A good zoo exhibit isn’t just improvised by luring lions and tigers through a gate with White Castle hamburgers and turning the key behind them. What makes a zoological exhibit dramatic and relevant is the recreation of the creature’s natural habitat — which is exactly what the Wildlife Conservation Society is doing at the Bronx Zoo with its new attraction, Tiger Mountain. Spreading over three acres, this is the recreated environment of the Siberian tiger, an endangered species for which only 200-400 still exist in the wild. (Regrettably, there are more Siberian tigers currently in captivity than in nature). Also called Amur tigers, after their home in the Amur Valley on the border between Russia and China, the Siberian tiger averages 9-11 feet in length for adult males, at a weight of anywhere between 450-600 pounds, with the adult female averaging 8-9 feet in length and weighing 250-400 pounds, making them the largest of all tiger subspecies. Eating mainly elk, deer, and wild boar, the creatures also consume other hoofed animals, small mammals, and sometimes even fish. In their natural habitat, their territories vary between 40-400 square miles, with the males covering a greater range than the females. Although they won’t have so many square miles to roam at the Bronx Zoo, the cats should definitely feel at home among the native horticultural plantings and rocky terrain of their manmade environment, which consists of two habitat/viewing areas: “Tiger Valley” and “Tiger Ridge”. The Valley is an open viewing shelter, with a glass partition on three sides set deep into the tiger’s habitat, giving visitors about as close a look at these creatures as they’re ever likely to get outside of a dream. At the Ridge, visitors are able to observe the tigers at a full range of activities — playing, drinking, resting and swimming in the 10,000-gallon “tiger pool”, with the pool offering a unique underwater view. There are educational features at both viewing areas, including the Valley’s “Tigers in Action”, an interactive look at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s efforts; and the Ridge’s innovative “tiger talk”, in which visitors clamp on earphones to listen to live tiger “chuffing”, growls and roars. Onlookers can also play a kind of tiger stripe match game, by matching the stripes of the tigers on view that day to the tiger photos on display. (A tiger stripe is as individual a marking as a human fingerprint). To increase conservation awareness and participation, the exhibit also houses a “Save the Tiger Station” and a “Tiger Trail”, where visitors can take active roles in supporting tiger conservation efforts. Visitors can also engage in the mano-a-paw “Rope Pull” activity — the equivalent of a tug-of-war between man and beast, with the rope passing safety through a metal plate separating the public area from the exhibit space — and a “Spring Pull”, in which visitors can witness the tigers’ simulated predatory behavior. Chuff indeed.
Info: Where: Bronx Zoo, Fordham Road and Bronx River Parkway When: Monday-Friday, 10am-5pm; weekends and holidays until 5:30pm Admission: Adults $8; children ages 2-12, $5; seniors $6. FREE for children under 2. For more information: (718) 367-1010; www.bronxzoo.com; www.wcs.org
