Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Fred Koontz, Field Conservation; Sue Andersen, Zookeeper Since their arrival last April, Woodland Park Zoo's new gray wolves have been delighting visitors with their majestic appearance and playful behavior. The four canids , all female, are an important way for the zoo to help tell the story about this important and endangered species from the Northwest. It also very timely, as the state Fish and Wildlife Commission is considering a state-wide wolf conservation and management plan—a proposal that Woodland Park Zoo supports. Why Conserve Wolves? Gray wolves, also called timber wolves, historically were found throughout North America, but they were relentlessly pursued and killed so that by the mid-1930s wolves were on the verge of extinction in the lower 48 states. Following their 1973 listing as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act, wildlife management efforts have enabled wolves to make a comeback in the Great Lakes and northern Rockies. Bio

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications More than 1,000 endangered frogs started their journey back into the Washington wild yesterday. Populations of the native Oregon spotted frog have been decimated by 80 to 90 percent in our own backyard. But thanks to a multi-institutional recovery project , nearly 1,200 frogs were released yesterday into the wild at a protected site to help restore their populations in Washington state. These frogs start their lives as eggs collected from wetlands by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists. The biologists send the eggs to us and other rearing facilities including Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, Oregon Zoo, and Cedar Creek Corrections Center. Our role is to hatch and rear these frogs to give them a safe, predator-free home during those crucial first months when they transform from tadpole to full fledged frog. We’re essentially giving these frogs a head start on survival, allowing them to grow in safety until they are la

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications We’re getting ready to release more than 700 endangered Oregon spotted frogs into the wild next month. Before we can let the juvenile frogs go, we have to tag, weigh, sex and measure them so that state biologists can identify and track them once they’re released. Not surprisingly, it takes a long time to do all that 700 times! Our zookeepers joined a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist on Monday for the hours-long process of prepping all 700 frogs, with more days of prep still to come. Frog prepping Step one: Break out the ruler and record the frog’s measurements.  Step two: Place the frog in a container on a scale (then cover quickly so it doesn’t jump away!) and take its weight. Step three: Insert identification tag on select frogs. Step four: Note the sex of the frog and make sure all data is recorded. These frogs are just weeks away from being released, but they started their lives here

Posted by: Janel Kempf, Education and Kirsten Pisto, Communications A few weeks ago, Woodland Park Zoo education specialist Janel Kempf and co-workers went to the West Seattle Library to present the zoo’s Little Critters animal encounter program to a group of children, as part of the zoo’s community outreach. Janel Kempf holding peregrine falcon D1. Photo by Kyle Doane/Woodland Park Zoo. Before the show started, a little girl and her mom came up to Janel, holding out a bundle of brightly wrapped tissue paper. Gifts for the raptors. Photo by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo. When the team opened the gifts they discovered that the package contained some very thoughtful items for our raptors! It turns out the four-year-old girl had come to the zoo’s raptor program at the Columbia Library a few weeks before, and had been very moved by the plight of our rescued raptors including Chouette, the northern saw-whet owl . Chouette came to us after she was struck by a vehicle while bug-hun

Posted by: Susan Burchardt, Raptor Keeper Turkey vulture Modoc in flight at Woodland Park Zoo. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Vultures are often depicted as harbingers of death, yet many vulture populations face threats of their own with some species facing extinction. We’re celebrating International Vulture Awareness Day on September 3 to help zoo visitors look past the vultures’ bad reputation and highlight their vital ecological niche as nature’s clean-up crew. California condor at San Diego Zoo. Photo by Wikimedia Commons user Snowmanradio. Vultures are scavenging birds that help recycle and prevent the spread of disease. But serving as a clean-up crew by feeding on carrion was partially what led to the California condor (Gymnogyps californianus)—a New World vulture—dipping down to a dismally low population of just 22 birds in the 1980s. The condors were dying from feeding on lead-poisoned carcasses, and poaching and habitat destruction compounded the problem. Zoos

Introduction posted by: Gretchen Albrecht, Raptor Keeper Field notes posted by: Joanna Bojarski, Raptor Keeper Woodland Park Zoo collaborates with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to study and protect the state threatened ferruginous hawk (Buteo regalis) and other raptors in Washington through the Raptor Ecology of the Shrub Steppe project, one of WPZ’s Partners for Wildlife conservation programs. As raptor keepers we play an active role in the project by educating zoo visitors about the plight of the fragile and beautiful shrub steppe habitat on which these birds depend. We also get to assist with field work through the study which allows us to see first hand the challenges these raptors face in the wild. This year, fellow raptor keepers Joanna Bojarski, Susan Burchardt and Jean Ragland joined the project in the field to collect data on how wind farms in the region impact raptor behavior. These are Joanna’s notes from the field… 6:30 a.m. - I arrive at the

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications As we celebrated 20 years of native turtle conservation last week, it was only appropriate that we release 20 western pond turtles into protected habitat in our continued efforts to rebuild a stable population of this state endangered species. The 20 turtles were collected from the wild as eggs last year, hatched and head started at Woodland Park Zoo to improve their chance of survival in the wild. Once the turtles reach a suitable size of about 2 ounces—large enough to escape the mouths of bullfrogs and large-mouth bass—they are returned to their homes and closely monitored by biologists. Before they could be released, the turtles underwent final prep work that included measuring, weighing and notching shells (shown above) for identification. The largest of the 10-month-old turtles were equipped with tiny radio transmitters glued to their shells so biologists can learn more about post-release dispersal, habitat use during active and

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Need a little more excitement in your afternoon? How about 1,350 pounds more excitement? Broadcasting live with Ustream Woodland Park Zoo's popular Bear Cam is back online and streaming live via Ustream . The cam, which has been gone for more than a year, is back by popular demand and bringing you incredible views into the zoo's grizzly bear exhibit in the award-winning Northern Trail. To celebrate the return of the cam, we're giving the bears a special enrichment treat this week: piñatas filled with coffee grounds (generously donated by our friends at Caffé Vita). Tune in on Wednesday, August 3 at 11:15 a.m. (PST) to watch the bears enjoy their stimulating enrichment treat. On a typical day, Woodland Park Zoo’s 17-year-old grizzly bear brothers Keema and Denali can be seen foraging for food, fishing for live trout, and exploring the stimulating sights and smells in the zoo’s award-winning Northern Trail e