Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Fred Koontz, PhD, Vice President of Field Conservation In my last blog post, you read a story about my recent trip to Malaysia , which included a visit to our Harimau Selamanya (“Tigers Forever”) conservation project area. As I wrote to you, I left feeling daunted at the sheer scale of resources needed to save the critically endangered Malayan tiger, yet hopeful about our collective power to save them, together. Malaysia's Greater Taman Negara Region spans 3 million acres, three times the size of Washington's Olympic National Park. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. The Good News:  Our efforts are working! Woodland Park Zoo's partnership with Panthera, the international wild cat conservancy, and Malaysian non-profit Rimba combines resources to stop the illegal killing of tigers. In just two years, rangers from Malaysia's Department of Wildlife and National Parks, with support from our team of 14 dedicated researchers ...

Posted by: Dr. Fred Koontz and Bobbi Miller, Conservation Team Tigers have always been around, right? Who didn’t grow up seeing Tony the Tiger hawking breakfast cereal, watching Tigger bounce (“Bouncing is what Tiggers do best”) across the pages of  Winnie the Pooh , or hearing the story of How the Tiger Got His Stripes? The fictional tigers that brought us a happy childhood are still around, and will be for generations to come, but can the same be said for the real deal—tigers in the wild? Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Today we focus on those real-life wild tigers, and what can be done to ensure that they too remain for generations to come. Global Tiger Day was set aside to promote the protection of wild tigers and their habitat, and to further awareness and support for their conservation. If there was ever an animal that needed our protection, it’s the majestic tiger. Photo courtesy of  Reuben Clements Just over 100 years ago there were ...