Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Daphne Matter, ZooCorps Intern Editor's note: This post was written by our lovely ZooCorps Communications Intern, Daphen Matter. Daphne is a high school student who spent the majority of her summer with the social media and communications team at Woodland Park Zoo. We were very lucky to get to know Daphne and all of our outstanding 2018 ZooCorps interns. Thanks to this crew of amazing teens, our summer was very productive and educational, for us and them! ZooCorps is Woodland Park Zoo’s teen volunteer program that gives students the chance to connect with animals, conservation topics, and the public. Teens build leadership skills by engaging with zoo guests, participating in citizen science opportunities, developing useful job skills, and increasing their knowledge of animals and their habitats through the ZooCorps program. After a competitive process of applications and interviews, 17 of these ZooCorps volunteers were selected for the ZooCorps summer inter...

Posted by Daphne Matter, ZooCorps Intern Photos by Daphne Matter, Woodland Park Zoo. Woodland Park Zoo staff pledged to reduce or refuse single-use plastics during Plastic Free July! With support from Seattle Public Utilities, we then invited you to join us by taking the Plastic Free for Me pledge . Here is a recap of what we learned, what we found difficult to give up and a few surprising plastic confessions. Participants will receive a #PlasticFreeForMe water bottle sticker. Thank you to all those who participated in our Plastic Free for Me campaign! 236 of you joined us in our collective effort to lessen our impact on the environment during the month of July. By reducing your consumption of single-use plastics and taking this pledge, you have done your part to save wildlife from the great threat that plastic pollution poses. Why is it so important to keep plastic waste out of our oceans? Plastic presents a grave issue in our world today, especially for marine lif...

Posted by Daphne Matter, ZooCorps Intern Get ready for a day at Woodland Park Zoo that’s packed with action... climate action! Climate Action Day is an awesome (and informative) event that will take place on July 19th from 3:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m. at the zoo and will be led by the ZooCorps Climate Action Team, a branch of Woodland Park Zoo’s teen volunteer program dedicated to inspiring change in our community through focused actions combating climate change. It is a completely youth-led event, as teens and children are the future of our world. ZooCorps and the Otter Spotter project. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo. This day will be an excellent opportunity for all ages to learn about specific and simple actions that can make change. Everyone can make an impact on the environment, no matter who you are, and we will focus on ensuring that impact is a positive one. We will work on how to build positive habits through realistic and sustainable practices tha...