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**CALENDAR ADVISORY**

March 13, 2012

Zoo hosts community open houses to share new tiger and sloth bear exhibit designs

Gigi Allianic, Rebecca Whitham
206.548.2550 | woodlandparkzoopr@zoo.org

  Credit: Artist rendering by Studio Hanson/Roberts, courtesy Woodland Park Zoo.

Woodland Park Zoo will host two open houses for zoo visitors and community members to see final design plans for new, naturalistic exhibits for sloth bears and Malayan tigers (shown in artist rendering).
 

WHAT

Woodland Park Zoo is hosting two open houses for zoo visitors and community members to see final design plans for its new, naturalistic Malayan tiger and sloth bear exhibits.

Guests at the open houses will see a scale model and renderings of the exhibits, and will have the opportunity to ask questions, discuss the project with zoo staff and provide valuable feedback that will help shape the interpretive program behind this ambitious exhibit project. Light refreshments will be served.

Designed by Bainbridge Island-based architects Studio Hanson/Roberts, the state-of-the-art, 2-acre exhibit complex for Malayan tigers and sloth bears will also feature Asian small-clawed otters and tropical birds.

The id="mce_marker"9.6 million exhibit project, part of the zoo’s $80 million More Wonder More Wild Campaign, will transform the 60-year-old, outdated infrastructure that tigers and sloth bears currently inhabit at the zoo into a spacious, naturalistic exhibit environment. The transformation will improve the exhibit experience for the zoo’s animals, visitors and staff, and will reduce resource consumption with sustainable design.

The exhibits are expected to open in phases, with construction beginning in 2012, phase one (including otters) opening in 2013, and the second and final phase (including tigers and sloth bears) opening in 2014.

WHEN & WHERE

Open house for zoo members, visitors and community: Sat., March 31, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Located at the current tiger exhibit. Zoo admission or membership required. Parking in zoo lots: $5.25.

Open house for public and neighbors: Tues., April 3, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Located at the ZooStore in the zoo’s West Entrance (Phinney Ave. N. between N. 55^th and N. 56^th Streets). This event is free for all to attend and parking in zoo lots is free during the event.

INFO

Modeled on the theme “Sharing the Forest: People are the Conservation Solution,” the new exhibit complex will empower and inspire visitors with up-close animal encounters, hands-on learning and links to meaningful conservation actions visitors can take to build a better future for wildlife.

Follow the progress of the More Wonder More Wild comprehensive campaign and its eight initiatives, and learn how to get involved at www.morewonder.org.

Accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, award-winning Woodland Park Zoo is famed for pioneering naturalistic exhibits and setting international standards for zoos in animal care, conservation and education programs. Woodland Park Zoo is helping to save animals and their habitats in Washington state and in 50 countries around the world. By inspiring people to care and act, Woodland Park Zoo is making a difference in our planet’s future. For more information, visit www.zoo.org.

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Woodland Park Zoo saves animals and their habitats through conservation leadership and engaging experiences, inspiring people to learn, care and act.