Skip to main content

Posts

Baby reveal! Adorable tree kangaroo joey emerges from mom’s pouch

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo We’re jumping for joey over our latest baby reveal—an 8-month-old Matschie’s tree kangaroo! The male joey was born last August to mom Omari and dad Rocket and he weighs two pounds already. His name is Havam which is the word for “tree kangaroo” in one of the many languages of the YUS Conservation Area in Papua New Guinea, home to wild and endangered Matschie’s tree kangaroos. It is normal for marsupials to spend their first months of life completely in their mother’s pouch—so it’s no surprise that Havam is just now starting to venture out and explore. Tree kangaroos are born hairless, blind and only the size of a jelly bean. In order to survive, the joey must quickly crawl from the birth canal, through its mother’s fur and into her pouch to immediately start nursing. At first, Havam did get a little bit too eager to make his debut, explains animal keeper Beth Carlyle-Askew.    “Havam exited Omari’
Post a Comment
Read more
Recent posts

Wolf sisters celebrate 11th birthday, we celebrate wolf recovery

Posted by Stephen Reed, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Gray wolf sisters Kaya, Doba and Shila recently celebrated an 11th birthday! The three sisters, born April 27, 2010, from a litter of nine at New York State Zoo at Thompson Park, joined Woodland Park Zoo in October of that year. All three sisters take after their mother with white coats. Wolf sisters Kaya, Doba, and Shila turn 11 years old on April 27. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo Gray wolves (Canis lupus) display complex social pack dynamics, and the three sisters at Woodland Park Zoo are no different. Kaya, the dominant female of the group, plays the role of peacemaker and tracks any changes happening around the enclosure. With a reserved personality, she exemplifies quiet strength and stability. Doba plays a subordinate role in the group but is also the most curious. As the least wary of the wolf sisters, she excels at training and is usually the first to investigate new enrichment such
1 comment
Read more

5 Ways to Level Up for Earth Day

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications This Earth Day, April 22, 2021, renew your connection to nature and level up with actions you can take––big and small––that have a lasting impact on the health and resiliency of our incredible home planet.  Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo 1. Plant something You can plant something specifically for pollinators  or you can plant something for yourself. .. planting the seed now for a more sustainable world is a family challenge we can all get behind. For inspiration, check out Earth Day Northwest's Next 5  or Common Acre's Green Line  or these incredible women who are planting an entire forest. 2. Clean it up Get outside and pick up garbage with the Great Global Cleanup (sometimes it really is that simple), join millions in going plastic free this summer , clean up your diet to fight climate change , clean up your shopping list and join the clean ocean movement . There's an app for that too. 3. Let your inner communi
Post a Comment
Read more

Celebrating National Volunteer Week!

Posted by Sarah Bruemmer, Learning & Innovation Woodland Park Zoo Photos by Woodland Park Zoo Volunteers are at the heart of Woodland Park Zoo’s mission to save wildlife and inspire everyone to make conservation a priority in their lives. Each one of our roughly 600 volunteers supports the zoo in positive, meaningful ways by donating their time, expertise, and passion to support our most critical needs – from horticulture and animal care to special events and education. During National Volunteer Week, April 18-24, we celebrate the power of volunteers to make a difference and the extraordinary individuals who are fostering a broad social movement for conservation at Woodland Park Zoo and beyond. As much as we would love to showcase all of the individuals who make up our dedicated volunteer community, we simply cannot do so in a single blog post! However, we did ask several volunteers to share some memories and highlights of their experiences at Woodland Park Zoo. The following stori
Post a Comment
Read more

Gorgeous George—the most handsome goral ever!

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications At Woodland Park Zoo, our commitment to conservation starts with the 1,000 or so animals who call this place home. No matter what stage of life they’re in, they deserve the very best care—including our seniors, many of whom are still active and healthy well into their golden years. George is a Chinese goral who lives his best retirement life at Woodland Park Zoo. Photo: Tamlyn Sapp/Woodland Park Zoo Among the oldest, relative to the life expectancy for his species, is one that you might not have ever seen or even heard of. Geng Rui, a.k.a. George, is a Chinese goral who is living his best retirement life in the yards behind the elk habitat of the Living Northwest Trail—mostly hidden from the public path. What is a goral? Good question! Some say they look like a goat, while others say they look like an antelope—and they’re both a little bit right. A goral is part of a group of hoofed animals called “goat antelopes”—a term that’s related to the
3 comments
Read more

Baby gorilla Zuna spending time outdoors with mom, Nadiri, and the rest of her family

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher and Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Oh, that face! Baby gorilla, Zuna, is ready to say hello to zoo visitors! The 11-week-old western lowland gorilla—the second baby for 25-year-old mom Nadiri and the first between her and 21-year-old father, Kwame, is spending a few hours outdoors each day now with her family. Their time outside in the public space, most likely between 1:45-4:30 pm, is weather-dependent and often takes place in short increments in order to accommodate the baby’s behind-the-scenes bottle-feedings. Nadiri did not immediately pick up her baby after giving birth January 29, so our gorilla keepers initially provided round-the-clock care and bottle feedings of human infant formula while they helped Nadiri build confidence as a mother and bond with her baby . Now the two are back together 24/7 and they are a great team! Nadiri’s bond with Zuna is strong. Gorilla keeper Shawn Bell tells us that Nadir
6 comments
Read more

Celebrate National Wildlife Week with wild cats!

Posted by Paula MacKay, Conservation Associate, Woodland Park Zoo Photos by Woodland Park Zoo It's National Wildlife Week, the perfect time to celebrate our PNW wild cats! We're big fans of using motion-triggered cameras to help us learn more about the wildlife around us. Impassioned volunteers with the Seattle Urban Carnivore Project maintain dozens of cameras throughout greater Seattle, while researchers with the broader Northwest Carnivore Monitoring Program gather important camera data from the Cascades and the Olympics. And of the many amazing animals we observe with our remote cameras, perhaps none are more entertaining than the wild cats. If you’ve ever lived with a domestic cat, you’re already an expert in feline behavior—rubbing against your chair leg, clawing at your couch, rolling around in catnip with fervor and delight. Sometimes your cat just stares at you, as if to remind you they are a cat. Cats are our buddies, but they’re also the boss! Wild felids exhibit m
Post a Comment
Read more