Invest In Your Zoo

The Great Northwest

Future For Wildlife 

The Great Northwest  The most complex, multi-species habitat  ever planned at the Oregon Zoo

At the Oregon Zoo, a remarkable transformation is taking place.  Old cement grottos and wire cages are disappearing.  In their place, environments alive with animal family groups in naturalistic settings are taking shape.

Building on the success of Cascade Crest where mountain goats roam a magnificent rocky outcrop and Steller Cove where baby Oz the sea otter continues to delight visitors, we stand ready to meet our next challenge: the final phase of the Great Northwest exhibit complex that will include Eagle Canyon, Cascade Canyon and Trillium Creek Farm.

When complete, the Great Northwest will be the Zoo’s cornerstone exhibit, where you’ll enjoy a trek from the mountains to the valleys to the rivers to the sea.

Won’t it be great to see lynx, cougar, black bear, wolf, bald and golden eagle, wolverine, mountain beaver, fox and a wide variety of bird species in exhibits that replicate their natural habitats?

Construction has already begun on Eagle Canyon, which will re-create a natural Northwest watershed, taking you through a wooded ravine, where you’ll get a bird’s-eye view of majestic bald eagles and come nose-to-nose with salmon and other aquatic reptiles and amphibians at special underwater viewing areas.

Next year will be incredibly busy as we start on the Cascade Canyon exhibits and Trillium Creek Farm!

You’ll stroll along Cascade Canyon trail within a few feet of a bobcat den.  From a nearby treetop aviary you’ll hear native forest songbirds.  Small, seldom-seen pygmy and saw-whet owls will be in a walk-through aviary and the majestic golden eagle will roost in branches overhead.  Farther along the trail, American black bears will return to the Zoo in a new tree-filled habitat.  Cougar, black bear, wolf, wolverines, fisher, marten and lynx will have unique habitats as part of the forest area.

A small farm at the forest edge—Trillium Creek Farm—will be an interactive family farm experience with fun for kids of all ages AND actually managed by young people from the community.  The center of activity will be a traditional Willamette Valley barn that will offer “hands on” opportunities for children to meet several types of domestic animals.  The farmhouse will feature a large front porch for storytelling and agricultural demonstrations.

It’s an ambitious task to build all of these exhibits over the next two years and you are an important part of these plans.  Your investment will help your Zoo take yet another giant step into a future that grows more exciting and challenging as the Great Northwest comes to life – a future that will give our children and grandchildren the opportunity to learn about the natural world as they explore these unique animal environments.

Gifts of all amounts are important and appreciated.  A unique donor wall incorporated into the exhibit design will thank those contributing $1,000 or more.  In addition, here are just a few of the commemorative opportunities available for you to establish an enduring tribute to a friend or loved one or link your family name with the Oregon Zoo:

                  A limited number of individual markers will be

                placed along Cascade Canyon Trail 

To discuss these and other gift opportunities, please call The Oregon Zoo Foundation at (503) 220-5707.

Future for Wildlife          

Conservation is central to the mission of the Oregon Zoo.  Our programs and activities are dedicated to conserving wildlife.  The Future for Wildlife program focuses our energy and resources on projects in the fieldmaking a difference in the native range of the animals. 

Heres just a few of the specific conservation efforts: 

Ø       Support provided to build a protective wall in the native habitat of the Humboldt penguin to keep them safe from predators like the fox. 

Ø       Western Pond Turtle hatchlings, listed as endangered in the state of Washington, are being raised at the Zoo for release into their native ponds in the Columbia River Gorge. They are returned to the habitat once they are too large to be eaten by non-native bullfrogs. 

Ø       Working with The Nature Conservancy, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Lewis and Clark Colleges Biology Department, were raising the federally threatened Oregon silverspot butterfly to supplement the declining population at Cascade Head Reserve while a controlled-burning program restores the butterflys habitat. 

Your support will help us protect even more species.  Please consider a tax-deductible gift for the Oregon Zoos Future for Wildlife program. 

Tax deductible gifts may be made in cash, securities or other negotiable property. Details on possible tax savings through Planned Giving methods, such as bequests and trusts, are available from the Foundation Office.   

You may mail contributions to The Oregon Zoo Foundation, 4001 SW Canyon Road, Portland, OR 97221 or call (503) 220-2493 to charge your gift over the phone.