Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: John Samaras, Penguin Keeper This blog post is part one of a three-part series based on Woodland Park Zoo penguin keeper John Samaras’ work in Punta San Juan, Peru with a  zoo conservation partner . As part of Woodland Park Zoo’s continuing effort in the conservation of Humboldt penguins , I had the opportunity to travel to Punta San Juan in Peru and take part in an annual health assessment of the wild population conducted by zoo professionals and Peruvian biologists. Woodland Park Zoo’s penguin exhibit, which opened in May 2009, replicates the coast of Punta San Juan, a barren desert peninsula that juts out into the South Pacific in southern Peru. Because of its proximity to the Humboldt current (a cold water current from Antarctica rich in fish and prey species) there is an amazing abundance of life on the rocky coast. Hundreds of thousands of seabirds and tens of thousands of fur seals and sea lions, as well as a large concentration of Humboldt penguins, call this p

Posted by: Mark Myers, Curator When a recovered turtle found in Edmonds, Washington turned out to be a representative of an endangered native turtle species, Woodland Park Zoo got the call to assist. Partnering with the Washington Deparment of Fish and Wildlife, Woodland Park Zoo has been involved with the Western Pond Turtle Recovery Project for 20 years, but in that time only rarely have we seen cases of western pond turtles being found in this state outside of protected habitats. The turtle was found on a road in Edmonds and picked up by a family that brought it to the Just Frogs and Friends Amphibian Center. From there the amphibian center contacted Woodland Park Zoo. We don’t know how the turtle got to Edmonds or out on that road, though judging from its comfort around people, it may have been a pet at one point. Woodland Park Zoo was brought into the mix to perform a health assessment of the turtle to determine its potential to be released into protected wild habitat

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Molly and Oliver, our newly arrived 3-month-old porcupines , had a check-up with our vet team this week. The exam, part of their standard 30-day-quarantine, included taking radiographs, blood samples, and weights. The animal health team deemed the two healthy and fit. Vets also inspected the bodies of the porcupines, which are covered with long hairs and quills. An adult porcupine is covered with 30,000 or more quills, with only its snout, throat, belly and feet pads exposed. The young pair is getting ready to move to their Northern Trail exhibit where they will be making a public debut in just a few weeks. This health exam helps to give us some baseline data so we can track how well they are doing once they get out there and as they grow and mature. Regular examinations are a part of the excellent animal care and preventive health program for the more than one thousand animals under the zoo’s care. We’ll update again when Molly a

Posted by Ric Brewer, Communications The world's third largest species of rodent will soon be making its appearance at Woodland Park Zoo. Can you guess what it is? Well, if you've looked below at the photos, you already know: the porcupine! Two young porcupines will soon join the other animals in our award-winning Northern Trail exhibit. The pair, Molly and Oliver, is approximately 3 months old and came from Weickert's Wildlife in Bent, Minnesota. Molly is the larger and darker of the two, and even though Oliver likes to try and push her around, Molly steadfastly stands her ground. They also have decidedly gourmet tastes, preferring willow branches over apple and delectable treats such as peanut butter. Porcupines (the term is derived from the Middle French porc espin meaning "quilled pig") are in the order Rodentia which also contains mice, rats, the South American capybara -- the largest rodent species -- mole-rats, and chinchillas, among others. Beaver, by the

Posted by: Martin Ramirez, Animal Curator Kyle in his exhibit after surgery. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo.  If you have been out to the African Savanna exhibit recently, you may have noticed a change—one of our patas monkeys now has only one arm. We thought you might have some questions about what happened to him, so we’d like to share with you his story. Kyle, a 6-year-old, male patas monkey, was recently being treated for a severe infection in the bones around his right shoulder. After the usual antibiotic treatments failed to stop the spread of the infection—jeopardizing his overall health—our keeper staff, animal health team and consulting veterinarians from the Animal Surgical Clinic determined the best course of action would be to amputate Kyle’s right limb. Kyle (left) with partner Alexa. Photo by Anne Nichols/Woodland Park Zoo. Why amputation? Not only would it rid Kyle’s body of the infection quickly, but it would also prevent the return of the life-threatening bloo

Posted by: Mark Myers, Animal Curator Metal detectors and body scans—not just for airports any more! This is the story of how a penguin’s life was saved by these technologies right here at Woodland Park Zoo. TSA gone too far? Nope, just a zookeeper demonstrating how we use a metal detector on penguins. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Last week, zookeepers observed that one of our penguin juveniles was not feeling well. Diablo, hatched last year, had not been eating regularly and was losing weight. Diablo’s keepers suspected he may have ingested a foreign body that was causing blockage for him. So they brought him behind the scenes and used a metal detector wand to determine if he had ingested any coins or other metal objects. Trust me, it’s not easy metal detecting on a penguin! You have to be careful to hold the penguin away from anything that might give a false positive, and penguins, well, they can fidget. But sure enough, once the keepers got Diablo into place and wave

Posted by: Jane David, LVT, Hospital Manager, Animal Surgical Clinic of Seattle Maybe it is just coincidence that “ aguila ” means “eagle” in Spanish, but when a Steller’s sea eagle from Woodland Park Zoo needed specialized surgery for a fractured bone, Dr. Alexander Aguila of the Animal Surgical Clinic of Seattle was ready! On March 23rd, Dr. Darin Collins, Woodland Park Zoo Director of Animal Health, contacted the surgeons at Animal Surgical Clinic of Seattle regarding a potential fracture repair on the right wing of a Steller’s sea eagle named Natasha. Exhibited in the award-winning Northern Trail exhibit at the zoo, Natasha is the female of a breeding pair acquired in 2010 . Steller’s sea eagles are among the largest and heaviest of the raptor family, and Natasha weighs in at 13 pounds with a wing-span of over 6 feet! On the morning of March 22, Natasha (pictured in the background above) was found on the ground of her zoo enclosure. She appeared to be having difficulty main

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Ocelot kitten Evita is acing her exams. At her 9-week exam last Monday, animal health staff gave Evita another clean bill of health. These regular exams, part of the zoo's preventive health program, allow us to monitor Evita's progress and make sure she's achieving critical benchmarks. Evita is indeed hitting all of her developmental stages on target, and she's growing and gaining weight as expected. Animal health staff keeps the exams quick and efficient to minimize the amount of time Evita is away from her mother, Bella. After the exam, she's quickly returned to Bella in a behind the scenes area at the Tropical Rain Forest exhibit. Mom and kitty share a strong bond and Evita's progress is evidence of the great maternal care that Bella is providing. We expect to introduce Evita on exhibit with her mother in another few weeks—aiming for mid- to late-April. We'll let you know when she is ready to make he

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications Time for an ocelot kitten update! The kitten recently got a clean bill of health during an examination by our animal health staff. She weighs in at just over 3.4 pounds, is healthy, active and now has a name! Meet the feisty Evita… Regular examinations like the one seen in the above new video are part of our preventive health program for the thousand-plus animals under the zoo’s care. Evita will continue to undergo a series of exams for the next couple of months to ensure she’s achieving acceptable weight gains and other important benchmarks. Evita is now 8 weeks old and is still living with mom Bella in a quiet and safe behind-the-scenes area. We know you are itching to see her in person and the latest update is that we can expect to see her out on exhibit in the Tropical Rain Forest building some time in mid- to late-April. To minimize disturbance for Bella and Evita while they remain behind the scenes, zookeepers are using a closed-circuit

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications This week marks Woodland Park Zoo’s 111th birthday, and what a 111th year it has been! In 2010 we celebrated conservation successes, won a national best exhibit award, hatched endangered species and so much more. Here’s my personal pick of the top 10 zoo stories of 2010, in no particular order. What were your favorite zoo experiences this year? 1. Endangered penguin chicks hatch in new exhibit 2. Snow leopard cologne sniff test helps conservation research in the wild 3. Rescued golden eagle finds new home at zoo 4. Meerkats return to the zoo after 10-year absence—and they’re meerkute! 5. Elephant Chai predicts winner of the Apple Cup 6. Zoo wins national Best Exhibit Award for sustainably-built Humboldt penguin exhibit 7. Teens raise and release endangered turtles into wild 8. Community celebrates endangered species with zoo’s Limited Edition art and Trophy Cupcakes 9. Zoo blog readers help raise money to fight