Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications When we say the Partula snail is tiny, we really mean it. Photo by Emily Schumacher/WPZ. If you’ve been to Bug World lately, you may have noticed a very cool addition across the path! Our tiny Tahitian Partula snails have a teensy, new lab! Look for the conservation lab in the Temperate Forest zone of the zoo. Photo by Kirsten Pisto/WPZ. The rout of tiny endangered tree snails has moved out of Bug World and across the path to their brand new lab. The snail lab was completed this summer, and all of the residents seem quite at home in their new digs. You can see animal care and conservation at work when you visit the lab. Photo by Kirsten Pisto/WPZ. Erin Sullivan, collection manager, tells us a little more about the new lab. Why do the snails need their own space? The Partula snails living at Woodland Park Zoo’s lab are very special—they are extinct in the wild. Our zoo is one of the zoo’s participating in the captive bree

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications There’s been a break in the sea of pink over at the flamingo exhibit. In the past week, we've had six tiny, white puffs in the form of flamingo chicks hatch out on exhibit. Generally, we let the chicks stay on the nest for the first five days, where they are well looked after by their parents. But once they become a bit more mobile and are ready to head out of the nest, we bring the chicks and their parents behind the scenes where they can get through the first few weeks of rearing together in a more protected environment. Newly hatched chick in nest. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Ideally the flamingo parents will feed and raise the chicks on their own. Some are first time parents and others are experienced. Zookeepers watch over the young families very closely, and are ready to step in to incubate eggs or rear chicks if it looks like any of the families are in need of a little help. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Pa

Posted by: Caileigh Robertson, Communications The Indianapolis Prize —the world’s leading award for animal conservation—has announced the 2014 nominees, and we are so proud to see Woodland Park Zoo’s Dr. Lisa Dabek named among some of the very best in the field. Dr. Lisa Dabek, center, works in Papua New Guinea’s YUS region, home to the endangered Matschie’s tree kangaroo . Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Lisa Dabek is the Director of Woodland Park Zoo’s flagship conservation program, Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program (TKCP), and it’s for her international work saving endangered Matschie’s tree kangaroos and their Papua New Guinea (PNG) habitat that she has been nominated. Photo: Bruce Beehler/Conservation International Thirty-nine conservationists who have dedicated their lives to saving the Earth’s endangered species have been nominated to receive the biennial Indianapolis Prize. The winner of the Prize will receive an unrestricted $250,000 cash award and the Li

Posted by: Terry Blumer, ZooStore Photos by: Terry Blumer/Woodland Park Zoo This entry is part two in a three-part series from ZooStore and retail manager, Terry Blumer, following his travels to Mongolia to help lead a conservation commerce workshop for local artisans, creating an eco-friendly income alternative to poaching in snow leopard habitat. The workshop was made possible by Woodland Park Zoo’s Partner for Wildlife , Snow Leopard Trust . Conservation Commerce products are available in the zoo's two ZooStores. Getting there...let the adventure begin! How does one begin to pack for an adventure in Mongolia? For starters, I need to make sure I know luggage restrictions. Sleeping bag? Check. Raingear and hiking boots? Check. Nifty, new solar charger for gadgets? Check. ATV tires? Che...wait, what?! Yes, I read that email correctly. "Would you mind checking an extra bag and box of donated ATV tires for our Mongolian office?" asked Gina Robertson, Snow Leopard T

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Photos by: Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo There are no caps and gowns, but this is most certainly a graduation. Today marks the first day of the rest of their lives for 31 graduates of Woodland Park Zoo’s Living Northwest conservation project, the Western Pond Turtle Recovery Project . After hatching and being raised at the zoo for the first ten months of their lives, these endangered native turtles are ready to move on and re-enter the wetlands of Washington to help rebuild the wild population. Each turtle is weighed, measured and notched for identification. To get here, the 31 turtles first had to pass their final exams, which included a weigh-in and measuring to ensure they’re big enough to survive on their own in the wild. You must be this long to ride. Those who didn’t make the grade have been left back—but they’ll have the chance to take the test again next year after they have done a bit more growing, with a g

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Photos by: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo Standing in front of its mother about 13 hours after birth.  Woodland Park Zoo’s newest little one is in fact quite big: taller than some of its zookeepers, even! Welcome to the world a 5½-foot-tall giraffe, born to 6-year-old mom Olivia last night, August 6 at 7:03 p.m. The labor lasted about 1.5 hours and the little one was already standing just another 1.5 hours after birth. This is the face we've been waiting for! Zookeepers were on watch round the clock, and were able to hit record on our video camera just in time to catch the labor begin after a 14- to 15-month gestation period. Olivia wandered in and out of frame, and this video shows the breathtaking moments we were able to catch, from the baby emerging feet first, to its earliest moments after birth, including first efforts at trying to stand. The calf is standing, nursing from mom and bonding with her, all good si