What:
Woodland
Park Zoo invites the community to two open houses on a new penguin experience.
This is an opportunity for you to visit with zoo staff and exhibit designer,
learn about our new penguin experience, and explore our design and provide
valuable input. The new exhibit is slated to open in summer 2009.
Photo: Dennis Dow
The zoo currently
houses a modest flock of Humboldt penguins, indigenous to the desert coastline
of Peru and Chile. The current exhibit
is old and outdated,
requiring that these social birds remain off public view for much of the
time. A much larger flock will return to the new naturalistic home
that will allow
the flightless birds to preen, squabble over territory, breed, nest and raise
their chicks. Viewing points for visitors will allow close encounters with
the penguins as these aquatic acrobats “fly” through
the water at speeds of up to 20 miles per hour.
When/Where:
Saturday, December 15, 2007
10:00 a.m.-noon
Woodland Park Zoo Education Center near South Entrance at N. 50th St. & Fremont
Ave. N. Free parking
Saturday, December 15, 2007
2:00-4:00 p.m.
Garfield Community Center, 2323 E. Cherry St.
Info:
For information about the open houses, call 206.684.4800 or visit www.zoo.org.
The new exhibit also will be a stunning showcase that replicates the rugged Pacific
coastline of South America. With nearly nose-to-beak animal interaction and rich
sights, sounds and smells, guests will feel like they’re visiting penguins
in their natural home. For the penguins, the exhibit will provide a significantly
enriched setting, including temperature-controlled water using a passive geothermal
system, naturalistic nesting burrows, much-needed summertime shade, shoreline
beach and rocky tidepools with wave action. The penguins’ lives also will
be enhanced with a state-of-the-art biofiltration and rainwater harvesting system
that promotes water conservation and maximizes energy savings.
Accredited
by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), award-winning Woodland
Park Zoo is famed for pioneering naturalistic exhibits and setting
international standards for zoos all over the world. Conservation,
education and excellent animal care are at the core of the zoo’s
mission. The zoo is helping to save animals and their habitats 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 people to care and
act, Woodland Park Zoo is making a difference in our planet’s
future.
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