Woodland Park Zoo Blog

 Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Hey soon-to-be-mama, Olivia! Photo by Jeremy Dywer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo. Our very pregnant giraffe, Olivia, has been put on 24-hour birth watch after showing signs late last week of approaching labor. The birth window began mid-March and extends until the end of April. “We’re definitely seeing signs of Olivia nearing labor—we think she’ll give birth any day now,” says Katie Ahl, a lead animal keeper at Woodland Park Zoo. “She’s more restless, there are noticeable changes in her udder, and she’s extending her tail and spreading her rear legs frequently. In addition, she and Dave are showing more affectionate behavior toward one another, a telltale sign of hormonal changes occurring in the expectant mom.” A pregnant Oliva, right, next to sister Tufani, left. Photo by Jeremy Dywer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo. The zoo’s animal care staff are monitoring Olivia closely at the zoo and several times throughout the night via ba

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications The critically endangered Malayan tiger just got another helping hand from a coalition of wildlife conservation organizations, shining a brighter light of hope for the magnificent big cat. Malaysia’s new Kenyir State Park has just been designated an additional 48,466 acres. Combined with another logging concession protected in May 2018, the new park now spans 74,140 rain forest acres—nearly three times the park’s original size and three times the size of San Francisco. A Critically Endangered Malayan Tiger takes a swim. Photo by Hans Stieglit Kenyir State Park is the first-ever state park for the state of Terengganu and the first state park to be gazetted in Peninsular Malaysia since 2007. The Malayan tiger is one of six subspecies of tigers and lives only on the Malay Peninsula and in the southern tip of Thailand. The population for Malayan tigers is dangerously low—fewer than 250 survive in their natural range. They face treme

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications and Laurel Abbotts, Learning and Innovation, Woodland Park Zoo. Empathy is an emotion that is very useful to coexisting with other people. In its most basic definition, empathy is an understanding of experiences or perspectives of others. Whether those ‘others’ are kids sharing the swing set with you or a fellow commuter stuck on I-5, we can all pretty much agree that empathy is an important tool to getting along with your fellow humans. But what about empathy for animals, and even more so, what about using empathy to inspire conservation action? If the opposite of apathy is empathy, surely we can harness our very human emotions to collectively take action on behalf of wildlife, ecosystems and the planet. Watch:  https://youtu.be/CIZnvA4y3RQ "Woodland Park Zoo has co-created  Advancing Conservation Through Empathy for Wildlife , a learning network with 19 zoos and aquariums from around the United States to study how empathy is spark

By: Alejandro Grajal, PhD, President and CEO, Woodland Park Zoo Illegal wildlife poaching is one of the leading threats facing endangered species. Experts estimate the sale of products harvested from endangered species (items such as tusks, pelts, horns, and body parts) on the black market to be in the billions of dollars annually. One of the most effective ways to end the bloody practice of killing endangered species is to enforce bans on wildlife trafficking. That is exactly what voters in Washington state did when they passed I-1401 in 2015 with more than 70% of the vote.  Watch video of the press conference: https://youtu.be/mH96_-OEcpc Thanks to voters, our state enforcement officials at Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife have the authority to prohibit and prevent the sale of animal parts from endangered species such as elephants, rhinos, pangolins, tigers, marine turtles and others. I am proud of their efforts and those of Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson to

Posted by: Alejandro Grajal, PhD, President and CEO, Woodland Park Zoo Woodland Park Zoo’s mission to save species and inspire everyone to make conservation a priority in their lives depends on our ability to convince people that they can be the heroes of their own conservation stories. The first step on that journey is recognizing our connection to nature and wild creatures. Watch:  https://youtu.be/CIZnvA4y3RQ Zoos and aquariums strive to make that connection tangible and vibrant, often to great effect. I’m sure that you can remember the last time you were at a zoo or aquarium, whether it was yesterday or 20 years ago. The Empathy Project at Woodland Park Zoo is working to apply scientific research to the concept of empathy and how its influenced by experiences at our zoo. Empathy is defined as a stimulated emotional state that relies on the ability to perceive, understand, and care about the experiences or perspectives of another person or animal. That’s why our

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications In just a few weeks, Woodland Park Zoo Senior Conservation Scientist Lisa Dabek, PhD, will be back in Papua New Guinea to continue her work for the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program (TKCP). During that time, Dabek will meet with national government officials and the U.S. ambassador to Papua New Guinea to discuss TKCP’s goals for 2019 and beyond, which include incorporating the One Health approach into existing local governments’ initiatives. Young children (and future conservationists) celebrate TKCP's 20th anniversary in 2016. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo “The health of humans, wildlife and the environment is all interconnected,” says Dabek. Dabek founded TKCP, Woodland Park Zoo’s flagship conservation program, 22 years ago as a study on endangered tree kangaroos in Papua New Guinea—an island nation with immense biological diversity that is home to one of the last remaining intact cloud forests on the planet. But the same

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Sometimes animals need our support protecting their wild habitat and sometimes animals need our help finding a new home. Luckily, we were recently able to assist in two different cases where the expertise of zoo staff found a safe and appropriate new home for some very special creatures — and this story does have a happy ending. A Gila monster is one of several venomous reptiles taken in by Woodland Park Zoo. Photo: John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo A collection of reptiles owned by a woman who recently passed away in southern Wash. is now in the care of Woodland Park Zoo. The dozen exotic reptiles include several Gila (pronounced HEE-la) monsters, copperheads and vipers of various species. Friends of the deceased woman asked the zoo if it could take the snakes and lizards. “As a community service, Woodland Park Zoo accepts all venomous reptiles, whether privately owned or confiscated by local agencies,” said Jennifer Pramuk, PhD., a

Posted by: Peter Zahler, Vice President of Conservation Initiatives Woodland Park Zoo is delighted to announce the good news that the highly threatened mountain gorilla has reached the point in its recovery that its status has been downgraded from Critically Endangered to Endangered. Mountain gorillas in the wild. Photo credit: Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund The decision was made by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the international organization that tracks the conservation status of animal and plant species. The decision shows the slow but steady increase in the population of this great ape due to concentrated protection efforts over the last few decades. There are still only about a thousand mountain gorillas left in the wild, found in a few scattered populations in the mountains of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in central Africa. The mountain gorillas have been facing threats from poaching, habitat destruction, and r

posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications At Woodland Park Zoo, we want to inspire people of all ages to make conservation a priority in their lives. Taj and Glenn want that, too! In case you haven’t met them yet, Taj and Glenn are the greater one-horned rhinos who moved into the zoo’s new Assam Rhino Reserve earlier this year, and they are already inspiring the next generation of wildlife protectors. That generation includes lots of motivated kids of all ages who are active in their communities and schools. They want to save wildlife. They want to make a difference. And we want you to know about them! In Assam, India, children walk past a school wall mural dedicated to the preservation of rhinos in Manas National Park. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo We recently shared a story with you about children who live in the Manas community of Assam, India . They take an oath every day at school with their fellow classmates to protect the wildlife and wild places near

Posted by Ryan Driscoll, Lead Learning Facilitator, Science & Conservation Education Have you dreamed of going back to school? Are you looking for ways to make a difference in your community and for the environment? Since 2001, Woodland Park Zoo has been partnering with Miami University of Ohio to offer a groundbreaking graduate degree that allows students to become conservation leaders within their communities and globally. Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP) Master’s students and alumni are agents for positive environmental change are they have  amazing stories  to share. Maybe they'll inspire you to take conservation action! This blog features current AIP student Margaret Hanzlick-Burton. She shares how her AIP experience has given her the courage to engage with new communities in Seattle, across the United States, and in Borneo. Check it out! WPZ: Why did you apply to the Advanced Inquiry Program? My road to the AIP is long and winding. I have a bachelor’s degree in t

Posted by Alejandro Grajal, PhD, President and CEO One of the most cherished rights of humans is the ability to influence our destiny. Democracies enable the right to vote, which is missing in many parts of the world. While in the United States, voters this fall may wait in long lines this election season, here in Washington all you need to do is put your ballot in the mail. Easy! A young visitor meets a fancy friend at Molbak's Butterfly garden. Photo by Dennis Dow/WPZ. Ballots are arriving in your mailbox now for the November ballot, and at the zoo, we are urging all of our supporters to vote.  In addition to many very important races at the local level, there are two important initiatives on the ballot. Blueberry meets with her fanclub. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/WPZ. For those of you in Seattle, there is Prop 1, the Families,Education, Preschool and Promise Plan.  Prop 1 replaces two levies about to expire – one that helps preschool and one that targ