Woodland Park Zoo
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The Woodland Park Zoo, which occupies the western half of Seattle, USA's Woodland Park on Phinney Ridge, began as a small menagerie on the Woodland Park estate of Guy C. Phinney, Canadian-born lumber mill owner and real estate developer. Opened in 1889, the 188-acre Woodland Park was sold to the city for $5,000 in cash and the assumption of a $95,000 mortgage on December 28, 1899, by Phinney's wife (Phinney had died six years earlier, in 1893). The sum was so large that the Seattle mayor vetoed the acquisition, only to be over-ruled by the city council. In 1902, the Olmsted Brothers firm of Boston was hired to design the city's parks, including Woodland Park, and the next year the collection of the private Leschi Park menagerie was moved to Phinney Ridge.
As of 2004, the zoo includes 65 acres (263,000 m²) of exhibits and public spaces. It is open to the public daily, and an entrance fee is required. Its collection includes:
- 1,145 animal specimens
- 290 animal species
- 22 arthropod colonies
- 7,000 trees
- 50,000+ shrubs and herbs
- 1,000+ plant species
Woodland Park Zoo had 1,085,868 visitors in 2003.
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External links
- Woodland Park Zoo (http://www.zoo.org)