Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Chantel (on the right) visited the zoo with her family and was surprised to learn she was the 1.25 millionth visitor of 2024. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. To mark its 125th anniversary, Woodland Park Zoo surprised a special guest with a gift pack and extraordinary experiences to celebrate 1.25 million visitors in 2024! A century and a quarter ago, the widow of Guy C. Phinney sold his sprawling, private estate to the City of Seattle for $100,000. The land, woods, and lakefront came with a small group of animals and became the lush oasis it is today, Woodland Park Zoo. Based on 2024 visitation and advance ticket sales for the remainder of December, the zoo expects to welcome 1.25 million guests by the new year. Zoo staff picked a date and time for the celebration, and the unsuspecting visitor, Chantel Frizzell and her family, got the surprise of the year when they entered the zoo today and staff informed them of their fortuitous ...

 Posted by Woodland Park Zoo Communications Staff Humboldt penguins by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo New proactive, preventative measures to protect zoo birds from HPAI  As an increased measure to protect its birds from Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), Woodland Park Zoo will be proactively moving some species within the zoo. To safeguard the health of flamingos and some crane species, who live in open-top habitats, these birds will be moved into more protective housing temporarily to prevent contact with wild mallards and other waterfowl.   Penguins will remain outdoors for now, as their pool and food sources don’t draw mallards into their habitat.   We appreciate the patience of our community and guests, who may miss seeing these beautiful birds for a while but who understand the importance of keeping them safe. Chilean flamingos, Annie Kwan/Woodland Park Zoo Update on the goose flock  On Nov. 14, the zoo received confirmation that ...

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Our beautiful Batu. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Woodland Park Zoo is sad to share it learned today that its pregnant orangutan, Batu, has lost her baby after carrying the fetus nearly to term. An ultrasound performed this morning during an anesthetized exam unfortunately revealed the fetus was no longer viable. This was the first pregnancy for the 15-year-old orangutan and would have marked the first orangutan birth at the zoo in 35 years. Godek, also 15, was the father. “While we always prepare for worst-case scenarios, of course, this is not the outcome we expected. We had high hopes and were so excited to welcome a healthy baby to our zoo family and for Batu to enter a new chapter of motherhood. This is a monumental loss for our zoo family and our hearts are very heavy, especially for Batu and her dedicated caretakers,” said Roger Sweeney, Chief Zoological Officer at Woodland Park Zoo. “Up until recently we had been able to ...

Posted by Woodland Park Zoo Communications Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Woodland Park Zoo is pleased to announce a $7.15 million grant from Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies (MACP) to advance and expand the zoo’s Advancing Empathy Initiative that fosters empathy for animals in Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited organizations. This three-year grant continues the zoo’s long-term partnership with MACP and organizations across the country to build strong empathic connections between humans and animals through research-based effective empathy practices, while also amplifying the zoo’s mission to save wildlife and inspire everyone to make conservation a priority in their lives. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Emerging behavioral science is showing that there are social and emotional components to changing our behaviors. Feeling empathy is an often overlooked but necessary step between learning about the need for change and taking action on ...

Posted by Woodland Park Zoo Communications Staff Woodland Park Zoo is home to a flock of red-breasted geese as well as many other species of birds. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo A red-breasted goose at Woodland Park Zoo has died and is the first suspected case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) at the zoo. The goose passed away earlier this week and the zoo received preliminary positive HPAI test results today, Nov. 14. Health and safety precautions had already been enacted at the zoo in response to increased HPAI cases being reported across the state and region. For the wellbeing of our animals, staff and guests, additional and increased measures will be implemented immediately. Background HPAI, or highly pathogenic avian influenza, is a viral infection that is carried by wild birds, especially mallards and other waterfowl, and is spread primarily through respiratory secretions and bird-to-bird contact. In addition to posing a threat to birds, HPAI can also ...

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Gray wolf, Shila, was a treasure and we will deeply miss her. Woodland Park Zoo is deeply saddened by the loss of its sole gray wolf, Shila (SHY-lah), who has passed away. Animal keepers found the 14-year-old, female wolf deceased this morning in her habitat. In human care, the median life expectancy for gray wolves is 11 to 12 years old. At 14, Shila was a geriatric wolf. As a standard procedure, the zoo’s animal health team will perform a postmortem exam to further diagnose factors that may have contributed to Shila’s death. Shila was born in April 2010 at New York State Zoo at Thompson Park and moved to Woodland Park Zoo in the fall that year with her three sisters who have all since passed away. Woodland Park Zoo made groundbreaking medical headway for wolves when in June this year its veterinary team partnered with an external veterinary cardiologist to implant a pacemaker in Shila to treat a ...