Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Chai and Bamboo at Woodland Park Zoo. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. A new chapter began for female Asian elephants Bamboo and Chai when they stepped into elephant-sized travel crates, were loaded on the flatbed truck, and left Woodland Park Zoo for their new home at Oklahoma City Zoo. The truck pulled out at 6:15 p.m. PST today, April 15. Bamboo and Chai at Woodland Park Zoo. Photo by Mandi Fillmore/Woodland Park Zoo. Bamboo, 48, and Chai, 36, were the last remaining elephants at Woodland Park Zoo. Their departure came after four months of planning to ensure they can join a family of Asian elephants and live in a socially enriching environment. The 2,000-mile journey to Oklahoma City will take approximately 35 to 40 hours. A total of three elephant experts, two veterinarians and three staff with the transport consultant are accompanying the truck. The trip will be straight through except to stop every few hours to check on the animals’ well-being and to provide fo

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor The return of tigers and the opening of ‎ Banyan Wilds ‬ on May 2 are less than a month away, but they've been years in the making. One of Woodland Park Zoo's Malayan tigers testing out the new exhibit. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Follow the story of how an exhibit comes to life and a community comes together for a better future for wildlife and people: Video: Tigers return to Woodland Park Zoo, Thrive 2015. Produced by VIA Creatives for Woodland Park Zoo. We'll continue to share updates on the project each Tiger Tuesday as we count down to the grand opening. Thanks for making all this possible. We can't wait to celebrate with you!

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Hop, skip and bounce to Woodland Park Zoo for egg hunts on the North Meadow and Easter-themed treats for the zoo’s animal residents at the 14th annual Bunny Bounce , Sat., April 4, 2015, 9:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. The spring event offers amazing egg hunts for children ages 1 to 8, crafts, bunny encounters, and eggs-citing zoo programs throughout the day. Space for egg hunts might be limited and is open on a first-come, first-served basis.As part of the zoo’s conservation mission, families must bring their own egg hunt basket or reusable bag. For the health and well-being of the zoo’s animals, candy will not be placed inside the eggs—egg hunt participants will receive their treats as they exit the zoo. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. While the kiddies hunt for eggs, the orangutans, meerkats, lions, and other wildlife residents will nibble on specially made Easter baskets lined with flower

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Photo by Steve Winter/Panthera. UPDATE:  Wow! Thanks for showing your stripes for tigers—your online votes from earlier this week helped our on-the-ground conservation partner, MYCAT, win funding to expand anti-poaching patrols in Malaysia. It's amazing what we can do when we join forces as a community with partners in the field to fight for a better future for wildlife!  ORIGINAL STORY: Woodland Park Zoo and Panthera work together with on-the-ground partners in Malaysia to protect tigers and their forests— and now one of those partners needs your help! MYCAT (Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers) needs your vote to receive $30,000+ to expand its CAT Walks program , where trained volunteers trek through Malaysia’s rain forests looking for signs of poachers. Snares and traps are recorded, deactivated and reported to the authorities. A poacher's snare hidden in a tree. Photo: Fred Koontz/WPZ. CAT Walkers celebra

Photos by Stan Milkowski/Woodland Park Zoo Junior the jaguar encountered a 40-year-old icon in his exhibit: the samoa cookie! As Girl Scouts of Western Washington celebrate the 40th birthday of the popular cookie, Junior received a giant samoa-inspired piñata stuffed with fish and topped with real coconut. We admit: it’s not exactly the same recipe the Girl Scouts use! Next up the Asian small-clawed otter family proved their ability to turn anything into a game when they got their hands—and teeth, and feet, and tails—onto, into and all over an empty box of the iconic cookies. Girl Scouts of Western Washington has been a great supporter of the zoo throughout the years—they have volunteered hours of service, contributed cookie fund donations, and joined us for many of our own zoo celebrations. They came to party, and the Girl Scouts who attended were decked out in cookie-inspired party gear! You can follow the party all week long by looking for #SamoaSightings  on Fa

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor and Gigi Allianic, Communications We are 12. Photo by John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo. The Mini Legion of Boom—Asian small-clawed otters Sherman, Thomas, Chancellor and Maxwell, huddled to raise the 12 Flag in their exhibit today. Video: Otters raise the 12 Flag for Seahawks Super Bowl Rally. Produced by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Sherman took the lead and set the flag waving for Seattle Seahawks fans as we rally for Super Bowl XLIX. Photo by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo. Then the otters got down to business for a little scrimmage, showing off their vertical and secondary defense. Photo by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo. Bring on the boom! Photo by John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo. The Mini Legion of Boom, four otter brothers born at the zoo in 2013, were named after the Legion of Boom as a tribute to the Seahawks explosive secondary. The otter brothers live with their parents and four younger siblings. Ph

Posted by Caileigh Robertson, Communications Aruba Island rattlesnake. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Behind the scenes of Woodland Park Zoo’s Day Exhibit—home to timid tree ‘roos, slow-moving tortoises and venomous snakes—is a refrigerator full of antivenom, life-saving treatments for less fortunate encounters with poisonous reptiles and amphibians. While snake bites are (thankfully!) a rarity among Woodland Park Zoo keepers, doctors at the Washington Poison Center have witnessed their fair share of poisonous bites. Dr. Jenny Pramuk tours Washington Poison Center and Harborview staff around the zoo's snake collection. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Recently, Woodland Park Zoo’s curator, Jenny Pramuk, welcomed Washington Poison Center and Harborview staff on a tour through the Day Exhibit, to see up-close the zoo’s most venomous animals and behind-the-scenes antivenom supply. The zoo partners with Harborview Medical Center on performing venomous snake b

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor From welcoming new faces to celebrating old friends, heralding conservation milestones and leading veterinary breakthroughs, it’s been a year to remember. We take a look at some of our favorite stories from 2014—those that touched our hearts, made us smile, and made a positive impact on the world we share. Here’s to a wild 2015! 14. Grizzly brothers turn 20 Photo by John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo. We’ve watched grizzly bear brothers Keema and Denali grow up at Woodland Park Zoo, transforming from cautious little cubs to kings of the Northern Trail. When the pair turned 20 last January, they… slept right through it . Winter is a time of little activity for bears, after all. But as they stirred from their winter slumber, we surprised them with a belated birthday blast in April, complete with mounds of snow trucked in by our good friends at Crystal Mountain Resort. Hidden throughout the snow were favorite treats from meaty knuckle bone

Posted by: Stacey Hammond, Education The ZooCrew middle school outreach program is back in action this fall at Asa Mercer International Middle School, Washington Middle School, Seattle World School, and McClure Middle School. This quarter, ZooCrew participants learned about issues facing the animals of the African savanna. The participants designed their own projects to take action on these issues, raising awareness and advocating for the animals. Check out some of the projects from this quarter! Waterhole Restoration Project: bringing awareness to issues around waterholes in the African savanna and highlighting a resource for people to learn more about the issues and projects happening. Video created by Ava, Isobel, Tracey, Malia . Michael from Seattle World School chose to write about the Waterhole Restoration Project and bring awareness to the issue of resource depletion and how it affects animals. In his blog post, he explains what people can do to get involved with h