Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo World, meet Keweng (kay-wing), or “Kay” as she is affectionately nicknamed for short!  This sweet female Matschie’s tree kangaroo, born to mom Elanna and dad Rocket in January, is named after a village in the YUS Conservation Area (YUS) in Papua New Guinea. YUS is home to Woodland Park Zoo’s Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program , and Keweng is one of the main villages in YUS. “Keweng is the home of Mambawe Manauno, the first landowner and former tree kangaroo hunter, who showed me tree kangaroos for the very first time in 1996,” explains TKCP founder and Director Lisa Dabek, PhD (also WPZ’s Senior Conservation Scientist). “Manauno was also the 2003 recipient of the Woodland Park Zoo Conservation Award. It’s so great to be able to pay tribute to his work with the naming of this special joey.” Day by day, little Keweng is becoming more familiar with the world around her. She ...

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications Photos by Amanda Dukart, Animal Keeper Hello joey! Poppy's wallaby baby is popping out to see the world!  We are jumping for joey! Two adorable joeys, born last fall, are just starting to venture into the world and out of their mamas’ pouches. Wallaroo mom Tinga gave birth to a joey last November, and wallaby mom Poppy gave birth to her joey last September. The sex of each of the joeys is not confirmed yet. Each joey—the name of a baby kangaroo, wallaroo or wallaby—starts as a tiny blind and hairless newborn, only about the size of a lima bean! Even without sight to navigate, these babies must crawl their way up into their mother’s pouch where they will be able to stay safe and warm in the pouch while growing and getting all the nutrients they need from mom Wallaroo Tinga comes into her indoor area to enjoy a snack, while her joey peeks out.  At around 5 or 6 months old, the joey starts peeking their head out of the...

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications with Amanda Dukart, Animal Keeper We have a host of amazing staff, including animal keepers. Our Keeper Spotlight series aims to highlight their work and their passion for saving species as well as getting our readers an insider view of what it might be like to work at Woodland Park Zoo. Hello! My name is Amanda and I work as an animal keeper at Woodland Park Zoo. I currently work with tree kangaroos, wallaroos, wallabies, emus, kea, kookaburra, masked lapwing, wonga pigeons, blue-faced honeyeaters. But in the past I’ve worked with everything from big cats to primates, grizzly bears to reptiles! Today I am going to show you around my day-to-day a bit and how I work with our tree kangaroos. Amanda poses with a snack of fresh veggies for the tree kangaroos. This is their indoor space, behind the scenes. I earned my Bachelor of Science in Biology and then started my animal keeping experience at Chahinkapa Zoo in Wahpeton, North Dako...