Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications March 3 is UN World Wildlife Day 2021 focused on “Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet.” With the mission of saving wildlife and making conservation a priority in everyone’s lives, Woodland Park Zoo joins in celebrating the central role of forests, the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people globally who rely on forests, and the value of these ecosystems for both wildlife and all of humanity. Gorillas under the forest canopy. Photo by I. Singono, Mondika  World Wildlife Day 2021 is particularly special for Woodland Park Zoo this year because it ushers in the 1st birthday of little Kitoko , a male western lowland gorilla born March 4 during the pandemic. “While the zoo was closed for nearly four months, we shared loads of photos of Kitoko—his milestones and tender moments—with our community and zoo family. He has touched the hearts and minds of hundreds of thousands of people during a tumultuous time and brought so much ...

Posted by Peter Zahler, Vice President of Conservation Initiatives When I was in fourth grade, I frequently sat on the curb of our little street in upstate New York and discussed environmental destruction and the end of the world with my best friend Dave. Admittedly this probably means I was not the most fun fourth grader on the planet to be around, but interestingly I went on to a long conservation career helping to save wildlife around the world, while my friend Dave went into marine conservation, diving with the Cousteau Society among other impressive career notes. Great ambitions inspired by dreamy afternoon haunts. Photo by Sam Szapucki via Flickr I’ve been reminded of our curbside apocalypse sessions lately because of the recent UN environmental reports, first on climate change and more recently on the estimated one million species under threat of extinction in the next few decades. It’s a little hard not to be stunned by these reports into a sense of paralysis, i...