Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications Photos: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo For Thanksgiving dinner, you might consider your guests before planning the menu. Aunt Penelope prefers mashed potatoes, cousin Yanos prefers yams. But, what if your dinner guests turned out to be a pack of hungry animals?  A snow leopard prepares to dine. Different animals have different reasons for prioritizing some tastes over others, and it all comes down to evolution and survival; which foods will provide the quickest and most nutritious meal? Taste is a complex issue and tends to be shaped by evolution and environment. Here is a test: think of a time when you were really hungry, practically starving. Now, from the choices below, which meal would you have picked? Buttery, chocolate fudge ice cream in a hand-built waffle cone with sea-salt infused caramel drizzle, cocoa sprinkles and a dollop of heavenly whipped cream.  A hand tossed, crisp pizza pie topped with virgin olive oil and hot

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications Meet our newest pair of patas monkeys ! Acacia, an 8-year-old female from Kentucky, and SeiKei, a 4-year-old male from California have been successfully introduced and have been spending some quality time on the African Savanna together. Acacia, relaxing in the leaves. Photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. SeiKei, looking out over the savanna from his rocky perch. Photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. First, zookeepers introduced the monkeys to each other through a mesh enclosure to be sure they were not aggressive with one another. The monkeys spent time looking at each other and showed positive interactions through the mesh. It is not always easy to tell if two animals will get along, but fortunately these two showed encouraging behaviors right away. Next the patas monkeys were each given access to the exhibit on their own so they could get used to the environment and scout it out. Finally, they were placed together in t

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications   Happy Birthday dear Nobuhle, Busela, Pelo and Rudo! Our foursome of frisky lion cubs celebrated their first trip around the sun today with a lot of gnawing, pawing and yes…yawning.     Photo by Ryan Hawk/ Woodland Park Zoo.                                 The cubs were born one year ago on November 8th. Today, the young lions received balls and bones in specially scented boxes as well as their favorite treat, bloodsicles (frozen carnivore ice pops) to celebrate their 1st birthday.   Here’s a recap of the birthday party antics:   Zookeeper Christine Fenwick started prepping for the event early this week by painting the large cardboard boxes in which to hide the birthday prizes. “The cubs have never had boxes this large,” she explained. “They are going to love ripping into them!” Christine painted the boxes with a simple non-toxic acrylic, safe for cub handling. Photo by Kirsten Pist

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications We are officially knee deep in autumn with wind storms and red cups gone wild, darker evenings and Seattleites covered in fleece head to toe. But, not all is dark and dreary!   Woodland Park Zoo’s lush canopy, made up of more than 1,000 different species of plants, is ablaze with autumn’s finest colors. Autumn is the perfect time to stroll the zoo and appreciate an essential part of Seattle’s urban forest. Come explore the fall foliage and get to know a few trees along the way. Start by downloading our mobile app and use the Tree Tour to explore some of the signature trees around the zoo. Watch them transform the exhibits, as well as our own environment, into a golden autumn dreamscape. Not only do our zoo animals use the trees for shade, climbing and sometimes food, dozens of native and migratory animal species also come through the zoo to find shelter and feed from our canopy. Here are a few of our favorite fall finds:  

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications Riddle me this, bat lovers: is there anything more awesome than a close up view of a colony of Indian flying foxes? Watch the Bat Cam now! This Halloween, we're introducing the newest Woodland Park Zoo webcam , streaming live 24/7 from the Adaptations Building. Now you can check in on the roost of furry winged Indian flying foxes  all day, or all night if you want! Watch the colony of six male fruit bats as they dine, groom each other and chill out upside down. The crew hanging out in the Adaptations Building. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. In celebration of the new webcam , and because bats need love all year (not just at Halloween!), let’s take a closer look at the awesomeness of bats and why they need your support.  There are about fifteen species of bat found in Washington alone, including the big brown bat many know, and bats with catchy names like hoary bat and Myotis evotis . With so many bats in our