Pub In The Park

We discovered the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle (WPZ). It’s the first zoo in North America to put animals in a naturalistic habit. I was so thrilled to stumble upon this absolute treasure of Seattle! If I had children, I’d take them here all the time. The zoo is more educational than normal city zoos, basically because you get to see the animals in their (well almost) natural environment.
I found out about it from the Seattle hotel, where I’m staying. The staff at the registrars desk told me that if I wanted to do something a little bit different than the usual touristy things, like going to Pike Market or the Seattle Center, that I’d should check out the WPZ. I’m so glad they recommended to zoo to me. I feel so wonderful knowing that their are zoo’s who really care about wildlife.
The zoo is on the Northern Trail, which is a bio-climatic zone resembling the trail in Alaska’s Denali National Park, the trail that goes to Horseshoe Lake. The Northern Trail Exhibit is an 11 acre site that features taiga, montane and tundra exhibits. It’s like the landscape changed from eucalyptus trees, African Palm to Alaskan pine and fir trees. The WPZ is internationally known to has released 75 eagles back into the wild
The Mountain goats, which are a common sight in the Northwest, have thick white fur that sheds in the summer; goat need to rub up against rocks and branches for the shedding process. The WPZ collects the fur and gives it to the local Indian Tribes, who then card and weave it into wool. The WPZ has a Volunteer Zoo Enrichment Program, where all the volunteers are dedicated to keeping the goats alert and active. They even build snowmen and decorate them with apples and carrots; the goats, after eating the treats will then knock down the snowmen, something they really enjoy doing.
While I was there, I learned that porcupines do not throw their quills, but instead, if another animal touches the porcupine, the quills, with barbs at the end, will stick to the animal’s fur. The porcupine eats bark and that causes trees to die. Then there are elk living in the same habitat as the wolves, but wire separated them, whew! They can smell each other, but the wolves are unable to prey on the elk. I saw otters playing as I got to watch them through a glass window. They were trying to find the fish hiding under the rocks. The zoo hosts two brown bears, bothers who are 30 years old! Seattle really isn’t cold enough for them to hibernate.
I could go on literally forever about the WPZ, but really, you need to check it out for yourself.

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1. Seattle Theatre Group