Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Craig Newberry, Communications Photos by Craig Newberry, Woodland Park Zoo A new pollinator garden to support thriving butterflies, bees and birds was unveiled June 22 at the Washington State Capitol Campus in Olympia. The garden was created in partnership between the Office of Governor Jay Inslee, Washington Department of Enterprise Services (DES), Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), Washington Department of Agriculture (WSDA), Woodland Park Zoo (WPZ), and the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.  Erin Sullivan speaks at the unveiling of the capitol pollinator garden. The garden features pollinator-attracting plants to provide food, water and shelter to pollinators, and has beautiful signage that informs visitors about the critical role of pollinators and how to attract and protect them. It covers a combined space of roughly 1,000 square feet in the heart of the Capitol Campus over the 14th Ave. tunnel. The garden will provide a peaceful and quiet...

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren Co-WHAT-i is a coati? Hello, cutie coati! If you’ve visited the recently reopened Tropical Rain Forest building, you may have noticed a couple fresh faces there! A pair of white-nosed coatis, Onix and Pearl, are the first of their species to live at Woodland Park Zoo. The white-nosed coati (pronounced ko-WAT-tee) is one of several recognized species of coatis. It is a house cat-sized mammal that looks a little like a raccoon—no surprise since they’re related and share the same taxonomic family classification. In the wild, the habitat of the white-nosed coati includes tropical and sub-tropical broadleaf forests ranging from Arizona down through Mexico and Central America and very top of South America. They’re not considered to be endangered in most of their range, but scientists believe their populations are decreasing due to habitat loss and deforestation. White-nosed coati, Onix, explores his new habitat. Coati...

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications We have some extremely exciting news to share... Woodland Park Zoo’s western lowland gorilla population has just gotten bigger—not by the birth of a gorilla, but the recent arrivals of two adult females and one adult male!    Olympia, Jamani and Nadaya! Photos of Olympia and Jamani by North Carolina Zoo, photo of Nadaya by Saint Louis Zoo. The females, 26-year-old Olympia and 22-year-old Jamani, arrived from North Carolina Zoo. The silverback, 21-year-old Nadaya, arrived from Saint Louis Zoo. Adult male gorillas are known as silverbacks, which in the wild and in zoos play a critical role by providing stability, protecting, leading and maintaining peace in their family group. The plan is for the new adults to form a family unit with Jumoke, a 37-year-old female gorilla who was born at Woodland Park Zoo and has had three offspring. Jumoke has been living alone since she lost her male companion, Vip, who died last year due to age-related m...

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher Looking for the perfect way to honor that rad dad or fabulous father figure in your life? We have a few ideas to spark joy for Father’s Day—coming up June 19. Xerxes was a wonderful father to his cubs. Photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo Share a unique experience with Critter Connections * Each experience (20-25 minutes in total) features three of our ambassador animals for you to meet and greet. Whether it’s one of our furry mammals, a fine feathered friend or a rascally reptile, each one of our animals has a personality all their own and each can teach us something to help save wildlife. Plus, you can’t beat this unique photo-op and selfie opportunity! https://www.zoo.org/critterconnections Surprise him with tickets to Whiskey & WildBites * Experience Woodland Park Zoo after-hours while enjoying delicious cuisine prepared by more than a dozen of Seattle’s premiere chefs paired with several of the finest whiskey tastings this area has to offer. This adul...

Post by Craig Newberry, Communications  Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo We are welcoming the newest member of pudu family, a tiny male fawn. Pudus are the smallest deer species in the world and are native to South America.  The fawn, which has yet to be named, was born May 5 to parents Ted and Maggie. The birth is the pudus' third offspring together since they were paired under the Pudu Species Survival Plan , a cooperative breeding program across accredited zoos to help ensure a healthy, self-sustaining population of the species. The fawn's father, Ted, is nearly 6 years old and arrived at the zoo in 2017. The mother, Maggie, 5, came in 2018. Their first offspring, Chile, was born in 2020 and now lives at the Queens Zoo in New York. The second offspring born last year, Ande, remains at Woodland Park Zoo. “The fawn and mother are healthy and bonding well. We’re confident their bonding will continue as the fawn gets more comfortable exploring his habitat,” sa...

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Buttons celebrates a milestone and reminds us to help wild animals stay wild! Happy birthday, Buttons! Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo The spring of 2022 marks a big milestone for one of the more well-known members of our elk herd—Buttons. While we don’t know her exact birthday, this sassy girl—who was born in the wild in eastern Washington—is turning 10 years old! Pregnant elk cows tend to have their calves within the same birthing window, which in our region ranges from the end of May through June. So, it is likely that Buttons was born sometime within that span of time in 2012. Why so scruffy, Buttons? In the spring, an elk's winter coat will drop off and molt into a sleek shorter summer coat. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Buttons gained notoriety several years ago in the area between Ellensburg and Cle Elum where residents—believing she was orphaned—began feeding her, petting her and even putting kids on...