Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Janel Kempf, Early Childhood

Editors note: While Woodland Park Zoo is temporarily closed to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus in our community, our staff and educators want to share a few ways you can connect young learners to nature and nature play... and what better way than to bring Zoomazium to you! Each week, we'll add an activity to this blog to help your family create innovative and educational play time at home. For information about our temporary closure please visit zoo.org/health. Enjoy these relaxing springtime bug salutations!

While we’re all helping our neighbors by staying home, some of our most important neighbors are hard at work just outside our doors—bugs! 
It’s springtime, and there are millions of insects, spiders, worms and other invertebrates (animals without backbones) doing their own special jobs. They might be flying from one early flower to another, pollinating as they go. Or burrowing through the soil, helping let in air and water. …

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications
Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren

Welcome to the world wee ones! A pair of red-rumped agoutis (rhymes with cutie) were born March 18 at Woodland Park Zoo to 2-year-old mom Nutella and 3-year-old dad John Agouti. The new pups mark the first birth of the species—which is part of the rodent family—at the zoo. “We will determine the sex of the pups when they are 1 month old, when we do a complete physical exam to assess their health and ensure they are growing well,” says Dr. Tim Storms, an associate veterinarian at Woodland Park Zoo.

Unlike many small rodents which are born hairless and with eyes closed, newborn agoutis have fur and can see right from birth. “The pups will nurse for up to 20 weeks and are also eating solid food such as leafy greens and a pelleted rodent diet,” says Erin Sullivan, an animal care manager at Woodland Park Zoo. Agoutis resemble guinea pigs but are larger in size and have longer legs and shorter hair; they weigh between 4…

Posted by Janel Kempf, Early Childhood

Editors note: While Woodland Park Zoo is temporarily closed to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus in our community, our staff and educators want to share a few ways you can connect young learners to nature and nature play... and what better way than to bring Zoomazium to you! Each week, we'll add an activity to this blog to help your family create innovative and educational play time at home. For information about our temporary closure please visit zoo.org/health. Can't wait to see examples of your own Creature Feature!

One of our favorite daily activities in Zoomazium is Creature Feature, a fun puppet story followed by a visit from an Ambassador Animal. While the zoo is temporarily closed, our dedicated animal keepers are still hard at work giving these creatures the very best care. Your favorites like Obi the ball python, Bolivar the red-footed tortoise, and all the other animals you might meet, will be there as soon as we ar…

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications
Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren

Just because we're all practicing social distancing, doesn't mean we can't bring you up close with one of our newest residents. Woodland Park Zoo has welcomed Fitz to our zoo family and he's getting more confident in his new home every day. This 2-year-old male jaguar arrived recently from Houston Zoo, and he is slowly but surely finding his way around the Tropical Rain Forest.

Fitz spent his first month in Seattle under the watchful eye of our awesome veterinary staff, which is standard procedure for new animal arrivals. Once our animal care team gave him a clean bill of health, he was ready to move into his new home in the Tropical Rain Forest area. Once there, this slightly shy guy has been taking his time venturing onto the public side of his outdoor space and is now enjoying some private time to settle in and bond with his new animal keepers. The zoo’s temporary closure related to the novel co…

Posted by Janel Kempf, Early Childhood

Editors note:While Woodland Park Zoo is temporarily closed to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus in our community, our staff and educators want to share a few ways you can connect young learners to nature and nature play... and what better way than to bring Zoomazium to you! Each week, we'll add an activity to this blog to help your family create innovative and educational play time at home. For information about our temporary closure please visit zoo.org/health. Keep calm and otter on!

Hello to all our Zoomazium friends—we miss you!

For any new friends out there, Zoomazium is our early childhood hub at Woodland Park Zoo. Even though we're all practicing social distancing to keep our community healthy, we can’t stop thinking about fun ways to play, grow, and learn about animals and their habitats.

Each week, we'll share an animal-inspired, educational activity for young children and their families to try at home. Have fun a…

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications
Photos and video by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo

Uzumma and her 9-day-old baby ventured outdoors for the better part of an hour yesterday, March 12. With temperatures warm enough, and even a few sun breaks, it was the right time to let Uzumma soak up the outdoors with her baby. 


Of course, it was no surprise when the new mom climbed up to the tiptop of the climbing structure with her baby secured safely under her arm. Keepers tell us that while it might look scary from below, the first-time-mom is a confident climber. Uzumma made more than a few trips up the structure to take in the view and get a good look around. The other members of Uzumma's group continue to give mom and baby lots of space, although they all enjoyed the sunshine and spending time outside together. 



Baby gorillas are expert grippers, holding onto mom's thick fur while she walks, climbs and forages for food. This essential skill keeps the baby close to mom …