Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Lisa Dabek, Director and Senior Conservation Scientist, with Trevor Holbrook, Program Manager, Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program As we near the end of the most challenging year anyone could have imagined and look ahead to a hopeful new year, the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program (TKCP) team would like to take this opportunity to wish you good health and safety and express our deepest gratitude for your continued interest and support. 2020 was a unique year for TKCP and the people and wildlife of YUS, Papua New Guinea (PNG). Our program continues to make significant impacts for conservation, and we are proud to share a few of our recent highlights. Photo by Jonathan Byers/TKCP Thrive Wildlife Heroes We hope you will join us for an inspiring live stream event featuring Dr. Lisa Dabek as our keynote speaker and Conservation Leadership Award Honoree. Lisa brought the zoo-based knowledge of Matschie’s tree kangaroos to Papua New Guinea where no previous work had been done on th...

Posted by: Caileigh Robertson, Communications The Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program - Papua New Guinea ( TKCP-PNG )—Woodland Park Zoo’s partner non-governmental organization—was recently awarded the United Nations Equator Prize 2014. This highly-esteemed award honors TKCP-PNG’s initiatives in advancing local innovative solutions for people, nature and resilient communities. We’re very proud of TKCP-PNG’s commitment to creating a sustainable landscape to support the animals, habitat, and indigenous communities of Papua New Guinea’s YUS Conservation Area. Tree kangaroo joey peers out from Mom's pouch. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Last year, Woodland Park Zoo’s flagship conservation program, TKCP, proudly established TKCP-PNG to manage TKCP’s YUS Conservation Area, a 180,000-acre area voluntarily pledged by local landowners to help protect the wildlife native to PNG’s Huon Peninsula. The YUS region (encompassing the Yopno-Uruwa-Som watershed) is home to more t...

Posted by: Alissa Wolken with Lisa Dabek PhD, TKCP Director and WPZ Senior Conservation Scientist Video and photos by Ryan Hawk As we reflect on 2016, one of our proudest milestones is a conservation program at the heart of the zoo’s mission to protect wild things and wild places. The Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program celebrated its 20 th anniversary this year. Since its debut in 1996, the Papua New Guinea-based Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program (TKCP) has transformed from a humble, Woodland Park Zoo supported field conservation project into one of the world's leading community-based conservation programs. VIDEO: Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program celebrates 20 years. In September, high in the cloud forests of Papua New Guinea, the partners of this program came together to celebrate their hard work, community partnerships and commitment to conservation with a beautiful celebration called a sing-sing. Neighbors from all over the Yopno-Uruwa-Som area came toge...

Posted by: Caileigh Robertson, Communications We’re proud to announce Woodland Park Zoo’s flagship conservation program, the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program (TKCP), was prized with top honors for the International Conservation Award at the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) national conference held this week in Orlando, Florida! AZA names conservation as its highest priority, and annually recognizes exceptional efforts by AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums, related or international facilities, and conservation partners toward habitat preservation, species restoration, and support of biodiversity in the wild through its International Conservation Award. Photo by Russell Mittermeier Established in 1996, TKCP determined that the Matschie’s tree kangaroo and its unique habitat faced increasing threats from deforestation and over-hunting. It was clear habitat protection and sustainable resource management practices were needed to help this little-known species survive ...

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications In just a few weeks, Woodland Park Zoo Senior Conservation Scientist Lisa Dabek, PhD, will be back in Papua New Guinea to continue her work for the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program (TKCP). During that time, Dabek will meet with national government officials and the U.S. ambassador to Papua New Guinea to discuss TKCP’s goals for 2019 and beyond, which include incorporating the One Health approach into existing local governments’ initiatives. Young children (and future conservationists) celebrate TKCP's 20th anniversary in 2016. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo “The health of humans, wildlife and the environment is all interconnected,” says Dabek. Dabek founded TKCP, Woodland Park Zoo’s flagship conservation program, 22 years ago as a study on endangered tree kangaroos in Papua New Guinea—an island nation with immense biological diversity that is home to one of the last remaining intact cloud forests on the planet. But the same ...

Posted by: Kate Neville, Corporate and Foundation Gifts Officer Photos by Kate Neville/Woodland Park Zoo I slouch lower in the boat and pull my hat further down over my face. It’s hot. The relentless tropical sun sends rivers of sweat down my neck…and we still have several hours to go before reaching our destination. This boat ride is the last leg of a two-day journey from Lae to the village of Ronji, a remote community in Papua New Guinea’s Morobe Province. My traveling companions are Woodland Park Zoo's  Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program Director Dr. Lisa Dabek, and TKCP staff members Benjamin Sipa, Karau Kuna and Mikal Nolan. We’re traveling to the coastal village of Ronji to participate in a ceremony celebrating the community’s new bridge and field office. TKCP helped construct the bridge and office at the community’s request, thanks to support from Conservation International, the German Development Bank and Woodland Park Zoo. I glance back to the stern, where the captain...