Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications When you love wildlife, every day is Earth Day. An Asian small-clawed otter pup. Photo by Stan Milkowski/Woodland Park Zoo. Get into the green spirit on your next visit to the zoo: use our free mobile app to take the GPS-guided Green Zoo Tour. Discover the sometimes hidden ways we save water and energy and creatively reduce waste. Then get tips for how to do the same at home. On the tour, you'll visit LEED-certified buildings, see solar panels at work, discover the difference trees make, and find out what we do with all that animal poop. Together we can reduce our impact on the planet we share with wildlife and with future generations.

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications Kristin Folger shows off her color study skills in front of her very colorful muses. Welcome to one of the best locations to practice sketching and drawing animals. Whether you are a novice or a practiced artist, Woodland Park Zoo offers hundreds of opportunities to polish your skills. Ready to get started? Download our free Woodland Park Zoo mobile app (for iOS and Android), visit the Maps tab, then tap on Tours to find the Sketching Animals GPS-guided zoo tour. On the tour, you’ll be prompted to work on a few different facets of sketching throughout the zoo. You may choose to spend a couple minutes on each prompt or spread the tour out over a few days if you like. With so many muses, you are bound to leave with some beautiful artwork as well as a deeper connection with your subjects. The tour explores 5 different phases of sketching including: gestural drawing, details, landscape elements, mark-making and color. Follow th...

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Since we launched the first-of-its-kind GPS-enabled zoo iPhone app back in October 2009, we've received many requests for an Android version. We've been working hard the last few months with our partners at AVAI Mobile Solutions, and the Android version is finally here and ready to download! The app functions the same as the iPhone version with useful features to help plan your trip and enhance your visit on grounds, including: - GPS-enabled zoo map with “Near Me” recommendations for animal exhibits, play areas, concession stands and restrooms - daily schedule of zoo activities including zookeeper talks and children’s programs - educational animal fact sheets with multimedia including video, photo and sound files - special promotional offers redeemable at concession stands - zoo news and happenings - easy access to Facebook and Twitter so you can share your zoo experience To see the mobile app in action (demonstrated on an iPhone), wa...

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Earlier this week Woodland Park Zoo released our first iPhone application that allows you to track your location on zoo grounds, discover more about the animals, and access daily activity schedules to make the most of your next zoo visit. This handy tool features: - GPS-enabled zoo map with "Near Me" recommendations for animal exhibits, play areas, concession stands and restrooms - daily schedule of zoo activities including zookeeper talks and children's programs - educational animal fact sheets - special discount offers redeemable at concession stands - "Friend Finder" to locate other iPhone users in your party on zoo grounds - zoo news and happenings - easy access to Facebook and Twitter so you can share your zoo experience Here it is in action: The application, designed in collaboration with Austin-based developers Avai Mobile Solutions, is available now to download for $0.99. iPhone users can go to the iTunes App S...