For Sale: 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, and a zoo

Photos by Jerry Pickard
Information from Jerry Pickard was used in this story

Zillow listing - 3712 NE 178th St, Lake Forest Park, WA 98155, 4 beds 4 baths, 5,070 sq ft

Gurpreet Singh is selling his house in Lake Forest Park, and with it, his collection of wild animal sculptures.

People who drive in Lake Forest Park are accustomed to seeing an elephant looking over the hedge near the intersection of Brookside Boulevard, NE 178th St. and NE 180th St.

More jungle creatures lurk in the yard.

A cow elephant with two calves, a rhinoceros, a panda, and a mother chimpanzee with a baby were his original collection. Later he added another rhino, a zebra, and a Tasmanian tiger. The animals are all full size.

The Tasmanian Tiger was declared endangered a few weeks
before it went extinct. Or maybe this is just a really ugly tiger.

His goal was to make people aware of the plight of the many species around the world which are disappearing due to loss of habitat and poachers.

He acquired the animals from a friend who has a garden ornament business on Lake City Way near 143rd.

The initial plan was to purchase even more animals - a lion, a tiger, more rhinos, and place them in different areas around his house where people could see them.

He toyed with the idea of putting a rhino with its head and horn protruding through the hedge toward the street, but decided that while funny, it would probably cause problems with distracted drivers. He thought that the LFP Police probably wouldn't see the humor.

The animals need some touch up painting as they have spent time sitting out in northwest weather, but they were recently pressure washed to spruce them up for the sale.