Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications A remote camera station in the North Cascades spots a visitor: a rare red fox! A carnivore in the North Cascades has lived up to its reputation—crafty as a fox. During a recent visit to a high-elevation camera station (~6,500 feet) in the North Cascades, Woodland Park Zoo field biologists discovered photos of a red fox that stopped by in early March. Given the station’s remote mountainous location, scientists are hopeful that this rare visitor was a native Cascade red fox ( Vulpes vulpes cascadensis ), a subspecies of red fox that is currently listed as Endangered in Washington state. Because Cascade red foxes are not visually distinctive from non-native red foxes, genetic information is required to determine if a fox is a Cascade red fox. The field biologists, Robert Long, PhD, and Paula MacKay, deployed the cameras last summer as part of their leadership role with the Cascades Carnivore Monitoring Program , a highly collaborative, long-term mon...

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Cisco was a much-loved member of our zoo family. A legendary raptor at Woodland Park Zoo, a 36-year-old Harris’s hawk named Cisco, has passed away. Harris’s hawks can live up to 20 to 25 years in human care and 10 to 12 years in the wild. Due to Cisco’s advanced age, the raptor keepers had been closely monitoring the hawk over the last couple of years through daily observations of his health and quality of life. As an exceptionally elderly hawk, Cisco was under treatment for age-related issues, like most geriatric animals and humans. “Because of arthritis, cataracts, declining body condition, and loss of vision in the right eye due to retinal degeneration, Cisco was no longer able to take part in free flights at the zoo; however, he was still being exercised and socialized regularly,” said Dr. Misty Garcia, associate veterinarian at Woodland Park Zoo. Cisco had been on a prescribed program of jo...

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Buttons celebrates a milestone and reminds us to help wild animals stay wild! Happy birthday, Buttons! Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo The spring of 2022 marks a big milestone for one of the more well-known members of our elk herd—Buttons. While we don’t know her exact birthday, this sassy girl—who was born in the wild in eastern Washington—is turning 10 years old! Pregnant elk cows tend to have their calves within the same birthing window, which in our region ranges from the end of May through June. So, it is likely that Buttons was born sometime within that span of time in 2012. Why so scruffy, Buttons? In the spring, an elk's winter coat will drop off and molt into a sleek shorter summer coat. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Buttons gained notoriety several years ago in the area between Ellensburg and Cle Elum where residents—believing she was orphaned—began feeding her, petting her and even putting kids on...

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo A group of native, endangered western pond turtles were released into a protected wetland in Pierce County today. Today was graduation day of sorts for our “class of 2021” western pond turtles. 35 of the endangered youngsters—one of only two turtle species native to Washington state—were released back into the wild this morning in a protected wetland in Pierce County. It’s all part of Woodland Park Zoo’s Western Pond Turtle Recovery Project , which is celebrating its 30th Anniversary. It’s an occasion that hasn’t gone unnoticed by state leaders, as Governor Jay Inslee has proclaimed August 8–14, 2021 as “Western Pond Turtle Recovery Week.” For 30 years, Woodland Park Zoo has been head starting these turtles until they're big enough to escape the mouths of non-native predatory bullfrogs. In 1990, there were only about 150 western pond turtles left in Washington, and the species nearly went e...

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications Members of our wolf pack at the zoo. Photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo Last January, gray wolves were removed from federal protections under the Endangered Species Act, turning management of the recovering species over to states’ control. This delisting has already led to fatal consequences for wolf populations around the U.S. Several states are allowing hunting quotas well above what scientists recommend as sustainable, threatening to reverse the success of recovery and even potentially putting local populations back under threat of extinction. As the world celebrates International Wolf Day—on August 13—Woodland Park Zoo invites you to join us and sign this petition , urging our nation’s leaders to immediately restore federal protection for wolves. Our remote cameras in Washington's North Cascades captured images of wild wolves. Photo: Woodland Park Zoo Washington state’s recovering wolf population is currently protected under state law, a...

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications Members of the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program team at work in the YUS (Yopno-Uruwa-Som) Conservation Area of Papua New Guinea. Photo: Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program/Woodland Park Zoo  Thousands of brave people around the world dedicate their lives to protecting wildlife, helping to ensure others can enjoy the beauty of planet earth for generations to come. These wildlife heroes are called rangers, and we’re celebrating them this World Ranger Day. While we can’t introduce you to all rangers around the globe, we can introduce you to an all-star team of rangers spanning the Pacific Northwest to Papua New Guinea (or PNW to PNG!). In PNG, they are diligently working to protect the endangered Matschie’s tree kangaroo and the pristine cloud forests in which they live. Matschie’s tree kangaroos are native to the Huon Peninsula of Papua New Guinea. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo For more than 25 years, Woodland Park Z...

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Today was a big day—30 years in the making—for a lot of little turtles! The public was able to watch as wildlife biologists from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) worked with our staff this morning to prepare these endangered western pond turtles for release into a protected site in the wild. Thirty-seven of them were weighed, measured and notched—a process that doesn’t hurt them at all, where small marks are filed into their shell for identification. Woodland Park Zoo staff and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists talk to the public about the Western Pond Turtle Recovery Project. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Western Pond Turtle Recovery Project . In 1990, there were only about 150 of them left in Washington, and the species—which is native to our region—nearly went extinct. In 1991, Woodland Park Zoo and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlif...