Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Woodland Park Zoo has the cause. Volunteers have the effect. Earlier in October, Woodland Park Zoo held its festive Celebration of Volunteers at the beautiful Seattle Aquarium. Hundreds of volunteers and staff turned out to share hugs and smiles and to give huge thanks . We can’t underscore our gratitude to these amazing people enough. A volunteer “freely offers to contribute to an enterprise or a task.” The key word is freely. Our volunteers, an amazing cadre more than 750 talented people strong, make the choice every day to show up rain or shine and contribute to any and all aspects of our mission. They are part of our team. They are our rock! At the Celebration, we recognized 45 members of this special cadre for making a difference in animals’ and peoples’ lives. Each honoree has given between 1,000 and 14,000 hours of service to the zoo. Altogether this generous group has invested more than 144,000 hours of time and talent in the zoo’s mission. That’s the equivalent of

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor with Gigi Allianic, Communications Team Oily Palms, Seattle Zoohackathon winners. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. Team Oily Palms gave a helping hand to wildlife this weekend with Seattle Zoohackathon's winning solution, a citizen science tool that empowers locals to report deforestation activity such as illegal logging and fires. This people-minded solution was the perfect embodiment of what Zoohackathon is all about: tapping into the community to bring new eyes to old problems and innovate solutions that advance the ongoing efforts of NGOs, governments, and organizations like Woodland Park Zoo committed to ending wildlife trafficking. The first event of its kind, this weekend's Zoohackathon took place simultaneously at six leading conservation technology zoos around the world: Woodland Park Zoo, San Diego Zoo, Saint Louis Zoo, Smithsonian National Zoo, London Zoo and Sydney's Taronga Zoo. The winning solutions f

Posted by: Alejandro Grajal, PhD, President and CEO Last week, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk detailed his goal to make humans a multi-planetary species. He believes, as do I and many scientists, that humans are at a crossroads. Life on Earth as we know it is headed to its sixth extinction event. He says we can stay here and face the consequences, or we can become a space-faring species. Hanging out on Mars would be a handy option when Earth gets too crowded and its resources too depleted. His vision is we should build a highway to Mars now and begin colonizing, and he wants the whole world involved. Clearly, such out-of-the-box thinking gets attention and investment. It certainly gets my attention. Not necessarily because I agree or disagree with Musk. I must admit that whether we should colonize Mars is not a question that keeps me up at night. The question that does keep me up at night is this: How can we do more to save the planet we’re already on? Rather than make humans into a mult

Posted by: Ryan Driscoll, Education Western Washington is known for its amazing outdoor opportunities. This summer, participants in the ZooCrew Summer Learning Program took full advantage of those opportunities to sharpen their science skills and explore the ecosystems around the Puget Sound. From hiking Mount Rainier to working with local field biologists, students examined the different parts of the watershed while learning about how humans and animals interact with their environments. This cultural access program is about more than just exposing students to new careers and building their science skills—it is about our mission to inspire the next generation of conservation leaders. We want youth to see themselves as scientists and to understand not only that there are issues in our area, but that they can help to investigate and solve them. At the top of a watershed hiking Mount Rainier. Over two four-week sessions this summer, 18 6th and 7th grade students from Asa Merc

Posted by: Alissa Wolken, Communications Photo: Dennis Dow. Imagine coming face to face with a giraffe, waking up to a lion pride right outside your bedroom, or watching as a skilled veterinary team heals an injured rhino out in the field. Kenya’s Lewa Wildlife Conservancy—one of the beneficiaries of the American Association of Zoo Keepers’ (AAZK) upcoming Bowling for Rhinos event—is home to many life-changing experiences that have strengthened the resolve of AAZK members to keep fighting for wildlife. An injured rhino gets a helping hand thanks to the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy field team. Photo: Dennis Dow. Bowling for Rhinos offers an opportunity for you to join that fight. All funds raised from the event go directly to rhino conservation in four locations: Lewa Wildlife Conservancy (LWC) in Kenya; and Ujung Kulon, Bukit Barisan Selatan, and Way Kambas National Parks in Indonesia through the International Rhino Foundation. Open to all to attend, this year’s Bowli

Posted by: Alissa Wolken, Communications Coders and technology experts from the Seattle area—along with their counterparts in five other major cities—will join the battle against international wildlife trafficking in the first ever Zoohackathon, October 6-9, 2016. Registration is now open for interested coders, designers and project managers. Organized by the U.S. Department of State and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the Zoohackathon is a computer coding and technology intensive event that will bring together technical gurus and subject matter experts to create applications, systems, and tools to help reduce demand for trafficked wildlife products. The Zoohackathon will build upon the U.S. Department of State’s successful Fishackathons, which have introduced new technological solutions for combating illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing. The inaugural Zoohackathon will include six AZA-accredited zoos in the U.S., U.K. and the Pacific with plans for expa

Posted by: Bettina Woodford, PhD, Communications Alejandro Grajal, PhD, our new president and CEO, has a big goal: to make conservation for everybody. He’s convinced that Woodland Park Zoo is the best place to achieve it. Alejandro is an internationally recognized voice for the power of modern zoos. He believes they are essential to help humans embrace their biggest challenge to date: developing a new relationship with nature and all beings with whom we share the planet. To the challenge he brings deep and global expertise in conservation science, environmental education, and animal welfare advocacy. In this interview with Alejandro, we explore what brought him to the Great Pacific Northwest—via Venezuela, Florida, New York and Chicago—and his vision for Woodland Park Zoo. You began your career as a biologist in the field. How did your trajectory turn to leadership roles in zoos?  I’m a water man—I love anything in the water. I graduated with a degree in marine ecolog

Whether you’re a member, donor, visitor or community partner, your continued support reflects your belief that in an increasingly urban and technology-driven society, zoos matter more than ever. Here is where we weave together face-to-face encounters with animals, hands-on environmental learning and action-based programs that engage our community in vital, global efforts to protect wildlife and wild places. Here is how you make that possible. Check out the full 2015 Community Impact Report  including achievements like these: 1. You helped welcome Yola to the world and ensured she developed a strong bond with mom, Nadiri Your generosity helped fund 24/7 care of baby gorilla Yola when first-time mom Nadiri did not initially show strong maternal behaviors. Through daily interactions, mom and baby have now bonded and little Yola is thriving with her gorilla family! Yola is a natural climber. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. 2. You helped stop wildlife poache

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Video: TT for the Bears. Things got very Seattle at Woodland Park Zoo when the world-famous fishmongers from Pike Place Fish Market helped us kick off Bear Awareness week and the big event, Bear Affair: Living Northwest Conservation Day presented Brown Bear Car Wash coming up Sat., Jun. 4. Photo: John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo. Grizzly brothers Keema and Denali could smell the salmon long before the fishmongers sent the fish flying over to them, shouting "TT for the bears" as in "test toss" in fishmonger-speak. Photo: John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo. In true Keema and Denali style, the bears let gravity do the work for them and then dined contentedly. Photo: John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo. Don't let the beautiful exhibit design fool you—the fishmongers were a safe distance from the bears with layers of containment between them, all under the watchful eyes of our animal care crew. That'

Posted by: Kristi Dodds, Education Photo: Mat Hayward/Woodland Park Zoo. It was ten years ago that Zoomazium first opened its doors and I still remember the hustle and bustle to prepare vividly. We were working late into the night to take care of any last minute changes and put on all those finishing touches to make sure everything would be perfect for the grand opening. After all, this place would be the destination of some of the most opinionated and strong-willed visitors that come to the zoo—children. Photo: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. I can recall opening day like it was yesterday,  picturing all the kids wide-eyed with anticipation and noses glued to the toddler door just waiting for us to open and let them in. Video: A look back at opening day of Zoomazium, 2006. This year marks the milestone of Zoomazium’s 10th year since opening in May of 2006. Over 3 million visitors later, the look and feel of the building has not changed drastically, but the progra