Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications With most of the penguin exhibit construction out of the way, our exhibit fabrication team is now shifting focus to adding the details that make the exhibit feel truly immersive. A 2-ton anchor was dropped into the exhibit space yesterday to add a visual cue that the exhibit takes you from the penguin-filled shoreline of Punta San Juan, Peru to the underwater ecosystem where penguins find their food. Underwater viewing "bubbles" in the new penguin exhibit Here you'll also learn about the commercial overfishing of anchovies--penguins' favorite food--and how some conservationists believe changing our food habits can help save the endangered Humboldt penguin species. You see, anchovies are primarily overfished to be ground down and used as farm feed. To encourage Peruvian fisheries to harvest fewer anchovies, consumers would need to create a profitable market for anchovies beyond their current, wasteful use as feed for farms. B

Posted by: Ryan Hawk, Photographer Recently Dr. Marc Ancrenaz, D.V.M., scientific director of Hutan Asian Elephant Conservation, stopped by Woodland Park Zoo to talk about his work with orangutans and elephants in Malaysia. Here's a video interview with Dr. Ancrenaz including field footage of elephants from Hutan (or view it full size in HD on our YouTube channel). Tip: Click on the arrow icon on the lower right side of the video and select HQ to view the video in high quality.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Woodland Park Zoo hit a major milestone this week in the construction of our new Humboldt penguin exhibit , opening in May: We've filled the penguin pool for the first and last time! Why is that important? Well, to help "green" the exhibit, instead of traditional fill and dump practices, we will fill the penguin pool only once. Then, we will use the earth’s natural systems to ensure a pristine water environment for these endangered birds while preventing stormwater runoff from entering our lakes, thus contributing to the health of Puget Sound. With the green technologies, the exhibit will save approximately 3,000,000 gallons of water and 75,000,000 BTUs of energy each year! That’s the equivalent of saving 24 million pints of drinking water, and heating five, new two-bedroom townhouses each year. How are we saving so much water and energy? The exhibit will filter stormwater on site in two ways. First, it will collect rainwater fr

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications What are your unforgettable 2008 zoo moments? Share with us in the comments! Here’s my personal countdown of favorite zoo happenings in 2008: 8. A New Giraffe is Here! 7. Year of the Frog kicks off 6. Zoo goes pink with flamingos 5. Making way for penguins 4. Baby gorilla gets helping hand from Children’s Hospital 3. Whoop-de-zoo! Orangutans celebrate their 40th 2. Headstarted endangered turtles graduate into the wild 1. Ocelot kittens brighten the day

Posted by: Jenny Mears, Education Programs Coordinator Have you always wanted to attract more wildlife to your yard, but need a little help? Looking for local resources on backyard habitats including events, workshops and websites? Then check out Woodland Park Zoo's Backyard Habitat blog ! This blog is updated weekly with local resources on everything from native plant sales and backyard habitat festivals to updates on bird feeders from Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife. You'll also receive seasonal updates on such topics as when to clean out nestboxes, when to look for mason bees, and when to prune trees and shrubs! Photo by Dennis Connor.

Posted by: Walter Dupree, Animal Collections Manager A new female giraffe arrived at Woodland Park Zoo last Friday. Born February 27, 2007, she’s not quite two yet, coming to us from Dickerson Park Zoo in Missouri. (Photo: The giraffe arrives in the trailer.) The giraffe arrived early Friday morning after a three day trip and was quite feisty when we were unloading her from the trailer, letting us know she wanted out. And we all felt that was a good sign! (Photo: The trailer is backed up to the loading chute) For those that know the giraffe barn—the indoor space where the giraffes are kept when not out on the African Savanna—there is a load/unload chute at the back end of the barn. The animal transporter positioned the trailer in which the giraffe arrived against the transfer chute, opened the door, and after just a few hesitant seconds, she walked out of the trailer and right into the barn…just as if she had been here all her life! (Photo: The giraffes show interest in each other.)

Posted by: David Schaefer, Director of Public Affairs Want to know what we’ll be up to next year? The zoo’s draft plan for 2009 operations is now posted on the zoo’s website and is available at the zoo’s administrative offices and with the Superintendent of Parks and Recreation. The annual plan is made public as part of the Woodland Park Zoo Society’s operations agreement with the city of Seattle. Among the highlights planned for 2009 are the new Humboldt penguin exhibit—the most significant new animal exhibit in a decade at the zoo—and a new food concession contract. Other changes include expansion of the education programs offered to the public, changes to accommodate additional guest parking and further incentives to reduce auto use by our staff. New animals expected to join the collection in 2009 include a silverback lowland gorilla, a giraffe and zebra. We will exhibit a tree kangaroo, representing one of the zoo’s ambitious field conservation efforts. We also will participate in

Posted by: Jona Jacobson, Conservation Department In the wild, human-elephant conflict has become one of the major challenges in elephant conservation, as loss of habitat and fragmentation forces elephants and humans into competition for the same, limited space and resources. To combat human-elephant conflict, a number of conservation programs have sprung up in Asia and Africa to educate communities about these animals and help shift perspectives on their interactions. One such program is the Biodiversity & Elephant Conservation Trust, which conducts—with support from Woodland Park Zoo—the Schools Awareness Program in rural schools in Sri Lanka, where human-elephant conflict is an ongoing threat to elephant welfare. The program has been ongoing for the last seven years at the rate of around 150 schools per year, seeking to reach as many school children as possible. The objective is to create an awareness of the elephant and its conservation among the children, by way of lectures wi

Here's the latest snapshot of the two ocelot kittens--now 5 weeks old--taken Tuesday at their weekly weigh-in. The ocelots are doing well behind-the-scenes with their mother. Their father is out on exhibit now in the Tropical Rain Forest building.

Some tiny new pond turtles hatched today, just the start of their journey being raised here at the zoo until large enough for release back into the wild. Welcome, little turtles! View the slideshow of their "break-through"!

The ocelot kittens got their first neonatal exam and were given a clean bill of health by their vets! Looks like both kittens are female. And it's official--they are as cute as can be. Case in point: You can even watch the behind-the-scenes footage of their first exam: Newborn ocelots are blind at birth and are helpless for several weeks, relying solely on their mother for care and nutrition. Staff continue to have minimal physical contact and monitor the mother and kittens in the birthing den via a web cam only. We hope to have them out on exhibit in 6-8 weeks. Until then, stay tuned for more video and photos! Photos by Ryan Hawk.

For the first time in 15 years, we are celebrating the birth of endangered ocelots ! Two kittens were born last week. They are the first offspring of mother Bella, 7 years old, and father Brazil, 12 years old. The gender of the kittens is unknown at this time. To minimize disturbance, staff have minimal physical contact with the new family and are monitoring the mother and kittens in the birthing den via an internal web cam only (from which these screenshots were taken). Things are going well with this first-time mother. She is providing round-the-clock care and demonstrating excellent maternal skills. The kittens are active and nursing regularly. It’s critical at this time to give the mother and kittens their time and space to bond and develop healthily, so the kittens will not be on public view for at least six to eight weeks. We hope to be able to update soon with photos and/or video. You can still catch the father, Brazil, on view in the award-winning Tropical Rain Forest exhibit.

Posted by: Jona Jacobson, Woodland Park Zoo Conservation Department Did you know in the 1970s, only 75 Rodrigues fruit bats were left on the island of Rodrigues, a district of Mauritius? But thanks to concerted conservation efforts, those numbers are now approximately 5,500. This number can drop, however, by as much as 50% during a major cyclone, which occurs every 5 to 6 years. The Rodrigues Environmental Educator Project (REEP) was formed in 1998, and for the first two years the emphasis was on the bats themselves. Starting in 2000, REEP expanded their focus to include environmental issues and school programs. REEP visits 13 schools about every two weeks to conduct lessons with 5th and 6th grade children. The lessons are interactive and hands-on to bolster the teachers' standard curriculum. REEP teaches the scientific, English and Creole names for plants and animals, and takes students out on field trips: 1 to 2 trips per student, per year, during which time the students visit th

Woodland Park Zoo's presitigious education award from AZA is in good company--AZA also awarded the zoo and its partners "Significant Achievement in International Conservation" for our support of the Tarangire Elephant Project . The Tarangire Elephant Project is one of 35 conservation programs supported by Woodland Park Zoo in over 40 countries. For 15 years, the Tarangire Elephant Project has been studying and protecting the elephants in Tanzania’s Tarangire National Park and the surrounding area—as well as other iconic wildlife there including zebra, wildebeest and buffalo. Having documented a gradual increase in the target elephant population over the years (linked to a decline in the massive ivory poaching of the 1970s and 1980s), other threats now loom including intense competition and conflict with a burgeoning human population. However, in an exemplary, long-term conservation partnership of zoos, governmental and non-governmental actors, and local comm

This "green" Public Service Announcement debuted this week on the Disney Channel featuring Kermit the Frog and Selena Gomez: The Association of Zoos and Aquariums launched 2008 as the Year of the Frog to build awareness for amphibian conservation. Frogs, toads, salamanders and other amphibians are in danger. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) predicts that at least one-third of known amphibian species are in danger of disappearing from the earth for good. What happens to amphibians today may harm other species in the future. But there’s good news: You can help! Create a frog friendly backyard habitat Conserve water at home--it's as easy as shortening your showers Reduce your dependence on fossil fuels Visit the Year of the Frog website or your local zoo for more tips and ideas

It’s time for the Fall Fecal Fest —your chance to get your hands on our highly coveted Zoo Doo. Why would you want to do that? Garden enthusiasts know that Zoo Doo, made from the manures of the zoo’s non-primate herbivores, is the richest, most exotic compost in the Pacific Northwest . Also available is Bedspread, a composted mulch that is like Zoo Doo but contains higher amounts of wood chips and sawdust. Zoo Doo is so popular, we have to hold a lottery to decide who gets it. If you want to enter the lottery, send a postcard—postmarked from September 5 through September 20—to: Zoo Doo, Woodland Park Zoo, 601 N. 59 th St. , Seattle , WA 98103 . Include the following information: Name Day/evening phone numbers Preference: Zoo Doo or Bedspread Amount of Zoo Doo or Bedspread you’d like to purchase (anything from a garbage bag to a full-size pick-up truck load) Weekday or weekend preference for pick-up Pick-up dates begin October 4 through October 19. The lucky winners lo

Now you can watch the western pond turtle release from earlier this summer on YouTube. Turn up the sound so you can hear from the biologists and zookeepers behind the program, then see a turtle take its first dip in the waters. You can catch all of our newest YouTube videos by subscribing to our channel: http://www.youtube.com/woodlandparkzoo .

Posted by Zoo Corps Shade-grown coffee is coffee that’s grown under the rain forest canopy and usually on family-owned farms with traditional methods (without chemicals). Leaving the existing rain forest intact protects the coffee plants from the weather and keeps the soil healthy. This practice also provides habitat for local wildlife and shelter for migrating birds. Some of these birds even visit us here! Tanagers, Warblers, Thrushes, Rufous Hummingbirds, Flycatchers, Vireos, Purple Martins, Sparrows, and many others are all birds that spend their winters in South American coffee territory and have been seen around the zoo during the summer. These birds are among those celebrated in May’s International Migratory Bird Day ( http://www.birdday.org/ )! If you’re interested in supporting ethical farming and protecting migratory birds, check out http://www.shadecoffee.org/ , and look for Bird Friendly or Rainforest Alliance certified products in your local supermarket. You can also find

Posted by: Zoo Corps ...and it's hungry. Teams of Zoo Corps interns, zoo keepers and volunteers battle hordes of slimy slugs and strangling weeds to find the most perfect, tiny leaves for its greedy mandible. W ho is this ominous-sounding creature, you may ask? It's the Oregon silverspot butterfly, a threatened species that lives only in the meadowlands of Oregon , where its sole source of food—the Western Blue Violet—is found. Since 1999 Woodland Park Zoo has had a behind-the-scenes program involving hatching, raising and releasing into the wild batches of silverspot caterpillars to help boost the wild population. Because caterpillars of all species are known for being voracious eaters, a major part of the program is harvesting leaves from the violets grown by our Horticulture Department and feeding them to the ever-hungry larvae. There’s also a fair bit of slug relocating (Zoo Corps has a competition to see who can take the most slugs from the deliciou

Most people don't think of snails as being endangered, particularly if they are battling them as they eat through their Swiss chard patch. But Woodland Park Zoo is helping a species of Tahitian tree snail back into their rightful place. The Partula snail used to be represented by around 100 different species in the islands of French Polynesia. But thanks to (or no thanks, in this case) an invasive, and carnivorous, snail, Partula were reduced to about five species in less than 10 years in the 1980s, and only remnant survivors of those few remaining populations. Thankfully, scientists recognized what was happening and rescued about 17 species before they disappeared. Our zoo has been the U.S. hub at captive breeding efforts for one of these species, Partula nodosa, and currently has more than 900 of these half-inch long critters behind the scenes in Bug World. A rarity in the snail world, Partula give live birth to a single offspring every 4-6 weeks, as opposed to a typical brown