Woodland Park Zoo One Of The 5 Best Zoos In North America

They mention the sloths, flying-foxes, springhaas, armadillo, and pygmy loris as all staying. I'm having a hard time figuring out just what will be leaving the zoo? I don't remember what else was in there.

 

@ANyhuis: I personally adore nocturnal houses, and the excellent ones are often highlights of any zoo visit for my wife and I. However, there are already so few in North American zoos, and now with the closures of both the Bronx and Woodland Park nocturnal habitats they are even rarer.

@Ituri: there are dourcoulis, vampire bats, lesser galagos (in two exhibits) and prehensile-tailed porcupines that will all be leaving for various AZA-accredited zoos.

 

I seem to recall a pair of tamanduas in there as well.

 

@geomorph: the tamanduas are already listed in the article on the news link, and they will also be moving to the Adaptations building. On May 1st the new meerkat exhibit opens, along with all of the other alterations to the Adaptations building, and the $7.5 million West Entry opens to the public on the same day.

 

Hmm... One wonders whether the money raised to bring in meerkats could have instead been used to retrofit the nocturnal house with more energy efficient technologies.

I really like nocturnal exhibits because of their potential to alert visitors to a largely ignored side of ecosystems.

 

Amen to that. I'd be livid if my local zoo closed down a major house due to maintenance issues while spending millions on a new entrance.

*remembers local zoo is technically Twycross - bangs head on desk*


Seriously, was the new entrance started before the nocturnal house problems became apparent?

 

The nocturnal house is about 36 years old, and it is regarded as perhaps the most expensive building to maintain on the zoo grounds. Woodland Park Zoo has issued a number of press releases on its website due to the public shock at the upcoming closure of the building, but there is the fact that the zoo will save $300,000 per year once the building is closed. The new penguin habitat and west entry were part of a $14 million overhaul that was announced, designed and planned long before the economic recession hit the world. The zoo also cut 12 full-time job equivalencies, and all of this in a year where there was the #2 attendance in the 110 year history of the zoo!

 

Well, at least they didn't start the entrance/meerkat/penguin thing knowing there was trouble brewing. It's a shame, though, that the money spent would (by your figures) have run the Nocturnal House for nearly 47 years (although doubtless it would cost more to maintain as time goes on!).

 

Ah, the classic disconnect between funds for shiny new things versus the ongoing costs of operating them. I doubt many of the donors who contributed to the (much-needed) new entry at WPZ would have had any interest in paying for keeper salaries and utility costs to keep the aging Night Exhibit in operation. Sad but true, pretty much anywhere.

 

Not having visited, I shall take your word that the new entrance was very much a necessity.

But it is, as you say, sad.

 

This 14-page document highlights all of the 2010 events at the zoo. Included is information about the upcoming meerkat exhibit, new $7.5 million entrance, and summer events and activities:

http://www.zoo.org/Document.Doc?id=217

 

News + Notes:

The $7.5 million entrance is on schedule and due to open on May 1st. Opening on the same day will be the meerkat exhibit and revamp of the Adaptations building:

Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, WA - 04.05.2010 WPZ Press Release

Baby Humboldt penguins!:

Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, WA - 04.02.2010 WPZ Press Release

The oldest resident of the zoo euthanized:

Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, WA - 03.25.2010 WPZ Press Release

 

From what I've seen in videos I am kind of disappointed with the new meerkat exhibit. it does not seem to match the Zoo's standards for exhibitry and husbandry.



Have you seen it yet Snowleopard? Do the meerkats have an outdoor exhibit too? Does the exhibit have any special features for the animals incorporated into the design?

 

The meerkat exhibit is tiny and hugely disappointing, especially for the poor little critters who came from nearby Point Defiance Zoo. There the fairly new meerkat exhibit is huge, and it includes and indoor and outdoor section. At Woodland Park there is only an indoor area, and yet if the Adaptations building (the old "Feline House") gets demolished in the future then the meerkats will be gone from the zoo again. There are plans for an "Asian Forest" zone that might or might not include keeping the Adaptations building, so it is somewhat ironic that the zoo has brought meerkats back after a decade's absence...but they could disappear once again!

 

WPZ is awesome when it's raining. There are just enough buildings around to duck in out of the rain, and the animals are usually pretty active in the drizzle. Usually it's not very busy and most of the people who are there are members who come often and are well behaved and polite.

 

The money for the meerkats was specifically donated/provided for the meerkats, and only the meerkats. I for one will miss the night house, it was one of my favorites. When the money comes in, the building will be made for efficient. Animals from the night house (anteaters,tree shrew, fruit bats) and located right next to the meerkats. I forgot to mention the kid-sized meerkat burrow that the little ones LOVE.

 

I have often thought that a nice idea would have been to build a meerkat enclosure somewhere on the edge of the savannah exhibit with a low or hidden barrier to the rear so it looks like a continuous enclosure.

 

If any donors are reading this, PLEASE fund the renovation and reopening of the night house!!!

 

Is anyone going to the zoo's Pumpkin Bash? I'm on the email list and saw the animal pumpkin enrichment schedule. I always wanted to go to a zoo around Halloween where they give animals pumpkins. I asked Buffalo Zoo if they planned to do this, but they have a food enrichment day the day after Thanksgiving. :-( It sounds like this zoo goes all out! I should check out their facebook page to see if they'd post photos.

 

2011 will bring dinosaurs and Steller's sea eagles:

Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, WA - Dinosaurs Coming and Sea Eagles Landing at the Zoo

5-Page Draft of Annual Plan for 2011 (including news about public feeding of the elephants):

http://www.zoo.org/Document.Doc?id=268