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Woodland Park Zoo: Seattle Washington Wildlife Conservation, Zoo Animals And Butterflies

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Published: September 4, 2007

The people of Seattle, Washington are very lucky; they get to live in the city home to Woodland Park Zoo. This famous zoo occupies half of Woodland Park, which was sold to Seattle in 1899. Woodland Park Zoo is 65 acres and open daily. The amazing Seattle zoo is home to many award-winning exhibits and over a thousand zoo animals.

Some of the mammals visitors will find include domestic rabbits, Colobus monkeys, brown bears and African lions. Mammals from virtually all continents are represented at Woodland Park Zoo. Visitors will also see a variety of birds such as hooded cranes, golden eagles, cattle egrets and Bali Mynahs. Some of the reptiles and amphibians visitors will find are legless lizards, Dumeril's boas, bushmasters and ball pythons. Visiting these often poisonous creatures at the Zoo is a safe way to observe them.

Invertebrates including butterflies, giant millipedes, katydids, silverspot butterflies and walking stick
can be seen as well. Silverspot butterflies are native to north America and can easily by identified by their markings. They are orange and black with metallic spots on the underside of their wings. If this seems like a lot of animals, it is really only a small portion of the over 1,000 zoo animals that call Woodland Park Zoo home. Woodland Park Zoo also houses almost 60,000 plants, shrubs and trees.

Woodland Park Zoo has won the Best National Exhibit award, presented by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, many times. In fact, the only other place that has won it more times is the Bronx Zoo in New York.

One amazing Woodland Park Zoo exhibit is the African Savanna. It features a replica of an African village and African animals such as lions, oryxes and zebras. There is also a Bug World exhibit and a Family Farm exhibit. The first ever immersion exhibit in the entire world is in Woodland Park Zoo. It is an immersion gorilla habitat exhibit. The Northern Trail is an exhibit modeled after a trail in Denali National Park in Alaska. A few of the animals that can be found there are bald eagles, gray wolves and grizzly bears. The Woodland Park Zoo also has a popular Raptor Center.

Tropical Asia is a two-part exhibit. It includes Elephant Forest, a 1.5-acre area with a full swimming pool for the elephants. The other section is called Trail of Vines, full of Southeast Asian endangered species. The Tropical Rainforest is a Woodland Park Zoo exhibit that includes Central American, South American and African animals. One highlight is the jaguar habitat and underwater viewing area. Willawong Station is the place to go for bird-lovers. Visitors can feed free-flying Australian birds and parrots. Zoomasium is a great play space for children. It is an energy efficient building, which features a green roof. Plants that are native to Washington grow atop the building in a large garden.

In addition to their award-winning exhibits, Woodland Park Zoo is very strong in their wildlife conservation efforts. Woodland Park Zoo supports captive breeding programs, education, habitat preservation and research through their involvement and financial support. Woodland Park Zoo works with 36 different field wildlife conservation projects. Their contributions can be seen helping in over 26 countries

In the off-season of October-April, the cost for an adult ticket is $10.50. Tickets for children are $7.50 and kids two years old and younger can get in free. In the peak-season of May-September, however, both visitors and ticket prices jump up. Adult tickets are raised to $15; children to $10. After a full day of watching zoo animals, many kids and parents take a rest by riding Woodland Park Zoo's beautiful hand-carved carousel. Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle is certainly a very special place. It is a wonderful opportunity to view and interact with thousands of different animals, including many endangered species.


Sources:
"Woodland Park Zoo." Wikipedia. 15 Aug. 2007. 20 Aug. 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodland_Park_Zoo.

"What is Wildlife Conservation?" Woodland Park Zoo. 20 Aug. 2007. http://www.zoo.org/conservation/conservation.html.

"Animal Fact Sheets." Woodland Park Zoo. 20 Aug. 2007. http://www.zoo.org/factsheets/facts.html.
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