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Saving Tigers and their Forests


A world without tigers? Not if we can help it!

A century ago, 100,000 tigers roamed the forests of Asia. Today, scientists estimate only 3,200 tigers remain and as few as 500 Malayan tigers are left in the wild.

The continued loss and fragmentation of forests across tropical Asia and high levels of poaching threaten tigers and Asian bears with extinction. Scientists estimate that tigers may disappear completely from our world heritage within two decades. That’s not all. We humans also will lose precious forest resources on which the health of our planet depends.

Don’t take pity. Take action.

A recognized leader in innovative naturalistic exhibitry, Woodland Park Zoo will use innovative, hands-on education techniques in the new tiger and sloth bear exhibit complex to spread awareness of these conservation issues and engage millions of people in saving the wild animals and habitats we all love. For now. For the future.

Modeled on the theme “Sharing the Forest: People are the Conservation Solution,” the zoo’s new tiger and sloth bear exhibit complex presents the urgent conservation issues of habitat degradation, poaching for the illegal wildlife trade, and human-wildlife conflict to visitors, and promotes a sense of hope thanks to the conservation successes in the field that will be brought to life within the exhibit. Feeling part of the solution, visitors will take action inside the exhibit’s Conservation Action Center where they can take a pledge to protect forests here and around the world on which wildlife like tigers depend. To show how local actions have global impact, the exhibit will draw parallels between the benefits of saving tigers in Asia and conserving cougars and wolves in North America, encouraging local-minded actions that will serve as a model for global attitudes.

Field Conservation Projects

Woodland Park Zoo conducts and supports field conservation projects that work to save animals and habitat in Asia while building better lives for local communities.  As part of this new exhibit effort, the zoo is investigating opportunities for new work in Asia on tiger conservation, sloth bear protection and other interconnected wildlife conservation efforts. Stay tuned for new announcements as we make progress developing these projects!

              

Designed with Nature in Mind

Forests are the lungs of the Earth. Green practices in these exhibits will save some 200,000 pounds of carbon emissions annually—the equivalent of planting 30 acres of forest!

Woodland Park Zoo designs with the environment in mind. Continuing the innovative filtering techniques used at the zoo’s award-winning Humboldt penguin exhibit, water features and systems in the new exhibit complex will be based on the principles of biomimicry by which streams and ponds are filtered naturally through a series of settling ponds and constructed wetlands. These systems are at the forefront of sustainable design and conservation strategies in the Pacific Northwest, replacing the inefficient practice of dumping and refilling water features.

With the addition of a Conservation Action Center and an interpretive building for school and private programs, the zoo is investigating strategies to mitigate the additional carbon footprint of these buildings, aiming to achieve carbon neutrality over the life of the exhibit. The zoo is also looking to reduce energy consumption in the current felines building and other holding areas in the exhibit complex by choosing more efficient lighting and heating strategies. Stay tuned for updates!

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Woodland Park Zoo is a registered non-profit organization.                601 N. 59th Street, Seattle, WA 98103