Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Craig Newberry, Communications Take inspiration from Godek and Batu! Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo The word orangutan comes from two Malay words, "orang," meaning person and "hutan," meaning forest. For International Orangutan Day, Woodland Park Zoo is highlighting the "people of the forest," the challenges they've overcome and how we all can help save these critically endangered apes. Orangutans face several threats that are rapidly destroying the forest environments they require for survival, including human overpopulation, logging and agriculture. One of the most significant threats is the conversion of forests to unsustainable monocultures, such as palm oil plantations. Watch:  https://youtu.be/dOWhf52YIbA The HUTAN-Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Programme is a long-time Woodland Park Zoo partner dedicated to conserving Borneo's threatened habitats and wildlife species. For the past few years, HUTAN’s researche...

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren Meet our new Sumatran orangutan, Batu! Beautiful Batu! There's a new red-haired beauty on the Trail of Vines! The Orangutan Species Survival Plan identified Batu as a future breeding mate for Godek, our 12-year-old, male Sumatran orangutan who has lived at the zoo since 2017. Batu, also 12, arrived in May from Philadelphia Zoo. Species Survival Plans are conservation breeding programs across accredited zoos to help ensure healthy, self-sustaining populations of threatened and endangered species. After completing a standard quarantine earlier this summer at the zoo’s veterinary hospital, Batu was moved to the orangutan exhibit in off-view dens while she acclimated to her new home. According to Martin Ramirez, mammal curator at Woodland Park Zoo, the introduction process has been slow, but thoughtful. “Every animal is different and moves at its own pace during introductions. As we do with all our animals, we foll...

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications Felicity (on the right) and Oceane (on the left) rest in a tree. Photo: HUTAN Today, on International Orangutan Day, we are getting word about something that’s never happened before—and it’s incredible! For the first known time, an orangutan has adopted another orangutan in the wild after the 5-year-old youngster tragically lost her mother. Meet Felicity and Oceane, two orangutans whose relationship proves that sometimes love can defy one’s wildest expectations. Scientists with Woodland Park Zoo’s conservation partner HUTAN have been observing wild orangutans in Borneo for decades, but had never observed a bond formed like this. Marc Ancrenaz, Scientific Director for HUTAN, watched the relationship blossom between then-14-year-old Felicity and 5-year-old Oceane before his very eyes. Ancrenaz says that after the loss of Oceane’s mother Jenny, it was a silver lining that no one was expecting. Jenny, seen here in 2012, was the dominant female at ...