Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications The newest residents of the zoo have made their debut! Welcome maned wolves Vincent (Vinny) and his mom, Lana, to the Wildlife Survival Zone. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. After arriving last week, the two maned wolves scoped out their digs in the former cheetah exhibit, which has now been re-contoured to meet their needs. They meticulously investigated every stick, log, berm and napping cave in their grassy exhibit. Neither a fox nor a wolf, Chrysocyon is a species all its own with stilt-like legs, a pointed muzzle, an impressive red coat and dark mane along the back. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. At home in the grasslands and scrub forest of central South America, these crepuscular canines roam the marshes and woodlands at dawn and dusk in search of fruit, small mammals, birds, eggs and invertebrates. They are particularly fond of a tomato-like fruit called lobeira (nicknamed the wolf apple) as well as bana

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor VIDEO: Tigers sniff and lick GoPro camera. Produced by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. It may be April Fool's Day, but this is no joke: tigers return to Woodland Park Zoo when the all new Banyan Wilds exhibit opens May 2! The tigers—three brothers named Liem, Olan and Eko— arrived last month from the Little Rock Zoo. Right now the brothers are in a standard 30-day period of quarantine where we monitor their health and establish training and care routines with them. This is a chance for them to acclimate to their new surroundings, get to know their new keepers, and settle in comfortably. Zoo photographer Ryan Hawk set up a GoPro camera in one of the tigers' behind-the-scenes quarantine areas to get this first footage of the coolest new stripes in town. A GoPro camera is set up in a behind-the-scenes quarantine area for the tigers to get up close video. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. We'll be sharing more and more

Posted by: Stephanie Payne-Jacobs, Zookeeper Calaya enjoys organic flowers from the zoo's Rose Garden. Photo: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Calaya joins the dating game As animal caretakers, the daily welfare of the gorillas is our highest priority, but looking ahead and planning for the future of each gorilla is just as important. Such long term plans may revolve around future breeding opportunities, socially appropriate groupings or age related concerns. At the heart of this planning is making sure we meet the mental and physical health of each individual, while also assuring the genetic sustainability and health of the population. Recently, Woodland Park Zoo had to say goodbye to a member of the gorilla family due to a match-making opportunity that we felt was in the gorilla’s best interest. In late February, Calaya, a young adult female gorilla from Vip’s group, was transferred to National Zoo in Washington D.C. as part of a breeding recommendation by the Speci

Story by Ariel Mark, mongabay.com contributor Originally published by mongabay.com ; republished in part via The Global Forest Reporting Network Habitat loss and illegal hunting are leading drivers behind mammal population decline and extinction in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. But what's driving these drivers? Road infrastructure, according to research. Dr. Reuben Clements* from James Cook University, along with his colleagues, conducted the first-ever comprehensive study examining the impacts of road infrastructure on mammal populations in Southeast Asia. Their findings were recently published in PLOS One . An elephant crosses State Road 156. Photo by Reuben Clements. Roads pose extreme environmental challenges, particularly for conservation efforts in the global south, where roads are often intertwined with economic growth and habitat degradation. From just 2005 to 2010, Southeast Asian landscapes saw an increase of total paved roads from 16 to 51 percent,

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Photo by Steve Winter/Panthera. UPDATE:  Wow! Thanks for showing your stripes for tigers—your online votes from earlier this week helped our on-the-ground conservation partner, MYCAT, win funding to expand anti-poaching patrols in Malaysia. It's amazing what we can do when we join forces as a community with partners in the field to fight for a better future for wildlife!  ORIGINAL STORY: Woodland Park Zoo and Panthera work together with on-the-ground partners in Malaysia to protect tigers and their forests— and now one of those partners needs your help! MYCAT (Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers) needs your vote to receive $30,000+ to expand its CAT Walks program , where trained volunteers trek through Malaysia’s rain forests looking for signs of poachers. Snares and traps are recorded, deactivated and reported to the authorities. A poacher's snare hidden in a tree. Photo: Fred Koontz/WPZ. CAT Walkers celebra

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Malayan tiger brothers Liem, Eko and Olan arrived from Little Rock Zoo via FedEx cargo shipping last night! The tigers in their travel crates were unloaded from the FedEx cargo plane at Sea-Tac Airport, then moved to a truck where they were loaded in for a quick trip to Woodland Park Zoo. Photo: Martin Ramirez/Woodland Park Zoo. Keepers picked up the boys at Sea-Tac Airport and brought them to their new digs here at Woodland Park Zoo. They'll be getting settled behind the scenes before the all new Banyan Wilds exhibit opens May 2. Two of the brothers at their previous home, Little Rock Zoo. Photo: Karen Caster/Little Rock Zoo. The tigers, each traveling in their own crate, were brought to a behind the scenes area at the zoo specialized for big cats. They were accompanied on their journey by their keepers from Little Rock Zoo who helped them settle in with us. One by one we unloaded the crates into the holding area, allowing the

Posted by: Snow Leopard Trust, a Woodland Park Zoo Partner for Wildlife Editor’s note: The Snow Leopard Trust’s work in Kyrgyzstan is in collaboration with Woodland Park Zoo , with special support from Partnership Funding by Fondation Segré, managed by the Whitley Fund for Nature. Less than a year after launching a pilot program to fight poaching of endangered snow leopards and their prey in Kyrgyzstan, the Snow Leopard Trust and its partners are ‘going national’ to cover all 19 of the country’s state parks and nature reserves, thanks to a grant from the UK government’s Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund. Wild snow leopard recorded by a remote camera. Photo courtesy of Snow Leopard Trust. The project, known as the Citizen-Ranger Wildlife Protection Program (CRWPP), trains, publicly honors, and financially rewards park rangers and local community members who successfully apprehend illegal hunters. It addresses one of the most persistent threats to snow leopards and the

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications Sunny the otter (foreground) with her mate, Duncan. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. For the past couple of decades, a female river otter named Salishan enchanted visitors with her energetic diving, gliding and cuteness. Now we say goodbye to the otter keepers fondly called "Sunny." Sunny was humanely euthanized today at the age of 19 following a period of declining health and lethargy. River otters live 8 to 10 years in the wild and 18 to 20 years in zoos. The zoo’s consulting veterinary cardiologist, Dr. Jerry Woodfield with Northwest Cardiology Consultants, diagnosed the otter a year ago with age-related congestive heart failure. She was given a prognosis of three to six months to live but survived another 12 months. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. “Targeted treatment, close monitoring, excellent supportive care, and lots of TLC by our keeper and veterinary staff all contributed to giving Salishan a v

As many of you know, we have spent the last three months carefully evaluating new homes for Asian elephants Chai and Bamboo in order to give them a chance to join a larger social herd and ensure their long-term health and well-being. Bamboo at Woodland Park Zoo. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Chai at Woodland Park Zoo. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. We are happy to announce that we have selected Oklahoma City Zoo, which best meets our criteria based on recommendations from animal welfare experts: a social herd of Asian elephants into which Chai and Bamboo may successfully integrate, a state-of-the-art facility, a healthy environment free of active infectious disease, high caliber elephant keeper and veterinary staff, a restricted contact management system, and an established history of stable finances and leadership. In the wild elephants live in multi-generational herds, so we are delighted we can place them with a herd that includes younger elephants to

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications If you missed the Great Ape Senior Celebration on Saturday (or just want to relive the jubilee) check out a few of our favorite photos from the birthday festivities honoring orangutans, Chinta and Towan as well as gorillas, Pete and Nina. Photo by Stan Milkowski/ Woodland Park Zoo Twin orangutans Chinta and Towan celebrated their 47th birthday with special treats, birthday decorations and a whole lot of party guests! Born in 1968, the twins were the first born in a zoo. Towan is now the oldest male orangutan in North America. Born at Woodland Park Zoo, the twin orangutans gained instant national celebrity status as the first-known twin orangutans born in a zoo. Photos of the pair in diapers appeared around the globe, including “Life” magazine. While other twins have since been born, twin orangutan births are still a rare occurrence. A handful of fruit and a fistful of presents...what could be better? Photo by Stan Milkowski/ Woo

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Have you noticed the shaved patches of fur on the lion cubs? This cub has a distinct shaved patch on his hip. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. These patches help us tell the three brothers apart at a quick glance. And now that the brothers have names— thanks to your votes and an assist from dad Xerxes —we want to give you the inside scoop on which cub is which! You can see the right shoulder shaved mark on the cub on the far left, and the hip shaved mark on the cub on the far right. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. You voted for Tandie  (meaning “fire”) as your favorite name for the cubs, and keepers decided to give it to the cub whose right shoulder is shaved. This cub is the spitfire of the three, making him a perfect Tandie! The name Gandia (meaning “clever”) was given to the cub who has shown the most independence and curiosity. He is easy to spot by the shaved mark on his  hip . Finally, the biggest cub was dubb