Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Ryan Driscoll, Education Photos by Ryan Driscoll, Woodland Park Zoo The issues of poaching and wildlife trafficking can seem black and white—it’s bad news.  At least that was the initial sentiment of many of the middle school students who participated in this last semester’s ZooCrew, Woodland Park Zoo’s after-school program. However, as the students explored the issue, they started to realize just how complex the causes and solutions can be.   One student explained why poaching in Africa can be a difficult issue, “people poach because they need the money and they can’t find a job that will pay them enough.  They need to have a way to feed their families.”  This led the students to explore a range of solutions such as recruiting those poachers to become rangers (who protect wildlife), building sustainable industries and supporting local communities that offer alternative employment.  They then explored ways that people here in Seattle could help. They created pro

Posted by Alissa Wolken, Woodland Park Zoo Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo We have some new long-legged creatures to introduce you to! We welcomed two female maned wolves, sisters Joy and Scarlet, from the Little Rock Zoo in mid-October. You can now visit them at their exhibit in the zoo’s Wildlife Survival Zone. Neither a fox nor a wolf, Chrysocyon is a species all its own with stilt-like legs, a pointed muzzle, an impressive red coat and dark mane along the back. At home in the grasslands and scrub forest of central South America, these crepuscular canines roam the marshes and woodlands at dawn and dusk in search of fruit, small mammals, birds, eggs and invertebrates.  The arrival of Joy and Scarlet followed the departure of the our sole maned wolf, Vinny. Vinny was recommended to be sent to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center to be paired with a female for breeding under the maned wolf Species Survival Plan, explains Shawn Pedersen, a collection manage

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by John Loughlin, Woodland Park Zoo Bats may be top of mind on Halloween, but these amazing mammals should be revered every day of the year. Woodland Park Zoo’s six bats—Indian flying foxes—recently received their annual exams and are healthy and thriving. A radiograph shows off the massive wingspan of the Indian flying fox. The zoo’s animal health team performed the wellness exams at the zoo’s veterinary hospital. Ranging in age from 8 to 11 years old and weighing between 1.3 and 1.8 pounds, each bat received an overall health assessment that included body weights, bloodwork, dental and radiographs. The checkups are a part of Woodland Park Zoo’s exemplary animal welfare program. The  Indian flying fox , also known as the greater Indian fruit bat, has a widespread range on the Indian subcontinent that extends from Pakistan to Southeast Asia and China, and south to the Maldive Islands.  “There were some small wing

Posted by Alicia M. Highland, Education  Woodland Park Zoo’s Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP) Master’s students and alumni are enacting environmental stewardship and social change locally and globally. Here is just one of  their amazing stories : This week’s blog features AIP alumni Nate Brown. He shares how his AIP experience took him on a journey to Patagonia, Chile and helped him discover the importance of engaging local communities in environmental conservation.  Why did you apply to the Advanced Inquiry Program? As much as I love science, I knew right away that I didn’t want to become a scientist as a profession.  I came to this program because I was finally able to see the need for education, communications, and community engagement within the conservation world. Those were values and skills I could bring and develop further. I just needed to learn how to apply them. What impact has the program had on you personally and professionally? This program has ha

Posted by Jenny Mears, Education Note from the editor: There’s a world teeming below your feet in the Washington wetlands, a world we’re just beginning to document with the help of volunteers through the Amphibian Monitoring Program , a Living Northwest citizen science project. Amphibian Monitoring is offered through Woodland Park Zoo’s Living Northwest program, in partnership with Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW), Northwest Trek, and Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. Going on the sixth year of this citizen science effort, volunteers work in teams to survey ponds and wetlands in King and Snohomish Counties. An Amphibian Monitoring volunteer surveys Magnuson Park for egg masses with her team, which is comprised of ZooCorps teen volunteers. Photo by Lyra Dalton, WPZ staff The sixth season of Amphibian Monitoring  has come to an end, and Woodland Park Zoo’s citizen science program has much to celebrate: A successful transition to iNaturalist , a user-fr

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications World Gorilla Day asks people from all over the world to celebrate these amazing animals and take action to protect endangered gorillas in the wild and save their ever-shrinking natural habitat. Yola has captured our hearts, but her wild cousins need even more. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo. The largest of the primates, gorillas are often the first great ape that we are introduced to as young children. Their intelligence, gentle nature and magnificent strength make them both awe-inspiring and familiar. They are also the most closely related primate to humans, after bonobos and chimpanzees.  Every day, we see zoo guests, members, keepers and volunteers alike, standing in awe of playful Akenji, peaceful Pete or curious little Yola.  Their presence is inspiring. It is easy to love them, but on World Gorilla Day we ask you to act on behalf of this critically endangered species. Yola and Nadiri enjoy the spring b

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo You can add one more outdoors enthusiast to the lineup of PNW adventurers — Aibek took to climbing, pouncing and stealthily sneaking through the outdoor snow leopard exhibit this morning for the first time. The 2 month old male snow leopard was so eager to explore his new digs that he actually beat mom out the door, but Helen was close behind the little explorer to keep an eye on him. Prior to Aibek's first morning in the September drizzle, keepers weighed the cub (10.2 lbs.) and fed him a few meaty snacks. Keepers also sprayed a bit of cologne on branches and logs in the exhibit to entice mom, Helen. A meat treat was another incentive to head into the yard. Aibek has been eating mostly solids, although he is still nursing. During his first outdoor exploration, Aibek took his time sniffing around the grasses and pine trees and then made his way to the top of the rocky

Posted by: Milou Groenenberg, Mbeli Bai Gorilla Study, a Woodland Park Zoo Wildlife Survival Fund project At Mbeli, we follow the interesting lives of many different gorillas. One of our most fascinating stories is that of George’s group. George was already an adult silverback when the Mbeli Bai Study started in 1995. He acquired his first females in 1998, and became a successful harem holder, siring a total of 19 offspring. One of the females in his group, Leah, became famous worldwide for the first observation of tool-use by wild gorillas. From 2004 onward, George’s group slowly started to reduce in size as he lost female after female. From 2012 onward, George started to mingle with another group: Morpheus’s. Morpheus (back), George (front) and Jockey (center, offspring of Morpheus) are tolerating each other in close proximity as their groups are mingling in the bai. This occurred regularly in the period between 2012 and 2016, until George was last seen. Photo courtesy Marie Ma