Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Alejandro Grajal, PhD, President and CEO One of the most cherished rights of humans is the ability to influence our destiny. Democracies enable the right to vote, which is missing in many parts of the world. While in the United States, voters this fall may wait in long lines this election season, here in Washington all you need to do is put your ballot in the mail. Easy! A young visitor meets a fancy friend at Molbak's Butterfly garden. Photo by Dennis Dow/WPZ. Ballots are arriving in your mailbox now for the November ballot, and at the zoo, we are urging all of our supporters to vote.  In addition to many very important races at the local level, there are two important initiatives on the ballot. Blueberry meets with her fanclub. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/WPZ. For those of you in Seattle, there is Prop 1, the Families,Education, Preschool and Promise Plan.  Prop 1 replaces two levies about to expire – one that helps preschool and one that...

Posted by: Peter Zahler, Vice President of Conservation Initiatives Camera trap image of a snow leopard in Pamir Mountains, Central Asia. Photo credit: WCS Afghanistan. The names are so evocative that they feel fictional—the Himalayas, the Karakorams, the Hindu Kush, the Tien Shans, the Altais—the world’s greatest mountains, soaring above the clouds, blocking global weather patterns, and changing the very nature of the vast continent of Asia. In and among these enormous mountains, villagers have scratched out a living carving tiny farm plots out of the precipitous cliffs, moving their small herds of livestock up and down the steep slopes to find pasture. Traders have struggled to drag their goods through the high passes on the historic Silk Routes to sell spices, share ideas, and change the course of history. And of course men have fought wars and built kingdoms in these fearsome mountains, from Genghis and Kublai Khan’s great empires to Britain and Russia’s Great Game glob...

Posted by Alejandro Grajal, PhD, President and CEO When will we address climate change? Will it be when salmon can no longer spawn in Washington waters? Will we do something to curb carbon pollution once the orca has gone extinct? Or will we do nothing as wild species disappear one by one throughout the Pacific Northwest and the world? This November, Washington state must vote to protect wildlife for generations. If passed, Initiative 1631 would be the first Carbon Fee enacted by popular vote in the world. Woodland Park Zoo fully endorses Initiative 1631 because the health of the Puget Sound region, its people, and wildlife are impacted by climate change.   Initiative 1631 brings together a wide and deep coalition of citizens from agriculture, manufacturing, business, labor, Tribes, communities of color, environmentalists, and faith communities – Initiative 1631 is truly a citizen’s initiative. Democracy starts with those who participate in it. The broad and diverse coal...