Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Editors note November 13, 2024:  Hello friends. A lot of you have been asking about our Sumatran orangutan Batu and the status of her pregnancy. Here's an update. You haven’t missed a birth announcement. Admittedly, our projected birth window was quite off. While we don’t have a clear new window for her delivery, all other indicators are good: Batu remains healthy, the fetus appears healthy, and Batu is getting regular pre-natal check-ups by our veterinary staff and weekly checks by an OBGYN. We continue to send Batu positive vibes while she remains on track. We know you are excited for her baby to arrive and we are too! Again, thank you for checking in and we hope to share some positive baby news very soon! An orangutan at Woodland Park Zoo, 14-year-old Batu, is expected to give birth soon and is nearing the end of her pregnancy, which for orangutans is nearly nine months. The birth will mark the first orangutan born at the zoo in 35 ...

 Post by Gigi Allianic, Communications Woodland Park Zoo is overjoyed to share the heartwarming news about baby boy gorilla Abeo (ah-BAY-oh), who was born at the zoo in June. To ensure his long-term benefits of growing as a gorilla, the zoo made a critical decision and moved him last month to Louisville Zoo in Kentucky where he could be socialized with a foster gorilla mom and multigenerational family of gorillas. Abeo with Kweli, Photo by Kyle Shepherd/Louisville Zoo Today, Abeo and his foster mom, Kweli (kway-lee), made their public debut together in Louisville Zoo’s award-winning Gorilla Forest. Kweli, 40 years old, was selected due to her successful experience fostering Kindi, Louisville Zoo’s now 8-year-old female gorilla, who was orphaned shortly after birth. Abeo was born June 28 at Woodland Park Zoo to Akenji, a first-time mom, and dad Kwame. Because Akenji hadn’t shown any interest in caring for her newborn, Abeo was placed under round-the-clock care; moreover, progress w...

Posted  by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren Baby blep! This 2-week old boy is thriving under the care of our expert gorilla staff Woodland Park Zoo’s newest baby, a gorilla born on June 28, is healthy, growing and thriving thanks to round-the-clock care by his human caregivers. Gorilla Akenji, the newborn’s 22-year-old first-time mother, has not shown any signs of interest in the baby who remains under 24/7 hands-on care by our expert gorilla staff; the baby, a boy, has not yet been named. For months leading up to his birth, the gorilla staff provided maternal behavioral training to prepare Akenji for motherhood. However, within an hour after Akenji gave birth, the animal care team had to intervene for the baby’s safety and well-being. “Despite our attempts over the past couple weeks to unite Akenji and her baby and encourage bonding, she has repeatedly turned away from him. Because of the trust and bonding we have with each of the gorillas, we can read h...

Posted by Farrah Paul, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren Woodland Park Zoo is mourning the loss of one of its river otter pups, who passed this morning in a tragic accident. Two otter pups, a male and a female, were born in late March to mom Valkyrie and dad Ziggy. The young male otter had recently been named Trout and his sister was named Dory and received their names from longtime friends and supporters of the zoo. As the pups recently learned to swim, they have access to both their publicly-visible habitat and pool, and an indoor holding area that is equipped with ramps and enrichment. This morning, June 22, the male otter pup was climbing a ramp and became wedged between the ramp and a platform. Animal keepers responded in under five minutes and attempted to resuscitate the otter, with the help of Animal Health, but he could not be revived. “Our animal keeper team and staff are absolutely devastated. The passing of a beloved animal is never easy, but a loss like thi...

Posted by Craig Newberry, Communications Woodland Park Zoo is seeing spots after three snow leopard cubs were born on Memorial Day, May 27, 2024. These are the first snow leopard cubs to be born at the zoo since a single cub, Aibek, was born in 2017.  Marai with her newborn cubs on the cub cam, Woodland Park Zoo The cubs were born to parents Marai, 7, and Aibek, 6. This is their first litter of cubs after they were paired under the Snow Leopard Species Survival Plan , a cooperative breeding program across accredited zoos to help ensure a healthy, self-sustaining population of the species. The mom and cubs are currently in an off-view maternity den to allow bonding and proper nursing in a quieter setting. Zoo staff closely watch the mother and cub on a den camera to watch for normal behaviors. It will be at least a couple months before the cubs are introduced to the outdoor, on-view exhibit. “As a first-time mom, Marai has amazed us with the level of care she's been giving her cub...

Posted by Craig Newberry, Communications Soooo cute! The Woodland Park Zoo family just got cuter with the arrival of a tiny male pudu fawn. Pudu are the smallest deer species in the world and are native to South America.  Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo The fawn, which has yet to be named, was born May 2 to parents Ted and Maggie. The birth is the pudus' fifth offspring together since they were paired under the Pudu Species Survival Plan , a cooperative breeding program across accredited zoos to help ensure a healthy, self-sustaining population of the species.  The fawn's father, Ted, is 8 years old and arrived at the zoo in 2017. The mother, Maggie, 7, came in 2018. The pair of pudu are now parents to four males and one female. All three of their previous male fawns were sent to accredited zoos across the country based on breeding recommendations created by the SSP. The female, born last year, still lives at Woodland Park Zoo. Photo by Megan Blandford/Wo...

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Last week, we shared the poll results from a public naming of a Chilean flamingo chick at Woodland Park Zoo — Magdalena was the winner !  Read on for the rest of this "awww" inspiring story involving a resourceful Alaska Airlines Flight Attendant and a flamingo chick now called Sunny! The winning name, Magdalena, was chosen through an online poll of names representing national parks in Patagonia, a main region where Chilean flamingos live. The other choices in the naming poll were Torres, Lauca and Patagonia.  Magdalena was among six flamingo eggs from Zoo Atlanta that a Woodland Park Zoo animal keeper transported from Atlanta to Seattle via Alaska Airlines; however, the portable incubator protecting the eggs had stopped functioning. The eggs would have perished during the five-hour flight if not for the quick thinking by a flight attendant named Amber May.  Amber May meets the ...

Posted by Craig Newberry, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo The Woodland Park Zoo family just got cuter with the arrival of a tiny female pudu fawn. Pudus are the smallest deer species in the world and are native to South America. The fawn, which has yet to be named, was born May 5 to parents Ted and Maggie. The birth is the pudus' fourth offspring together since they were paired under the Pudu Species Survival Plan , a cooperative breeding program across accredited zoos to help ensure a healthy, self-sustaining population of the species. The fawn's father, Ted, is 7 years old and arrived at the zoo in 2017. The mother, Maggie, 6, came in 2018. This is the pair’s first female fawn. All three of their male fawns now live at accredited zoos across the country and are doing well. “We are very excited to have the first female pudu birth at the zoo since 2010. The fawn is healthy and continues to get more comfortable exploring the habitat,” said Shawn...

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos and video by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Woodland Park Zoo is beary excited to welcome an orphaned brown bear cub to its home and family. The female cub, who currently weighs 89 pounds, was found roaming alone on an air force base near Anchorage, Alaska. She traveled via Alaska Air Cargo and arrived at the zoo July 13. Hello, little sweetheart! We are so lucky to be able to give you a home in the Living Northwest Trail. The new cub, who has yet to be named, was born this past winter and is assumed to be a singleton. Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) had received multiple reports of sightings of the lone cub; once they confirmed the mom was nowhere to be found and the cub was too young to survive on her own, they moved forward to lure the bear to safety.  A culvert trap on a trailer bed was used. “Usually bears have a sweet tooth, so we tried drawing her in with glazed donuts. However, this cub showed no interest in ...

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo One of the three adorable Humboldt penguin chicks to recently hatch at Woodland Park Zoo.  World Penguin Day is today, April 25, a special day to celebrate all penguins on the planet and the recent hatching of three Humboldt penguins at Woodland Park Zoo. The three chicks hatched to three different sets of parents at the end of March and the first week in April. Most penguins mate for life. Incubation for penguins takes 40 to 42 days, with both parents sharing incubation duties in the nest and day-to-day care for their chicks. Penguin keeper Celine Pardo checks on the health of each Humboldt penguin chick before returning it to its parents in their cozy burrow. Woodland Park Zoo has one of the most successful Humboldt penguin breeding programs in North America with its new hatchlings bringing the total number of successful hatchings to 80 since the zoo’s first breeding season in 2010, a year a...

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo Say hello to Sotong, our Asian small-clawed otter pup born on December 9! The tiny pup's animal keepers have fondly named her Sotong (soh-TAWNG), Malay for squid or octopus—think Seattle Kraken! The 2-month-old pup is the first offspring for mom Little Frei and dad Conner. Little Frei was among the last litter born in 2016 at Woodland Park Zoo and was named after Seattle Sounders goalkeeper, Stefan Frei. The parents were paired under the Asian Small-clawed Otter Species Survival Plan. Species Survival Plans are cooperative breeding programs across accredited zoos to help ensure healthy, genetically diverse, self-sustaining populations of select species or subspecies. Asian small-clawed otters are very social, gregarious animals. Both mom and dad feed and help care for their young. At birth, the pups weigh about 1½ ounces, a little more than a slice of dense, whole-grain bread! Newborns can’t ...