Home » Zoo Opens New Banyan Wilds Exhibit For Tigers & Sloth Bears

Zoo Opens New Banyan Wilds Exhibit For Tigers & Sloth Bears

See the tigers, up close, in the new Zoo Banyan Wild exhibit opening May 2nd.  Photo provided by Woodland Park Zoo
See the tigers, up close, in the new Zoo Banyan Wild exhibit opening May 2nd. Photo provided by Woodland Park Zoo

On May 2nd, at 9:45a, the Woodland Park Zoo will open its newest exhibit, with tigers and sloth bears returning to Seattle.  The new, state-of-the-art Banyan Wilds exhibit will open to the community with a ribbon cutting ceremony and grand opening sponsored by U.S. Bank.

The two-acre exhibit, in the heart of the Zoo, represents the most ambitious new project in nearly two decades.  Designed by Studio Hanson/Roberts, Banyan Wilds will bring visitors closer than ever to the three Malayan tiger brothers – where they will play, pounce, splash in a pool, nap or scratch a tree including an impressive banyan tree.

Sloth bears, like Tasha, return to the Woodland Park Zoo in May 2015.  Photo by Ryan Hawk, WPZ
Sloth bears, like Tasha, return to the Woodland Park Zoo in May 2015. Photo by Ryan Hawk, WPZ

This represents phase two of an exhibit that originally opened in 2013 with the Asian small-clawed otters, a tropical aviary and a kids’ nature play area.

The ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled for 9:45a on Saturday, May 2nd, with the exhibit opening at 10a and activities for visitors planned for all day until 3p.  For more details on the activity schedule, and admission rates, visit the Zoo website about the tigers.