Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Woodland Park Zoo’s two river otter pups, a male and female, have aced their swimming lessons and have graduated to the outdoor pool and habitat. Guests will have the opportunity to watch the yet-to-be named pups twirling, rolling, somersaulting, dog paddling and just being otterly fun! While otters are highly skilled swimmers, moms need to teach their pups how to swim, just like humans do! For the last couple of weeks, mama Valkyrie has been giving her 2-month-old pups swimming lessons in a kiddie pool located in the off-view den. What do lessons entail for otters? Valkyrie picks up each pup by the scruff of their neck and dunks them in and out, much like dunking donuts in milk, but here it’s dunkin’ otters! In the outdoor pool, visitors may see Valkyrie still teaching the pups as she immerses them under water and brings them up for air. But please be patient. For the next several weeks, a regula...

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Photos: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Hello Skookum! This young opossum has the cutest "blep" ever!  We’d like you to meet the newest member of our Ambassador Animal family—a young Virginia opossum named Skookum! Opossums are the only marsupials (mammals that carry their offspring in a pouch) native to North America. They are very misunderstood animals that are generally shy—avoiding confrontation with people—and they help keep the environment healthy and clean by eating bugs like ticks, rotting fruit and carcasses. Skookum, shortly after coming into Puget Sound WildCare where he received veterinary and nutritional care in a wildlife rehabilitation setting. THAT NOSE! Photo Klara Messersmith of Puget Sound WildCare Skookum is a rescue animal who came to us through Puget Sound WildCare in Kent, WA. He was found after his mother was hit by a car and he spent some time in a private home setting with well-meaning people who cle...

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren  Pups should make for an ottersome summer! Valkyrie and Ziggy on Living Northwest Trail It’s otter happiness at Woodland Park Zoo for the birth of two North American river otters! The pups were born March 29 and are the second litter for mom Valkyrie and dad Ziggy, both 9 years old. The last birth of the species at the zoo was in 2019.  During a neonatal check-up, the zoo’s animal health team have confirmed the pups to be a female and a male. The teeny pups currently weigh 10 ounces each—about the weight of five fun-size Snickers bars! The gestation period for river otters is 68 to 72 days. Pups are born blind and are completely helpless, relying solely on mom for care during the first year. They open their eyes at about a month old. Stay tuned for fun updates at www.zoo.org/zoobabies . One of the pups during a neonate health check. Photo by Pat Owen, Woodland Park Zoo. Valkyrie and the newborn otters are...

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications This Earth Day, April 22, 2021, renew your connection to nature and level up with actions you can take––big and small––that have a lasting impact on the health and resiliency of our incredible home planet.  Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo 1. Plant something You can plant something specifically for pollinators  or you can plant something for yourself. .. planting the seed now for a more sustainable world is a family challenge we can all get behind. For inspiration, check out Earth Day Northwest's Next 5  or Common Acre's Green Line  or these incredible women who are planting an entire forest. 2. Clean it up Get outside and pick up garbage with the Great Global Cleanup (sometimes it really is that simple), join millions in going plastic free this summer , clean up your diet to fight climate change , clean up your shopping list and join the clean ocean movement . There's an app for that too. 3. Let your inner ...

Posted by Paula MacKay, Conservation Associate, Woodland Park Zoo Photos by Woodland Park Zoo It's National Wildlife Week, the perfect time to celebrate our PNW wild cats! We're big fans of using motion-triggered cameras to help us learn more about the wildlife around us. Impassioned volunteers with the Seattle Urban Carnivore Project maintain dozens of cameras throughout greater Seattle, while researchers with the broader Northwest Carnivore Monitoring Program gather important camera data from the Cascades and the Olympics. And of the many amazing animals we observe with our remote cameras, perhaps none are more entertaining than the wild cats. If you’ve ever lived with a domestic cat, you’re already an expert in feline behavior—rubbing against your chair leg, clawing at your couch, rolling around in catnip with fervor and delight. Sometimes your cat just stares at you, as if to remind you they are a cat. Cats are our buddies, but they’re also the boss! Wild felids exhibit m...

Posted by Kodi Jo Jaspers, Community Conservation Liaison Photos courtesy of Seattle Urban Carnivore Project / Woodland Park Zoo and Seattle University. On August 12th, 2019, the online carnivore reporting tool, Carnivore Spotter , was launched. Carnivore Spotter is part of the larger Seattle Urban Carnivore Project, a collaboration between Woodland Park Zoo and Seattle University. Over the last ten months many of our community members from across the greater Seattle area have shared their carnivore sightings. You have uploaded coyote sightings in Queen Anne, black bear reports in Issaquah and everything in between. Many of these reports also included media, such as videos or photos. We are especially excited when we receive reports with media, as it lets us see the exciting sightings you all are seeing in our city, and also allows us to verify the report. Each report is individually reviewed, and those that do include photos, video or audio are verified to ensure that these obse...

Posted by Katie Remine, Living Northwest Conservation Coordinator and Bobbi Miller, Wildlife Conservation Manager Just because we’re practicing physical distancing, doesn’t mean we can’t do our bit for wildlife and the great outdoors! There are still plenty of ways you can engage in conservation actions right from your living room or backyard. Woodland Park Zoo’s Wildlife Conservation staff invite you to join them as a wildlife conservationist with these five activities you can do from the comfort of your couch (or hammock)! A Seattle Urban Carnivore Project motion sensor remote camera documents a group of raccoons in the greater Seattle region. Photo courtesy of Seattle Urban Carnivore Project / Woodland Park Zoo and Seattle University. 1) Report your sightings of urban carnivores Woodland Park Zoo and Seattle University’s Seattle Urban Carnivore Project explores how mammalian carnivores, such as coyotes, foxes, raccoons, bobcats, and even cougars and bears live and inte...