Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Enjoying the cold, wet snow mix this week? It’s nothing to our snow leopards . They come equipped for bundling up: snow leopards use their 3-foot-long tails as mufflers to protect their noses and lungs from freezing at night. Archive photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications These wolves are at play, but the sight of their opened mouths would certainly be less fun for a prey animal.  A wolf's powerful jaws can exert about 1,500 pounds per square inch, about twice that of a dog!  (Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo)

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Happy Leap Day to you on this Wonderfully Wild Wednesday ! A clucking frog? During the breeding season, the Oregon spotted frog’s call is a series of clucking noises. We’re doing our part to keep them clucking. At Woodland Park Zoo, we raise Oregon spotted frogs until they are large enough to survive on their own, then release them into protected wetlands here in Washington. The Leap Day celebration continues at the zoo today and Sat., March 3 . We’re celebrating amphibian conservation success stories through frog-themed crafts, keeper chats on frogs and amphibians, puppet shows and interactive activities. Hear from national experts, including our curator of herpetology, Dr. Jennifer Pramuk, about what is being done to save amphibians. Pacific Northwest Herpetological Society members also will be on hand to discuss frogs and other amphibians. On March 3, kids ages 3-12 dressed in green or other frog-themed gear will receive

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications From observing pond turtles foraging, biologists have found that western pond turtles swallow all their food in water and appear unable to swallow food in air! Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications PNG YUS coffee is now available at Woodland Park Zoo ZooStores and Caffe Vita locations. Seattle is about to taste the first ever coffee made available in the U.S. from a remote part of Papua New Guinea—the Yopno Uruwa Som region of the Huon Peninsula—home to the endangered Matschie’s tree kangaroo, the little known animal that inspired this whole effort. So how did we get from ‘roo to brew?  Tree kangaroo joey Yawan in his mother's pouch, behind the scenes at Woodland Park Zoo. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. To protect an endangered species like the tree kangaroo, you need to protect its habitat. Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Woodland Park Zoo’s Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program helped make that possible in 2009 when we worked with Papua New Guinea villagers in the remote Huon Peninsula to protect 180,000 acres of their land in the nation’s first Conservation

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications 2012 is the Year of the Dragon, and Tuesday was the day of the Komodo dragon . That’s because the zoo’s male Komodo dragon, Loki, turned 18 on Tuesday and the keepers celebrated dragon-style: with “cake” made out of ground meat topped with a mouse. Loki gulped down his treat with lightning speed as visitors gathered at the exhibit to sing “Happy Birthday” to him. The song lasted longer than the cake! While we often mark our 18th birthday as the milestone between childhood and adulthood, for Komodo dragons, turning 18 means you’re well past middle aged. It’s not known just how long the average Komodo dragon life span is in the wild, but in captivity, Komodo dragons have been known to live up to 25 years. By weight, Komodos are the world’s largest lizard. They don’t get to be that size just by snacking on birthday cake. In the wild, Komodos are known for their hunting prowess, taking down prey as big as Sunda deer,

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications With Valentine’s Day coming up, it’s a good time to meet the hermaphroditic Partula snail. Prior to copulating, Partula shoot “love darts”—tiny bits of calcium-based material—like daggers into their partner. No one knows exactly why. Some think that this is the origin of Cupid with his arrows.  Now there's a fun fact you can use to romance your Valentine. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications The results are in to cap our two-week, online contest to guess the combined weight of Woodland Park Zoo’s two hippos . Today’s weigh-in of 12-year-old Guadalupe and 33-year-old Water Lily revealed the giant pachyderms’ collective weight: 6,279 pounds with Lupe weighing in at 3,285 pounds and Lily at 2,994 pounds! Zookeeper Matt Mills works with Lupe on the scale inside the behind-the-scenes hippo barn. More than 2,800 people entered our statewide hippo weigh-in contest, trying to win a behind-the-scenes experience with our hippos and other prizes. The guesses ranged everywhere from 150 pounds to 6,000,000,000 pounds, but only two entrants came within one pound of the final combined weight, and by random draw, 42-year-old Alane Michels of Sprague, WA was named the winner! Alane was all smiles when we called her this morning to tell her she won, telling us " This is a dream come true! I grew up coming to Woodland Park Zoo an

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Ever hear cackling in the Tropical Rain Forest exhibit? Many visitors do not realize that intense sound is coming from our red ruffed lemurs . Red ruffed lemurs communicate to each other with a complex system of at least 12 different vocalizations that include low grunts, gurgling sounds and that cackle-like roar. Photo by Dennis Dow/WPZ

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Introducing Wonderfully Wild Wednesday , where we’ll feature some fascinating wildlife adaptation each week. Let’s kick it off with one of the zoo’s newest residents—the waxy monkey frog. I don’t need to tell you that the waxy monkey frog is awesome. You can see that for yourself… But I will tell you that this frog—newly arrived to Woodland Park Zoo—is certainly unique among its amphibian brethren. Most frogs have moist skin that is susceptible to drying out when exposed to direct sun for too long. But the South American waxy monkey frog is uniquely adapted to take in rays, allowing it to make a niche for itself in the hot, dry environment of its native habitat in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. So how does the waxy monkey frog do it? It’s in the name (well, the waxy part of the name, not the monkey part. We’ll get to the monkey part later). The waxy monkey frog comes complete with built-in sunblock, a waxy secretion

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications How do you celebrate an ocelot’s 1st birthday? With a turkey cake and mouse candle, of course! Our little Evita is not quite so little anymore. To celebrate her turning 1 year old last week, Evita’s keepers prepared a lovely birthday surprise including some wrapped presents (boomer balls generously bought for Evita from our animal enrichment wishlist ), a papier mache ball with a mouse inside, and a heart-shaped frozen cake made from ground turkey, turkey breast and prepared feline diet with a “candle” that I hope to never see on any cake I eat—a mouse with its tail sticking up like a wick! Evita was slow to investigate her treats until keepers added an unexpected twist—a fresh pile of snow picked from just outside the Tropical Rain Forest exhibit. Evita’s exhibit is near 80 degrees year round, so the snow brought out her curiosity. She rubbed her head in the snow and batted at it with her paws before moving on to the other treat

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications The zoo was closed to the public again today due to the snow and ice conditions. Here's a look at what was happening on grounds: We'll post to www.zoo.org first thing in the morning tomorrow on whether we'll finally be able to open again. Until then, stay safe! Photos by Ryan Hawk and Carol Roll/Woodland Park Zoo.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications The zoo may be closed today due to “Snowpocalypse,” but many of the animals are still out and about. Some animals retreat indoors or look for a warm spot to tuck themselves into to get out of the snow, while others—like our residents of the Northern Trail exhibit—are in their element. The first animals you encounter in the Northern Trail are the pack of four sister wolves—Doba, Shila, Aponi and Kaya. When we first approached the wolves this morning, they were beautiful to behold in their white fur coated in snow, an elk lounging in the background. But it wasn’t long before one of the wolves interrupted the still, idyllic portrait with a piercing howl. Then the wolves all began to vocalize together and play. They chased. And chased. Then took a break to nibble at the snow. We pulled ourselves away from the scene just long enough to see one of our grizzly bears shaking himself free of the snow piling onto his fur. The

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Big news: Your votes have made a difference for wildlife! We are proud to announce our conservation partner , Snow Leopard Trust, has won 1st place in the BBC World Challenge ! Thanks to your votes, they will receive $20,000 to help protect wild snow leopards and will have their story told on the BBC's international news outlets to spread the word about big cat conservation. Congrats to the Snow Leopard Trust and our many, many thanks to you all for voting throughout October and November and helping them win this incredible global honor. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Meet the new feathers on the block: the newest group of birds that now call Woodland Park Zoo home. Lola is a 3-year-old, female Aplomado falcon. She is currently at the Raptor Center being trained by her keepers to become part of the free-flight raptor program and will make her debut in the show this December. Olga, a female Steller’s sea eagle, is now on view at Northern Trail where she lives with the zoo’s male Steller’s sea eagle.   This male falcated duck can be found in the Temperate Forest marsh.   A male and two female fulvous whistling ducks can be found in the Temperate Forest marsh. A female brown booby has joined the Humboldt penguin colony. For now, she is outdoors when weather is permitting but she will become more visible as the weather warms. Photos by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo.