Lion Exhibit (Temporary)

June 15th, 2013. For years this old grotto held Sumatran Tigers but there is currently one male and one female Lion in the enclosure. Within 2 years or less the exhibit will be dramatically revamped as part of the zoo\'s $21 million Bamboo Forest Reserve complex.

Why are the lions not in their regular exhibit?

Arizona Docent said:

Why are the lions not in their regular exhibit?

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I saw a male and female in the old grotto in this enclosure (soon to be dramatically overhauled) and a female and 4 cubs in the usual exhibit. The lion cubs are now 7 months old but they are still not very large and quite rambunctious.

I visited the Woodland Park Zoo this week and peering over a fence I was astonished to find that this old grotto had vanished into thin air. The zoo has already begun construction on the Sloth Bear/Malayan Tiger complex that opens in May, with a major part of that process involving the destruction/renovation of a trio of grottoes that are more than 60 years old. The entire left wall that can be seen in this photo is now non-existent, the dry moat has been filled in, and the terraced cement landscape has been bulldozed into a smooth dirt surface as if this exhibit never existed. The rear wall is still in place as it borders the Adaptations House and it also hides the big cat night dens, but after watching Sumatran Tigers prowl around this grotto for at least a couple of decades it is both shocking and exhilarating to see the antiquated enclosure bite the dust.

For some older Seattle zoo fans it has been a topsy-turvy couple of weeks as the zoo's African Elephant (Watoto) suddenly collapsed and was eventually euthanized and she had been at the zoo for more than 40 years. Now an exhibit that has held big cats for more than 60 years is extinct. The death of the African Elephant saves the zoo the prospect of moving her (which was going to happen anyway) and excitement is mounting for next year's tiger/bear habitats that will finish the Asian Bamboo loop began in 2013 with Small-Clawed Otters, a children's play zone and an Asian aviary.