Can the zoo survive an earthquake? Why is Green Lake so dark? We tackle your questions Jan 02, 2020 at 12:35 pm

What about zoos during an earthquake? Why aren't there lights along the path around Green Lake? At the end of 2019, we selected four questions that you submitted to our SoundQs program, including the above mentioned. Then we sent KUOW's Katherine Banwell in search of answers.

Woodland Park Zoo and earthquakes KUOW listener Ann Shannon was curious if Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo had an emergency plan in place for animals during an earthquake. Martin Ramirez is a mammal curator at the zoo.

What happens to zoo animals during an earthquake?

According to Ramirez, there is a recall system for many of the animals, especially the more "dangerous" residents. Lions, for example, are trained to return to their building upon hearing their call. “When an earthquake does hit the city, we would make sure that dangerous animals can be secured,” Ramirez said. “And when I say ‘dangerous animals,’ essentially it’s our big cats, and our great apes, and bears.”

We have a recall system for the dangerous animals like the big cats, great apes and bears. martin ramirez, mammal curator at Woodland park zoo Credit: KUOW Photo/Katherine Banwell

That dark Green Lake path

KUOW listener Cole Kopca, wanted to know why there isn't any lighting on the path at Green Lake park. So we asked Jesús Aguirre, superintendent of Seattle's Parks and Recreation department.

Why aren't there lights on the path at Green Lake?

Aguirre notes that Green Lake is one of Seattle’s older parks, so there are infrastructure challenges to begin with. “There are so many different users here; not everyone would want lights there,” he said. He further says that Green Lake is generally a safe park, with or without lights. “The way the park is designed, the trails are designed, the trees, some of the landscape, you would have to be thoughtful about, for example, if the question is to create additional safety with lighting, sometimes the lighting itself creates other challenges with trees and dark spots and things like that."

We'd have to figure out how to do electricity, where the lighting goes and the type of lighting. It would be a challenge. Jesús aguirre, SEattle parks & REcreation department Credit: KUOW Photo/Katherine Banwell

The Duwamish Tribe's long fight

University of Washington student Alexis McClimans wondered why the Duwamish Tribe is not always acknowledged by federal authorities when other tribes are. So we went to talk to the chairperson of the Duwamish Tribe, Cecile Hansen.

Why aren't the Duwamish federally recognized?

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has seven requirements for an American Indian tribe to gain federal recognition. Hansen says that the effort for the Duwamish to be federally recognized has been ongoing for decades. “We waited around and then all of a sudden, on the last day of the Clinton administration, I got a phone call that night saying we were acknowledged,” Hansen said. But she says the recognition was short-lived. “On one day, they sent us a fax and put it on hold," she said. "We are appealing that opinion.”

We worked almost 30 years to be acknowledged and the federal government put it on hold and then they took it away. cecile hansen, chairperson of the duwamish tribe Credit: KUOW Photo/Katherine Banwell

The mystery of Juanita's name Rebecca Chu is another KUOW listener. She was curious about the origins of the name "Juanita," a neighborhood in Kirkland. We turned to Leonard Garfield, executive director of Seattle's Museum of History and Industry, for the answer.

Why is the Juanita neighborhood named Juanita?

There is no official origin for the neighborhood's name. But Garfield says there are clues. “The Juanita area was first purchased by Mary Jane Terry," he said. "The Terry family were among the very first settlers who came to Seattle way back in the 1850s. And Mary Jane named this area that she owned ‘Juanita’ … The thought is that she named it after a relative or somebody in her family, but we don’t know that for a fact.”

Credit: KUOW Photo/Katherine Banwell