Cougar Mountain Zoo is an non-profit

zoological park A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zool ...

located in

Issaquah, Washington Issaquah ( ) is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 40,051 at the 2020 census. Located in a valley and bisected by Interstate 90, the city is bordered by the Sammamish Plateau to the north and the "Issaquah Alp ...

, on the north slope of Cougar Mountain about east of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. It is located near the border of the

Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park is a regional park in King County, Washington, near the towns of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue and Issaquah, Washington, Issaquah. The park was established in June 1983 to protect the central core of Cougar ...

. The zoo focuses on endangered species including

lemur Lemurs ( ) (from Latin ''lemures'' – ghosts or spirits) are Strepsirrhini, wet-nosed primates of the Superfamily (biology), superfamily Lemuroidea (), divided into 8 Family (biology), families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 exist ...

s from

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

Bengal tiger The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna. The tiger is estimated to have been present in ...

s, and endangered birds from various parts of the world. It was founded in 1972 by Peter and Marcie Rittler who operated it admission-free for its first 15 years. In 1990, the founders donated it to the Zoological Society of Washington which assumed the zoo's management and fundraising endeavors. As of 2009, Peter Rittler continued in the zoo's management.

Exhibits

The zoo collection features exhibits concentrating on endangered species such as tigers, lemurs,

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

, cranes,

wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...

macaw Macaws are a group of New World parrots that are long-tailed and often colorful. They are popular in aviculture or as companion parrots, although there are conservation concerns about several species in the wild. Biology Of the many differe ...

s, and

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large Felidae, cat native to the Americas. Its Species distribution, range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mamm ...

s, among others. On June 16, 2007, the zoo acquired two male

cubs, a royal white and a golden, who were born eight weeks apart in a

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

tiger preserve. The zoo added an additional two cubs in 2009. A glass-walled tunnel called the "Tiger Tunnel" enables visitors to view tigers in close proximity. In 2011, a 370-pound (168 km) tiger was photographed holding his paw up to the glass wall to meet the hand of a small child, appearing to play patty-cake, resulting in a picture which was picked up by news services. In 2016, a pack of four male

gray wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

was acquired. Lake Sammamish from Cougar Mountain Zoo panorama 2014

Education programs

Zoo lectures, presentations and demonstrations are held throughout the day and docents are on-site to answer visitors' questions. A fee-based membership program called "The Living Classroom" is available to serve all children or youth groups including preschool children and for school grades K through 12, to teach them about wildlife. The zoo features outreach programs to churches, and to senior citizens groups.

Ancillary features

* Bronze Collection, featuring bronze animal sculptures which are displayed throughout the zoo. * Wildlife Tracks Library, to aid in identifying an animal by its tracks. * Wildlife Museum, with wildlife paraphernalia used for teaching, consisting of specimens donated by private individuals. * Magnani Nature Gallery, an art gallery located on zoo property. Established in 1989, it features nature art in various forms, with a permanent exhibit, and art for purchase. It is a for-profit endeavor, but contributes annually to zoological education programs.

References

External links

* {{authority control Zoos in Washington (state) Parks in Issaquah, Washington Museums in King County, Washington Zoos established in 1972 Natural history museums in Washington (state) Organizations based in Issaquah, Washington