Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Spiders are sort of the worst best. Homes and backyards in the Pacific Northwest seem to be teeming with spiders during the fall season and dewy-dropped webs float oh so delicately between the sidewalk and your face. But don’t get all antsy (ahem… spidery), we spoke with Sue Andersen, zookeeper at the Bug World exhibit, to learn more about these incredible eight-legged beauties. Video: A colorful look at spiders. Produced by Kirsten Pisto/WPZ. Volunteer Jordan asks zookeeper Sue Andersen about her love of spiders and why everybody should appreciate them! Sue, you have to work with spiders every day at Bug World. Were you always at ease around arachnids? To tell you the truth, no. When I first started volunteering at Woodland Park Zoo, all I knew was that I wanted to become a keeper. My very first assignment was to help feed the golden orb weaver. They are long legged and they are web-builders, meaning they like to hang o

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications Fall is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful seasons to stroll zoo grounds. With the autumnal nod of the Northern hemisphere, a slight shift in the earth’s axis means our days will soon be getting darker and darker until the shortest day of the year, Winter Solstice (note to self: head for the Tropical Rain Forest building on Dec. 21 to soak up some heat!). Right now our pathways are spilling over with orange, red, gold and brilliant yellow leaves. Some of the best spots to stop for fall foliage are the oak leaf piles on the outer loop between the South Entrance and gorillas, the gigantic magnolia leaves near Thai Village, and the perfectly painted Enkianthus outside the Bamboo Forest Reserve. If you are a photographer, visit early or late in the day and see those really warm golden hues that occur when the sun sinks low in the sky. Fall light provides some of the most flattering colors, casting a warm glow on your subject.

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications House Slytherin forever! Vine snake checks out the camera. Photo by Ryan Hawk/WPZ. Witches, werewolves and snakes? Let’s face it, snakes get a bad rap. Perhaps more than any other creature, snakes are the subject of much fear and misunderstanding. Like bats , spiders and all things deemed crawly, snakes are unfairly categorized as “creepy.” Slip into any Halloween shop and you’ll find snake motifs among the Draculas and the Swamp Things. In truth, snakes are vital to a diverse range of ecosystems on every continent (except Antarctica). While there are some snakes that pose a threat to humans, the majority of the 3,400 species of snake are harmless, only about 15% are venomous. One reason we fear snakes could, in part, be biological. This article explains how our primate neurons might respond to an image of a snake. I can personally recall my usually very level-headed mother flinging my little brother off a hiking trail in the face of a

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications Ever wonder why snakes are always sticking out their tongues?  Woodland Park Zoo volunteer, Jordan, asked some of the zoo’s most curious visitors to explain…and their answers were pretty impressive! It's hard to trick the smartest zoo kids in the world. Video: Why are snakes always sticking out their tongues? All snakes have a vomeronasal organ, sometimes referred to as the Jacobson’s organ. This special auxiliary olfactory organ, located on the roof of the snake’s mouth, allows tiny chemical particles to be interpreted by the snake’s brain. A lightning fast exchange, the tongue finds these particles from the air, water or ground and delivers them to the Jacobson’s organ. The organ then supplies this information to the brain which interprets the message and the snake reacts accordingly. A snake’s vomeronasal organ, or Jacobson’s organ, sits inside the roof of the mouth. A snake’s forked tongue assists in this adaptatio

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, communications  What is sweeter than a brand new downy-white flamingo chick? How about three! A keeper gently holds one of the new chicks. Photo by Ryan Hawk/WPZ. The tiny chicks hatched one after another on August 31, September 5 and the last one just a few days ago, September 16. Peeking into the incubator where the chicks stay cozy. Photo by Ryan Hawk/WPZ. The chicks are being hand raised and hand-fed by a team of dedicated staff, ensuring a higher chance of survival. Several times daily, the chicks are fed a mixture of whole egg powder, a little corn oil, a calcium supplement, vitamin E and water, known as a chick “slurry!” When the little chicks are old enough to eat on their own, in about 30 days, they will join the adult colony in the flamingo exhibit. The flamingo keepers also must exercise the chicks.  The flamingo chicks practice swimming in the baby pool  chick tub. Video by Ryan Hawk/WPZ. Leading an exercise session fo

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, communications Everyone has their favorite animal at the zoo, or maybe even a few, but we’d venture to guess that heaps of you have an especially soft spot for our oldest gorillas, Pete and Nina. The pair dines on Italian plums, a treat from their keepers. Video by Ryan Hawk/WPZ. Walking by the west gorilla exhibit, you can’t help but check in on the wrinkled pair. Nina, famously posing with her trademark stick and pink tongue, greets her visitors with a curious eye for people watching. Her attention to visitors has endeared her to hundreds of thousands of guests. Everyone knows her. The tiny, grandmotherly-gorilla seems to be the most adored among our youngest guests; and may have singlehandedly taught the children of Seattle how to stick out their tongues. (Sorry, moms). Pete, with his silver hair and balding head, has stuck by Nina’s side for all her 46 years. The gentleman of gorillas, his keepers say Pete is polite and appreciative of any attention

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications In June, we asked kids (ages 2-12) to take part in our Animal Observation contest . The participants were prompted to sit for 3 minutes to study an animal. During this time, the kids had to complete an ethogram (behavior chart) for the duration of the study. They carefully watched their subjects and then charted what they saw. They were also asked to take notes at the end of the observation as well as sketch their animal on the back of the paper. Field researchers use ethograms to document animal behavior. An ethogram is a chart which displays a list of possible behaviors as well as a timeline. Using this tool, researchers can quickly document the minute-by-minute actions and behaviors of an observation subject. Researchers also rely on sketching and drawing or photography to supplement their notes. Practicing backyard animal observations is a great way to introduce kids to conservation science. This activity promotes critical thinking,

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications Have you noticed a particularly handsome new face at the snow leopard exhibit? That would be Dhirin, the most recent addition to our snow leopard family! VIDEO: Dhirin the snow leopard explores his new exhibit. We set up a GoPro camera at the back of Dhirin’s exhibit to see if we could catch a glimpse of him as he explored his space, then stitched together a few of our favorite moments for this video. In the wild, snow leopards are hard to track or study, but motion-sensor cameras and radio collars provide researchers with a better look into their behavior. Thanks to research and care in zoo settings, we can apply these two tracks of knowledge to better understand these disappearing predators. The 9-year-old male was born on May 24, 2005 and lived at Oklahoma City Zoo. Dhirin arrived in Seattle in early July 2014 as recommended by the Species Survival Plan, a conservation breeding program across accredited zoos. Woodland Park Zoo

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications Photos by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo One of Woodland Park Zoo’s not-so-secret spaces is actually adjacent to the zoo itself, the WoodlandPark Rose Garden . Established as a civic garden in 1922, the 2.5 acre space is cared for and kept by the zoo’s horticulture staff and our Lead Rose Gardener and rose-master, Matt Manion. The garden hosts nearly 200 varieties of roses, showcasing those that thrive in the Pacific Northwest climate. Showing our appreciation for our dedicated horticulture crew! Since 2006, the Rose Garden has been pesticide free. Pesticides pollute through rain runoff in Seattle, making it all the way to Puget Sound. Plus, we like to treat our animals to roses , and we wouldn't want them ingesting those toxins. Using the natural approach means building healthy soils, practicing smart watering and planting disease-resistant varieties.  Matt says that these sustainable methods will work well in your own gar