Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Kerston Swartz, Public Affairs and Advocacy Manager Today Woodland Park Zoo and our campaign partners announced Initiative 1401 , a citizens’ initiative to strengthen laws banning sales of endangered species products in Washington state. In November, the people of Washington will be able to vote YES on I-1401 , and significantly decrease our state’s contribution to the current unprecedented rate of tiger, elephant, rhino and lion poaching. Pangolin: Boniface Osujaki/ Tarangire Elephant Project , a Woodland Park Zoo Partner for Wildlife. African elephant: Peter Steward via Flickr. Malayan tiger: Razak Abu Bakar via Flickr. Rhino: Jim Frost via Flickr. These wild animals don’t roam our state, but parts of them certainly make their way into the U.S. and to our region. Washingtonians will not spot a lion stalking its prey on the San Juan Islands or see a rhino charging the wheat fields of the Palouse, but we might have the opportunity to buy an ivory trinket in Tac...

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Today Reps. Pettigrew (D), Buys (R) and Fitzgibbon (D) introduced bipartisan House Bill 1131 to put an end to illegal elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn trade in Washington state. In addition to federal law, state laws are needed to close loopholes that allow the black market to go unchecked. Which one is more precious? You got us this far! More than 7,000 Woodland Park Zoo and Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium supporters joined together to raise our voices on this issue. Legislators are now listening. Let’s be heard! TAKE ACTION It’s time to use your voice once again! Leave a public comment on the Washington State Legislature website in SUPPORT of HB 1131.  You can use the following talking points in your comment: As your constituent, I am writing in support of Woodland Park Zoo’s and Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium’s 96 Elephants campaign and ask you to support WA State HB 1131 to end the sale of illegal elephant ivory and ...

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor What do elephants need ivory for?  Digging, lifting, pushing and defending. What do people need ivory for? Nothing. African elephants. Photo by Julie Larsen Maher/Wildlife Conservation Society. Today is Elephant Appreciation Day and already 5,200+ of you have shown your support by taking the pledge to end the ivory trade in Washington state . With 3,000 additional signatures coming in from our friends at Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, together we’re reaching out again to elected officials to ask them to consider sponsoring legislation. The herd is being heard and we have the proclamation to show it! Governor Jay Inslee has proclaimed today Elephant Appreciation Day in Washington state: What a way to celebrate how far we have come in raising our voices for elephants! Let's keep the momentum going. Please share this post to your networks and encourage your friends to sign the pledge at www.zoo.org/96elephants . On behalf of the...

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: Laura Lockard, Public Affairs After many weeks of deliberation and receiving public comments and testimony, Seattle City Council voted unanimously to place a Seattle Park District on the August 5th ballot. Your calls, emails and testimonies made this happen—and for this we offer a deep bow of thanks. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. What a park district means for Seattle In August, Seattleites will have the opportunity to vote YES to fund critical maintenance projects for Seattle’s parks and the zoo, including structural seismic and building upgrades to our exhibits, and infrastructure improvements that will move us closer to our sustainability goals. If voters approve this measure, the major backlog of maintenance, upkeep and operations of the 6,000 acres of city parklands, including the zoo, would no longer be neglected due to budget cuts and competition with the city’s other important services. A Seattle Park District would create a dedicated funding sou...

Posted by: Laura Lockard, Director of Public Affairs and Communications Friends, we need your help! We have an opportunity to clean up Puget Sound by making a major difference here at the zoo—using green technology to keep hippo waste from overflowing into local waterways. It’ll take the support of the state legislature to get us there, so we’re asking you to raise your voice and let Capital Budget Chairs, Rep. Hans Dunshee and Sen. Jim Honeyford and their committees know you support this effort! Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Here is what’s at stake: Woodland Park Zoo is asking the state legislature to help with our commitment to sustainability and resource management in the Puget Sound area by requesting state capital funding for our priority sustainability project: reducing water waste from the zoo's hippo pool in the African Savanna exhibit. With an approximately $2 million state investment, completion of the hippo pool project would accomplish the following:...

Posted by: Laura Lockard, Communications  Ever wonder how you can do more to help the zoo? Woodland Park Zoo would like to invite you to join our new advocacy program, ZooAction . Every day, issues are being considered at the federal, state and local levels that affect the zoo, our conservation and education programs, and our ongoing effort to save wildlife and their habitats. ZooAction provides a great arena to share policy information as it relates to the zoo and allows you to help advocate for the zoo. By joining ZooAction you are signing up to help advocate for issues that affect the zoo. You can also follow ZooAction on Facebook and Twitter . ZooAction will keep you informed about public policy issues that affect the zoo. You will be asked to take action by contacting your elected officials by phone or email about important issues. We will also keep you informed about how state or local initiatives or ballot measures impact Woodland Park Zoo, such as the upcomi...