Birmingham Zoo to house rescued and orphaned cougars at new exhibit
Visitors to the Birmingham Zoo will see more big cats when a new exhibit opens next year.
Chris Pfefferkorn, president and CEO of the zoo, said that the new Cougar Crossing exhibit will house rescued and orphaned cougar cubs from across the country.
“We’d like to give them a home so that’s what this exhibit will do,” Pfefferkorn told AL.com.
When announcing the new exhibit, zoo officials said Bob, the zoo’s longtime bobcat, would move to Cougar Crossing. But at 19 years old, Bob died in November, Pfefferkorn told AL.com.
Pfefferkorn on Wednesday gave an update on Cougar Crossing along with other capital projects at the zoo.
“We had started this project before Covid, so we were hoping to finish it and give Bob a new home,” Pfefferkorn said.
The death of Bob means that there are currently no cougars or bobcats at the zoo. The exhibit will change that.
Bob the Bobcat, at the Birmingham Zoo, was set to be moved to the planned Cougar Crossing exhibit before he died in late November. (Courtesy/The Birmingham Zoo)
Cougar Crossing will be a 15,000 to 20,000 square feet area that includes a public viewing area and two outdoor habitats.
The area is currently fenced in and blocked with black privacy netting as archaeologists from the University of Alabama exhume human remains that were part of an abandoned cemetery on the zoo grounds. The Alabama Historical Commission gave the zoo permission to dig up about a dozen graves and move them to make way for the new exhibit.
Both the zoo and the nearby Birmingham Botanical Gardens were built on property that was known as the Red Mountain Cemetery and Southside Cemetery, an indigent burial ground for more than 4,700 people. Many of those interred at the cemetery between 1888 and about 1909 were among Birmingham’s poorest early residents, most of them buried in unmarked graves.
Pfefferkorn said the remains that are moved will be reburied, a sign will be erected noting the history of the land as a cemetery, and the new exhibit will also include signage detailing the area’s history.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Pfefferkorn also gave an update on restoration of the Protective Carousel. The popular attraction is undergoing significant restoration and repairs by artisan experts. The animal figurines on the ride have been removed and sent away to be repainted in a more realistic way, Pfefferkorn said.
The carousel work should be complete in early 2024. The restoration is funded by the Protective Life Foundation.