Children press in close hoping to get a glimpse of the Woodland Park Zoo's 20 new penguins in their new exhibit. Click image for more photos and a video from the grand opening.
Woodland Park Zoo members, donors and the media were invited May 1 to a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the new exhibit of a colony of Humboldt penguins, which opens officially to the public Saturday, May 2.
"This is probably the most ambitious animal exhibit we've had in over a decade," said Deborah Jensen, president and chief executive officer of the Woodland Park Zoo Society.
The penguins, 10 males and 10 females, arrived in March from five other zoos and aquariums. The birds range from 1 to 20 years old and moved from Brookfield Zoo (Chicago), SeaWorld (San Diego), Rosamond Gifford Zoo (Syracuse, NY) and Saint Louis Zoo and Aquarium of Niagara (Niagara Falls, NY).
Mayor Greg Nickels, a featured speaker at the event, said there are 19 species of endangered penguins in the world, one being the Humboldt.
According to the zoo, there are an estimated 12,000 Humboldt penguins left in the wold.
The new penguin exhibit is 17,000 square feet and is meant to replicate Punta San Juan in Peru, according to the zoo.
The penguin exhibit is built sustainably, according to the zoo, and uses geothermal energy, a less wasteful filtration system, and stormwater runoff.
Nickels said he applauded the zoo for building a sustainable exhibit and doing its part in educating the city's youth on how to be "stewards of the planet."
Other elected officials in attendance were King County Council member Larry Phillips and Seattle City Council member Tom Rasmussen.
The new exhibit cost $6.5 million and is a part of the zoo’s $14 million penguin-west entry project.
