Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications There are 96 words in this paragraph. Each one represents an African elephant killed today for its ivory. It’s a grim figure, but there’s hope. Thanks to your support, rangers are on the ground deterring poachers and protecting populations. Now the work must continue at home with you. We need state by state ivory moratoria to close the legal loopholes that conceal black market ivory in the U.S. Take the pledge to let the elected leaders of Washington state know we will not stand for being a loophole. Join the herd to make your voice heard. Take the Pledge To stop the killing of elephants, we must stop the ivory trade. To stop the trade, we must end the demand. I pledge never to buy, sell or trade ivory, and I support a moratorium on ivory products in Washington state. Why does my signature matter? The United States has one of the largest markets for ivory in the world with legal markets providing a front for illegal

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Like these? Blooming plants at Woodland Park Zoo. Photos by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo and Mat Hayward/Woodland Park Zoo. Then we need these: Photos from top, clockwise: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo; Flickr user jeffreyww under Creative Commons License ; Flickr user leshoward under Creative Commons License .  At Woodland Park Zoo, we’re abuzz, aflutter and atwitter about the big news coming from the White House: the announcement of a new federal strategy for protecting pollinators . With a focus on honeybees and other essential pollinators like native butterflies, birds and bats, the strategy establishes a task force and goals for population restoration, habitat protection and public education to stem the losses from this blooming crisis. The White House makes a case for the economic importance of pollinators, which “ contribute substantially to the economy of the United States and are vital to keeping fruit, nuts, and veg

Posted by: Caileigh Robertson with Rebecca Whitham, Communications Sloth bear mom Tasha and 18-month-old cubs Randhir and Kushali will make their final appearance July 6 before construction begins to rebuild their home. The cubs turned 1 last December and celebrated with piñatas. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. The exhibit makeover will mark the second and final phase of our new Bamboo Forest Reserve exhibit, and it’s all possible because of your support ! Thanks to you , we opened phase one of the exhibit in 2013, which features Asian small-clawed otters, a tropical aviary and a nature play area. Over the next year, we’ll complete construction for the final phase , which will bring new homes for the sloth bears and mark the return of tigers to Woodland Park Zoo in May 2015! Remember when the cubs were this small? Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Our three sloth bears will live in an off-view exhibit during the construction, so plan a visit soon to see t

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications When otters play tug-of-war, we all win. Photo by Stan Milkowski/Woodland Park Zoo. In just one year’s time, our four little Asian small-clawed otter boys, Chancellor, Maxwell, Sherman and Thomas, went from being babies to being big brothers ! The pups, named for the Seattle Seahawks Legion of Boom, were born June 11 last year, just in time for Father’s Day. Today we celebrate their first birthday with a look back at what they’ve learned and experienced in their first year. They learned that fish is delicious… Soooooo good! This photo was taken in August 2013 when the pups were two months old. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. …that the Seahawks rule… These champion otters were named for the champion Seahawks' Legion of Boom. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. …that Dad can’t help but be overprotective sometimes… When the pups were first learning to swim outdoors, dad had a habit of not letting the

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications The fishmongers toss salmon in front of the grizzly exhibit. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. The scene: Pike Place Fish Market fishmongers gather in front of Woodland Park Zoo’s famous brown bear exhibit, as grizzly brothers Keema and Denali go into overdrive sniffing out the scent of salmon in the air. The bears catch the scent. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. This moment feels so perfectly Seattle. Bear. Woodland Park Zoo. Salmon. Pike Place Fish Market. So Seattle. Photo by John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo. Then the toss begins. Tossing a "stunt" salmon. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. If you've seen the famous fish tossing at Pike Place Fish Market, you’ll know the rush of excitement that runs through the crowd as the fishmongers toss what they call a “stunt fish” back and forth. You hold your breath each time to see if they’ll catch it. Unless you’re a grizzly bear. In that ca

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Porcupine baby, Marty, and her stick. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. When you’re a porcupine baby, if you've got a stick, you've got a party. VIDEO: Baby porcupine chews on sticks. Produced by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Look for our 8-week-old female porcupette, Marty, on exhibit in the Northern Trail. You'll see her there with mom, Molly. The two are doing well!

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications with Laura McComesky, Zookeeper Lion-tailed macaque, Sita, gets up close to her keeper’s camera. Photo by Andy Antilla/Woodland Park Zoo. Monkey see, monkey do—and it's all thanks to cataract surgery that has successfully restored vision and quality of life to 29-year-old lion-tailed macaque , Sita (SEE-tah). Going blind wasn't easy for Sita. In February, keepers first noticed in one of Sita’s eyes the tell-tale cloudiness characteristic of a cataract. Soon it was both eyes. The cataracts came on fast and worsened quickly, giving Sita very little time to adjust to this drastic change. Sita’s left pupil was the first to appear cloudy in February 2014. Photo by Andy Antilla/Woodland Park Zoo. As her eyesight disappeared, Sita struggled to do everyday tasks. Woodland Park Zoo’s lion-tailed macaque exhibit reflects the endangered species’ Indian forest habitat, with complex, arboreal pathways that suddenly became too chal

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications What will you spot on the Savanna Cam today? Streaming live from Woodland Park Zoo’s award-winning African Savanna exhibit, our newest cam looks north over the exhibit plains from the African school house. Here you'll find the zoo’s giraffe, oryx, zebra, gazelle and ostrich, a mixed community of species that are naturally found together in the dry grasslands of Africa. The camera runs 24/7 and the best viewing is from dawn 'til dusk. In this video clip, you'll get a little preview of what you'll see on the cam. Tune into the Savanna Cam live stream for a real-time look at the savanna. VIDEO: Giraffe checks out the new Savanna Cam. When watching, look for highlights on the savanna including: Giraffe calf Misawa Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Though he towers over the grazers around him, nearly one-year-old giraffe calf Misawa is notably smaller than his mother Olivia and aunt Tufani. Look for the g

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications With Memorial Day weekend upon us, many will kick off the summer season with a camping trip. Before you head out on your adventure, challenge yourself with this bear-smart quiz to see if you are a bear-smart camper. Whatever your score, you'll see and learn so much more about coexisting with Northwest wildlife when you join us for Bear Affair: Living Northwest Conservation presented by Brown Bear Car Wash on Sat., June 7. Grizzly bears Keema and Denali will show us what happens when you do not take safety precautions in your backyard or when hiking or camping in bear country. Zookeepers and conservation experts will be on hand to give you safety tips. Plus we'll spotlight the incredible native wildlife all around us, from bears to butterflies, and share ways you can join our Living Northwest program to conserve Washington's wildlife. So tell us: how did you score?

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications On this Endangered Species Day, we celebrate nature's latest gift to us—a critically endangered Indochinese box turtle baby, newly hatched before our eyes and thriving. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Our zookeepers put long hours into incubating eggs, maintaining a warm, safe environment for those about to hatch. When they are lucky, they get to see the big payoff happen before their eyes! Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. This month, we were there to greet an Indochinese box turtle as it hatched into the world. Using its egg tooth (the pointy tip you can see best in the photo below), it broke through the shell when it was ready to hatch after 78 days of incubation. At only about an inch and a half in length, the little fella is too small for any of the exhibit spaces we have in the Day Exhibit, so for now, it’s being reared behind the scenes. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Zookeepers are especiall

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications, with Sue Andersen, Zookeeper It seems like every time we do a spider story, someone gets mad at us for having to see these creatures on their screen. But we’re going to help you learn to love spiders, starting with these baby golden orb weavers seen here at just one hour old! Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Spiders are good people. We talked with zookeeper, Sue Andersen, to get the scoop on these amazing critters on the occasion of the third egg case hatching in Bug World in the past two weeks. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Seen here are golden orb weaver spiderlings, fresh out of their egg case. According to Sue, “spiders actually develop from eggs into what is termed post-embryos (affectionately called ‘eggs with legs’ by arachnologists!) within the safety of their egg case. By the time they emerge from their egg case, they are first instar (or stage) as these guys and gals are. At this stage they are looking

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications This is a tale of two joeys: A 7-month-old wallaby who is just emerging from its mother’s pouch… Wallaby joey peeks out of the pouch. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. …and a nearly 4-month-old wallaroo who is giving us a whole new perspective on what goes on inside the pouch. What we've seen will amaze you.  Let’s take a closer look at the developmental stages of the two joeys.  Wallaby Joey Emerges A hand, an ear, a nose—for the last few months, we have kept a close eye out for any sign of the latest wallaby joey emerging from its mother’s pouch. Born the size of a lima bean back in October, our newest wallaby joey has finally begun to peek out! Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. You can see it still has quite a bit of developing left to do. Soon the joey will grow in a furry coat and spend more time peeking out. As we head into summer, we’ll see the baby eventually begin to take litt