Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Two brilliantly colored flamboyant flower beetles in Bug World.  After being closed for several months, Woodland Park Zoo's popular Bug World building has reopened with upgrades and the reintroduction of arthropods—the largest group of invertebrates. Admission to Bug World is included with general zoo admission. A garden fruit chafer insect. From the temperate forest and desert to the savanna and tropics, Bug World unleashes the world of 16 species of arthropods. Discover the Mexican red-knee tarantula, western horse lubber, two-spotted assassin bug, Peruvian fire walking stick, flamboyant flower beetle, fierce waterbug, emperor scorpion and many more, and develop a new appreciation for these animals. A new kind of lighting in this revamped space more closely replicates what all the species in Bug World would experience in their natural habitats—all the better for their care! One of the new feat...

Posted by Sydney Dratel, Empathy Initiatives Imagine a virtual classroom full of kindergarteners staring at a Madagascar hissing cockroach. You might imagine grimaces and comments such as "Scary", "Gross!" or "Freaky". However, by the end of such a session with the 6-legged critter, not a single one of the 154 students who participated expressed a negative or even neutral emotion about this bug. They even said they would be happy to see the cockroach and would help it if it was in danger! Why? Because staff focused on building empathy for the cockroach by working with the students to name her 'Sophia'. This project was just one of Woodland Park Zoo’s pilot round grants to build organizational capacity to foster empathy in partner zoos and aquariums. Did you know that Woodland Park Zoo has a team in our Learning & Innovation department dedicated to developing and carrying out a range of Empathy Initiatives? Empathy is a powerful emotion that  dr...

Posted by Katie Remine, Youth & Adult Engagement Manager, Woodland Park Zoo with Ryan Driscoll, Lead Learning Facilitator, Woodland Park Zoo and Amy Twito, Informal Learning Program Manager, The Seattle Public Library Cherry blossoms are blooming, spring is in the air, the perfect time to soak up nature! Photo via  https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasphuston/ Zoos, science museums, and public libraries all share a common goal: to inspire lifelong learning and curiosity in the world around us. In the spirit of fostering experiential learning across generations and supporting early childhood and youth development, Woodland Park Zoo and The Seattle Public Library are bringing an exciting, new learning opportunity to Seattle-based children and families. In partnership with Science Action Club of the California Academy of Sciences , we are thrilled to offer an adventurous “Bug Safari” curriculum for after-school and summer programming! This summer, the library wi...

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications This summer we asked kids to show us what kinds of creatures might be hiding in their backyard — the results were some very creative and rare species indeed. The MyZoo Kids' Backyard Creatures contest invited kids ages 3-5 and 6-10 to design their own inspired creatures, whether real or imagined and after sorting through a stack of over 100 entries we have the winners! Grand Prize: Age 6-10 Artist: Lauren Orrison , age 7 Name of creature: Lady Lizard Nocturnal, eats pollen, lives underground and likes to dance. We loved Lauren's wild use of mark making and a creature that reminds us of something we have seen before, but can't quite place. Lauren will receive an overnight experience at the zoo in August. Great work Lauren! Grand Prize: Age 3-5 Artist: Carly Rodgers , age 5 Name of creature: Sazzy Nocturnal, eats reptiles, lives in a swamp and likes to hide. There was something a little...

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Spiders are sort of the worst best. Homes and backyards in the Pacific Northwest seem to be teeming with spiders during the fall season and dewy-dropped webs float oh so delicately between the sidewalk and your face. But don’t get all antsy (ahem… spidery), we spoke with Sue Andersen, zookeeper at the Bug World exhibit, to learn more about these incredible eight-legged beauties. Video: A colorful look at spiders. Produced by Kirsten Pisto/WPZ. Volunteer Jordan asks zookeeper Sue Andersen about her love of spiders and why everybody should appreciate them! Sue, you have to work with spiders every day at Bug World. Were you always at ease around arachnids? To tell you the truth, no. When I first started volunteering at Woodland Park Zoo, all I knew was that I wanted to become a keeper. My very first assignment was to help feed the golden orb weaver. They are long legged and they are web-builders, meaning they like to hang o...

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Like these? Blooming plants at Woodland Park Zoo. Photos by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo and Mat Hayward/Woodland Park Zoo. Then we need these: Photos from top, clockwise: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo; Flickr user jeffreyww under Creative Commons License ; Flickr user leshoward under Creative Commons License .  At Woodland Park Zoo, we’re abuzz, aflutter and atwitter about the big news coming from the White House: the announcement of a new federal strategy for protecting pollinators . With a focus on honeybees and other essential pollinators like native butterflies, birds and bats, the strategy establishes a task force and goals for population restoration, habitat protection and public education to stem the losses from this blooming crisis. The White House makes a case for the economic importance of pollinators, which “ contribute substantially to the economy of the United States and are vital to keeping fruit, nuts, and...