What:
Animals at Woodland Park Zoo don’t have to hibernate in the winter…and neither do humans. The zoo will liven up the winter season with a Winter Celebration. The zoo’s orangutans will receive “gift-wrapped” treats and the gorillas will get tasty pieces of evergreen ground cover with red berries and wrapped treats. Media are invited to watch these endangered apes open their holiday gifts at the outdoor Orangutan Forest and the gorilla exhibit i at the Tropical Rain Forest. If it rains, the orangutans will receive their gifts in the interior portion of the exhibit that is behind glass.

Visitors may enjoy the zoo’s Winter Celebration Tuesday-Thursday, December 21, 22, 23 and December 28, 29, 30. Animals throughout the zoo will receive special treats during the winter school break. In addition to keeper talks, visitors may watch sloth bears shredding evergreens, keas munching on peanut butter-smeared pinecones and much more.

Winter Celebration is part of the zookeepers’ ongoing efforts to help enrich the lives of the zoo’s animals and to provide enjoyment for zoo visitors.

When:
Photo op: Monday, December 20
Gorillas: 9:30 a.m.
Orangutans: 10:00 a.m.

Where:
Meet at the zoo’s ARC building near the West Gate at N. 55th St. & Phinney Ave. N. Staff will escort you to the gorilla exhibit in the Tropical Rain Forest and the Orangutan Forest in the Trail of Vines. The ARC is locked – late arrivals may enter through the West Gate and proceed to the exhibits.

Info:
Winter Celebration times and locations are listed on the zoo’s Web site and at zoo entries. Woodland Park Zoo opens 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily during the winter. For more information, call 206.684.4800 or visit www.zoo.org.

Through February 28, 2005, visitors can receive a special admission discount coupon available on the zoo’s Web site.

Winter hours: 9:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m. daily. For more information and how to become a zoo member, call 206.684.4800 or 684.4026 (TTY), or visit the zoo’s Web site at www.zoo.org.

Accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, top award-winning Woodland Park Zoo is famed for pioneering naturalistic exhibits and setting a standard for zoos all over the world. With conservation, education and excellent animal care at the core of the zoo’s mission, the zoo is helping to save endangered species in Washington state and around the world including tree kangaroos, snow leopards, red-crowned cranes, African wild dogs, western pond turtles and Oregon silverspot butterflies. By inspiring visitors and others to care and act, Woodland Park Zoo is making a difference in our planet’s future.