Lagoon’s zoo will soon see its last days.
Adam Leishman, the Farmington park’s spokesperson, said as the park prepares to open for the season on March 22, visitors can expect “pretty significant visual changes.” Part of those changes, he said, include the decision to “phase out the Wild Kingdom train exhibit.”
Lagoon’s Wild Kingdom train ride and zoo exhibit opened in 1967. Both have been the subject of criticism from animal welfare groups and park visitors.
In 2019, a video of a male lion that appeared to be in distress was shared widely on social media. At the time, the amusement park reiterated its assertion that all the animals — including the lion — were treated with respect and proper care at the park. In 2012, animal rights activists protested the zoo.
According to the national activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has cited Lagoon multiple times for zoo conditions over a 15-year span.
Leishman insisted that the decision to close the zoo exhibit was “made primarily so we can offer new attractions and experiences for our guests” and not in response to years of criticism.
The transition away from the zoo has already begun.
In a Thursday morning news release, the Utah Animal Rights Coalition, an animal rights group that has long been critical of Lagoon, said it obtained documentation from PETA confirming six big cats were moved to The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado, late last year.
A Utah Department of Agriculture and Food document, reviewed by The Salt Lake Tribune, shows the sanctuary received a 15-year-old white Bengal tiger named Athena; a 15-year-old African lion named Denahi; two black leopards, Edwina (10) and Pru (14); and two cougars, Oliver (10) and Pheobe (11).
The Utah Animal Rights Coalition characterized the move as “long-awaited.” In the news release, Alex Wilde, the organization’s Lagoon campaigner, said for the first time “in years — perhaps ever — these big cats will be able to engage in their natural instinctual behaviors and live a life where their home is measured in square acres, not square feet”
The transition to the the Colorado refuge marks the “first time Lagoon has released any animals to sanctuary” since the Utah animal rights group started its campaign against the amusement park, according to the news release.
In the past, the zoo has housed several species of animals such as bison, zebras and elk.
“The majority of the [remaining] animals are hoofstock,” Leishman said.
The plan for the rest of the zoo’s animals, Leishman said, is to “close the remainder of the exhibits within this calendar year.” However, the train, which he said is “the only steam-powered passenger train operating in the state today,” will remain.
In its news release, the Utah Animal Rights Coalition said it will “monitor the situation with the remaining animals imprisoned at the park and have good faith that Lagoon will continue to send more of them to sanctuaries to satisfy the pleas of the Utah public.”
Leishman said Lagoon will announce its plans for the park when details are finalized.
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