logo
Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo announces major new exhibit after $110M campaign

Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo announces major new exhibit after $110M campaign

Yahoo22-03-2025

The Brief
Woodland Park Zoo's Forests for All campaign raised $119.7 million, exceeding its $110 million goal.
Funds will support zoo initiatives, including the Forest Trailhead exhibit opening in 2026.
The exhibit will offer interactive experiences to engage visitors in conservation efforts.
SEATTLE - Woodland Park Zoo has completed its $110 million Forests for All campaign, coinciding with today's United Nations' International Day of Forests. A portion of the money is going to a big new exhibit.
Launched in 2018, the campaign exceeded its goal by raising $119.7 million. The zoo says they were supported by nearly 100,000 donors.
What's next
A central feature of the campaign is the Forest Trailhead exhibit, which is set to open in 2026. This exhibit will include a treetop path, a forest landscape, and an all-seasons pavilion, aimed at promoting conservation and exploring the future of forests.
The Forest Trailhead exhibit will offer interactive experiences, featuring elevated paths through the forest canopy and viewing areas for tree kangaroos and red pandas. The exhibit aims to engage visitors in conservation activities.
The zoo reports that funds from the campaign have been allocated to various zoo initiatives, including animal care and facility renovations. Some of the projects funded include new habitats for greater one-horned rhinos and Komodo dragons, and enhancements to the zoo's composting facility.
What they're saying
"We are immensely grateful for the passion and deep commitment of each and every donor and supporter. This bold new era is redefining how we can unite local and global communities to save our forests and green spaces here in our beloved Pacific Northwest and around the world for a more sustainable present and future," said Alejandro Grajal, President and CEO at Woodland Park Zoo.
The Source
Information for this article comes from the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle.
Top aide for WA Gov. Ferguson resigns over workplace complaints, report
Seattle police arrest man accused of more than 20 bank robberies
Here's where Seattle renters are relocating
Seattle's Capitol Hill Block Party announces 2025 lineup, changes to event
Could Bryan Kohberger's autism defense for capital murder set a precedent?
To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter.
Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national coverage, plus 24/7 streaming coverage from across the nation.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Renee Ferguson Dead at 75 After Trailblazing Journalism Career
Renee Ferguson Dead at 75 After Trailblazing Journalism Career

Yahoo

time9 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Renee Ferguson Dead at 75 After Trailblazing Journalism Career

Renee Ferguson, a trailblazing television reporter in Chicago, is dead at 75. How did Ferguson die? Ferguson's cause of death was not released. Tributes flowed in for the investigative journalist. NBC 5, her former television station, confirmed her death with her family on June 6, 2025. "Renee Ferguson left an incredible echo in our newsroom that still rings through the DNA of our investigative journalism, and that legacy will continue," said Kevin Cross, president and general manager of NBCU Local Chicago, to that station. According to that station, Ferguson was the first Black woman to work as an investigative journalist for a Chicago television station. She worked for NBC Chicago from 1987 through 2008, the station wrote. Indiana University honored Ferguson in an alumni tribute before her death. She was the co-founder of the Chicago chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists, the university wrote. "A television journalist and investigative reporter, Ferguson's writing roots trace back to her adolescence, even before she attended IU," the university bio says. "Her junior high school named her Most Likely to be a Journalist. Ferguson always wanted to be a writer, and living up to her middle school superlative, she has told countless stories over her career," the bio says. According to The Chicago Tribune, Ferguson's career spanned 25 years at two television stations in that city. Ferguson's husband, Ken Smikle, died before her, according to a 2018 article in the Chicago Sun-Times. It says that he died after his wife made a public plea for a donor heart for him. He was described as a "well-known" journalist who ran a marketing firm. He was 66 when he died after suffering from congestive heart failure, The Sun-Times Ferguson Dead at 75 After Trailblazing Journalism Career first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 7, 2025

Louisiana police officer arrested after shooting woman's dog
Louisiana police officer arrested after shooting woman's dog

Yahoo

timea day ago

  • Yahoo

Louisiana police officer arrested after shooting woman's dog

A Louisiana police officer has been arrested after shooting a dog Sunday afternoon. A video began circulating Monday, June 2, on Facebook depicting a dog being shot by a Cullen, Louisiana, police officer. The video was graphic and showed the owners close proximity to the firearm being discharged. Webster Parish Sheriff's Office arrested Reginald Ferguson, 54, Tuesday, June 3, after an investigation was initiated. Ferguson was acting as a reserve police officer for Cullen on June 1. According to Webster Sheriff's Office, Ferguson was not commissioned at the time of the shooting. "When he shot those two shots, they were very close proximity to the dog's owner," Sheriff Jason Parker said. "It could have been a lot worse, if that lady would have been struck by one of those bullets." The Shreveport Times sat down with dog owner, Deshanna Wortham, who described the events of that terrifying encounter. Wortham said on Sunday, June 1, she was cooking in her kitchen when she heard a knock on the door. "I seen a car parked in the road," she said. "So, I thought it was one of my children who didn't want to pull in the driveway." She said she went outside, and her dog, Tank, followed. When she got outside, Ferguson was standing in her yard yelling, "Get that dog back." Wortham asked the officer to please get in his car so she could put Tank away, but that is when Ferguson's voice got high pitched. Following that interaction, she immediately began filming on her phone. "Thank God I did," she said. This video contains violence. Shortly after she began filming, Tank ran around the fence barking and got between her and Ferguson. "He took out his gun and just pointed it at him," Wortham said. "I'm like, 'You could have just obeyed me and got in your car, let me put my dog up, and I could have seen what you come over here for.'" Tank was shot in the shoulder, and bullet fragments were found in his leg. As of Monday afternoon, Tank was still being evaluated and likely was going to lose his leg. Wortham said Ferguson could have easily shot her. "I'm standing like four feet away from him," she said. "The bullet could have ricocheted, anything could have went wrong." Following the shooting, Wortham went inside her home to take care of Tank, and Ferguson called for backup. Once other officers arrived on scene, Ferguson requested that Wortham come outside. She went outside, and Ferguson said he was going to arrest her. Wortham immediately went back inside and locked the door. "They finally left," she said. It is still unclear why Ferguson came to Wortham's home in the first place. Ferguson was arrested Tuesday morning for illegal use of a weapon, a felony. According to Parker, this charge was determined after detectives collected evidence and body cam footage. Statue 14:94 reads, "illegal use of weapons or dangerous instrumentalities is the intentional or criminally negligent discharging of any firearm... where it is foreseeable that it may result in death or great bodily harm to a human being." "You better know exactly where that bullet is going to go and have a very good reason to do so," Parker said. Ferguson was booked into Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Facility with a bond set at $25,000. This is not the first time Ferguson has been arrested. In 2022, he was arrested on five charges for simple cruelty to animals and three charges for aggravated felony cruelty to animals. In that case, Webster Parish Sheriff's Office located two dead horses on his property, and several other horses with their ribs and bones showing. The Shreveport Times has reached out to Cullen Police Department but has not received a response. More: Louisiana woman posts viral TikTok video after citation for wearing shorts and crop top Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@ This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Louisiana police officer arrested after shooting a dog

Supreme Court strikes down Mexico's lawsuit against US gun manufacturers
Supreme Court strikes down Mexico's lawsuit against US gun manufacturers

Yahoo

time2 days ago

  • Yahoo

Supreme Court strikes down Mexico's lawsuit against US gun manufacturers

The United States Supreme Court has rejected a lawsuit from the government of Mexico that argued American gun manufacturers like Smith & Wesson failed to prevent illegal firearm sales to cartels and criminal organisations. In one of a slew of decisions handed down on Thursday, the top court decided that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act shielded the gun manufacturers from Mexico's suit. The court's decision was unanimous. Writing for the nine-member bench, Justice Elena Kagan explained that even 'indifference' to the trafficking of firearms does not amount to willfully assisting a criminal enterprise. 'Mexico's complaint does not plausibly allege that the defendant manufacturers aided and abetted gun dealers' unlawful sales of firearms to Mexican traffickers,' Kagan wrote (PDF). 'We have little doubt that, as the complaint asserts, some such sales take place — and that the manufacturers know they do. But still, Mexico has not adequately pleaded what it needs to: that the manufacturers 'participate in' those sales.' The Mexican government's complaint, she added, 'does not pinpoint, as most aiding-and-abetting claims do, any specific criminal transactions that the defendants (allegedly) assisted'. The case stems from a complaint filed in August 2021 in a federal court in Boston, Massachusetts. In that initial complaint, the Mexican government — then led by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador — argued that the sheer volume of firearms illegally smuggled into its country amounted to negligence on the part of gun manufacturers. Those firearms, it said, had exacted a devastating toll on Mexican society. The country has some of the highest homicide rates in the world, with the United Nations estimating in 2023 that nearly 25 intentional killings happen for every 100,000 people. Much of that crime has been credited to the presence of cartels and other criminal enterprises operating in Mexico. The Igarape Institute, a Brazil-based think tank, estimated that Mexico's crime cost the country nearly 1.92 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) from 2010 to 2014. The US is the largest arms manufacturer in the world — and also the largest source of illegally sourced firearms. The stream of firearms that pour into Mexico and the broader Latin America region, for instance, has been dubbed the 'iron river'. Nearly 70 percent of the illegal guns seized in Mexico from 2014 to 2018, for instance, were traced to origins in the US, according to the Department of Justice. That has led countries like Mexico to demand action from the US to limit the number of firearms trafficked abroad. In its lawsuit, Mexico targeted some of the biggest names in gun manufacturing in the US: not just Smith & Wesson, but also companies like Beretta USA, Glock Inc and Colt's Manufacturing LLC. But the firearm companies pushed back against the lawsuit, arguing they could not be held responsible for the actions of criminals in another country. The Supreme Court itself cast doubt on some of Mexico's arguments, including the idea that the gun manufacturers designed and marketed their products specifically for cartel buyers. 'Mexico focuses on production of 'military style' assault weapons, but these products are widely legal and purchased by ordinary consumers. Manufacturers cannot be charged with assisting criminal acts simply because Mexican cartel members also prefer these guns,' Justice Kagan wrote. 'The same applies to firearms with Spanish language names or graphics alluding to Mexican history,' she added. 'While they may be 'coveted by the cartels,' they also may appeal to 'millions of law-abiding Hispanic Americans.'' On Thursday, an industry trade group, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), celebrated the Supreme Court's decision as a 'tremendous victory' against an unfair charge. It had filed an amicus brief in support of the defendants in the case. 'For too long, gun control activists have attempted to twist basic tort law to malign the highly-regulated U.S. firearm industry with the criminal actions of violent organized crime, both here in the United States and abroad,' the group's senior vice president, Lawrence G Keane, said in a statement. Keane added that he and others in the firearm industry felt 'sympathetic to plight of those in Mexico who are victims of rampant and uncontrolled violence at the hands of narco-terrorist drug cartels'. But he said the issue was about 'responsible firearm ownership', not the actions of gun manufacturers.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store