Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Beautiful Batu is expecting a baby —the first orangutan pregnancy at Woodland Park Zoo in 35 years! For the first time in 35 years at Woodland Park Zoo, an orangutan is pregnant. The expectant mom is 14-year-old Batu and the father is 15-year-old Godek; both are Sumatran orangutans. Batu is due to give birth this summer in late August/early September and this will be the first offspring for both orangutans. The gestation period for orangutans is about nine months. Batu, which means “rock” in Malay, arrived in 2021 from Philadelphia Zoo; Godek, whose name means “sideburns” in Indonesian, arrived in 2017 from Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (Colorado Springs, CO). The Sumatran orangutans were paired under a breeding recommendation by the Orangutan Species Survival Plan and have been companions in the zoo’s Trail of Vines. Species Survival Plans are cooperative breeding programs across accredited zoos to help ...

Posted by Craig Newberry, Communications Soooo cute! The Woodland Park Zoo family just got cuter with the arrival of a tiny male pudu fawn. Pudu are the smallest deer species in the world and are native to South America.  Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo The fawn, which has yet to be named, was born May 2 to parents Ted and Maggie. The birth is the pudus' fifth offspring together since they were paired under the Pudu Species Survival Plan , a cooperative breeding program across accredited zoos to help ensure a healthy, self-sustaining population of the species.  The fawn's father, Ted, is 8 years old and arrived at the zoo in 2017. The mother, Maggie, 7, came in 2018. The pair of pudu are now parents to four males and one female. All three of their previous male fawns were sent to accredited zoos across the country based on breeding recommendations created by the SSP. The female, born last year, still lives at Woodland Park Zoo. Photo by Megan Blandford/Wo...

Posted by Craig Newberry, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo The Woodland Park Zoo family just got cuter with the arrival of a tiny female pudu fawn. Pudus are the smallest deer species in the world and are native to South America. The fawn, which has yet to be named, was born May 5 to parents Ted and Maggie. The birth is the pudus' fourth offspring together since they were paired under the Pudu Species Survival Plan , a cooperative breeding program across accredited zoos to help ensure a healthy, self-sustaining population of the species. The fawn's father, Ted, is 7 years old and arrived at the zoo in 2017. The mother, Maggie, 6, came in 2018. This is the pair’s first female fawn. All three of their male fawns now live at accredited zoos across the country and are doing well. “We are very excited to have the first female pudu birth at the zoo since 2010. The fawn is healthy and continues to get more comfortable exploring the habitat,” said Shawn...

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications 2022 is off to a wonderful start with the birth of twin sloth bears! The cubs, a boy and a girl, were born on New Year’s Day—the first births of the year at Woodland Park Zoo. The tiny sloth bear cubs are seen here in the maternity den at 14 days old—eyes still closed. They should be able to open their eyes any day now. Photo: Woodland Park Zoo The cubs, who don't have names yet, were born to first-time mom Kushali and dad Bhutan. This is the second litter of cubs for Bhutan and the first successful birth for Kushali, who was born at Woodland Park Zoo in 2012. The last birth of sloth bears at the zoo was in 2017. Video of the cubs cuddled together in the off-view maternity den. Volume UP! Sloth bears in zoos are rare, with only 34 currently living in zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. Every birth of sloth bears is significant for the Sloth Bear Species Survival Plan. Species Survival Plans are cooperative breeding pr...

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo We’re so excited to announce the latest additions to our zoo family—the birth of three red ruffed lemur babies on March 29. This is the first lemur birth at Woodland Park Zoo in 16 years. These three bouncing babies were born March 29th to first-time red ruffed lemur mom, Sally. The triplets were born to first-time mom Sally who will turn 5 this summer. There are two adult males in Sally’s group—brothers Orion and Lucien who will be 14 years old next month. We don’t yet know which one is the father of the babies, but that’s not unusual in lemur groups. A genetic test may be done later to learn that. We have not been able to determine the sexes of the babies yet, but quick neonatal exams have confirmed the triplets are thriving; the zoo’s animal health team will continue to perform exams to closely monitor their weight gains. Currently, they range in weight from 6.7 to 7.8 oz., which is within the ...

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo The #SeattleWatermelon has arrived. On June 10 at approximately 9:30 p.m., our Malayan tapir Ulan, gave birth to her first baby, a girl. We are in love. The gestation period for tapirs is approximately 13 months, and for Ulan, her birth window was between April and June, since we weren't exactly sure when she conceived. The average weight for calves at birth is 22 pounds, and Ulan's baby is 18 pounds. Calves are born with their eyes open and can stand within one or two hours after birth—and as you can see from these photos—baby tapirs hit their adorable watermelon benchmark right away! The newborn calf gets a quick neonatal exam by the animal health team before being reunited with mom. “These ‘watermelons on four legs’ are irresistible,” says Kevin Murphy, animal curator. “It will be curiously fun to watch her explore the public habitat, which we did our best to tapi...

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Oh baby! Add two more precious newborns to the list of recent Woodland Park Zoo offspring—a healthy set of red panda twins was just born! The twins were born May 25 to mom Hazel and dad Yukiko. Twins Ila and Zeya were the last pair of red pandas born in 2018. We have seen a number of adorable animals born and hatched recently, including gorilla Kitoko born in March, penguin chicks and scaly-sided mergansers hatched, agouti pups born in April, a pudu fawn and mountain goat both born in May, and wallaroo and wallaby joeys that are just now venturing outside of their moms’ pouches! A very tiny, newborn red panda cub is examined during an initial health check up with the veterinary team. The red panda twins are the first born at the zoo since 2018, when Hazel and Yukiko gave birth to a set of female twins which were the first red pandas born at the zoo in nearly three decades. Wi...

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo We are teeming with new babies this spring! The newest members of the family are a male pudu fawn and a female mountain goat kid. The new babies join the burgeoning population of other babies born or hatched at the zoo since March including a gorilla, a pair of agoutis, a couple of penguins, two scaly-sided mergansers, and a wallaby and wallaroo. Pudu fawn peeking out from the spring grass. Pudus are the smallest deer species in the world and are native to South America. The new pudu fawn was born May 14 to first-time parents Maggie and Ted. The last pudu birth at the zoo was 10 years ago. “The new mom is providing good maternal care to her fawn. We’re pleased he’s nursing and mom and fawn are bonding,” says Mark Myers, an animal curator at Woodland Park Zoo. “We’ll continue to monitor the new family closely.” The pudus live in the zoo’s Temperate Forest habitat. The pudu parents ...

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications It's a boy! We joyfully announce the birth of a western lowland gorilla. First-time mom, Uzumma, gave birth to a boy today, March 4 at 2:48 a.m. VIDEO: Just a few hours after birth, first-time mom Uzumma and her baby are bonding and staying cozy indoors. Here, you can see Uzumma snacking on some greens while the baby stays warm and safe on her belly. Uzumma has settled into a quiet, hay-filled gorilla tunnel, her favorite sleeping spot, a walkway in between her indoor bedrooms. This baby is the first between 12-year-old Uzumma and 20-year-old Kwame, who moved from Smithsonian’s National Zoo in 2018. Uzumma snacking on some greens in February 2020. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. This newborn marks the 14th gorilla birth at Woodland Park Zoo. The last birth was Yola, a female born in November 2015. The new mom and her baby are off view in the cozy, sleeping dens so they can bond in a hushed, comfortabl...

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications It's going to be a watermelon-themed summer! We have some extremely exciting news. We are proud to announce that Ulan, our 8-year-old Malayan tapir, is expecting her first baby between May and June this summer. The last tapir born at the zoo was in 2007.  Ulan is our gorgeous Tapir who is expecting a little watermelon this summer! The expectant father is of course 19-year-old Bintang, who was also born at Woodland Park Zoo. Bintang has sired two offspring when he lived at other zoos before he returned to Seattle in 2014.  Ulan and Bintang share a dip in the pool, the love is real! Tapirs are among the most primitive large mammals in the world, changing little in appearance for millions of years. This prehistoric-looking animal looks like a massive pig with a long snout. However, because they have an odd number of toes (four toes on each front foot, three on each back foot), their closest relatives are horses and rh...