Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications The giraffe calf has grown nearly a foot since his birth 3 weeks ago, towering in at just about 7 feet tall now. But there’s another tell-tale sign of growth to look for: the formation of the calf’s ossicones. Notice mom’s fully formed ossicones and the little ones just starting to take shape on baby’s head. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Ossicones are the horn-like protuberances giraffes sport on their heads. They are formed from ossified cartilage (cartilage that has transformed into bone) and covered in skin and fur. Remember what looked like a little tuft of hair on baby when he was first born? One-day-old giraffe with flat ossicones. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Those were his little ossicones, all flat and barely developed. But over the weeks they have begun to harden. You can see in these pictures at one-week-old how the ossicones are beginning to take shape. One-week-old ossicones, the profile v

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications Mom Olivia and aunt Tufani give the little calf some tender attention. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. At just 1 week old, Woodland Park Zoo’s male baby giraffe has become an overnight sensation, and now, it just gets better. Giraffe fans can get their daily fix of the tallest baby in Seattle through a live 24/7 animal cam , courtesy of Dropcam. The live cam is installed behind the scenes in the giraffe barn and allows the public to watch the calf nursing, bonding with mom and doing what babies do…sleep. The best viewing times for the live cam are between 4:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m. PST. The baby giraffe was born August 6 to 6-year-old Olivia, a first-time mom. Born at 6 feet tall, he now stands at 6 feet, 4 inches and continues to thrive under the care of his mom. Olivia has been an excellent mom and the baby’s progressing on the mark. He’s playful and is beginning to sample hay, grain and leaves, which you can sometimes vie

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Roses may symbolize love and beauty to us, but to our gorillas, they symbolize snack time! Thanks to the organic methods our gardeners use in the Woodland Park Rose Garden , any trimmings of our blooms are perfectly edible and safe to eat for our gorillas . Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. In the summer, as the more than 3,000 rose plants in the nearly 90-year-old Rose Garden bloom, the zoo’s gardeners deadhead the plants, which means they remove old, spent blooms to keep the overall plant blooming longer. That waste could be composted, but zookeepers love to get their hands on the blooms to use as enrichment with our plant-eaters, most especially the gorillas! Photo by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo. The petals make their way into the gorilla exhibit two or three times a week in the summer at various hours to keep it interesting and unexpected for the apes. This week, we visited the gorillas on a Monday morning a

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Photos by: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo Move over, One Direction. We've got our own band of boys at Woodland Park Zoo that is stealing hearts and making fans squeal. That’s right—after their first vet exam, we've learned our four Asian small-clawed otter pups are all boys! An otter pup gets his first check up from the zoo vet. The otters had their first check-up with the zoo's vets and are all healthy and hitting their benchmarks as growing pups. Still, they don’t do too much yet other than eat, sleep and play in their behind-the-scenes den. Even the playing isn't too advanced—no running or chasing, we’re still just at that pouncing and chewing on each other stage. The pups are now 9 weeks old. Weighing in at 1.2 – 1.4 pounds each, the pups are now big enough to get their feet wet. Swim lessons behind the scenes are going slowly. They’re beginning to dip their mouths in a small, shallow tub. Mom dips her mouth

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Photos by: Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo There are no caps and gowns, but this is most certainly a graduation. Today marks the first day of the rest of their lives for 31 graduates of Woodland Park Zoo’s Living Northwest conservation project, the Western Pond Turtle Recovery Project . After hatching and being raised at the zoo for the first ten months of their lives, these endangered native turtles are ready to move on and re-enter the wetlands of Washington to help rebuild the wild population. Each turtle is weighed, measured and notched for identification. To get here, the 31 turtles first had to pass their final exams, which included a weigh-in and measuring to ensure they’re big enough to survive on their own in the wild. You must be this long to ride. Those who didn’t make the grade have been left back—but they’ll have the chance to take the test again next year after they have done a bit more growing, with a g

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Photos by: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo It’s a boy! Our giraffe calf got his first check-up with the zoo’s vet team yesterday and he is healthy and doing well. Keepers stand on the scale with the giraffe calf. Weighing the calf was an interesting exercise. First, we placed a towel over his head to eliminate distractions and keep him calm during the exam. Then four keepers walked onto the scale with the calf to help him stay in place long enough to get an accurate measurement. Subtract the combined weight of the keepers, and you've got a weight for the calf—144 pounds! Measuring the calf's height. We broke out the measuring tape and discovered our calf is even taller than we first estimated, measuring in at 6 feet. Mom watched the whole exam and remained calm and comfortable. Blood tests from the exam show that the calf is nursing normally and that mom Olivia is passing on necessary antibodies and proteins through he

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Join us this Sat., August 10 for Asian Wildlife Conservation Day . Pick up your event passport and get stamped at activities throughout the day to learn all about the endangered wildlife of Asia and what you can do to help. Here are just some of the animals and conservation programs you’ll encounter. Tree kangaroo. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Tree Kangaroos Woodland Park Zoo’s Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program is empowering local people to protect an 187,000-acre forest sanctuary for this endangered species. The land also is the source of water, plants and animals that supply local people with their livelihoods and health. If we save the forests, we help them all. Take Action for Tree Kangaroos  Drink coffee, save tree kangaroos! Look for YUS PNG coffee at Woodland Park Zoo and Caffe Vita locations. Made by farmers who dedicated their land to tree kangaroo protection, the coffee represents an eco-friendly

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Happy National Zoo Keeper Week! If you've been enjoying the baby boom at the zoo this past year, then you have our dedicated keepers to thank. It’s their hard work in matching up animal mates, caring for growing families, and keeping babies healthy that makes it all possible. Next time you see a zookeeper, let them know what their work means to you and your family! Video: Celebrating zookeepers at Woodland Park Zoo. Video by VIA Creatives. The late Dana Payne, a Woodland Park Zoo curator, poignantly summed up the work of the zookeeper in an end note he wrote for local artist Catherine Eaton Skinner’s book, Unleashed : “Those of us who have chosen a life with animals know we have chosen well. Having a conversation with a lion is a fine way to start one’s day. For that matter, so is tossing tidbits to a toucan, or medicating a cobra. There’s something there, in the lion’s luminous eyes, in the gaudy splendor of the toucan