Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Peter S. Miller, Zookeeper and Rebecca Whitham, Communications Loki the Komodo dragon. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Woodland Park Zoo said goodbye this week to a long-time resident, 19-year-old Komodo dragon Loki. Loki’s mobility had been declining over the past year from chronic age-related degenerative joint disease. Keepers had given him supportive care, but we ultimately had to make the tough but humane decision to euthanize him this week once he lost his appetite and developed breathing difficulties that did not respond to treatment. We know how much each one of the zoo’s animals means to our visitors. Zookeeper Peter S. Miller reflects on what made Loki such a special addition to the zoo: The Buddha said, “The energy of life is neither created nor destroyed. It moves along from one sentient being to the next.” This week the energy of Loki’s life passed onto its next place. Part will always feel as if it’s with me. We have worked with each other f

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo Woodland Park Zoo’s four Asian small-clawed otter pups , born June 11, are getting cuter every day as they whistle, squeal and chirp, and learn to walk, run and jump. Because otter parents, and any older siblings, play an active role in raising young pups, the parents and new family have been living off view in the otter den. The pups will make their public debut later this summer in the new Bamboo Forest Reserve exhibit. The quadruplets mark the first offspring between 8-year-old father Guntur and 4-year-old mother Teratai, who also are new arrivals to the zoo. The weight of the pups currently teeters around 1 pound; their sexes have not yet been determined. The pups are beginning to play with each other and their parents. They’ve been chewing on each other and wrestling. Their attempts at jumping result in poorly executed pounces but it’s downright adorable. Before the pups are

Posted by: Pattie Beaven, Zookeeper and Member of Puget Sound Chapter – American Association of Zoo Keepers Zookeeper Pattie Beaven gives an elephant-sized shout out to American Association of Zoo Keepers (AAZK).  This week is a special week for many of us at the zoo. This week is National Zoo Keeper Week celebrated by the American Association of Zoo Keepers . So what's it mean to be a zookeeper? Words aren't enough to describe this amazing job and the amazing animals. You know that feeling you get when your dog wags its tail in greeting when you come home? Imagine having a pack of wolves greet you in a similar manner! Wolf greetings. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Cats purr when they are content, and it can give us great pleasure to have our kitties sit in our laps, eyes closed, purring away. Now imagine having an 8,000-pound elephant purr with contentment upon seeing you. These are the joys of being a zookeeper. An elephant gets a scrub from a z

Posted by: Wendy Gardner, Zookeeper Photos by Wendy Gardner/Woodland Park Zoo Who weighs nearly 100 pounds, belongs to a family of mammals (Macropodidae) whose name means “big feet,” has a long, muscular tail that helps with balance, turning and support while resting, and cannot walk backwards? Harry gets a food reward for cooperating with his treatment. That would be Harry, our male wallaroo who lives in the zoo’s Australasia zone. Harry came to Woodland Park Zoo in October 2008 as 2.5-year-old sub-adult, a term we use to describe juveniles that have not yet reached sexual maturity. In December of 2008 he weighed about 62 lb (28 kg), but as of June 2013, the now adult wallaroo weighs just shy of 100 lb (44 kg). That’s a good weight for him, but that size and strength means we do not want to have to hand catch him if he were to ever need medical attention, both for our own safety and to prevent stress for him. We decided using operant conditioning to get Harry not o

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Happy National Zoo Keeper Week! If you've been enjoying the baby boom at the zoo this past year, then you have our dedicated keepers to thank. It’s their hard work in matching up animal mates, caring for growing families, and keeping babies healthy that makes it all possible. Next time you see a zookeeper, let them know what their work means to you and your family! Video: Celebrating zookeepers at Woodland Park Zoo. Video by VIA Creatives. The late Dana Payne, a Woodland Park Zoo curator, poignantly summed up the work of the zookeeper in an end note he wrote for local artist Catherine Eaton Skinner’s book, Unleashed : “Those of us who have chosen a life with animals know we have chosen well. Having a conversation with a lion is a fine way to start one’s day. For that matter, so is tossing tidbits to a toucan, or medicating a cobra. There’s something there, in the lion’s luminous eyes, in the gaudy splendor of the toucan

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communication Jaguar cubs Arizona, Inka and Kuwan. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. This week marked the final post-birth exam for the triplet jaguar cubs . These early in life check-ups are meant to ensure the cubs are gaining weight and hitting all of their developmental benchmarks, while also providing the opportunity to give vaccinations, draw blood samples for routine tests, and establish their health baselines. With the cubs now four months old and weighing 25-28 pounds, completing these exams can be a challenge. The cubs first need to be transferred one by one to the zoo’s Animal Health hospital. Getting the cubs into their transfer crate requires their cooperation—something they aren’t always willing to give. Cats will be cats. Arizona is readied for her exam. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Once a cub arrives at the hospital, it is anesthetized for the exam. This allows the zoo’s veterinary team to get in close to in

Posted by: Caileigh Robertson, Communications Guntur and Teratai in the Bamboo Forest Reserve exhibit. The pair is currently off view while they raise their newborn pups. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. More than 1,000 community members weighed in to name Woodland Park Zoo’s new Asian small-clawed otter pair in our naming contest presented by Umpqua Bank. After a panel of zoo judges deliberated over your Malay language submissions, the winning names are: Male otter - Guntur ("thunder") Female otter - Teratai (“water lily or lotus”) The lucky winners who submitted the selected names are sisters Megan and Nicole Green (ages 9 and 10) of Renton and Hanah Deets (age 7) of Bainbridge Island. Thanks to all who entered! Guntur and Teratai are currently off exhibit while they raise their newborn pups, but will re-debut this August when the young family is ready to explore the Bamboo Forest Reserve together . Show your otter love and beco

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Photos by: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo Hispanic Seafair Queen Tania Santiago gets up close with penguin Cortez thanks to zookeeper Celine Pardo. Curator Mark Myers shows off a wand to this year's Seafair Princesses, but this wand isn't normally meant to go with tiaras. “This is a metal detector,” Mark explains. “Any idea why we might need a metal detector in the penguin exhibit?” “To see if they ate any coins?” a Princess correctly guesses. “That’s right, penguins like shiny objects,” Mark explains, as the ladies all self-consciously look at each other’s sparkling tiaras. Better not drop those in the penguin pool! 63rd Annual Miss Seafair Veronica Asence holds a penguin egg (don't worry, it's empty!). But our crowned cadre is too composed to have to worry about that. This year's Seafair Princesses, participants in the Seafair Scholarship Program for Women, got to go behind the scenes at the zo

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Photos by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo If you haven’t visited the sloth bear cubs yet, make plans soon! Now seven months old, the twins are still small, but act double their size in their bold adventures. Every log must be scaled, every grub must be snuffled out of its hiding spot, every tub of water must be splashed into, and every sibling battle must be fought for these two. Brother and sister go about their lives nose-first, their sense of smell leading them on journeys big and small. Sloth bears are the vacuum cleaners of the Asian forest—take a closer look at that snout and you’ll notice it’s designed for slurping up termites. The large gap in their front teeth (due to the absence of front upper incisors) means nothing gets in the way of vacuuming up a meal. They can even close their nostrils on their flexible noses to prevent any bugs from crawling up the wrong way whenever they are snout-deep in a termi

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Photos by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo, Video by Caileigh Robertson/Woodland Park Zoo [ UPDATE: The jaguar cubs have now made their official debut and have daily access to their exhibit, 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.] It’s a good thing these jaguar cubs are creatures of the rain forest, as their very first steps outdoors were soggy ones. Three-month-old jaguar triplets—brother Kuwan and sisters Inka and Arizona—had their first practice session outside today. The trio is getting ready for their official public debut, which should be coming up any day as the cubs get used to their new digs. Before the zoo opened to the public this morning, a lucky few of us zoo staff gathered around the exhibit at Jaguar Cove and watched to see what would happen when the jaguars’ den door opened. Out came the cubs for the first time, bouncing out with less of a predatory slinking and more of an enthusiastic tromping. The keepers pred