Woodland Park Zoo, 92-acre zoological park in North Seattle, United States.
Woodland Park Zoo occupies 92 acres (37 ha) in Seattle's Phinney Ridge neighborhood, with exhibits, public spaces, parking and playgrounds. Its grounds are divided into geographically themed areas, including Tropical Asia with the Assam Rhino Reserve, Banyan Wilds and Trail of Vines; the African Savanna; Australasia; the Living Northwest Trail; Tropical Rainforest; and Temperate Forest. The Humboldt penguin exhibit, remodeled in 2009, has underwater viewing and runs on green energy.
The City of Seattle received a private animal collection in 1899 and subsequently opened a public menagerie in Woodland Park. The grounds were expanded over the decades and the enclosures redesigned according to modern standards for animal care.
The zoo occupies the western half of Woodland Park, land bought from Guy C. Phinney's widow in 1899. Its landscape-immersion approach, first applied to the gorilla exhibit under director David Hancocks in 1975, became a model copied by zoos worldwide. Visitors can feed Australian parrots at Willawong Station with a seed stick for a small fee.
The paths are largely accessible and wheelchairs and strollers can be rented. Several food stands and shaded spots are distributed around the grounds, making breaks during the tour possible.
Since 1991 the facility has been breeding Western Pond Turtles and releasing them into wetlands in Washington State. Several hundred animals have already returned to their native habitats and contribute to the recovery of the local population.
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