Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Photo by Kirsten Pisto, Woodland Park Zoo Hey everyone, we’d like to introduce you to Ben Haager, our events installation coordinator. He’s the Clark Griswold of WildLights, except that Ben is actually really good at keeping the lights on! Here’s Ben with a very special Woodland Park Zoo WildLights takeover to show you what is takes to get our glow on… Hi everyone! It’s my first year coordinating WildLights presented by Sound Credit Union—and I am learning A LOT. Like how to hang and secure large light displays—I even had to get scissor lift certified—and become an expert in Santa decorations. There are lots of trips to Home Depot and local hardware stores as well as vintage thrift stores to find supplies for outfitting Santa’s camp which has a very PNW vibe. It smells pretty great in Santa’s camp thanks to loads of pine our horticulture crew has strewn up, they do such a great job with all the boughs. I really like the details w...

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Happy Birthday Yola! Yola and her vine swing. Photo by Dennis Dow, Woodland Park Zoo. A very gorilla birthday Mischievous, playful, smart, curious, adorable and loved—that’s Yola. Today, November 20 is her second birthday. The 2-year-old gorilla won’t be getting a heart-shaped cake or streamers, she won’t be renting a bouncy house either—instead she’ll spend the day with her gorilla group, her family, doing what all 2-year-olds do best. She’ll push boundaries by stealing someone’s stick, she’ll snuggle up close to mom when she feels like it, she’ll play chase with her aunt Akenji, and undoubtedly she’ll investigate whatever Leo is up to—but most importantly she’ll be a gorilla. Being a gorilla is important. Gorillas are endangered. We hear that word a lot, but let’s think about what that really means. Their habitat and natural range is shrinking every day, and while we’ve made some progress in providing them protection —m...

Posted by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo The cutest, fluffiest little sunbittern chick hatched recently in the Tropical Rain Forest (TRF) canopy!   Hello, little one! At  two or three weeks old, it can already be seen stretching its legs and its trademark long, thin neck around the nest. If you are willing to crane your own neck a bit, you can get a good view! Camouflage fluff keeps baby hidden in the nest. Sunbitterns typically look for dips in tree branches to lay their eggs, lining the nests with mud, moss, plant fibers, and other soft materials. Females lay between one and two eggs, and both sexes share the nest guarding, incubation, and brooding duties. Once the egg(s) hatches, usually in about thirty days, the parents will continue to share feeding and brooding duties. A lesson in how to gulp grubs makes for a picture perfect image. Sticking close to mom, for now. Our chic...

Posted by Kizz Prusia, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo There really is no place like home. Home is where we rest, relax and where we go to recharge. For our residents—the 1,200 animals who call Woodland Park Zoo home— home is where they snooze, play, explore and snack. Seeing Woodland Park Zoo as a home is crucial to how we care for our animals—and just like your home—the zoo needs improvement from time to time to stay in top condition. We are extremely grateful to Seattle voters for passing the Seattle Park District ballot measure nearly three years ago. The funding provided by the Park District—about $1.8 million a year—goes toward maintaining our dens, trees, caves, hot rocks, roofs and watering holes. With this funding, we are able to update old parts of the zoo and keep new parts well-maintained. We consider this “home improvement” to also be preventative maintenance. We’d like to highlight a couple of important projects we hav...

Posted by Alissa Wolken, Woodland Park Zoo Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo We have some new long-legged creatures to introduce you to! We welcomed two female maned wolves, sisters Joy and Scarlet, from the Little Rock Zoo in mid-October. You can now visit them at their exhibit in the zoo’s Wildlife Survival Zone. Neither a fox nor a wolf, Chrysocyon is a species all its own with stilt-like legs, a pointed muzzle, an impressive red coat and dark mane along the back. At home in the grasslands and scrub forest of central South America, these crepuscular canines roam the marshes and woodlands at dawn and dusk in search of fruit, small mammals, birds, eggs and invertebrates.  The arrival of Joy and Scarlet followed the departure of the our sole maned wolf, Vinny. Vinny was recommended to be sent to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center to be paired with a female for breeding under the maned wolf Species Survival Plan, explains Shawn Pedersen, a collection ma...