Human guests get first up-close peek at The Edge tiger exhibit at … – The Denver Post

The Amur tiger left apond and lazily walked up a ramp to the catwalk, putting himself 12 feet above the onlooking crowd. People who were taking photos yelped and scurried away as water and perhaps something else raineddown.

The incident sparked jokes for rest of Wednesdays preview of the Denver Zoos new Edge Exhibit, which needs only a few finishing touches before it opens to the public March 17 such as a sign reminding people to look up.

Joe Amon, The Denver Post

Nikolai one of 3 Amur (Siberian) Tiger's in the new enclosure shows his teeth during a huge yawn as the Denver Zoo unveiled its new tiger exhibit, the Edge, March 8, 2017. It brings you closer to the tigers than ever before and it's nearly twice the size of the previous exhibit.

Joe Amon, The Denver Post

The Denver Zoo unveiled its new tiger exhibit, the Edge March 8, 2017. It's nearly twice the size of the previous exhibit.

Joe Amon, The Denver Post

Nikita one of 3 Amur (Siberian) Tiger's in the new enclosure with large windows as the Denver Zoo unveiled its new tiger exhibit, the Edge March 8, 2017. It brings you closer to the tigers than ever before and it's nearly twice the size of the previous exhibit.

Joe Amon, The Denver Post

Nikolai one of 3 Amur (Siberian) Tiger's in the new enclosure rolling after a short rest as the Denver Zoo unveiled its new tiger exhibit, the Edge March 8, 2017. It brings you closer to the tigers than ever before and it's nearly twice the size of the previous exhibit.

Joe Amon, The Denver Post

Metal panels designed to look like you're looking into the forest are filled with small holes. You are close enough to smell a tigers breath in the new enclosure as the Denver Zoo unveiled its new tiger exhibit, the Edge March 8, 2017. It brings you closer to the tigers than ever before and it's nearly twice the size of the previous exhibit.

Joe Amon, The Denver Post

Nikolai one of 3 Amur (Siberian) Tiger's in the new enclosure climbing down after a look from overhead as the Denver Zoo unveiled its new tiger exhibit, the Edge March 8, 2017. It brings you closer to the tigers than ever before and it's nearly twice the size of the previous exhibit.

Joe Amon, The Denver Post

Nikita one of 3 Amur (Siberian) Tiger's standing up for carnivore keeper Raejeann Eyeht in the new enclosure as the Denver Zoo unveiled its new tiger exhibit, the Edge March 8, 2017. It brings you closer to the tigers than ever before and it's nearly twice the size of the previous exhibit.

Joe Amon, The Denver Post

Nikolai one of 3 Amur (Siberian) Tiger's in the new enclosure watching as the Denver Zoo unveiled its new tiger exhibit, the Edge March 8, 2017. It brings you closer to the tigers than ever before and it's nearly twice the size of the previous exhibit.

We really wanted to give people a chance to get up close and experience the animal, Rebecca McCloskey, the zoos curator of primates and carnivores.

The new tiger exhibit has 18,200 square feet of outdoor space, including ponds, the catwalk, trees and toys, and is nearly double the size of the big cats former home. The exhibit took more than 2 years to create and roughly $2.2 million in Better Denver Bond funding from the City and County of Denver.

The exhibit has a large walk-in semicircle with windows that give the sense of being inside the enclosure with the animals. It also includes perforated metal walls so people can smell the tigers and potentially hear them chuff,the greeting noise tigers make, McCloskey said. The catwalk goes above the opening to the semicircle, allowing the cats to watch you while you watch them.

The exhibit is meant to showcase the animals athleticism and encourage their natural behaviors with logs for scratching, steps for jumping and ponds for light swimming. The catwalk lets them be up high, a position favored by the large animals. The cats behaviors indicate that they are enjoying their new environment, appearing more engaged, interested and active, McCloskey said.

My favorite part is that they have a lot of options to play and jump around and stuff, said Sophie Dawe, who is 5 years old and was wearing tiger ears and a tail. Also, they can, like, nap up there.

Sophie and her twin sister, Gwenyth, come to the zoo often and said the new tiger exhibit was their favorite part, calling the animals cool.

The zoo has three of the cool animals, brothers Nikolai and Thimbu (pronounced TIM-boo) as well as Nikita, who spent some time Wednesday morning using a tree to scratch her ear.

There are fewer than 400 Amur tigers in the wild, the cats trainer Kim Pike said. The cats used to be referred to as Siberian tigers, roaming the Russian Far East, northern China and the Korean peninsula. But as poaching and a loss of habitat threaten the species, they only remain in the Amur River area of the Russian Far East, sparking the name change. The World Wildlife Federation says they also are found in small pockets in the border areas of China and perhaps in North Korea.

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Human guests get first up-close peek at The Edge tiger exhibit at ... - The Denver Post