Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications Welcome to the world, little one. Photo: John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo Say hello to the newest member of our zoo family! Born July 11, this male pudu fawn weighed just 1½ pounds at birth. The yet-to-be-named baby and his parents, Ted and Maggie, are all happy and healthy. This adorable species is native to South America, and they are the world’s smallest deer. Even when fully grown, they only reach about 15 inches tall! Photo: Megan Blandford/Woodland Park Zoo “This is the second fawn for mom and dad, and as expected, everyone is doing well,” said Shawn Pedersen, an animal care manager at Woodland Park Zoo. “Baby is nursing and bonding with mom, and the fawn has met all of the healthy benchmarks at its neonatal exam. We’ll continue to keep an eye on the new family, but everything is going great.” The pudu parents were paired under the Pudu Species Survival Plan , a cooperative, conservation breeding program across accredited zoos to help ensure

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications New kid on the block! Mountain goat Atlin cuddles up to her newborn daughter, born July 16. Photo: John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo A new mountain goat kid is leaping on the ledges of Woodland Park Zoo’s Northern Trail habitat. The kid, a girl, was born July 16 and is the second offspring for mom Atlin and dad Zeus. The mountain goat born at the zoo last year— part of the 2020 baby boom—was their first baby, Luna . The new kid—which hasn't been named yet—weighed in at 9.4 pounds during a neonatal exam performed by the zoo’s animal health staff. “She appears to be healthy. Her body condition is good and she’s getting sufficient nutrition and hydration. Her mobility indicates a healthy energy level,” said Dr. Darin Collins, director of animal health at Woodland Park Zoo. The female kid weighed in at 9.4 pounds at birth. Photo: John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo “Within minutes of being born, young goats are on their feet and are capable of climbing

Posted by Stephen Reed, Communications On World Rainforest Day, Woodland Park Zoo celebrates the beautiful biodiversity of all forest creatures here in Washington state and around the globe. By protecting critical habitats, we can protect treasured species that call these places home. Hello toco toucan! Photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo At Woodland Park Zoo, guests can experience the wonder of rain forest creatures including toucans, poison dart frogs and golden lion tamarins. These animals live in the Tropical Rain Forest exhibit, which has been closed through the pandemic and is expected to reopen soon. Our golden lion tamarins will be happy to see you when the Tropical Rainforest building reopens to the public. Photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo In the field, Woodland Park Zoo is committed to saving species, like the Pacific marten, a threatened species with a shrinking population in the Olympic Peninsula temperate rain forest. Pacific martens are about the size of a small house

Posted by Stephen Reed, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Havam, a male joey was born last August to mom Omari and dad Rocket. We're celebrating our five Matschie’s tree kangaroos, Rocket, Elanna, Omari, Keweng and Havam  every day, but especially on Saturday, May 29 for Tree Kangaroo Awareness Day! Tree Kangaroo Awareness Day spotlights endangered tree kangaroos and the important role they play in their ecosystem. The five tree kangaroos, who currently live in a habitat that is off-view from the public at Woodland Park Zoo, enjoy snacking on yams, arugula, swiss chard, corn and dandelion greens. Elanna is described as “sassy” and “cheeky” by her animal keepers and Keweng, Elanna’s daughter, has inherited some of her mother’s personality. Omari and her son Havam are more laid-back and settled. Rocket, the father of Havam and Keweng, is more hesitant to try new things, but he loves to dig into yams and carrots. His name is Havam which is the word for “

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications Celebrate Endangered Species Day by learning how you can take part in protecting threatened and endangered species every day of the year! Woodland Park Zoo is home to more than 900 animals, many of which are considered vulnerable, threatened or endangered species. The animals you see when you visit the zoo are ambassadors for their kind: living, breathing reminders of what is at stake in the world and why we need to protect it. As a conservation organization, Woodland Park Zoo supports more than 35 different wildlife conservation projects in the Pacific Northwest and all over the world, helping to protect wildlife on every corner of the planet. No matter where you are on earth, you can help them. These three stories, told from three different continents, prove how. Rhinos in India: A Vision Becomes Reality The largest threat facing rhinos to this day is poaching for their horns. Human development has also destroyed landscapes where rhinos live, l

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications Western fairy-slipper by Kelly Jin Seattle-Tacoma represent! More than 550 observers took part in this year’s City Nature Challenge spanning King and Pierce counties, including Everett, Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma, Snohomish and any place in between! Between April 30 and May 3, community scientists submitted more than 7,000 nature observations and identified more than 1,200 species showing the world the incredible biodiversity in the region’s home turf. That’s the region’s all-time record! “This year we had more observers participate, more observations made and more species identified in the Seattle-Tacoma area than we have since our region joined City Nature Challenge in 2017! We’ve also heard from participants that they learned about species they weren’t familiar with before and loved learning how to use the iNaturalist app to make nature observations!” said Katie Remine, Living Northwest Conservation Coordinator at Woodland Park Zoo. Red-trumpet

Posted by Stephen Reed, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Gray wolf sisters Kaya, Doba and Shila recently celebrated an 11th birthday! The three sisters, born April 27, 2010, from a litter of nine at New York State Zoo at Thompson Park, joined Woodland Park Zoo in October of that year. All three sisters take after their mother with white coats. Wolf sisters Kaya, Doba, and Shila turn 11 years old on April 27. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo Gray wolves (Canis lupus) display complex social pack dynamics, and the three sisters at Woodland Park Zoo are no different. Kaya, the dominant female of the group, plays the role of peacemaker and tracks any changes happening around the enclosure. With a reserved personality, she exemplifies quiet strength and stability. Doba plays a subordinate role in the group but is also the most curious. As the least wary of the wolf sisters, she excels at training and is usually the first to investigate new enrichment such

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications This Earth Day, April 22, 2021, renew your connection to nature and level up with actions you can take––big and small––that have a lasting impact on the health and resiliency of our incredible home planet.  Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo 1. Plant something You can plant something specifically for pollinators  or you can plant something for yourself. .. planting the seed now for a more sustainable world is a family challenge we can all get behind. For inspiration, check out Earth Day Northwest's Next 5  or Common Acre's Green Line  or these incredible women who are planting an entire forest. 2. Clean it up Get outside and pick up garbage with the Great Global Cleanup (sometimes it really is that simple), join millions in going plastic free this summer , clean up your diet to fight climate change , clean up your shopping list and join the clean ocean movement . There's an app for that too. 3. Let your inner communi

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Editor's Note: Sadly, after a very full life, we said goodbye to George on May 20, 2021. He was 25 years old—more than 10 years older than the average life expectancy for his species—and he was the oldest goral in the entire population at accredited N. American zoos. His longevity with such a high quality of life is a tribute to all his amazing Woodland Park Zoo caretakers over the years.  At Woodland Park Zoo, our commitment to conservation starts with the 1,000 or so animals who call this place home. No matter what stage of life they’re in, they deserve the very best care—including our seniors, many of whom are still active and healthy well into their golden years. George is a Chinese goral who lives his best retirement life at Woodland Park Zoo. Photo: Tamlyn Sapp/Woodland Park Zoo Among the oldest, relative to the life expectancy for his species, is one that you might not have ever seen or even heard of. Geng Rui, a.k.a. George, is a

Posted by Paula MacKay, Conservation Associate, Woodland Park Zoo Photos by Woodland Park Zoo It's National Wildlife Week, the perfect time to celebrate our PNW wild cats! We're big fans of using motion-triggered cameras to help us learn more about the wildlife around us. Impassioned volunteers with the Seattle Urban Carnivore Project maintain dozens of cameras throughout greater Seattle, while researchers with the broader Northwest Carnivore Monitoring Program gather important camera data from the Cascades and the Olympics. And of the many amazing animals we observe with our remote cameras, perhaps none are more entertaining than the wild cats. If you’ve ever lived with a domestic cat, you’re already an expert in feline behavior—rubbing against your chair leg, clawing at your couch, rolling around in catnip with fervor and delight. Sometimes your cat just stares at you, as if to remind you they are a cat. Cats are our buddies, but they’re also the boss! Wild felids exhibit m