Cougar Crossing
Cougar Crossing is a planned animal exhibit in the Alabama Wilds area of the Junior League of Birmingham-Hugh Kaul Children’s Zoo at the Birmingham Zoo. The $4 million, 15,000 to 20,000 square-foot exhibit is expected to open in 2024. It was originally planned to house two exhibit areas, one for Bob, the zoo's bobcat, and one for a new cougar yet to be acquired. It would also include educational materials relating to wildlife conservation in Alabama.
Initial planning for the new exhibit began in 2019. Major gifts to support its development were provided by Phyllis and Larry Wojciechowski, AutoTec, the Daniel Foundation, the Hugh Kaul Foundation, McKinney Capital, Protective, the Robert R. Meyer Foundation, and the Zoo's Junior Board.
Progress on the exhibit was slowed by the discovery of at least 12 burials relating to the former Red Mountain Cemetery which was on the site of Lane Park. The zoo coordinated with the Alabama Cemetery Preservation Alliance and the Alabama Historical Commission to exhume and re-inter those remains. Interpretive signs at the Cougar Crossing exhibit will acknowledge the site's history as a burial place.
Bob died in November 2023. Zoo director Chris Pfefferkorn said that the exhibit would be reworked to house "rescued and orphaned cougar cubs from across the country."
References
- Fulmore, Miranda (July 13, 2023) "The Birmingham Zoo wants to build a new cat exhibit. First they must deal with unmarked graves." WBHM.org
- Bryant, Joseph D. (December 13, 2023) "Birmingham Zoo to house rescued and orphaned cougars at new exhibit." AL.com