Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor We’re localphiles in the Pacific Northwest—we like our local food, local brews and local music. At Woodland Park Zoo, we’re working hard to get that sentiment extended to our local wildlife. And now, everything we’re learning from our work with native frogs and our Northwest communities, we’re taking with us all the way across the globe to support conservation efforts in Madagascar. There, “local” takes on a deeper meaning—of Madagascar’s 292 known frog species, all but one exists nowhere else on the planet. Alarmingly, nearly one quarter of these endemic frog species are threatened with extinction. The time for action is now. The critically endangered golden mantella is found only in Madagascar. Photo by John Mather via Wikimedia. The zoo’s Amphibians of Andasibe  project—a Wildlife Survival Fund conservation project—is directly addressing the rapid loss of local amphibians in Madagascar through the support of Association Mitsinjo, a c

Posted by: Cassie Freund, Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program, and Bobbi Miller, Woodland Park Zoo Field Conservation In honor of Orangutan Caring Week, we share this powerful story coming from our Partner for Wildlife: Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program (GPOCP) out of Indonesia. This story chronicles the rescue of four endangered orangutans, and what will happen to them now. Rescued orangutan, Bob. Photo courtesy of International Animal Rescue. It is estimated that there are just over 50,000 Bornean orangutans left in the wild, although numbers are decreasing daily. Orangutans are the largest arboreal animals on the face of the earth today, but they are quickly losing habitat to mining and conversion of land for agriculture, namely palm oil . As habitat is lost, orangutans have nowhere to go, often ending up in the hands of local community members to be kept as pets. Remaining pockets of orangutan habitat are easily accessible from local villages and oran

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications One of more than 500 Oregon spotted frogs reared at Woodland Park Zoo that were released into the wild last week. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. Precious frog . That's the meaning of  Rana pretiosa , the scientific name for the Oregon spotted frog, and a fitting one for a disappearing native. But there's good news to celebrate: more than 500 Oregon spotted frogs reared at Woodland Park Zoo were released last week into marshy wetlands at a protected site in Pierce County. These precious frogs will help rebuild the wild population in their native Northwest. Dr. Jennifer Pramuk, Woodland Park Zoo curator, packing frogs for an early morning release. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. The frogs were collected from wetlands as eggs and placed at the zoo for hatching and rearing for several months in a predator-free home as they transformed from tadpole to juveniles. This head start increases the

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications The vets got a first look at the cubs on Friday. Photo by Dr. Darin Collins.  The pride of Woodland Park Zoo just got a little bigger! Video: Lion cub triplets first few hours Three African lions were born yesterday on Oct. 24. The cubs represent the first litter between the mother, 5-year-old Adia, and 7-year-old father, Xerxes. This is the first offspring for the father. The last birth of lions was in 2012 when Adia gave birth to four cubs with a different male. A screen capture from an internal cam shows Adia with one of her cubs.  Zookeepers moved the cubs into the off-view maternity den where the new family can bond in comfortable, quiet surroundings. Before reuniting the cubs with mom, the zoo's veterinary team did a quick health assessment of the cubs and determined that all three are males. The father remains separated from the cubs and mother. Zookeepers are monitoring the new family round-the-clock. The mot

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Just back from Kyrgyzstan’s Tien Shan mountain range—“God’s Mountains” in Kyrgyz—Woodland Park Zoo VP of Field Conservation, Dr. Fred Koontz, is preparing a field report to share with you the highlights from his trek in the shadow of the snow leopard. Here’s a sneak peek of his travels with zoo conservation partner, Snow Leopard Trust , in honor of today's International Snow Leopard Day. As seen on Facebook: Post by Woodland Park Zoo . For more posts like this, be sure to like Woodland Park Zoo on Facebook.

Posted by: Bobbi Miller, Field Conservation Every kid wants yummy, sticky, sugary candy at Halloween, but not as much as orangutans , Asian elephants and tigers want a healthy place to live and thrive. This year, with just a little extra thought, we can grant both wishes. Original photo by Dennis Dow/WPZ; modified. Send this as an e-card to your friends! Halloween candy has been in the stores for weeks (OK, months) now, building up to a weekend of spooky, candy-filled activities for kids and adults alike. When buying candy this year, you can make a difference in the lives of orangutans, tigers, Asian elephants, hornbills and many other animals impacted by the loss of habitat due to palm oil plantations. Unsustainable palm oil plantations threaten the connected forests orangutans and other species need to survive. Photo by Tim Laman courtesy of Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Project , a Woodland Park Zoo Partner for Wildlife . It takes a few extra minutes to pi

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor What do elephants need ivory for?  Digging, lifting, pushing and defending. What do people need ivory for? Nothing. African elephants. Photo by Julie Larsen Maher/Wildlife Conservation Society. Today is Elephant Appreciation Day and already 5,200+ of you have shown your support by taking the pledge to end the ivory trade in Washington state . With 3,000 additional signatures coming in from our friends at Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, together we’re reaching out again to elected officials to ask them to consider sponsoring legislation. The herd is being heard and we have the proclamation to show it! Governor Jay Inslee has proclaimed today Elephant Appreciation Day in Washington state: What a way to celebrate how far we have come in raising our voices for elephants! Let's keep the momentum going. Please share this post to your networks and encourage your friends to sign the pledge at www.zoo.org/96elephants . On behalf of the

Posted by: Caileigh Robertson, communications Good news! Woodland Park Zoo has been granted accreditation by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums’ ( AZA ) Accreditation Commission, marking the seventh consecutive time for the zoo. AZA requires zoos and aquariums to successfully complete this rigorous accreditation process every five years in order to be members of the Association. Accreditation was announced Saturday, September 13 during AZA’s national conference held in Orlando, Florida. “Only zoos and aquariums that meet the highest standards are accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums,” said AZA President and CEO Jim Maddy. “The community should take great pride in knowing that Woodland Park Zoo is a proven leader in the care and conservation of wildlife, and in inspiring people to take action to protect the natural world.” To be accredited, Woodland Park Zoo underwent a thorough review to ensure it has and will continue to meet rising standards, which

Posted by: Karen Stevenson, docent; Susan Burchardt, raptor keeper; and Anna Martin, docent When you saw “Vulture” in the title, what came to mind? Did you think of the Marvel® comic book character? Of big, red-headed black birds pecking around fresh road kill? Important members of almost every continent’s cleaning crew? A featured friend of raptor fans at the zoo? How about “all of the above”? Vulture in flight. Photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. The cartoon version is property of Marvel comics and we’ll let Marvel speak for him, but living, breathing, feathered vultures are represented at Woodland Park Zoo by Modoc, the zoo’s turkey vulture ( Cathartes aura ). Mo is a member of the Raptor Center’s educational team. He is the zoo’s ambassador for all vultures around the Old World (Europe, Asia and Africa) and the New World (the Americas). Susan Burchardt, one of the zoo’s raptor keepers says, “Vultures are easy to ignore or vilify, but they are a cornerstone in so many

Posted by: Fred Koontz, Vice President of Field Conservation, and Jennifer Pramuk, Animal Curator An Oregon spotted frog is released into protected wetlands after being raised at Woodland Park Zoo. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Yesterday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told this little frog we've got its back. Woodland Park Zoo applauds the USFWS on its official decision to extend federal protection to the Oregon spotted frog as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. This big move will go a long way in making recovery possible throughout the Oregon spotted frog’s northwest range. An adult Oregon spotted frog. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Once common and widespread in Puget Sound area wetlands, the Oregon spotted frog now inhabits 10% or less of its former range in the Pacific Northwest. That loss means more than just devastation to our native frog population. As Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Acting Supervisor, Tom

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor On this World Orangutan Day, we shout out to all the kids who left their handprints at the orangutan exhibit earlier this month as a pledge to save these endangered primates. Photo by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo. The activity, part of our Asian Wildlife Conservation Day celebrations, helped the next generation realize that the fate of orangutans is in their hands. Photo by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo. Orangutans are struggling to survive in the wild, their populations under threat by the loss of forests in Asia. We work with the  Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program (GPOCP), a Woodland Park Zoo  Partner for Wildlife , to address the conservation crisis in the field. Wild orangutan. Photo by Tim Laman. The main goal of GPOCP is to work with the communities surrounding Borneo’s Gunung Palung National Park to foster sustainable stewardship of the area’s natural resources and build a future where orangutans and ot