Ever heard of a tree kangaroo?
If you’ve been to the Woodland Park Zoo within the past decade, you’ve walked right by the tree kangaroos but might not have known they were there.
But the fuzzy-faced marsupial will make its grand return to the public eye in Seattle next spring when the zoo rolls out a new Forest Trailhead exhibit.
The Woodland Park Zoo has four Matschie’s tree kangaroos and has hosted them since the 1980s as a part of its Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program. They used to call the zoo’s Day and Night exhibit home until the two buildings were destroyed in a fire that injured two firefighters and killed six turtles in 2016. Since then, they’ve taken up residence in private habitats behind closed doors, said the zoo’s chief engagement officer, Rebecca Whitham.
The Forest Trailhead — built on the same plot where the Day and Night buildings once stood — will host the tree ‘roos alongside red pandas and kea birds that now live in different exhibits at the zoo.
Construction on the exhibit, which began in May 2024, is set to wrap up in June or July, said project manager Ken Kroeger. The animals will be given several months to adjust to their new environment before visitors are admitted.
The Forest Trailhead will present a “new view of the zoo,” Whitham said at the zoo’s media tour of the exhibit Wednesday.
An elevated walkway rises from the lower level through an outdoor tree canopy where the tree kangaroos and red pandas will be housed in a mesh enclosure. From the walkway, visitors will not only see the critters lounge among the branches and scurry by in overhead tunnels that connect to their bedrooms, but they will also be able to peek at the neighboring penguin and jaguar habitats and the zoo’s north meadow.
On a sunny morning, Fritz the jaguar sat on a perch in his habitat above the construction workers as they milled about the lower level of the new neighboring exhibit — perhaps surveying his appetizer options, Kroeger joked.
Inside, visitors will see a gallery of reptiles, amphibians and fish, such as Chinese crocodile lizards, Vietnamese mossy frog and rainbow fish, alongside ambassador animals such as donkeys that regularly travel throughout the zoo as they are led around by staff, Whitham said. The mix of species will serve as a face for conservation issues like deforestation and illegal trade such as poaching.
On the upper level, visitors can learn about conservationist solutions they can implement, Whitham said, and how conservationism can support animal populations in their own backyard.
“We see this exhibit as an opportunity that brings the story of the whole zoo together because forest conservation is such a big part of what we do across this entire 92-acre urban forest,” Whitham said. “We are in the Emerald City, in the Evergreen State. Of course this is who we are.”
Conservation is a core part of the Forest Trailhead exhibit, Kroeger said. The building features exposed wooden beams, paneling made from recycled paper, wood product that uses over 90% of the tree and natural lighting to cut down on energy.
A rippled concrete wall borders the exhibit, separating it from the jaguar and gorilla enclosures. It was salvaged from the Day and Night buildings.
