Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Celebrate moms of all species with us at the 24th annual Mom & Me presented by Verity Credit Union , Sat., May 10, 2014, 9:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Moms get half off admission during the event and families can look for fun activities throughout the day, including live performances on the North Meadow, keeper talks focused on wildlife moms, and a scavenger hunt that could win you a flight tour for two from Kenmore Air! Ready to round up the family and plan an outing? Send a free Mother's Day e-card to make your plans. Here's just a little taste of the e-card designs you can choose from:

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications It’s almost time to meet a cheetah ! The newest animals to join the Woodland Park Zoo family will debut in a temporary exhibit May 1, with zoo members getting a special sneak preview on April 30. The celebration continues with an official grand opening presented by Chevron on May 3. Missy the cheetah, photographed at Wildlife Safari in Oregon. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. How did the zoo’s new, temporary cheetah exhibit come about? It all started with a call from the Species Survival Plan , a conservation breeding program across accredited zoos. They enlisted our assistance to care for a pair of 14-year-old, female cheetahs for six to 18 months. The pair, Liz and Missy, has come to us from Oregon’s Wildlife Safari. By providing a temporary home for the girls, we are able to help the conservation breeding program by creating additional space for the next generation of offspring produced at Wildlife Safari. Between the two

Posted by: Gigi Allianic with Rebecca Whitham, Communications She’s got quills, they’re multiplying. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. The littlest new addition to Woodland Park Zoo is a female North American porcupine, born April 4 in our Northern Trail exhibit. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo Porcupine babies, known as porcupettes (seriously), are born with a soft coat of quills that begins to harden within hours of birth. This immediately protects them from predators...and thick gloves immediately protect us from them! Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo Our porcupette was born to Molly and Oliver, both 3-year-old residents of Northern Trail. This is their second offspring. The baby has access all day and night to the porcupine exhibit, but for now prefers to spend most of her time exploring in a den behind the scenes. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo She grooms herself a lot and is experimenting with different solid foods, like this spec

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications When you love wildlife, every day is Earth Day. An Asian small-clawed otter pup. Photo by Stan Milkowski/Woodland Park Zoo. Get into the green spirit on your next visit to the zoo: use our free mobile app to take the GPS-guided Green Zoo Tour. Discover the sometimes hidden ways we save water and energy and creatively reduce waste. Then get tips for how to do the same at home. On the tour, you'll visit LEED-certified buildings, see solar panels at work, discover the difference trees make, and find out what we do with all that animal poop. Together we can reduce our impact on the planet we share with wildlife and with future generations.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Another season of BECU ZooTunes presented by Carter Subaru summer concerts is heating up with this year’s blazing lineup: June 18 — Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood June 22 — Mavis Staples / Marc Cohn July 2 — Gregg Allman July 6 — Carolina Chocolate Drops / The Del McCoury Band July 30 — Josh Ritter & the Royal City Band with special guests Lake Street Dive July 31 — Lucinda Williams August 6 — Taj Mahal Trio / John Hiatt & The Combo August 10 — Robert Cray Band / Shemekia Copeland August 17 — Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue / Galactic August 20 & 21 — Pink Martini featuring China Forbes and Storm Large August 24 — Ziggy Marley Join us on the North Meadow for great music all summer long. When you see concerts, you save animals by supporting Woodland Park Zoo’s mission! Tickets go on sale to the general public on Fri., April 25 at 8:00 a.m. Current zoo members enjoy a special presale on Wed., Apr. 2

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: Rebecca Whitham, Communications As we countdown to Party for the Planet coming up April 5-13 , it’s time to kick-off the earth-friendly event with a contest! Turn trash into treasure and enter the Upcycled Wild Craft Contest. Photo by Ryan Hawk, craft by Sara Schaad/Woodland Park Zoo. Transform trash into treasure for the zoo’s Upcycled Wild Craft Contest. Use non-recyclable items including bottle caps, old furniture or food packaging to make artful creations that reduce waste and look wild! Contest entries will be judged in the following age categories: Ages 5-8  Ages 9-13  Ages 14-18  Ages 19 + up  Entries will be accepted March 29 – April 11. Drop yours off at the zoo’s West Entrance with a completed entry form . All entries will be displayed in the zoo’s West Plaza and on Woodland Park Zoo’s Pinterest board. Upcycling is a great way to keep items out of the landfill. Photo by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo.  One winner will be selecte

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham and Caileigh Robertson, Communications Photos by: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo Happy almost 1st birthday, Kuwan, Arizona and Inka! Though the official day is March 22, the jaguar cubs got an early treat this morning—birthday piñatas scented in curry and perfume. Following the trail of the enticing scents, the cubs quickly spotted and went after the decorations. Almost immediately “Happy Birthday” became “Happ Birthday” when Kuwan took down the turtle piñata on the end. Predator instincts kicked into full gear as the jaguars stalked, pounced on, and tore into their piñatas. The cubs also smashed and rubbed against the perfumed “Birthday” letters, but spent most of their energy on destroying the turtles. At nearly 1 year old, sisters Inka and Arizona, and their brother, Kuwan, are a lively trio. The young cats’ daily antics include pouncing, prowling and endless play, pausing only to re-energize with cat naps and hearty meals. 

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications The big “1” is just around the corner for the jaguar cubs. The adventurous cubs explore the exhibit. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. That’s right, Kuwan, Arizona and Inka turn 1 year old next week on March 22. A lot has happened for these cubs in just one year, like: Babies’ first day outside Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Babies’ first swim Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Babies’ first snowman Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. They may still be little ones in our hearts, but the truth is, we’re not dealing with babies anymore. Looking to the natural history of the jaguar, by one year of age cubs are typically ready to leave their mom. They may stay with their siblings for a time as they mature, and then ultimately they move on to a solitary lifestyle. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Providing the best care for growing animals means looking for clues to know when

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications In Seattle’s scenic Carkeek Park, you might spend a lot of time looking out at the boats, across at the mountains or up at the clouds. But have you ever looked down? There’s a world teeming below your feet in the Carkeek wetlands, a world we’re just beginning to document with the help of volunteers through the Amphibian Monitoring Program , a Living Northwest citizen science project. Video: Amphibian Monitoring with Citizen Scientists. Produced by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo. The citizen scientists have all signed up for a 6-month stint, committing to do monthly monitoring sessions in local wetlands of their choice to help document the presence of native and non-native amphibians. Carkeek Park serves as a training ground for new volunteers. At the Carkeek Park practice session, citizen scientists use an AquaScope to peer underwater without disturbing wildlife. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Amphibian Monitoring

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Hello down there! A tree kangaroo climbs up high in Woodland Park Zoo's Day Exhibit. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Woodland Park Zoo is home to endangered Matschie’s tree kangaroos , native to the cloud forests of Papua New Guinea. From the trees, tree kangaroos can leap 60 feet to the ground without getting hurt. Don’t try this at home! Picking coffee in Papua New Guinea. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. You can help protect tree kangaroos and their tree-top homes by looking for PNG YUS coffee, now back in stock at Caffe Vita  thanks to a partnership with Woodland Park Zoo’s Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program . The conservation coffee supports eco-friendly livelihoods for the landowners that share tree ‘roo forests.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications A case of trout is on its way to our sea eagles now that Denver Zoo has made good on its Super Bowl wager with us. We agreed to modify the wager so that instead of their bird curator, John Azua, hand delivering the trout while wearing a Seattle Seahawks jersey, he is heading off on a planned trip to South America to support condor conservation. Denver Zoo bird curator, John Azua, congratulates the Seahawks. Photo courtesy of Denver Zoo. Though we won’t meet John in person, the good sport posed for this photo. In the end, birds win—Seahawks, sea eagles and condors alike!

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Photos by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo Most of the snow has already melted away, but thankfully we have these great photos to help us remember this weekend's winter wonderland! The lion cubs discovered snow is the perfect landing pad for pounces. The snow leopard is a natural in the snow with thick fur and a long tail that acts as a scarf when they need to tuck in and warm up. The elephants chose to explore the snow throughout their exhibit. Snow provides a new tactile sensation to an elephant's trunk. Graceful cranes look especially beautiful in a snowy setting.  In the center is a juvenile flamingo distinguished by its black and gray feathers that have not yet all turned to pink. Snow is a new experience for the young one. Chilean flamingos are hardy birds that are built to withstand extremely cold winter nights in their native South American habitat. Some animals look