Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Barbara Segal, Intern Don’t you wish you had a fairy godmother who could transform your old stuff into something new and beautiful? Or maybe little elves that came out at night and made useful things for you from the odds and ends in your home? Someone at your zoo must have made a wish like that, because we have a whole guild of magicians who transform fallen trees, disassembled fences, and general almost-rubbish into things that our animals, keepers and guests use every day. Our exhibits team knows how to reuse, not only saving natural resources, but saving money so we can put more toward our animals and conservation.  Some of our Exhibits crew! Photo by Barbara Segal, Woodland Park Zoo Last winter, downed trees and branches were everywhere after the 2018 Snowpocalypse. Lots of us put them in our yard waste. But did our team? No way. All those great trunks and branches were put in storage yards, along with the remains of trees removed because they were sick or ha...

Posted by Barbara Segal, Intern Grizzly bear with a salmon treat. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo. Have you ever seen our bears daintily eat their salmon? Or watched as our hungry hippos chomp a melon? How about watching our warty pigs nibble on a wreath of roses? Every day at our zoo animals from snails to rhinos feast on the tasty and nutritious meals provided by their dedicated keepers. Meeting the snack needs of over 1,100 animals is no easy task. The powerhouse of this operation is the Commissary, our central food preparation station. And our Commissary staff have been thinking sustainability! The choices we make when sourcing and preparing food for our animals can have echoes in the natural habitats of animals worldwide. Let’s follow the trail of treats to see how they do it. First, our team is choosy about where the animals’ food comes from. They work hard to get produce, meats and more from sources that are as local as possible. Sourcing locally means...

Posted by Barbara Segal, Intern in Communications What’s your green zoo IQ? Many of our green features are hiding in plain sight. Maybe you already knew about our waste sorting bins or our famous Zoo Doo program, but did you know we have an official zoo gnome in charge of the magic that happens in the compost yard or that some of our pavement is water permeable? Check out the top 17 greenest things at your zoo—how many do you already know about? Wait, you don't know ALL the GREEN THINGS happening at the zoo? We can fix that. 1. Welcome to a green oasis When you walk through our West Entrance, you’re seeing sustainability hidden in plain view.  The buildings and entrance area are covered with Forestry Stewardship Council certified wood. The buildings’ windows and skylights take advantage of as much daylight as possible to keep energy use down.  The gently sloping pavement that directs storm water to a 975,00-gallon underground tank.  This tank allo...

Posted by Barbara Segal, Intern, Communications Photo by Mike Patterson It takes a village to save a butterfly. Our zoo community’s mission includes saving wildlife near and far, and to save the Oregon silverspot butterfly we team up with many dedicated organizations of wildlife experts and activists. This beautiful and important pollinator once fluttered among flowers in Washington and across the west coast, but now is only found in isolated patches in Oregon and northern California. Threatened by habitat loss and invasive species, the silverspot butterfly needs our help. This means everyone from government agencies to you, our zoo community! Working together, we can bring this the silverspot butterfly back from the brink.  The first leg of the relay began when the U.S. Department of the Interior declared the silverspot butterfly threatened in 1980. This put the wheels in motion for conservation efforts, and in 1982 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service created a recove...