After 28 years the Tasmanian Tiger roller coaster at ZooTampa has closed and dismantled. The ride itself was simple, but it had some pretty iconic tiger trains. It was also relocated from Wild Adventures where it previously operated as Tiger Terror (great name), but we’ll discuss that more later. The coaster opened at ZooTampa in December of 2008 and has given more than 4.5 million rides to zoo guests during its life. The ride area has a sign by it mentioning this fact and its retirement in general:

IT’S BEEN A GREAT RIDE! For more than 28 years the Tasmanian Tiger coaster has provided families with a fun journey. During its time at ZooTampa, more than 4.5 million guests enjoyed the trek through the outback and created memories that will last a lifetime. While the ride has been retired, the adventures continue! Stay tuned for more information as we explore other options for this location that will continue to create opportunities for connections with nature and each other.

The coaster itself is pretty simple in that it was a Wisdom Rides “Dragon Wagon” oval course with a single helix. It was a tire drive lift hill and you got two laps around. In a neat piece of history, Tasmanian Tiger was actually a relocation from Wild Adventures in Valdosta, Georgia where it operated as Tiger Terror from 1998-2008. It was actually the park’s first coaster along with Boomerang. It was sold to the zoo in 2008, refurbished and opened shortly after.

This is the second zoo to uninstall a roller coaster in the past year with the Indianapolis Zoo removing Kombo. However, Kombo is seeing a second life reopening at Lake Winnie this year as Lookout Safari. The Tasmanian Tiger looks like it’s just getting scrapped with the use of “retired”. In a Facebook post several staff members mentioned it had some maintenance issues as well. It’s always sad to see the world coaster count reduced by one, but hopefully ZooTampa puts the space to good use.