Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Yesterday our 3-year-old, female red panda underwent a full physical examination by our animal health team as part of our preventive care program for all animals at the zoo. The routine check-up included a weigh-in, blood work and radiographs. The healthy red panda came in at 27 pounds. As part of our efforts in the Red Panda Species Survival Plan, this female will be paired with our 6-year-old male in an off-view area for their upcoming breeding season in the winter. Since these two have never had any offspring before, their genes are particularly valuable to maintaining genetic diversity in the red panda population. In the wild, fewer than 10,000 red pandas remain in their native habitat of bamboo forests in China, the Himalayas and Myanmar. Their numbers are declining due to deforestation, increased agriculture and cattle grazing, and continuing pressure from growing local populations. We can all do our part to help reduce our impact on wil

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Zoo Corps teen interns Garrett Brenden and Ariel Thompson stood at the edge of a pond in a south Puget Sound protected wildlife area yesterday and released from their hands something precious…hope for the endangered western pond turtle. Garrett (shown above) and Ariel have been working alongside zookeepers to raise 76 western pond turtles behind the scenes at the zoo as part of a headstart program to recover their wild population. Turtle hatchlings are collected from the wild then raised here until they are around 2 ounces—large enough to escape the mouths of bullfrogs and large-mouth bass—giving them an edge on surviving in the wild. Each summer, we take trips to several protected wildlife areas and release these headstarted turtles back into the wild where we continue to monitor them. Since starting the program in 1991, we’ve seen the population of western pond turtles grow from a dangerously low 150 to now 1,500—a positive sign that this c

Posted by: Mark Myers, Curator This tiny, white puffball is a tawny frogmouth chick that hatched at the zoo on July 11. When our first ever tawny frogmouth chick hatched last year , internet users raged in debate whether it looked more like a furby, a cottonball, or a tribble, but it’s actually a nocturnal bird native to Australia and Tasmania. Seen here at five days old, the chick still sports downy feathers, but soon it will start to acquire its flight feathers and darker contour plumage that acts as camouflage, blending into the color and texture of tree bark. In the chick’s first week, keepers provided supplemental feedings to ensure good weight gain: Under its parents’ attentive care behind the scenes at the zoo, the chick is now gaining 15-20% of its body weight daily so supplemental feedings are no longer required. The parents and hatchling will remain off public exhibit to allow staff to monitor parental care and ensure regular feedings by the parents. The hatching is significa

Posted by: Kathryn Owen, Education When it comes to enjoying fresh fruits and vegetables, what could be better than being able to pluck a ripe tomato or crisp head of lettuce out of your very own garden? For Woodland Park Zoo’s gorilla troops , fresh-off-the-vine produce is just that accessible. In the winter they may be dining on evergreen elaeagnus leaves, and in the summer they may be stuffing themselves with grape leaves and tender vines. A wide variety of animals at the zoo enjoy fresh produce from the zoo’s browse program, which provides fresh leaves, stems and flowers for gorillas, red pandas, colobus monkeys, orangutans, elephants, tree kangaroos and many others. You and I use the term “browse” to mean sampling and exploring—like browsing the shelves of a bookstore in search of something appealing. But the term also refers to the plant materials eaten by browsers—that is, herbivores or plant-eaters that eat the leaves, stems and flowers right off the tree or bush instead of gra

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications Our five Humboldt penguin chicks have joined the adult colony and can now be viewed on exhibit during zoo hours. To get them used to being in the water before they debuted, the chicks had round-the-clock access to a shallow pool behind the scenes at the exhibit where they could practice floating and swimming in a more controlled and less crowded environment. See them in action here… The youngest of the chicks, a male hatched to parents Diego and Radar on April 25, is in need of a name and we’re asking our online fans to help. Fans can submit name suggestions for the chick to the wall of our Facebook page beginning July 7 through July 8, noon PST. To honor the Humboldt penguin’s Chilean and Peruvian native range, fans are encouraged to submit Spanish-language names. Penguin keepers will select their three favorite names from the submissions, and fans will then vote on July 9 on the zoo’s Facebook page for their top pick. So start thinking up s

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications You cast the votes, we tallied (for hours and hours!), and it’s decided. Today we revealed the names you selected for our new mob of four female and four male meerkats—though the meerkats were far more interested in the watermelon enrichment they received as part of our Red, White & Zoo celebration! The winning names, in order of most votes received: ZIMBA (Zambian town) NATA (southern African river) MOLOPO (southern African river) KIWANO (Kalahari fruit) KALAHARI (African desert) DINAWA (“beans” in Tswana) ACACIA (African tree) NGAMI (lake in Botswana) We received more than 2,600 ballots through our naming contest presented by U.S. Bank and The Seattle Times that ran from June 1-June 15. You had the chance to select up to eight of your favorite names from 16 choices that reflected the meerkats’ native southern African habitat. We counted more than 16,600 individual votes in total for the different names! Big thanks to you all for voting

Posted by: Ric Brewer, Communications If you've been to our Tropical Rain Forest building, you have no doubt been drawn to the lustrously-maned little monkey from Brazil, the golden lion tamarin . But did you know that these primates are ambassadors for one of the most well-documented and inspiring stories of conservation success in the wild? It goes back to the late 1970s, when population surveys conducted in tamarins' shrinking rain forest habitat located along a sliver of coastal Brazil discovered that these vibrantly colored primates were in severe decline: only 200-600 still existed in total and with the continued destruction of their habitat, their extinction looked imminent. But a consortium of zoos , including Woodland Park Zoo, banded together to captive-breed and release genetically diverse golden lion tamarins back into Brazil, along with creating habitat protection plans to ensure there would be places for them to grow their population. Woodland Park Zoo contributed

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Eating fish and swimming around come naturally to our Humboldt penguin chicks . But to make sure they are getting the best possible diet and are comfortable and confident in their surroundings, our keepers are currently giving the chicks some one-on-one attention behind the scenes before they join the adults out on exhibit. The two oldest chicks , hatched April Fool’s Day and Easter Sunday, have lost their downy feathers and now have waterproof feathers for swimming. To get them used to being in water, the chicks have round-the-clock access to a shallow pool behind the scenes at the exhibit, where they can practice floating and swimming. And while eating is no problem for these chicks, they do now have to learn how to accept fish directly from their keepers like all the adult penguins do. Hand feeding is especially useful because it allows the keepers to keep track of just how much each bird is eating as well as ensuring that each individual r

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications You can call the meerkats cute, you can call them curious—and soon, you can call them by the names that you give them. We’re kicking off a meerkat naming contest today and the mob got in on the fun by “casting” the first votes (which mostly involved them exploring and playing with a ballot box!). Now it’s your turn. Our “Name the Meerkats” contest, sponsored by U.S. Bank and The Seattle Times, starts today with an awesome grand prize of a trip for four to San Diego! We have selected 16 names that reflect the meerkats’ native southern African habitat and now it is your turn to cast your vote for up to eight of your favorites. Just pick up your ballot at any participating U.S. Bank location , in The Seattle Times, on zoo grounds, or on our contest website and drop it off at any participating U.S. Bank now through June 15 to enter to win*. The eight highest vote getters from the following choices will become the new names for our four male and fo

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Our not-so-tiny-anymore snow leopard cubs Gobi (now 65 lb) and Batu (now 56 lb) turned 1 year old this week! We celebrated their birthday with two incredible paper-mâché “cakes” for the cubs made by one of our very talented staff members (Thanks, Regina!). Keepers put the cakes out into the exhibit space while the cats were behind the scenes. But once the snow leopards came out, it took just seconds for them to spot and sniff the fun, new enrichment in their exhibit and pounce! The crowd of school kids and visitors encouraged them with chants, “Get it! Get it!” And they all thrilled to see mom Helen and the cubs stomp, bite, shred, and roll those cakes down the hill—leaving quite a mess behind! But what’s a birthday party without a little mess? We’ll continue celebrating Gobi, Batu and the majestic species they represent with our annual Snow Leopard Day event coming up on August 14. The cubs were born last year as part of the Species Surviva

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications In April, we celebrated the hatching of five Humboldt penguin chicks . Yesterday, we showed off a couple of these chicks to local press, and are they growing fast! The biggest chick weighed in at 8 pounds and is just 3 inches shy of reaching full adult height. While penguin chicks do grow surprisingly fast, they still have that adorable “babyish” look. Wearing the downy plumage they were born with, their gray, waterproof feathers are starting to grow in. The three sets of parents continue to raise their young in nesting burrows in a quiet, off-exhibit room. The chicks shown in these photos hatched on the first of April and on Easter Sunday, representing the oldest chicks from this year’s breeding season. We don’t know the gender of the chicks yet but will find out in the near future through DNA testing. So, when do you get to see the chicks? Our plan is to introduce them to the outdoor exhibit sometime in late June to mid-July, but first we nee

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications We introduced you last week to our newest addition —the baby pudu now on exhibit in the Temperate Forest biome at Woodland Park Zoo. Here is footage of her at one-week old getting her check-up from vets and then exploring the exhibit. This birth is significant for our Species Survival Plan efforts for this endangered species. The newborn female is the sixth offspring between her 12-year-old mother and 10-year-old father. Video produced by Ryan Hawk, script by Hannah Letinich, voiced by Celeste Sabers/Woodland Park Zoo.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications The pudu is the smallest deer in the world. A baby pudu then is, well, tiny. See for yourself: This tiny pudu female was born over the weekend at the zoo and we joined the vets, keepers and members of the press today for the neonatal exam of the baby. It was a quick exam that went well, and then baby rejoined her mother back on exhibit near the flamingos in the Temperate Forest area of the zoo. You can see them out on exhibit now, though you’ll have to look closely as these small babies are often well concealed by their mothers to protect them from predation. Not familiar with this animal? The pudu, pronounced POO-doo, is the smallest deer in the world, native to South America. At the zoo, we house southern pudus, which range in the wild throughout the lower Andes of Chile and southwest Argentina. Natural habitat for the endangered pudu continues to diminish due to overpopulation, clearing of land for agriculture, logging, hunting and other h

Posted by: Bobbi Miller, Field Conservation Never heard of the Louisiana pine snake? Maybe that’s because it is the rarest snake species in North America. The Louisiana Pine Snake Species Survival Plan (SSP) is one of the newest conservation projects the zoo is helping to fund and support. The program aims to return the snake to central Louisiana after a 60-year absence. In fall 2009, scientists conducted on-site inspections of five potential release sites and eventually selected a location in the Kisatchie National Forest that would provide an appropriate habitat for the reintroduced population and its future offspring. Zoos that are participating in the SSP are helping by breeding these snakes to produce offspring for eventual release, with the goal of releasing 40 newly hatched Louisiana pine snakes in 2010. The next step is then to monitor subsets of the snakes released using radio-telemetry to learn more about how the animals are surviving, what their home range is like, and how

Posted by: Eric Kowalczyk, Zookeeper It was a perfect day for birding weatherwise for our annual Early Morning Birdwalk at the zoo this past Saturday: temperatures in low 50s, perfectly blue skies, no wind. If only the birds would cooperate! About 30 guests met us at the zoo's South Entrance at 6:45 a.m. After a brief introduction, we split the group up into two smaller parties. One group was led by raptor keeper Tom Aversa and docent Pat Bredouw. The other group was led by me with great assistance from docents Anna Martin and Laurie Ann Dudley. We wandered around the most likely places on the zoo grounds in hopes to spot some migratory birds that have stopped here for some fattening up before their next leg of their nocturnal migration north. The total bird count was 32 species. Some of the migratory species seen/heard by at least some include: western tanager, Townsend's warbler, yellow-rumped warbler, Wilson's warbler, warbling vireo, black-headed grosbeak, white-cr

Posted by: Martin Ramirez, Curator It's been a very busy time for our new meerkats. Their first visitors, in the form of zoo staff, got a sneak peek of them a few days before the meerkats were set to debut to the public. The meerkats took well to the crowd and spent just as much time looking back at all of us as we spent watching them. The other fun, new feature is a faux wildebeest skull. The first day they got it they completely excavated it and explored every nook and cranny. I just hope our young visitors understand that it is an artificial skull and that the meerkats had nothing to do with its demise! Over this past weekend, the exhibit was officially opened to zoo guests. As crowds gathered around the window, the one word I could hear over and over again was “CUTE!” I reminded many of the visitors I encountered that the meerkats are not just cute, but meerkute —and all the fascinating things that make them amazing to watch, like their social structure, and their burrowing an

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications We’ve been thinking about the things that make meerkats special, and their distinctive moves—scurrying to burrows or acting as sentinels—really stand out. And now, we honor those moves with some dance moves of our own! Presenting…“Do the Meerkute” Show us how you “Do the Meerkute.” Download the free mp3 (recognize that voice? It’s The Presidents of the United States of America’s Chris Ballew!) and make your own dance video. Then submit it as a video response to our  YouTube video . Full instructions are available on our website . Of course, the meerkats are more than just cute —and we encourage you to come see them for yourself and learn all about their social structure and amazing adaptations. Don’t miss their debut on May 1 with opening day festivities including live music, meerkat-themed giveaways, keeper talks, crafts and more. We hope to see you there! Video credits: Producer: WONGDOODY, Seattle; Composer: Eric Englehorn; Voc

Posted by: Martin Ramirez, Curator This week all eight meerkats were given access to one of the two rooms in their exhibit. In preparation, keepers coated the guest viewing window with wax. This is typically done so that animals see that there is a barrier there and don't run into it. After we let these little guys out they explored the entire exhibit from top to bottom. When they finally found the window they actually seemed annoyed that they couldn't see out! So we cleaned off a small section about 8 inches in diameter. All eight tried to peek through the small opening so we had to make it bigger. While we cleaned off the wax with a towel, one of the meerkats stood on the other side of the glass and seemed mesmerized by the circular motions of the towel. It was really cute to watch! At this point we decided to remove most of the wax to allow them to watch some of the last minute preparations taking place outside their exhibit. Later this week we will introduce the group

Posted by: Martin Ramirez, Curator Finally, the day is here. After months of preparation, Woodland Park Zoo has meerkats again—behind the scenes at the moment and getting ready to debut to public on May 1. At 10:20 a.m. today, the zoo’s eight new meerkats arrived after a long and arduous road trip of about 1 hour from our neighbors at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma. Actually, this is one of the shortest trips that an animal has taken to get to our zoo!   They arrived sporting their own fingerpaint markings on their heads and backs to help keepers identify them more easily during their first few days here. The colors chosen are combinations of pink, green, yellow and red, and will fade in a day or two. Eventually we will be able to tell them apart by just looking at their faces, but for now they all look the same! Keepers will monitor them very closely for the rest of the day and possibly into the night just to make sure they settle in okay. They will be intro