Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Editor’s note: Big thanks and appreciation to Woodland Park Zoo Veterinary Technicians Barb Brush and Leah Miyamoto for sharing the important work they do! Woodland Park Zoo’s mission to inspire conservation and save wildlife begins, in part, with the health and wellness of all the species and individual animals that call our zoo home. Providing top notch veterinary care is more than just diagnosing illness and treating injuries. It also includes promoting wellness and providing treatment options and preventative health care so that all our animals—from a newborn gorilla to a geriatric penguin—have the opportunity to thrive! Physical therapy can include laser and massage. A blue laser light helps fight infection and a red laser, seen here on 25-year-old Humboldt penguin Pupito, promotes tissue healing. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo For nearly two decades, a dedicated team of our skilled veterinary technicians has been providin...

Posted by Katie Remine, Wildlife Conservation A lantern that's easy to spot! Spotted lanternfly WildLantern! As you stroll the beautiful and luminous wonderland of WildLanterns at Woodland Park Zoo this year, keep your eyes peeled for the colorful spotted lanternflies (Lycorma delicatula) between the zoo’s 1899 Grove and Tropical Rain Forest. Enjoy the stunning beauty of these insects, native to subtropical regions of southeast Asia including eastern China, in the form of larger-than-life glowing lanterns! After your WildLanterns experience, we encourage you to keep your eyes peeled for these beautiful insects around Washington and the Pacific northwest (though the real ones are much smaller, about an inch long!) even though they are not native to our region. If you should see one anywhere in Washington or the Pacific northwest, take a photo and report it!  Photo of spotted lanternfly by Tom Field via iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/589172682 These insects, a true...

Posted by Paula MacKay, Living Northwest Conservation Photos by Paula MacKay As a child growing up in Boston, most of my wildlife sightings comprised gray squirrels and American robins—maybe the occasional urban raccoon. But on Sunday nights, a silver-haired zoologist named Marlin Perkins came into my family’s living room and transported me to a much bigger world of animals, where close encounters with species I’d never even heard of ignited my imagination and helped seed my future in carnivore conservation. That little girl in yellow feet pajamas, who sat mesmerized watching Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom while her animal-loving mom knit mittens and hats, could never have dreamed that one day she’d be featured on the program. And the wildlife she’d be studying? Wolverines! Photo by Mutual of Omaha Fast forward five decades, and I found myself on a flight to Billings, Montana, where my husband (WPZ’s Dr. Robert Long) and I were to be filmed for a future episode of the show’s new itera...

Posted by Lauren Carroll-Bolger, Communications Photos: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Calling non-profits and human service organizations! Woodland Park Zoo provides over 100,000 free tickets each year to community partner organizations to support access to the zoo through its Community Access Program (CAP). Applications are now open for CAP and the zoo invites non-profit and human service organizations across the Puget Sound to apply to become a CAP partner for 2026. Applications for 2026 are now open through Nov. 25, 2025, and can be completed at zoo.org/community . Applications are only accepted during the designated time periods. A longstanding Woodland Park Zoo program, CAP works with over 400 non-profit and human service partners each year so that the organizations can distribute tickets to the individuals and communities they serve, particularly to those who may have traditionally faced economic, ability or cultural barriers to visiting the zoo. To ensure equitable dis...

Posted by Craig Newberry, Communications Photos: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo We're pleased to announce the names of our new wolf pack members during Wolf Awareness Week! The four 6-year-old male wolves, all brothers, are named Tamaska (tuh-mah-skuh) Hayes, Lorenzo and Benito! The new family group represents a subspecies of the gray wolf, known as the Mexican gray wolf ( Canis lupus baileyi ), a relative of gray wolves found in the Pacific Northwest. The Mexican gray wolf is critically endangered, while the gray wolf ( Canis lupus ) is listed and protected as endangered under the Endangered Species Act and by the state of Washington. Tamaska is giving wolf vibes! This week, October 19 through 25, is Wolf Awareness Week, highlighting the critical role these canids play in maintaining healthy ecosystems. Wolf Awareness Week is celebrated each October, giving the world a chance to learn about wolf behavior, habitats, and the challenges they face, including habitat loss and ...

Posted by Craig Newberry, Communications Photos: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Angin touched many lives and we will miss his amazing presence. Woodland Park Zoo is mourning the loss of one of its male Malayan tigers Angin (ON-yin), 15, after he was humanely euthanized this morning due to significant decline in health and quality of life. For several months, animal keepers observed Angin’s mobility declining, along with a decrease in appetite. Earlier this year, he was examined, and analgesic medications were started. After further decline was noted, a follow-up exam and an MRI were performed this summer. These diagnostics showed that Angin had severe, degenerative, and progressive changes to the bones of the neck, which were causing inflammation and pain. The zoo’s animal health team changed his treatment plan based on these findings. “Angin was treated with multiple medications, including anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxants, and analgesics, which he responded favorably to,...