Bank of America Big Cat Falls At
the Philadelphia Zoo
Big Cats are Back in May 2006!
PHILADELPHIA, March 8, 2006 – Big cats are
back in May 2006 with the opening of the Philadelphia Zoo’s new,
$20 million Bank of America Big Cat Falls! This new Zoo experience
will create a stunning landscape of lush habitats and waterfalls
where guests will come face to face with nearly 20 endangered big
cats from around the world, including three new playful snow
leopard cubs, three adorable new puma kittens and a beautiful new
black jaguar cub. Visit them now, before they grow up!
Exhibit Facts
Puma
After nearly a decade, the Zoo will once again feature
pumas, also known as cougars or mountain lions. Bank of America Big
Cat Falls will be home to three new puma kittens, a male, Dakota,
and two females, Sage and Cinnabar. Their exhibit will mimic the
rocky Pennsylvania woodlands wild pumas used to roam.
Snow leopard
Come visit the Zoo’s three new male snow leopard cubs, two
from the Denver Zoo, Amga and Gala and one from the Cleveland Zoo,
Panga. The Snow Leopards will share exhibit space with our two Amur
leopards, whose wild cousins are also from the Amur River basin in
Russia.
Amur tiger
The biggest of the world’s big cats, these striking
animals used to be known as Siberian tigers. Wild populations have
dwindled so much that they are now known for the Amur river basin
they inhabit. The Zoo’s new tiger habitat will reflect the pine
forests and meadows of their wild Russian range.
A male tiger from Little Rock Zoo, Dimitri, will be joined in
fall 2006 by our female, Kira, now residing temporarily at Seneca
Park Zoo. The Zoo hopes to breed them and welcome tiger cubs next
year.
Amur leopard
With fewer than 50 left in the wild, this big cat is one
of the most endangered in the world. Bank of America Big Cat Falls
will recreate the valleys and rocky terrain of Russia where they
still roam.
Krepke, our male leopard currently on exhibit in the Zoo’s
Carnivore Kingdom, and Katia, our female, will be among the first
residents of Bank of America Big Cat Falls.
African lion
The new lion habitat will reflect the Okavango delta
region in Botswana, one of the last three lion strongholds in
Africa.The Zoo’s lion pride—male Merlin and three females, Zenda,
Jezebel and Vinkel—will return from the Columbus Zoo to
Philadelphia. Jezebel and Vinkle are actually rare white lions,
which no longer exist in the wild.
Jaguar
A Central American jungle-themed habitat will welcome this
beautiful big cat, whose elusiveness makes it difficult to study in
the wild. The Zoo has acquired a male black (melanistic) jaguar cub
from the Montgomery Zoo in Alabama. We also hope to acquire a tawny
male jaguar, Frankie, from the Belize Zoo and an unnamed female
from La Aurora Zoo in Guatemala. Their new habitat will reflect the
rich Mayan heritage of Central America.
Unique Features
Big cats will share exhibit space
One group of cats will be able to roam their exhibit area
and another cat’s habitat, too! Being able to smell and explore a
space where another cat has lived will provide excellent behavioral
enrichment, stimulating the senses of the temporary residents. This
situation will also mimic the behavior of wild cats, who live in a
core range surrounded by outlying areas they roam less
frequently.
A system of overhead tunnels will allow the cats to move from
one exhibit to another. Who knows, you may even see an Amur leopard
high above the visitor walkway, watching you!
A year-round exhibit
Most of the cats in Bank of America Big Cat Falls are
native to areas where it gets very cold. Even lions and jaguars can
tolerate cold weather, so to make them even more comfortable, we've
provided ‘hot rocks’ — areas of artificial rockwork that stay warm
throughout the year.
Mimicing our cats’ natural range
Each exhibit features plants that reflect the animals’
natural range. Through a special partnership with the Morris
Arboretum, seeds were gathered from areas such as the Russian Far
East and used to grow plants and trees for the Amur leopard and
Amur tiger exhibits.
Water, water everywhere
Exhibits with water features such as pools and streams
were designed with the cats in mind. The tigers really enjoy
swimming, so their exhibit has the deepest pools and most water.
Jaguars use water to keep cool in the warmer months, so they have a
shallow pool that’s just right for wading. Most of the pools are
recirculating and heated, which means they're resource efficient
and can be used all year.
A “green” building
The Zoo recycled the old Carnivora House as off-exhibit
animal space and keeper work areas. The Zoo will offer special
membership and behind-the-scenes programs here. Stone from the site
will be recycled during construction, and reclaimed timber will be
used for viewing pavilions. The Zoo saved several trees from the
previous landscaping. Trees that couldn’t be saved will become
climbing structures for the cats.
Thrilling Guest Experiences
One of the Zoo’s top priorities is to motivate its 1.2 million
visitors to care about wild animals and to act to help save them.
Seeing these beautiful cats face to face can be a powerful
experience, and the Zoo hopes it creates a lasting impression that
motivates our visitors to do what they can to save these animals
around the world.
Dramatic multi-media presentations throughout Big Cat Falls and
impromptu demonstrations of behavioral training by keepers will
help create those impressions. A simulated research station will
give visitors the opportunity to role-play as field biologists
studying big cats in the wild and learn about the conservation
efforts under way to save them.
The Zoo has teamed with WPVI-TV/6 ABC to create a uniquely
dynamic and entertaining interpretive program to educate visitors
about big cats, their habitats, how the Zoo and other
conservationists are trying to save these animals in the wild, and
how the Zoo’s guests can help.
Action News has traveled with Zoo researchers to Kenya and
Belize to report on field efforts to save wild lions and jaguars
and their homes. The Zoo will also feature these stories throughout
the exhibit, taking Zoo visitors on a journey around the world to
experience big cats, learn about the challenges they face and find
out what actions can help them survive.
Signature Conservation Project
Demonstrating the Zoo’s commitment to saving wild animals and
their natural habitats, Bank of America Big Cat Falls will
officially launch the Zoo’s involvement in two significant field
conservation projects that protect lions and jaguars in their
native homes. Over the next five years, the Zoo will contribute a
total of $250,000 to field research in Kenya for lions and in
Mexico for jaguars.
The Laikipia Predator Project…
is a comprehensive effort to study lions and other large
carnivores in parts of East Africa to determine ways they can
coexist with local people and commercial ranchers. For example,
researchers work to improve existing methods that ranchers and
other herders can use to protect their livestock from lions without
killing them. Philadelphia Zoo support will help the Laikipia
project work with local ranchers, radio-collar and track lions and
help local people construct better bomas, or livestock enclosures,
to protect their herds.
The Mexican Jaguar Project…
is a bi-national effort to protect key areas where jaguars live.
Members of the Zoo’s animal programs, conservation and education
departments will collaborate with researchers on data-collection
and education efforts. The Zoo’s support will help purchase
equipment, acquire critical jaguar habitat and develop educational
materials. More than 60 years after becoming extinct in the
southwestern United States, jaguars have recently been sighted
again in southern Arizona. Any recovery of the jaguar population in
the U.S. will depend on conservation efforts in northern
Mexico.
Bank of America Big Cat Falls will give visitors the opportunity
to contribute directly to these research and conservation efforts
through options such as purchasing a radio collar to track African
lions or buying a square foot of jaguar habitat to preserve some of
North America’s last open spaces.
The Zoo’s Chris Waldron, assistant curator for carnivores, helps
Kenyan villagers build a boma to keep their livestock safe from
lions.
For more information, call Ginette Meluso at 215-243-5205 or go
to www.philadelphiazoo.org
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