Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Like these? Blooming plants at Woodland Park Zoo. Photos by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo and Mat Hayward/Woodland Park Zoo. Then we need these: Photos from top, clockwise: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo; Flickr user jeffreyww under Creative Commons License ; Flickr user leshoward under Creative Commons License .  At Woodland Park Zoo, we’re abuzz, aflutter and atwitter about the big news coming from the White House: the announcement of a new federal strategy for protecting pollinators . With a focus on honeybees and other essential pollinators like native butterflies, birds and bats, the strategy establishes a task force and goals for population restoration, habitat protection and public education to stem the losses from this blooming crisis. The White House makes a case for the economic importance of pollinators, which “ contribute substantially to the economy of the United States and are vital to keeping fruit, nuts, and veg

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications The fishmongers toss salmon in front of the grizzly exhibit. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. The scene: Pike Place Fish Market fishmongers gather in front of Woodland Park Zoo’s famous brown bear exhibit, as grizzly brothers Keema and Denali go into overdrive sniffing out the scent of salmon in the air. The bears catch the scent. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. This moment feels so perfectly Seattle. Bear. Woodland Park Zoo. Salmon. Pike Place Fish Market. So Seattle. Photo by John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo. Then the toss begins. Tossing a "stunt" salmon. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. If you've seen the famous fish tossing at Pike Place Fish Market, you’ll know the rush of excitement that runs through the crowd as the fishmongers toss what they call a “stunt fish” back and forth. You hold your breath each time to see if they’ll catch it. Unless you’re a grizzly bear. In that ca

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications With Memorial Day weekend upon us, many will kick off the summer season with a camping trip. Before you head out on your adventure, challenge yourself with this bear-smart quiz to see if you are a bear-smart camper. Whatever your score, you'll see and learn so much more about coexisting with Northwest wildlife when you join us for Bear Affair: Living Northwest Conservation presented by Brown Bear Car Wash on Sat., June 7. Grizzly bears Keema and Denali will show us what happens when you do not take safety precautions in your backyard or when hiking or camping in bear country. Zookeepers and conservation experts will be on hand to give you safety tips. Plus we'll spotlight the incredible native wildlife all around us, from bears to butterflies, and share ways you can join our Living Northwest program to conserve Washington's wildlife. So tell us: how did you score?

Posted by: Karen Stevenson, Woodland Park Zoo Volunteer; additional contributions by Gretchen Albrecht, Zookeeper and Anna Martin, WPZ Volunteer Photo by Gretchen Albrecht/WPZ. Just a few weeks back, the memo came through. It read only, “They’re back!” “They” are barn swallows, Hirundo rustica , and we’re celebrating their return. Here in the Pacific Northwest, barn swallows are harbingers of spring’s longer, warmer days. Warmer days awaken long-dormant insects, and barn swallows—like most little insectivores—follow their food (mostly flies and mosquitos, but also beetles, bees, wasps and so on). They summer here, then when “summer” moves south, they do too, following available food all the way to northeastern South America and the Caribbean basin. Barn swallows are comfortable in our big cities, small towns, neighborhoods and farms. While other swallow species prefer to nest in natural structures hidden from view, such as cliffs or tree cavities, barn swallows build mud nes

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications What did you do for your 20th birthday? Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Today, grizzly brothers Keema and Denali celebrated two decades by diving face-first into piles of snow courtesy of Crystal Mountain Resort. Hidden inside the snow were special birthday treats, from meaty knuckle bones and fish, to peanut butter and marshmallow fluff. Video: Grizzly bear snow battle. Produced by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Though the bears technically turned 20 back in January , they slept right through their big day as bears tend to do during their winter slumber. So we held off on their birthday surprise until today. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. This morning, our friends from Crystal Mountain trucked in piles of snow fresh from the Cascades and loaded it into the exhibit. Keepers and volunteers lovingly tucked Keema and Denali’s favorite treats into the snow. Between the smell of the food and the feel of the soft

Posted by: Bettina Woodford, Communications Video produced by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Peregrinations A delicate spring dew has settled on the shrub steppe of the Columbia Basin. Raptors, migrating through the Pacific flyway from distant wintering grounds, have alighted here, driven by eons of instinct to breeding areas where a potential buffet of small mammals, such as ground squirrels and pocket gophers, awaits. Heeding the juveniles’ endless squawks, for several weeks dutiful parents will bring meat, day after day, for gaping beaks to tear into. The raptors’ main business here is to raise healthy young and ready them to fledge, egging the species on one season at a time.  Fewer prey scurry about this landscape today, however. As ranches, farms, towns and paved roads have grown in number, more than 50% of previously undeveloped shrub-steppe habitat, a raptor haven, has disappeared. This hybrid environment makes survival harder for the large, long-lived bir

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Here mountains grasp at the clouds, waterways flow across the distance, forests burst from the earth, and shrub-steppe stretches beyond the horizon. The Pacific Northwest has a global reputation for its scenic beauty and relative wildness. We connect with nature all around us. Those connections run deep, as our everyday choices have an impact: the way we store our garbage could mean life or death for bears, and the way we tend to our gardens can help or harm native pollinators. Grizzlies at Woodland Park Zoo. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo; modified.  On March 19, join us for our annual Thrive breakfast , co-chaired by Maryanne Tagney and Margie Wetherald at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel, to learn how your Woodland Park Zoo is working with communities, researchers and conservationists through the Living Northwest conservation program to study, prese

Plus meet Dr. Robert Long, WPZ’s first Senior Conservation Fellow Posted by: Dr. Deborah B. Jensen, President and CEO President Jensen. Photo by Matt Hagen. December 2013 marked the 40th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, a successful, complex and at times controversial federal law that has protected many of our most prized wildlife species from extinction. As we enter the New Year, the future of two native Northwest species hangs in the balance. Currently, gray wolves are being considered for delisting from the Federal Endangered and Threatened Species protections, while Oregon spotted frogs are being considered for listing . Under other circumstances, it would be hard to find a stage, outside of a Grimm brothers’ fairytale perhaps, in which both of these species shared a national spotlight. At the zoo, kids are learning all about wild wolves and other carnivores, including humans’ misconceptions of them, in our Zoo Crew and new Coexisting with Carnivores educat

Posted by: Caileigh Robertson, Communications The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation’s Science and Technology Program has awarded Woodland Park Zoo a generous two-year grant—a portion of which will help fund wolverine monitoring research in the North Cascades—as a part of the expansion of the zoo’s Living Northwest field conservation program. Woodland Park Zoo’s Living Northwest program uses hidden cameras that are triggered by the presence of animals to monitor wolverine and other carnivore activity in the North Cascades. Photo: Woodland Park Zoo. With the $240,000 grant, Woodland Park Zoo will continue to build the Living Northwest conservation program, which leverages zoo-based resources to carry out Pacific Northwest wildlife projects focusing on endangered species recovery, conservation science and community-based education. “Woodland Park Zoo conducts leading conservation research in our region,” said Susan M. Coliton, Vice President of The Paul G. Allen Family Founda

Posted by: Fred Koontz, Vice President of Field Conservation and Jennifer Pramuk, Animal Curator Washington has a reputation for being wet all the time, yet that infamous wet weather belies the real story—our actual wetlands are disappearing, and along with them our native frogs. The most aquatic frog of all in the Northwest is the Oregon spotted frog, who has become an ambassador for our local wetlands now that it has been thrust into the national spotlight. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Why are all eyes suddenly on this little frog? The Oregon spotted frog is currently being considered for protection as a threatened species under the Federal Endangered Species Act—a listing we hope to see become reality. Though the timeline may be impacted by the government shutdown, there's no doubt that this opportunity presents a major milestone for Northwest conservation. For the past five years, Woodland Park Zoo has been working with the Washington Department of Fish and