native to the mountain ranges of South Asia and Central Asia...
s, and several species of hornbillHornbillHornbills are a family of bird found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly-colored and sometimes has a casque on the upper mandible. Both the common English and the scientific name of the family...
s. In May 2010 the zoo added a new exhibit featuring meerkats to the "Adaptations" building; the exhibit features tunnels, a log den and accommodations for the animals that approximate their natural habitat.
- The zoo also houses a hand-carved carouselCarouselA carousel , or merry-go-round, is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders...
, originally built for the Cincinnati Zoo in 1918 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company, head carver John Zalar. In the 1970s, the carousel was moved to Santa Clara, CaliforniaSanta Clara, CaliforniaSanta Clara , founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852, is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. The city is the site of the eighth of 21 California missions, Mission Santa Clara de Asís, and was named after the mission. The Mission and Mission Gardens are located on the...
, where it operated into the 1990s. It was donated to Woodland Park Zoo by the Alleniana Foundation, and opened May 1, 2007 in a new pavilion on the zoo's North Meadow.
- In May 2009, WPZ opened a new 17000 square feet (1,579.4 m²) Humboldt PenguinHumboldt PenguinThe Humboldt Penguin is a South American penguin, that breeds in coastal Peru and Chile. Its nearest relatives are the African Penguin, the Magellanic Penguin and the Galápagos Penguin...
exhibit. The outdoor enclosure is designed to recreate the penguin's native habitat in Peru, and features cliffs and pools. The exhibit is also designed to use Green energy, such as geothermal power.
Accessibility
The zoo is located southwest of Green LakeGreen Lake (Seattle)
Green Lake is a freshwater lake in north central Seattle, Washington, USA, within Green Lake Park. The park is surrounded by the Green Lake neighborhood to the north and east, the Wallingford neighborhood to the south, the Phinney Ridge neighborhood to the west, and Woodland Park to the southwest...
, and usually approached from Phinney Avenue
Phinney Ridge, Seattle, Washington
Phinney Ridge is a neighborhood in north central Seattle, Washington, USA. It is named after the ridge which runs north and south, separating Ballard from Green Lake, from approximately N. 45th to N. 85th Street. The ridge, in turn, is named after Guy C. Phinney, lumber mill owner and real estate...
or North 59th or 50th Streets. The park is open daily beginning at 9:30 am, until 4 pm October 1 through April 30, and 6 pm May 1 through September 30.
Financial difficulties
On January 5, 2010 WPZ announced that due to the "difficult economy," they are closing their Night Exhibit.Notable animals
From 1953 to 1968 WPZ was home to BoboBobo (gorilla)
Bobo was a western lowland gorilla who was a prominent feature of Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Washington, USA, from 1953 until his death...
, a western lowland gorilla
Western Lowland Gorilla
The western lowland gorilla is a subspecies of the western gorilla that lives in montane, primary, and secondary forests and lowland swamps in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. It is the gorilla usually found in zoos...
(Gorilla gorilla gorilla, the same species as the gorillas currently living at the zoo). WPZ acquired Bobo from the Lowman family of Anacortes, Washington
Anacortes, Washington
Anacortes is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The name "Anacortes" is a consolidation of the name Anna Curtis, who was the wife of early Fidalgo Island settler Amos Bowman. Anacortes' population was 15,778 at the time of the 2010 census...
, who had purchased the gorilla as an infant from a hunter in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
in 1951 and had raised him in their family home in Anacortes. Bobo drew many visitors to the zoo and was one of Seattle's main attractions in the years preceding the construction of Seattle Center
Seattle Center
Seattle Center is a park and arts and entertainment center in Seattle, Washington. The campus is the site used in 1962 by the Century 21 Exposition. It is located just north of Belltown in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood.-Attractions:...
and the expansion of major-league professional sports
Major professional sports leagues of the United States and Canada
The major professional sports leagues, or simply major leagues, in the United States and Canada are the highest professional competitions in team sports...
into the city; his popularity is credited with helping the zoo obtain funding to build a new primate house.
Anthropologist Dawn Prince-Hughes
Dawn Prince-Hughes
Dawn Prince-Hughes, is an anthropologist, primatologist, and ethologist who received her M.A. and PhD in interdisciplinary anthropology from the Universität Herisau in Switzerland...
spent many years working at Woodland Park Zoo and observing the Western Lowland Gorillas there, which she wrote about in her book Songs of the Gorilla Nation: My Journey Through Autism.