Woodland Park Zoo Blog

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. More than 1,000 animals call Woodland Park Zoo’s exhibits home, but let’s not forget about all the native and migratory wildlife that use the zoo for nesting, feeding and breeding grounds. One of those wild animals—the barn swallow—is featured on our newest web cam . A glimpse at the camera pointing at the nest in the Raptor Barn. A clutch of wild barn swallows hatched the week of June 17 in a nest tucked into the rafters of the zoo’s Raptor Barn—one of four active swallow nests in the building. The migratory birds return each spring to occupy the nests, as well as others around zoo grounds including the Family Farm, to hatch and raise their chicks before the fledglings are ready to head south in the fall. Close up of the newly hatched, hungry chicks in the nest. The web cam streams 24/7 so you can get a glimpse of this young, wild family as the chicks hit their major milestones—gr

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications It's official! The jaguar cubs now have daily access to their exhibit from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Jaguar cub up close. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren Look for the cubs cozying up in the cave or exploring the higher reaches of the exhibit. The cubs may begin retreating to their behind-the-scenes bedroom between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren Don't miss our Zoo Babies webpage to learn more about the jaguar cubs and the other tiny tykes that now call the zoo home. Love jaguars and want to support our conservation efforts to protect them and other wildlife ? Become a jaguar ZooParent today! Your ZooParent adoption helps us care for the animals at the zoo and sends $5 directly to field conservation projects in the wild.

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

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications The naming contest ends this Saturday, but for right now, we’re calling our new Asian small-clawed otter pair mom and dad. That’s because the pair delivered pups on Tuesday, June 11 behind the scenes of their Bamboo Forest Reserve exhibit! Mom and dad. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. In celebration of our new otter pop this Father’s Day, we’re giving away Otter Pops to zoo visitors on Sunday, June 16. Pick up a free Otter Pop while supplies last at the Rain Forest Food Pavilion. We’d love to be able to share photos of the new pups with you, but we haven’t seen much of them yet! The attentive parents are keeping them tucked away in their behind-the-scenes den. We can hear vocalizations and have an internal cam set up so keepers can keep a watchful eye on the family and hopefully get a pup count soon! While mom nurses the cubs, dad helps by gathering food and nesting material. He stands guard over the vulnerable pups, who a

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Photos by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo They each now weigh more than an average bowling ball. It’s getting harder to handle our growing jaguar cubs , and their 9-week exam last week was the first that required anesthesia to safely complete the brief check-ups. To make sure each cub got the team’s full attention, we conducted the exams one at a time, carefully escorting each cub to the zoo’s mobile hospital in the back of our animal health ambulance. Here the vets completed the basics of each exam, including: The weigh-in. The cubs are each around 15-16 pounds. Taking measurements to make sure growth is on track. The visual inspection, including a look at the paws, skin and fur. And a dental inspection to see how the teeth are growing and to get a glimpse of their oral health. After giving each cub required feline vaccinations, they were quickly returned to their behind-the-scenes hom

Caileigh Robertson, Communications Our three jaguar cubs received their first hands-on exams last week and, at 3 months old, keepers determined the cubs’ personalities far outweigh their 10-pound frames. The trio—born in March to our jaguar pair,  7-year-old Nayla and 14-year-old father Junior —has been under the watchful eye of jaguar mother Nayla since their birth.  Jaguar births are rare, and as a “near threatened” species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, the jaguar triplets are a major milestone for  Woodland Park Zoo’s jaguar conservation efforts . Triple trouble in the cub den. Photo by Jamie Delk/Woodland Park Zoo Health updates were put on hold while first-time mother Nayla demonstrated natural motherly care and protection, so much that keepers couldn’t get hands on the cubs until late last week. Staff learned the healthy triplets include two girls and one boy, all exhibiting curiously different personalities. Photo

Posted by: Caileigh Robertson, Communications A male red-crowned crane chick joined our baby boom May 13 and brought with it hope for the endangered species and its counterparts in the wild. The fluffy, brown chick is finding his way through the wetland exhibit with a little help from his parents, who are no strangers to rearing healthy chicks.  The chick’s 21-year-old parents, Niles and Maris, were donated to Woodland Park Zoo in 1992 from Japan’s Kobi Oji Zoo with hopes of bringing more red-crowned cranes into the world. Red-crowned cranes are severely endangered in their native habitat, with an estimated 2,700 cranes remaining in the Amur Basin of Northeast Asia and only 80 cranes in institutions accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. Since the species joined Woodland Park Zoo more than two decades ago, the zoo has celebrated 13 successful hatchings from the pair. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo The new red-crowned crane chick is on a missi

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications With the recent baby boom at Woodland Park Zoo, we have posted endless photos and updates on all the fuzzy and feathered new faces that call the zoo home. But with Mother’s Day and Mom & Me presented by Verity Credit Union just around the corner, let’s not forget about the amazing animal moms who are working hard every day to care for these little ones. Adia Original photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo; modified. When you watch lion mom Adia at play with her high energy cubs, you can see just how youthful she herself is—giving as good as she gets with the four little tail biters that never turn down a game of tag. At just 3 years old, it wasn’t long ago that Adia was a cub herself. Adia watching over a playful cub. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. But motherhood has certainly brought out the lioness in young Adia. Caring for four cubs is no easy task for a first-time mom, but her instincts kicked in the moment s