Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications If you give a black-breasted leaf turtle a hibiscus...she might ask for another petal! Part of Alyssa Borek’s job as Day Exhibit keeper is to ensure all of her residents get a variety of food and enrichment items. Sometimes this means giving an animal a new palatable experience; such was the case with this sweet, little black-breasted leaf turtle and her hibiscus dinner. Video: Black-breasted leaf turtle snacks on hibiscus. Video by Alyssa Borek/Woodland Park Zoo. The adorable clip above shows a tiny taste-test starring our black-breasted leaf turtle, Geoemyda spengleri, and her appetite for a hibiscus petal. Four stars to the chef! Day Exhibit keeper, Alyssa, answers a few questions about this daring culinary adventure… What does this turtle usually eat in the wild? In the wild, these turtles eat various invertebrates, such as insects, worms, and grubs. They also eat decaying fruit found on the forest floor and venture in

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Photos by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo They each now weigh more than an average bowling ball. It’s getting harder to handle our growing jaguar cubs , and their 9-week exam last week was the first that required anesthesia to safely complete the brief check-ups. To make sure each cub got the team’s full attention, we conducted the exams one at a time, carefully escorting each cub to the zoo’s mobile hospital in the back of our animal health ambulance. Here the vets completed the basics of each exam, including: The weigh-in. The cubs are each around 15-16 pounds. Taking measurements to make sure growth is on track. The visual inspection, including a look at the paws, skin and fur. And a dental inspection to see how the teeth are growing and to get a glimpse of their oral health. After giving each cub required feline vaccinations, they were quickly returned to their behind-the-scenes hom

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications With the recent baby boom at Woodland Park Zoo, we have posted endless photos and updates on all the fuzzy and feathered new faces that call the zoo home. But with Mother’s Day and Mom & Me presented by Verity Credit Union just around the corner, let’s not forget about the amazing animal moms who are working hard every day to care for these little ones. Adia Original photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo; modified. When you watch lion mom Adia at play with her high energy cubs, you can see just how youthful she herself is—giving as good as she gets with the four little tail biters that never turn down a game of tag. At just 3 years old, it wasn’t long ago that Adia was a cub herself. Adia watching over a playful cub. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. But motherhood has certainly brought out the lioness in young Adia. Caring for four cubs is no easy task for a first-time mom, but her instincts kicked in the moment s

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications This season brings eight new additions to our endangered Humboldt penguin colony. The chicks will make their debut later this summer once they get a little bigger and become proficient swimmers. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. One of the youngest chicks, seen here at 10 days old, hatched on April 27 to 13-year-old father Pizarron and 3-year-old mother Maria, who herself was born at the zoo in 2010. That brings the total number of penguins hatched at the zoo since our award-winning exhibit opened in 2009 to 32! As Humboldt penguins are endangered, these hatchings--part of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums Species Survival Plan (SSP) conservation breeding program--add up to lots to celebrate. SSPs maximize genetic diversity, with the goal of ensuring the long-term survival of populations and the health of individual animals. These new generations of penguins help us continue to  tell the story of what is happen

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications One day old tawny frogmouth chick. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. The tawny frogmouths didn’t want to be left out of the zoo’s baby boom , so they hatched their first chick of the season last week. Adult frogmouths sport mottled, grayish feathers that let them camouflage themselves like a dead tree branch, but they start life as a little, white puffball, covered in downy feathers. What do you think the tawny frogmouth chick looks most like? At one day old, the chick weighed in at 16.5 g (0.58 ounces). Its parents are doing a good job caring for it in their nest. The chick is weighed daily to make sure its growing as expected, and we’ll offer some supplemental snacks (little bits of mice) if it needs help putting on weight. One day old. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. The chick’s parents have another fertile egg in their nest, so we may have a second hatching on our hands soon. The family lives behin

Posted by: Caileigh Robertson, Communications Photos by: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo Just when our zookeepers thought the baby boom was at bay, our porcupine pair delivered the zoo’s first ever North American porcupette (the name for a baby porcupine—and yes, the name is as cute as the baby)! Unlike the other recent births, we have to admit: we didn't see this one coming! Our 2-year-old breeding pair, Molly and Oliver, joined Woodland Park Zoo in June 2011 shortly after their April birthdays. At such a young age, zookeepers expected that Oliver was a year shy of sexual maturity. To their surprise, Molly gave birth to a male porcupette on April 18 in the Northern Trail exhibit den! Thinking back, Molly must have become pregnant in September, giving her a seven-month gestation period before birthing the pair’s first baby. A porcupette is born with a full coat and open eyes, contrasting many of its rodent counterparts. Within hours of birth its soft coat of quills beg

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Photos by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo NOTE: The sloth bear exhibit is currently off view while construction is completed in the area. A temporary path will open on May 4 to give you access to see the cubs on exhibit. Until then, the cubs' time spent outside is off view to visitors. Thanks for your patience. We promise the cubs are worth the wait! Last Friday, our twin sloth bear cubs took their first steps outside. Technically, their very first moments outside weren't steps at all, as they rode out from their den clinging to mom's back. Their feet didn't hit the ground until a minute later, when the sights and smells piqued their curiosity and they hopped down to check out their new surroundings. Video: Sloth bear cubs outside for the first time. Produced by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. The cubs are now 3 months old, and up until now, they have been glued to mom's side in their behind-the-scenes maternity d

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications The results of our Name the Cubs contest are in! More than 2,000 of you entered the contest for a chance to name one male and one female lion cub—and the winning names are: Male cub – Rudo (“love” in Zulu, pronounced ROO-doh ) Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo Female cub – Busela (“happy and independent” in Zulu, pronounced BOO-sayla ) Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo Two lucky winners— Tate and Ross MacDonald of Seattle and Pamela Garland of Olympia —are taking home the grand prizes for submitting these winning names, as selected by our panel of zoo judges. That grand prize includes a private viewing at the lion exhibit with a keeper! Rudo and Busela join their brother and sister, who also received names recently, this time with the help of zookeepers and donors who have helped bring big cats to Woodland Park Zoo. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. The other male is now known as Pelo (“heart” in Sot

Posted by: Caileigh Robertson, Communications Still image captured from internal monitoring cam on Monday, March 25, three days after birth.  The zoo welcomed three cubs to the count on Friday, marking the first jaguar birth at the zoo in nearly two decades! In the last few months, the zoo seems to be bursting with babies. Can we get a cub count? In November, we celebrated the birth of four rambunctious lions in over 20 years at the zoo. In December, mama sloth bear, Tasha, surprised us with not one but two newborns . And Friday evening, the rare birth of jaguar triplets sent the cub count soaring. In just six months, the zoo has welcomed nine cubs from three animal species! The three new cubs are celebrated as the latest members of the zoo’s newest generation. Zookeepers are using an internal monitoring cam to keep an eye on mom and jaguar cubs inside their behind-the-scenes maternity den. Catch a glimpse of what we can see on the cam in the video below. Video take

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Mom Adia doesn't get to rest much with four cubs, but she's as sharp as ever when it comes to watching out for them. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Last week the lion cubs got their first access to the full lion exhibit that includes the watery moat. That moat was a concern for us when the cubs were still small and developing their coordination skills, which is why they were only recently given access to the area. Now that the cubs have the run of the exhibit, keepers have been watching Adia closely to make sure that she’s not too overwhelmed by trying to look after four rambunctious cubs across a large space and near that moat. The moat is in the forefront as the cubs play with mom on the heated rock. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. But momma proved to us this weekend that we never needed to doubt her ability to be in charge. When she was playing with a ball the other day, it got away from her and r