Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Katie Remine, Living Northwest Conservation Manager and Brianna Widner, Community Science Specialist Photos: Woodland Park Zoo motion-triggered wildlife cameras Coyote pups as seen from one of Woodland Park Zoo's motion-triggered cameras When was the last time you saw a wild mammal larger than a squirrel in the city? Mammals are less studied in urban environments than are many other species—they are often more difficult to find, observe and investigate than plants and birds, for example. The Seattle Urban Carnivore Project, launched by Woodland Park Zoo and Seattle University in 2019, uses camera traps—motion-triggered wildlife cameras—as a strategy for collecting important data on urban mammal diversity. With cameras deployed at about 45 locations across King and Kitsap counties, the project relies on the collaboration of our Seattle University partners—including undergraduate biology students—and a group of more than 100 community volunteers to manage the camera station...

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications This Earth Day, April 22, 2021, renew your connection to nature and level up with actions you can take––big and small––that have a lasting impact on the health and resiliency of our incredible home planet.  Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo 1. Plant something You can plant something specifically for pollinators  or you can plant something for yourself. .. planting the seed now for a more sustainable world is a family challenge we can all get behind. For inspiration, check out Earth Day Northwest's Next 5  or Common Acre's Green Line  or these incredible women who are planting an entire forest. 2. Clean it up Get outside and pick up garbage with the Great Global Cleanup (sometimes it really is that simple), join millions in going plastic free this summer , clean up your diet to fight climate change , clean up your shopping list and join the clean ocean movement . There's an app for that too. 3. Let your inner ...

Posted by Paula MacKay, Conservation Associate, Woodland Park Zoo Photos by Woodland Park Zoo It's National Wildlife Week, the perfect time to celebrate our PNW wild cats! We're big fans of using motion-triggered cameras to help us learn more about the wildlife around us. Impassioned volunteers with the Seattle Urban Carnivore Project maintain dozens of cameras throughout greater Seattle, while researchers with the broader Northwest Carnivore Monitoring Program gather important camera data from the Cascades and the Olympics. And of the many amazing animals we observe with our remote cameras, perhaps none are more entertaining than the wild cats. If you’ve ever lived with a domestic cat, you’re already an expert in feline behavior—rubbing against your chair leg, clawing at your couch, rolling around in catnip with fervor and delight. Sometimes your cat just stares at you, as if to remind you they are a cat. Cats are our buddies, but they’re also the boss! Wild felids exhibit m...

Posted by Katie Remine, Coordinator for Living Northwest Conservation Photos courtesy of Seattle Urban Carnivore Project / Woodland Park Zoo and Seattle University. It’s been a year of carnivore spotting — thank you for joining us in learning about our urban carnivores, such as coyotes, raccoons, bobcats and black bears!  From Carnivore Spotter ’s launch in mid-August 2019 to mid-July 2020, a total of 4,217 reports were submitted. The number of reports submitted per month was highest in the first few months following the launch of Carnivore Spotter, settling out to an average of 175 reports per month from November 2019 – July 2020 (with a bump of 256 reports submitted in May 2020). Reports came in from across Washington, but the majority came from Seattle. Within Seattle, most reports were submitted from north Seattle, primarily in the Ravenna, Wedgwood, Maple Leaf, Phinney Ridge, and Green Lake neighborhoods. Coyotes have been the most reported species, making up nearly 50% of all...

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Woodland Park Zoo was honored with awards from the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) at its annual conference which was held virtually in 2020. The areas of achievement include Volunteer Engagement, Diversity, Species Survival Plan Sustainability and Research. We're very proud of each of these honors and are excited to tell you a little more about the work behind them! Our Volunteer Inclusion Program received two awards this year: Top Honors in the Volunteer Engagement Award category, which recognizes achievement by an AZA member institution in volunteer program development, and a Significant Achievement Award in the Angela Peterson Excellence in Diversity Award category, which recognizes significant achievement in the workforce and audience diversity by an AZA member institution. Photo: John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo The Woodland Park Zoo Volunteer Inclusion Program supports individuals with disabilities who are interested in vo...

Posted by Kodi Jo Jaspers, Community Conservation Liaison Photos courtesy of Seattle Urban Carnivore Project / Woodland Park Zoo and Seattle University. On August 12th, 2019, the online carnivore reporting tool, Carnivore Spotter , was launched. Carnivore Spotter is part of the larger Seattle Urban Carnivore Project, a collaboration between Woodland Park Zoo and Seattle University. Over the last ten months many of our community members from across the greater Seattle area have shared their carnivore sightings. You have uploaded coyote sightings in Queen Anne, black bear reports in Issaquah and everything in between. Many of these reports also included media, such as videos or photos. We are especially excited when we receive reports with media, as it lets us see the exciting sightings you all are seeing in our city, and also allows us to verify the report. Each report is individually reviewed, and those that do include photos, video or audio are verified to ensure that these obse...

Posted by Katie Remine, Living Northwest Conservation Coordinator and Bobbi Miller, Wildlife Conservation Manager Just because we’re practicing physical distancing, doesn’t mean we can’t do our bit for wildlife and the great outdoors! There are still plenty of ways you can engage in conservation actions right from your living room or backyard. Woodland Park Zoo’s Wildlife Conservation staff invite you to join them as a wildlife conservationist with these five activities you can do from the comfort of your couch (or hammock)! A Seattle Urban Carnivore Project motion sensor remote camera documents a group of raccoons in the greater Seattle region. Photo courtesy of Seattle Urban Carnivore Project / Woodland Park Zoo and Seattle University. 1) Report your sightings of urban carnivores Woodland Park Zoo and Seattle University’s Seattle Urban Carnivore Project explores how mammalian carnivores, such as coyotes, foxes, raccoons, bobcats, and even cougars and bears live and inte...

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications An image of a coyote is captured on a motion sensor remote camera through the Seattle Urban Carnivore Project. Photo courtesy of Seattle Urban Carnivore Project / Woodland Park Zoo and Seattle University A healthy ecosystem is one in which plants and animals interact in a dynamic balance. They work together in a way that creates a sustainable and interconnected support structure for the whole environment. All different kinds of creatures, ranging from bees to bobcats, have an important role to play. But some of them—and the behaviors they exhibit—can be misunderstood or even feared.  WHAT IS A CARNIVORE? Most people think the word “carnivore” refers to any animal that eats meat as a primary component of its diet. This is accurate, but the word “carnivore" can also refer to specific mammals that are classified in the order Carnivora . This scientific grouping is not based on diet, but is instead related to a way of classify...