Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Peter Zahler, Vice President of Conservation Initiatives When I was in fourth grade, I frequently sat on the curb of our little street in upstate New York and discussed environmental destruction and the end of the world with my best friend Dave. Admittedly this probably means I was not the most fun fourth grader on the planet to be around, but interestingly I went on to a long conservation career helping to save wildlife around the world, while my friend Dave went into marine conservation, diving with the Cousteau Society among other impressive career notes. Great ambitions inspired by dreamy afternoon haunts. Photo by Sam Szapucki via Flickr I’ve been reminded of our curbside apocalypse sessions lately because of the recent UN environmental reports, first on climate change and more recently on the estimated one million species under threat of extinction in the next few decades. It’s a little hard not to be stunned by these reports into a sense of paralysis, i

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Photos by Ryan Hawk, Woodland Park Zoo A Western pond turtle that has grown up at Woodland Park Zoo is ready to return to the wetlands of Washington state. Woodland Park Zoo is proud to be part of the W estern Pond Turtle Recovery Project . Western pond turtles were once plentiful up and down the coast of Washington to northern California and down to Baja, Mexico. However, loss of habitat, commercial exploitation for food, disease, drought, and introduced predators, such as bullfrogs and large-mouth bass, have decimated populations of the species. More than 1,000 released pond turtles are thriving at protected sites in our state. By the early 1990s, only about 150 Western pond turtles remained in two populations in Washington state and the species was nearly extirpated from our region. In 1991, Woodland Park Zoo joined forces with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to recover Western pond turtles by initiat

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, communications Photos and video by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo Video: https://youtu.be/T2_NH9SXAJA Squeeeeee! Our four little river otter pups have advanced to the big pool! They are now swimming, dipping, splashing and diving in (and out of) their outdoor habitat. The 8-week-old pups may look like floofy, wiggle balls, but they are already streamlined for the water. It's amazing how adapted for the aqua life these little pups are — already adept at swirling around and climbing in and out at the shore at lightning speed. Of course, this class of elite swimmers have been practicing with mom, Valkyrie, in a private indoor den pool. Swimming doesn’t come naturally to otter pups—the otter moms have to teach them how to swim, dip and dive — often by plunging them right in! Lessons might seem rough when mom grabs the pups by the scruff of their necks and dunks them in and out of the water, but this exercise assures the otter pups can handle

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo Our baby giraffe now has a name! The little giraffe will be called Hasani, which means handsome in Swahili and was also the name of the baby giraffe’s paternal grandfather. The name was chosen by zoo staff—a fitting name for our beautiful calf who has already stolen hearts across the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Hello Hasani! The little calf stands tall next to mom, Olivia in the morning light of the giraffe barn. His custom-made shoes help support his legs and guide alignment. Hasani was born on May 2 to mom Olivia. Immediately after his birth, the zoo’s animal health team noticed each rear foot was not in normal alignment. The condition, known as hyperextended fetlocks, is well documented in horses and has been reported to occur in giraffes. One day after the giraffe was born, the zoo’s animal health team applied casts on both rear legs to help stabilize his limbs. A week a

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Editor's note: Elizabeth works in the content and creative team here at Woodland Park Zoo, so you've probably read her work in MyZoo magazine, on this very blog and many places between. She is a self-described bird nerd, a passionate animal protector and she holds an M.A. in Biology from our Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP ) with Miami University. Elizabeth recently traveled to Kenya with several zoo colleagues to witness firsthand the conservation work she so loves. We are eager to share her experience: A male lion in Kenya's Maasai Mara reserve. Photo: Elizabeth Bacher When people ask why I work at Woodland Park Zoo, the answer is easy. It’s the mission. I’m passionate about conservation and I’m fortunate to work at a place where that view is widely valued, supported and shared. Recently, I was lucky enough to travel to Kenya with several zoo colleagues who share a passion for that mission—animal keepers, educators, do

Posted by Peter Zahler, Vice President of Conservation Initiatives Mount Rainier peeks across the treetops. Photo by John Westrock via Flickr. I am one of the roughly 10,000 people who moved to the Seattle area in 2018. Like most of those ten thousand-plus, I was drawn by the unique quality of life found here — the combination of a burgeoning economy bringing unparalleled opportunity, and the extraordinary bounty of nature found within easy reach of even city dwellers. Seattle sunset. Photo by Maciek Lulko via Flickr. What I was astonished to discover is that the incredible spread of nature’s palette across Washington was much greater than I first realized. Just within western Washington it includes the huge sweep of the Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges, rising to snow-capped peaks and covered in thick forests of giant conifers and a moss-wrapped elfin understory; and the expansive salt waters and coastal wetlands of Puget Sound and the fresh waters of Lake Washingt