Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications   Last year's photo contest grand prize winner. Photo: kbgirl30/Instagram. Shine a light on your favorite WildLights presented by KeyBank moments and be entered to win a grand prize featuring a behind-the-scenes Real Close tour and penguin feeding experience . Enter your WildLights photo now through January 5 for a chance to win. Finalist photo from last year's photo contest. Photo: thefoxtronaut/Instagram. How to enter: Snap your WildLights photo and you’ll be automatically entered to win when you share it with us by any one of four ways: Tag your photo with @woodlandparkzoo and #wpzwildlights on Instagram OR Tag your photo with @woodlandparkzoo and #wpzwildlights on Twitter OR Tag your photo with #wpzwildlights on Woodland Park Zoo's Facebook page OR Email your photo to webkeeper@zoo.org with subject line "WildLights" (files must be 5MB or under) You can find complet

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Photos: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo From all of us here at Woodland Park Zoo, we give thanks to you—our amazing pack of wild-at-heart animal lovers who have helped make this world-class zoo a community tradition for 114 years. Of course, you can’t celebrate Thanksgiving without a feast and friends to share it with. So as you belly up to your perfectly set table to enjoy your holiday spread, allow us to start the meal off with an animal-inspired toast. [ Raise a glass ] Dearest friends… …Here’s to a drool-worthy Thanksgiving feast… …May your meal taste better than cardboard and may your guests not ruin your centerpiece… …May you wolf down your first serving so you can get to seconds. Then thirds… …Table manners aside, may you dive head first into the comforts and joys of the season... …And may your holidays be filled with tender moments. Cheers!

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications At almost three months old, it’s time for giraffe calf Misawa to stretch his long legs. Keepers have begun to give the giraffe calf, his mom Olivia and aunt Tufani access to the savanna for short introduction sessions on warmer days. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Last week Misawa took his very first steps onto the savanna exhibit. On day one, all the animals were cleared from the savanna except the easy-to-get-along-with gazelle and ducks. It was a foggy morning when Misawa emerged through the mists to find a world full of new sights, sounds and tastes surrounding him. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. He stuck close to mom’s side at first, but curiosity took over and he began to check out what the rest of the savanna had in store for him. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Day one didn’t last much longer than an hour, but he has been spending more and more time outside as the introductions continue. F

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Armed with a tiny toothbrush, zookeepers are determined to give our gila monster some minty, fresh breath.  Gila monster extreme close-up. Photo: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. We don’t recommend trying this at home—gila monsters are one of only a handful of venomous lizards—but do watch what it takes for the keepers to ensure the oral health of an aging, 43-year-old male gila monster here at Woodland Park Zoo. Video : Monster gets his teeth brushed. Produced by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo. The tooth brushing and regular antibiotics help with the gila monster’s gingivitis and gum inflammation, not uncommon in aging lizards. As you can see in the video, he’s quite cooperative, allowing one keeper to hold him in place while the other gently brushes. The toothpaste leaves him with that fresh-from-the-dentist gleam. When placed back into his exhibit, he always takes a big drink of water as if to rinse! Back on exhib

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications The lion cubs' first birthday is just weeks away, coming up November 8. The growing quadruplets have come a long way since their debut. Remember when they took their first steps outside at just three months old? The foursome stuck close to mom and tentatively explored all the new sights and smells that surrounded them. Now at 11 months old, the cubs run this space with total confidence. (Love that there’s one staring off into space in both photos!) Top: The lion cubs on their first day outside at 3 months old, photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo; Bottom: Now 11 months old, the lion cubs strut with confidence, photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. They are coming into the age now where they would begin to hunt. Those predatory behaviors we've watched them develop through play are starting to become more honed and skilled. Take a look at those no-joke claws. Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. It is easy to tell the two

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Did you know that whenever you buy a 12 oz. bag of Caffe Vita's Zoo Special Reserve coffee, Caffe Vita donates $1 of every purchase to Woodland Park Zoo? We love their commitment to helping the environment, which is why we serve this shade-grown, organic and Rainforest Alliance-certified coffee here at the zoo, too! Coffee : Grizzlies :: Catnip : Cats. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo Now through the month of October, when you buy a 12 oz. bag of Zoo Special Reserve at any Caffe Vita location, you will automatically be entered to win a Woodland Park Zoo Family Fun Pack good for two adult and two child zoo admission tickets to keep or to share! We recommend drinking the coffee, but the grizzlies have other ideas about the best way to use those grounds.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Happy 8th birthday to our wonderful momma jaguar! May your day be filled with uninterrupted cat naps, Nayla.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications You can still call him “cutie,” but our nearly 8-foot-tall, 7-week-old baby giraffe  now has an official name: Misawa (me-SAW-wah). Misawa at one month old. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. The name was selected by the current class of Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine students. The zoo works with the WSU program to mentor the next generation of wildlife veterinarians. What better way to honor that connection than by letting them name one of the most beloved ambassadors of the next generation of zoo animals? Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. The students chose the name Misawa, a common greeting in an indigenous Luo language from Tanzania and southwest Kenya, to honor the giraffe’s native range. It’s an especially fitting connection, given the school’s dedication to human and wildlife health through their Global Animal Health programs in east Africa, a region native to giraffes like Misawa.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Looks like our baby giraffe spotted the web cam in his barn. His curious licks were caught in extreme close up on the cam—check out that tongue! Video: Baby giraffe webcam taste-a-thon The cam was always safely secured, but it sure did take a licking! The camera sits securely inside a cutout in the wall just below the giraffe feeder. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Some of our dedicated giraffe cam viewers even caught him in the act while watching live: We'd love to know what you see when you tune into the giraffe baby cam . Send your best screenshots and observations to webkeeper@zoo.org , tweet or Instagram to @woodlandparkzoo (#giraffecam), or post to our Facebook timeline .  And of course, don't miss the chance to see the calf in person! He has access to the outdoor area of the giraffe barn daily, and tends to head out there mid-mornings through afternoons. We know the next big piece of news you

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications There’s been a break in the sea of pink over at the flamingo exhibit. In the past week, we've had six tiny, white puffs in the form of flamingo chicks hatch out on exhibit. Generally, we let the chicks stay on the nest for the first five days, where they are well looked after by their parents. But once they become a bit more mobile and are ready to head out of the nest, we bring the chicks and their parents behind the scenes where they can get through the first few weeks of rearing together in a more protected environment. Newly hatched chick in nest. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Ideally the flamingo parents will feed and raise the chicks on their own. Some are first time parents and others are experienced. Zookeepers watch over the young families very closely, and are ready to step in to incubate eggs or rear chicks if it looks like any of the families are in need of a little help. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Pa

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications This might be the first time our four male otter pups have done something that can be classified as “swimming” outside. A tiny pup goes for a swim. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. We've seen them dip into the smaller pools in their exhibit, as well as one we keep for them behind the scenes, and they've flopped into the running water outside a few times, not always intentionally. But on Tuesday morning, we watched the family of Asian small-clawed otters head into the large pool in their exhibit and splash around outside for their first real swim together. A parent is always watching over the pups. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. The pups pushed out into the pool with mom Teratai and dad Guntur joining them, watching intently. The boys stuck close to the pool’s edge near the reeds, which offered them something to grab onto and a way to pull themselves out if swim time got too overwhelming for them. Kee