Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications The lion cubs' first birthday is just weeks away, coming up November 8. The growing quadruplets have come a long way since their debut. Remember when they took their first steps outside at just three months old? The foursome stuck close to mom and tentatively explored all the new sights and smells that surrounded them. Now at 11 months old, the cubs run this space with total confidence. (Love that there’s one staring off into space in both photos!) Top: The lion cubs on their first day outside at 3 months old, photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo; Bottom: Now 11 months old, the lion cubs strut with confidence, photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. They are coming into the age now where they would begin to hunt. Those predatory behaviors we've watched them develop through play are starting to become more honed and skilled. Take a look at those no-joke claws. Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. It is easy to tell the two

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications Photos by: Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo It's back to school these days, and even our baby eyelash palm pit viper is ready with school supplies. Here are seven tips for a successful school day, according to our pencil-loving snakeling. 1. Always bring your favorite pencil. This baby eyelash palm pit viper, born August 23, weighs about 0.1 ounces (2.9 grams). We brought a pencil to the photo shoot to help show scale, and that pencil quickly became the property of this little snake. 2. Protect your pencil at all costs. Eyelash palm pit vipers are ovoviviparous, which means they give birth to live young, instead of laying eggs. This snakeling is certainly a live wire! 3. Pay attention or you’ll get tangled in knots. Handling a baby eyelash palm pit viper is dangerous. They are venomous; do not play with snakes and pencils. Our keeper, Alyssa, was holding the pencil with a special tool for handling venomous snakes. 4

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Even dragons start out small. Have you seen the two Komodo dragon juveniles now living at the Adaptations Building at the zoo? Born in January at the Memphis Zoo as part of the Species Survival Plan for this endangered species, the duo moved here this summer to be raised in our ample dragon digs. Hard to imagine these tiny critters, who each weigh in at about one-and-a-half pounds (650 grams), will one day be as big as our 15-year-old male Selat, who is 110 pounds (50 kilograms). Though, they won’t reach adult size until they're about 7 to 10 years old! Once these dragons mature, they’ll continue to participate in the Species Survival Plan and may move on to other zoos if they are matched up with a partner for breeding. It’ll be some time before they are ready for that next step. For now, the juveniles are on view next door to Selat. We've built a little apartment for them inside one of the Komodo dragon exhibits th

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Looks like our baby giraffe spotted the web cam in his barn. His curious licks were caught in extreme close up on the cam—check out that tongue! Video: Baby giraffe webcam taste-a-thon The cam was always safely secured, but it sure did take a licking! The camera sits securely inside a cutout in the wall just below the giraffe feeder. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Some of our dedicated giraffe cam viewers even caught him in the act while watching live: We'd love to know what you see when you tune into the giraffe baby cam . Send your best screenshots and observations to webkeeper@zoo.org , tweet or Instagram to @woodlandparkzoo (#giraffecam), or post to our Facebook timeline .  And of course, don't miss the chance to see the calf in person! He has access to the outdoor area of the giraffe barn daily, and tends to head out there mid-mornings through afternoons. We know the next big piece of news you

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications This might be the first time our four male otter pups have done something that can be classified as “swimming” outside. A tiny pup goes for a swim. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. We've seen them dip into the smaller pools in their exhibit, as well as one we keep for them behind the scenes, and they've flopped into the running water outside a few times, not always intentionally. But on Tuesday morning, we watched the family of Asian small-clawed otters head into the large pool in their exhibit and splash around outside for their first real swim together. A parent is always watching over the pups. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. The pups pushed out into the pool with mom Teratai and dad Guntur joining them, watching intently. The boys stuck close to the pool’s edge near the reeds, which offered them something to grab onto and a way to pull themselves out if swim time got too overwhelming for them. Kee

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications The giraffe calf has grown nearly a foot since his birth 3 weeks ago, towering in at just about 7 feet tall now. But there’s another tell-tale sign of growth to look for: the formation of the calf’s ossicones. Notice mom’s fully formed ossicones and the little ones just starting to take shape on baby’s head. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Ossicones are the horn-like protuberances giraffes sport on their heads. They are formed from ossified cartilage (cartilage that has transformed into bone) and covered in skin and fur. Remember what looked like a little tuft of hair on baby when he was first born? One-day-old giraffe with flat ossicones. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Those were his little ossicones, all flat and barely developed. But over the weeks they have begun to harden. You can see in these pictures at one-week-old how the ossicones are beginning to take shape. One-week-old ossicones, the profile v

Posted by: Caileigh Robertson, Communications Photos by: Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo Visitors catch a glimpse of Gavin in the zoo's Raptor Yard. Gavin, our youngest porcupine, is stretching his legs and catching some rays in a spacious zoo yard, giving guests an up-close visit with—quite possibly—our cutest quilled creature. Gavin on the run in the Raptor Yard.  While Gavin’s parents, Molly and Oliver, occupy the Northern Trail porcupine exhibit, Gavin takes to the zoo’s Raptor Center yard on weekdays for regular exercise and explorations under the supervision of zookeepers and staff. His visits to the Raptor Center yard are not formally scheduled, but you might catch a closer look at the pint-sized porcupine during your afternoon visits to the zoo! Notice the thick gloves required when holding Gavin and his quills. At 2 months of age, keepers began to notice a decrease in his weight, which for a young growing porcupine is a cause for concern. Upon examin

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Photos by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Two pups follow mom outside for the very first time. Everyone is busy getting the Asian small-clawed otter pups ready for their outdoor debut. Mom and dad have been teaching the pups how to swim in a shallow, indoor pool in their behind-the-scenes den. Zookeepers have been baby-proofing the outdoor exhibit—adding ramps made from branches to the water and slowing the stream and waterfall down to a trickle so the pups don’t wipe out. The pups followed mom onto exhibit briefly. All is set. Now we just need to get the pups to come outside for a little practice time. That’s proving to be the hardest part. Taking a peek at the waterfall on exhibit.  Last Tuesday morning, mom Teratai guided her pups out onto exhibit to give them a chance to explore the outdoors for the first time. Notice the little patch on the pup's side? Each pup has a unique shaved patch to help keepers tell t