Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications with Judy Sievert, Gorilla Keeper Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo We’re so excited to share another update with you on western lowland gorilla Uzumma and her baby who was born just a little more than three weeks ago on March 4 . This past week has been an exciting time for our gorilla family with milestones big and small. But even the smallest of actions, like Kwame tenderly touching his son’s foot for the first time, makes our hearts soar… and Uzumma continues to settle into motherhood like a pro. Gorilla keeper Judy Sievert tells us that Uzumma is one of the most nurturing and attentive gorilla mothers we have ever seen at Woodland Park Zoo. This comes as no surprise to us as her mom, Amanda, was an exceptional mother to her. Uzumma’s nurturing behavior is not only amazing for her baby, but also a wonderful example for a couple of the other females in the group who one day might be mamas too. Since Uzumma ...

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! Springtime bug time! Photo by Gianni via Flickr 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....

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren Agoutis are rodents native to South America, and the new pups mark the first birth of the species for Woodland Park Zoo. 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. Sniff, sniff, sniff. Agoutis have a keen sense of smell, which comes in handy for a small rodent that needs to sniff out food and look out for predators Unlike many small rodents which are born hairless and with eyes closed, newborn agoutis have fur and can see right from birth. “The p...

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! Have you been to a 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 anima...

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren Howdy, Fitz! 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 is young and only a little bigger than Nayla, our female jag and his coat appears to be a little lighter in color. 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 outdoo...

Posted by Janel Kempf, Early Childhood Editors note:  S taff 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. Keep calm and otter on! Play like an otter! Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo 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 and let us know how it goes! Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo Play Like an Otter What you need: A place ...

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Photos and video by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo They say nature and adorable animals are therapeutic, so here you go Seattle! #WeGotThisSeattle 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.  Uzumma is an excellent mama and is keeping her newborn close. Pictured here at just 8-days-old, the baby gorilla soaks up some warm spring sun with mom, Uzumma. 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 co...

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Saying goodbye is never easy, especially to a bird as endearing as Blueberry the hornbill. Known to some as Blue for short, she was an especially flirtatious bird who had the uncanny ability to brighten days and produce smiles. Everyone who met Blue agreed, she brought an air of auspiciousness and her love of life was only matched by her love of blueberries. Thank you for being our very special hornbill, we will miss you. Sweetest Blueberry. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Blueberry, our female knobbed hornbill, passed away due to chronic advanced liver disease and other age-related concerns. Blueberry was 22 years old and was considered a geriatric bird. Blueberry hatched in May 1997 at Woodland Park Zoo and was named after her favorite treat, blueberries! The statuesque bird lived in the zoo’s Conservation Aviary where visitors could see her and learn about hornbills. In 2015, she transitioned to becoming an ambassador animal...