Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Some tiny new pond turtles hatched today, just the start of their journey being raised here at the zoo until large enough for release back into the wild. Welcome, little turtles! View the slideshow of their "break-through"!

The ocelot kittens got their first neonatal exam and were given a clean bill of health by their vets! Looks like both kittens are female. And it's official--they are as cute as can be. Case in point: You can even watch the behind-the-scenes footage of their first exam: Newborn ocelots are blind at birth and are helpless for several weeks, relying solely on their mother for care and nutrition. Staff continue to have minimal physical contact and monitor the mother and kittens in the birthing den via a web cam only. We hope to have them out on exhibit in 6-8 weeks. Until then, stay tuned for more video and photos! Photos by Ryan Hawk.

For the first time in 15 years, we are celebrating the birth of endangered ocelots ! Two kittens were born last week. They are the first offspring of mother Bella, 7 years old, and father Brazil, 12 years old. The gender of the kittens is unknown at this time. To minimize disturbance, staff have minimal physical contact with the new family and are monitoring the mother and kittens in the birthing den via an internal web cam only (from which these screenshots were taken). Things are going well with this first-time mother. She is providing round-the-clock care and demonstrating excellent maternal skills. The kittens are active and nursing regularly. It’s critical at this time to give the mother and kittens their time and space to bond and develop healthily, so the kittens will not be on public view for at least six to eight weeks. We hope to be able to update soon with photos and/or video. You can still catch the father, Brazil, on view in the award-winning Tropical Rain Forest exhibit.