WINNIPEG — Winnipeg’s Amur tigers and other big cats will get new, expanded digs, Assiniboine Park Zoo officials said as they made their latest exhibit announcement.
A $500,000 gift from James Cohen and Linda McGarva-Cohen will go towards building a new habitat for large Asian cats at the zoo, the Assiniboine Park Conservancy announced at a sod-turning on Monday.
“This gift will play a huge part in creating a new habitat for tigers and lions at the zoo and will have a significant impact on our ability to continue with our breeding program for this endangered species,” conservancy president and CEO Margaret Redmond said in a news release Monday.
The current 2,900-square-foot Amur tiger enclosure will be expanded over the summer to become a 26,000-square-foot mixed-vegetation habitat slated to open in fall.
The new habitat will include a clay-lined pool, naturally shaded areas under existing trees and large viewing windows for zoo visitors, the news release said.
The Asian cats habitat expansion is part of the conservancy’s ambitious Imagine a Place campaign, which includes significant investment in the zoo.
The showcase Journey to Churchill exhibit is now under construction, and the zoo recently opened Penguin Cove with its visiting African black-footed penguins and a new Australian Walkabout area that allows visitors into an enclosure with emus and kangaroos.
Imagine a Place has raised $116 million towards its $200-million goal. The first phase of the park redevelopment included the construction of a new playground, expanded duck pond and the Qualico Family Centre.
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