Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Red panda Yukiko was 16 years old. Photo by animal keeper Megan/ Woodland Park Zoo We are sad to announce that our beloved red panda, Yukiko, was humanely euthanized today after an examination to evaluate cardiac issues related to old age. At 16 years old, Yukiko lived well beyond the life expectancy of his species. The median life expectancy for red pandas in zoos is 10 years and 8 years in their natural habitat. The geriatric red panda was recently diagnosed with severe heart disease and had been under close observation and treatment. Because he stopped taking prescribed medications and his appetite had decreased for the last few days, Woodland Park Zoo’s animal health team brought in a veterinary cardiologist to better define his heart condition. The exam revealed that he was in heart failure due to advanced cardiomyopathy. Due to a poor prognosis and the compromised quality of Yukiko’s life, the decision was made to humanely euthanize him. Yu...

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo We have some red panda updates for you! Over the past year, you’ve been watching Hazel and her joyful cubs Tián and Zan learn and grow. Now, the cubs are as big as mom and are ready to have some more time on their own. Hazel, who has been an absolute gem of a red panda, will be moving on to her new home at Memphis Zoo for breeding with a new male. Hazel is leaving Woodland Park Zoo at the end of March. She arrived at Woodland Park Zoo in 2017 to be paired with Yukiko under the Red Panda Species Survival Plan (SSP), a conservation breeding program across accredited zoos to help ensure a healthy, self-sustaining population of red pandas. Hazel has had two pairs of cubs with Yukiko, the most recent cubs (born May 25, 2020) Tián and Zan will remain here together until fall 2021 when they will leave for their new homes according to the Species Survival Plan (SSP). Until then, the almost-fully-grown cu...

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Woodland Park Zoo said goodbye to Mr. Sea, a male Humboldt penguin. Due to a decline in health, he has been humanely euthanized. The geriatric penguin was two months shy of his 32nd birthday. Mr. Sea was the oldest penguin at the zoo and one of the oldest of his species in North America. Forty penguins remain in our zoo’s colony. Mr. Sea was not only our oldest penguin, he was one of the oldest of his species in North America. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Because of his advanced age, our dedicated penguin keepers and animal health team members have been closely monitoring Mr. Sea for some time. They noticed during the last several weeks, that his appetite and activity level were down. The median life expectancy for Humboldt penguins that survive their first year is 17.6 years for both males and females. Mr. Sea has been part of our penguin colony for 11 years. He fathered nine offspring at his former home and at the zoo; he lea...

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications We've had a very productive spring and summer here at Woodland Park Zoo with the births and hatchings of so many little ones. The newest addition to our baby boom is a tawny frogmouth chick! The new chick represents the 38th frogmouth hatched at the zoo since the species’ first hatching in 2009. The zoo is currently home to seven adult tawny frogmouths. A newly hatched tawny frogmouth chick looks just like a white cotton ball.  Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Tawny frogmouths are nocturnal birds native to Australia. During the day, they perch on tree branches, using their cryptic camouflage to blend into their environment. The plumage of the tawny frogmouth is silver-gray, slightly paler below, streaked and mottled with black and rufous. Frogmouths are often mistaken as owls; although they have many habits similar to owls, they are actually more closely related to nightjars and whip-poor-wills, and do not have ...

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Oh baby! Add two more precious newborns to the list of recent Woodland Park Zoo offspring—a healthy set of red panda twins was just born! The twins were born May 25 to mom Hazel and dad Yukiko. Twins Ila and Zeya were the last pair of red pandas born in 2018. We have seen a number of adorable animals born and hatched recently, including gorilla Kitoko born in March, penguin chicks and scaly-sided mergansers hatched, agouti pups born in April, a pudu fawn and mountain goat both born in May, and wallaroo and wallaby joeys that are just now venturing outside of their moms’ pouches! A very tiny, newborn red panda cub is examined during an initial health check up with the veterinary team. The red panda twins are the first born at the zoo since 2018, when Hazel and Yukiko gave birth to a set of female twins which were the first red pandas born at the zoo in nearly three decades. Wi...

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo We are teeming with new babies this spring! The newest members of the family are a male pudu fawn and a female mountain goat kid. The new babies join the burgeoning population of other babies born or hatched at the zoo since March including a gorilla, a pair of agoutis, a couple of penguins, two scaly-sided mergansers, and a wallaby and wallaroo. Pudu fawn peeking out from the spring grass. Pudus are the smallest deer species in the world and are native to South America. The new pudu fawn was born May 14 to first-time parents Maggie and Ted. The last pudu birth at the zoo was 10 years ago. “The new mom is providing good maternal care to her fawn. We’re pleased he’s nursing and mom and fawn are bonding,” says Mark Myers, an animal curator at Woodland Park Zoo. “We’ll continue to monitor the new family closely.” The pudus live in the zoo’s Temperate Forest habitat. The pudu parents ...

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Just in time for World Penguin Day on April 25th... we are proud to announce the hatching of a pair of Humboldt penguin chicks! The first chick hatched on April 3 to mom Rosie and dad Leo, and their second chick hatched three days later. The parents have produced seven other chicks together from previous breeding seasons. Video:  https://youtu.be/gYN3LLbP4GA The new chicks represent the 73rd and 74th successful hatchings of Humboldt penguins at the zoo since its first breeding season in 2010, which was a year after the zoo opened the penguin habitat. With the new additions, the zoo’s colony currently consists of 41 penguins. “Being playful, curious and charismatic, penguins are a favorite for our guests, and we can’t wait to share the new penguin family with our community,” says Mark Myers, bird curator at Woodland Park Zoo. “Every chick produced in our colony is an important addi...

Posted by: Mark Myers, Curator of Birds It’s baby bird season at Woodland Park Zoo! Over the past few weeks, we’ve had several successful hatchings from birds across the zoo—from temperate waterfowl to tropical tanagers. Here’s a round-up of some of the significant hatchings: Cinnamon teal and falcated ducklings. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. The quiet, tucked away Temperate Wetlands exhibit is home to a number of newly hatched ducks and geese. Since July, we have successfully hatched falcated ducks, red-breasted geese, redhead, cinnamon teal, and lesser scaups (North American diving ducks). Candling a red-breasted goose egg. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. To help prepare for all of these hatchings, our zookeepers use a process called candling in which they hold an egg up to a high powered, focused light source for a few seconds to see if an egg is fertile or to check the health of a developing embryo.  We were thrilled to candle ...

Posted by: Mark Myers, Curator of Birds It's that great time of the year when many of the birds at Woodland Park Zoo begin to nest and raise chicks. By far the most unique species we breed is the tawny frogmouth. They look like owls, but they're actually relatives of nightjars (nighthawks, whip-poor-wills, etc.). This primarily nocturnal species is native to Australia, and the zoo has two pairs in an off-exhibit area for breeding purposes. Tawny frogmouth chick at four days old. The ball of fluff in this photo is the fourth chick produced by a pair we received from the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia in 2009. It hatched on May 17, and the parents are raising it on a diet of insects and small mice. When hatched, it weighed 0.6 ounces (17.5 grams). The small, white dot towards the upper tip of the bill is the egg tooth. This is what the chick uses to break the shell as it is hatching. The egg tooth will eventually fall off as the chick ages. The frogmouth ...

Posted by: Mark Myers, Curator When a recovered turtle found in Edmonds, Washington turned out to be a representative of an endangered native turtle species, Woodland Park Zoo got the call to assist. Partnering with the Washington Deparment of Fish and Wildlife, Woodland Park Zoo has been involved with the Western Pond Turtle Recovery Project for 20 years, but in that time only rarely have we seen cases of western pond turtles being found in this state outside of protected habitats. The turtle was found on a road in Edmonds and picked up by a family that brought it to the Just Frogs and Friends Amphibian Center. From there the amphibian center contacted Woodland Park Zoo. We don’t know how the turtle got to Edmonds or out on that road, though judging from its comfort around people, it may have been a pet at one point. Woodland Park Zoo was brought into the mix to perform a health assessment of the turtle to determine its potential to be released into protected wild habitat ...