Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications The critically endangered Malayan tiger just got another helping hand from a coalition of wildlife conservation organizations, shining a brighter light of hope for the magnificent big cat. Malaysia’s new Kenyir State Park has just been designated an additional 48,466 acres. Combined with another logging concession protected in May 2018, the new park now spans 74,140 rain forest acres—nearly three times the park’s original size and three times the size of San Francisco. A Critically Endangered Malayan Tiger takes a swim. Photo by Hans Stieglit Kenyir State Park is the first-ever state park for the state of Terengganu and the first state park to be gazetted in Peninsular Malaysia since 2007. The Malayan tiger is one of six subspecies of tigers and lives only on the Malay Peninsula and in the southern tip of Thailand. The population for Malayan tigers is dangerously low—fewer than 250 survive in their natural range. They face treme

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications We have some very exciting news! Our 12-year-old giraffe Olivia is expecting her second baby this spring. Olivia's birth window is mid-March into late April. Olivia! Tufani with baby Lulu in 2017. This baby giraffe will mark the first offspring between Olivia and 6-year-old Dave. Olivia had her first baby, Misawa, in 2013 with Chioke, who passed away that same year. Their offspring, Misawa, stole our hearts with his adorably grumpy face. In  2017 Olivia’s sister Tufani gave birth to #SeattlesTallestBaby Lulu (Dave was the father). Olivia, Dave and Tufani make up our current herd of giraffes until this new baby arrives in spring 2019. “Now that Olivia’s in her third trimester, we’re seeing more signs of a pregnancy such as weight gain and a rounder belly. Judging by the size of her belly, combined with fecal testing results, our guess is that Olivia will give birth in mid-April,” says Katie Ahl, our expert giraffe doula and lea

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Sometimes animals need our support protecting their wild habitat and sometimes animals need our help finding a new home. Luckily, we were recently able to assist in two different cases where the expertise of zoo staff found a safe and appropriate new home for some very special creatures — and this story does have a happy ending. A Gila monster is one of several venomous reptiles taken in by Woodland Park Zoo. Photo: John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo A collection of reptiles owned by a woman who recently passed away in southern Wash. is now in the care of Woodland Park Zoo. The dozen exotic reptiles include several Gila (pronounced HEE-la) monsters, copperheads and vipers of various species. Friends of the deceased woman asked the zoo if it could take the snakes and lizards. “As a community service, Woodland Park Zoo accepts all venomous reptiles, whether privately owned or confiscated by local agencies,” said Jennifer Pramuk, PhD., a

These male mountain goat kids whose mothers could not be found will have new homes at Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, Woodland Park Zoo and other zoos. Photo courtesy of Northwest Trek Wildlife Park. As state and federal agencies move non-native mountain goats from Olympic National Park to the northern Cascade Mountains, Woodland Park Zoo is partnering with Northwest Trek and Oregon Zoo to provide permanent homes to goat kids without known mothers. “Our plan is to translocate nanny-kid pairs when possible,” said Rich Harris, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife statewide mountain goat manager. “But when young goats cannot be paired up with their mothers, experience from other mountain goat translocation projects is that their survival rates are low.” Northwest Trek Wildlife Park veterinarian Dr. Allison Case joined a team of state and federal veterinarians at Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park this week to examine the mountain goats, conduct physical exams and pro

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Silverspot butterfly. Photo by Mike Patterson Woodland Park Zoo is part of a team that released 500 Oregon silverspot butterfly caterpillars last week on the slopes of Saddle Mountain located in Oregon.   A team from Woodland Park Zoo, Oregon Zoo, Oregon Parks and Recreation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service work together to save butterflies. Photo by Trevor Taylor More than 200 of the released caterpillars were raised this summer at the zoo’s butterfly conservation lab. The reintroduction to the habitat is part of a collaborative, ongoing effort to stabilize the declining population of Oregon silverspot butterflies. Caterpillars were raised in a conservation lab over the winter. Photo by Mike Patterson Other team members joining the caterpillar release were Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Oregon Zoo.   It's a team effort! Photo by Michael Cash/Woodland Par

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo On July 12, more than 45 endangered Western pond turtles were weighed, measured and marked for identification in preparation for being released to the wild at protected sites in Washington. Under the Western Pond Turtle Recovery Project , the turtles were collected from the wild as eggs and given a head start on life under the care of Woodland Park Zoo to improve their chance of survival in the wild. Unlike wild turtles, they are fed at the zoo throughout the winter so that by summer they are nearly as big as 3-year-old turtles that grew up in the wild. Once the turtles reach about 2 ounces—a suitable size to escape the mouths of invasive predatory bullfrogs—they are returned to the wild and monitored by biologists. In 1991, only about 150 Western pond turtles remained in two populations in the state of Washington and the species nearly became extinct. In 1993, the state list

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications For the first time in nearly three decades, we are celebrating the birth of red pandas: twin cubs born on June 19 to 2-year-old mom Hazel and 13-year-old dad Yukiko. The twins are the first offspring for Hazel while Yukiko has had offspring before he arrived at Woodland Park Zoo four years ago. Video: Red panda twins receive a quick health check from veterinary staff: https://youtu.be/XRlEBfQth9s The cubs are both girls, weighing in at 5 ounces each, confirmed during a neonatal exam. The zoo veterinary team says the twins are appropriate weights — a good indicator they are healthy and nursing. "We will continue to perform health check-ups periodically, particularly during the first several weeks, for weight monitoring, vaccinations, and critical blood and fecal sampling,” says Dr. Darin Collins. Both Hazel and Yukiko have been living off-view indoor and outdoors. Hazel gave birth in an indoor, climate-controlled den where sh

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications This spring has brought signs of triumphant renewal well beyond the usual spring showers, budding leaves and blooming flowers. In Kyrgyzstan, the first-ever signs of a new generation—two snow leopard cubs and their mom—were spotted on a research camera inside a new sanctuary dedicated to snow leopard protection. In 2016, Woodland Park Zoo’s conservation partner, the Seattle-based Snow Leopard Trust, joined forces with the Kyrgyz government to convert the former hunting reserve of Shamshy, in Kyrgyzstan, into a sanctuary for snow leopards and ibex. These pictures confirm the first documented snow leopard cubs being raised inside the Shamshy Wildlife Sanctuary, or anywhere in the Kyrgyz Ala-Too mountain range. It is also the first sign of a breeding snow leopard population in this region of Kyrgyzstan. A snow leopard mother and her two young cubs (ca. 6 months old) were caught on camera in Shamshy Wildlife Sanctuary in December 2017. Photo

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo Hello Taj! The first of two rhinos has arrived safely at Woodland Park Zoo. After a road trip from San Diego, Taj, a 17-month-old male greater one-horned rhino, arrived last Friday in healthy condition. Trained in preparation for the move, Taj traveled in a custom-made trailer driven by an expert who specializes in moving rhinos. Taj will live at Assam Rhino Reserve which opens May 5! Pronounced like Taj Mahal, Taj means “crown” or “jewel” in Hindi. He was born Nov. 10, 2016 at San Diego Zoo Safari Park and is the 70th greater one-horned rhino born at the Safari Park since 1972, making the Park the foremost breeding facility in the world for this rhino species.  Taj is already settling in and getting to know his animal keepers. “Taj has spent his first few days inside the barn settling in and becoming familiar with his new surroundings and rhino care keepers. Starting this w

Posted by: Gigi Allianic Leo, a 40-year-old male gorilla, passed away suddenly on March 29, 2018 after a brief illness. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Leonel, a male gorilla fondly called Leo, passed away last night at age 40 after a brief illness. The upper middle-age gorilla had been under a 24-hour care this week. He died in his off-view sleeping den. On Monday, the 360-pound gorilla had no interest in food or drink, and did not want to leave his den to go outdoors. The zoo’s animal health team did a visual assessment and a 24-hour treatment plan that included medications, hydration, hand feeding and observation. Plans to anesthetize him yesterday for a diagnostic exam were canceled because Leo had shown significant signs of improvement. “Leo drank and ate a lot and urinated, a positive sign of hydration. Also, his activity levels increased and we even observed play behavior, so we believed he was on the mend,” said Nancy Hawkes, PhD, Woodland Park Zoo’s director of

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Chinta, our eldest female orangutan, is turning the big 5-0—a cause for celebration! Join us on February 17 for Chinta's birthday bash.  The zoo will shower Chinta and her fellow companions with gift-wrapped presents full of favorite treats, streamers and flowers. And, of course, birthday cake! Chef David Van Gelder with Lancer Hospitality, the zoo’s food concessionaire, will bake a ginger-carrot cake fit for an orangutan and loaded with favorite ape ingredients including carrots, sweet potatoes and ginger. Chinta cools off with a shower in summer 2017. Photo by Carolyn Sellar, Woodland Park Zoo. The birthday girl is the oldest animal currently living at Woodland Park Zoo and one of the oldest female orangutans in North America. Save the date for Chinta's birthday bash! Saturday, February 17, 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. Cake and presents for Chinta: 10:30 a.m.   Birthday activities will take place at the orangu