What:
Children from three local schools participating in the pilot program of Woodland Park Zoo’s International Bug Club Project will enjoy a sneak preview of the zoo’s new spider exhibit, Masters of the Web presented by Washington Mutual. The 50 K-3rd graders are from Happy Medium Primary and Olympic View Elementary schools in Seattle and Beachwood Elementary School in Fort Lewis.

Zoo docents will accompany the school groups as students discover the amazing traits of a variety of exotic and local spiders: the mystery of web building and silk weaving, how spiders capture and kill prey, which spiders are dangerous and which ones aren’t.

When:
Wednesday, May 26, 10:30 a.m.

Where:
Please enter the zoo through the ARC near the West Gate at N. 55th St. & Phinney Ave. N. The ARC is locked. Staff will meet and escort you to Masters of the Web located in the Temperate Forest zone just north of the zoo’s Family Farm. Late arrivals may enter through the admissions gate and proceed to the exhibit.

Info:
Masters of the Web aims to help people better understand spiders’ roles in ecosystems and in our everyday lives. Three segments weave Masters of the Web together: Web Courtyard, Spider World and Spiders on Trial. The exhibit includes amazing structures built by spiders, whether they are the familiar but elaborate spirals woven by orbweavers, funnel webs, or the silk-lined burrows of ground-living spiders. It also highlights the amazing adaptations of spiders such as the big and beautiful Mexican redknee tarantula, the cool camouflage of the green lynx spider, the diving abilities of fishing spiders and many more. Interpretive signs include information about living safely among local spiders while dispelling spider myths. Masters of the Web opens May 29 through October 31, 2004 and is free with zoo admission.

For more information about Masters of the Web and its opening day festivities, check out the Masters of the Web section of the zoo's Web site. For general zoo information, log on the zoo’s Web site or call 206-684-4800.

Opening festivities: Saturday-Sunday, May 29-30, beginning 9:30 a.m.
Opening weekend festivities include special spider presentations, up-close spider encounters, arts and crafts, spider tattoos, interactive game demonstrations and much more. Activities are free with zoo admission.

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.