Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Jenny Mears, Education Are you an educator interested in earning your Master’s degree with Woodland Park Zoo as your campus? Would you like to join formal and informal educators from around Puget Sound and the world in building a strong foundation in ecological literacy, inquiry-based learning and field investigation? Instructors learn through observation at Woodland Park Zoo's award-winning Humboldt penguin exhibit. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. If so, Woodland Park Zoo and Project Dragonfly from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio are thrilled to introduce you to the Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP), an exciting new Master’s program for educators. Co-delivered by Woodland Park Zoo professional education staff and faculty at Miami University, the AIP combines graduate courses at the zoo with web-based learning communities that connect you to a broad network of educators and community leaders. Foundations of Inquiry students test whether the water stride

Posted by: Janel Kempf, Education and Kirsten Pisto, Communications A few weeks ago, Woodland Park Zoo education specialist Janel Kempf and co-workers went to the West Seattle Library to present the zoo’s Little Critters animal encounter program to a group of children, as part of the zoo’s community outreach. Janel Kempf holding peregrine falcon D1. Photo by Kyle Doane/Woodland Park Zoo. Before the show started, a little girl and her mom came up to Janel, holding out a bundle of brightly wrapped tissue paper. Gifts for the raptors. Photo by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo. When the team opened the gifts they discovered that the package contained some very thoughtful items for our raptors! It turns out the four-year-old girl had come to the zoo’s raptor program at the Columbia Library a few weeks before, and had been very moved by the plight of our rescued raptors including Chouette, the northern saw-whet owl . Chouette came to us after she was struck by a vehicle while bug-hun

Posted by: Susan Burchardt, Raptor Keeper Turkey vulture Modoc in flight at Woodland Park Zoo. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Vultures are often depicted as harbingers of death, yet many vulture populations face threats of their own with some species facing extinction. We’re celebrating International Vulture Awareness Day on September 3 to help zoo visitors look past the vultures’ bad reputation and highlight their vital ecological niche as nature’s clean-up crew. California condor at San Diego Zoo. Photo by Wikimedia Commons user Snowmanradio. Vultures are scavenging birds that help recycle and prevent the spread of disease. But serving as a clean-up crew by feeding on carrion was partially what led to the California condor (Gymnogyps californianus)—a New World vulture—dipping down to a dismally low population of just 22 birds in the 1980s. The condors were dying from feeding on lead-poisoned carcasses, and poaching and habitat destruction compounded the problem. Zoos

Posted by: Pattie Beaven, Zookeeper Clockwise from top left: Keeper Laura McComsky works with a giraffe (photo by Brittney Bollay/Woodland Park Zoo), keeper Celine Pardo works with Humboldt penguins (photo by Matt Hagen), and keeper Edgar Fortune works with red ruffed lemurs (photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo.) The zookeeper’s profession by nature occurs mostly behind the scenes, so it can be hard for us keepers to find time outside of Woodland Park Zoo’s regularly scheduled Keeper Chats to meet and talk with zoo visitors. That’s why, in celebration of National Zoo Keeper Week, the Puget Sound Chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers hosted two days of activities here at Woodland Park Zoo where a zookeeper was available throughout the day to answer visitor questions about what it is like to be a keeper and what we do on a daily basis to care for the more than 1,000 animals that call Woodland Park Zoo home. As part of the activities out on zoo grounds, we set up a t

Posted by: Jenny Mears, Education One overcast day in November 2007, I embarked on a boat tour of the Duwamish River to learn more about the natural, cultural and political history of this local Superfund site . While cruising from Harbor Island to Turning Basin—the northern to the southern limits of the Superfund designation—I learned how this river transformed from an estuary with thousands of acres of tidal flats and riparian habitat to an industrial site in which less than two percent of natural habitat remains. From my guide, a representative of Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition, I also learned about the amazing alliance of communities, tribes, environmental organizations and businesses involved in cleanup and outreach efforts, including habitat restoration events, festivals, and youth programs. I also got to hear the incredibly inspiring story of John Beal, a Vietnam veteran who, after being told he had four months to live due to heart problems, decided to use that time to c

Posted by: Kate Neville, External Relations Save the date! Next Thursday, June 23, the Seattle Foundation is promoting GiveBIG , a communitywide day of online giving to local non-profits. On this day, gifts to Woodland Park Zoo made through the GiveBIG event will be stretched by the Seattle Foundation. This is especially exciting because every dollar will go towards our Campaign for More Wonder More Wild that will not only support our ongoing commitment to animal care, conservation and education, but also help us to build a new, naturalistic exhibit complex for tigers and Asian bears. Our community needs more wonder. Our world needs more wild. Here’s how you can help make that happen: 1) On June 23, from 7:00 a.m. to midnight, visit the zoo’s page on the Seattle Foundation website 2) Click the red DONATE NOW button and make a donation to the zoo through our Seattle Foundation page (this is the only way your gift will count towards the GiveBIG event) 3) Funds from a s

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications At Bear Affair this weekend, zookeepers teamed up with bear ecologist Chris Morgan from the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project —a Woodland Park Zoo Partner for Wildlife —to demonstrate what happens if we don’t follow safety precautions when living or camping in bear country. Our partners at GBOP want us all to be Bear Smart and act responsibly to ensure the safety of people and bears. They tell us sanitation and common sense are the keys to preventing problems. Remember, food and odors attract bears. Carelessly stored human food, livestock feed, garbage, and even barbeque grease and bird seed can attract bears and keep them coming back. Do not allow a bear to get a food reward and associate that reward with humans—you may endanger yourself and other people, and the outcome is often the unnecessary death of a bear. Bear Affair visitors learned Bear Smart tips and practices, but if you missed the event, you can find those tips at the GBOP w

Posted by: Nicole Aragon, Education As the Child and Family Program Coordinator here at Woodland Park Zoo, I must admit that I do spend a fair amount of time at my desk. But every now and then, I get to take part in some amazing opportunities that could happen nowhere else. One of these amazing experiences was in a class for families that I taught recently, which will be offered again this spring, called Animal Enrichment . Enrichment is an important aspect of animal health here at Woodland Park Zoo. We provide enrichment that encourages animals’ natural behaviors like foraging, browsing, hunting, seeking out new scents and marking territories. The animals in our care are important ambassadors for their wild counterparts and we work very hard to ensure they lead healthy, enriched lives. During the class, we toured zoo grounds and I talked about many of the different enrichment items we offer to our animals—everything from Chanel No. 5 to paper bags. Tropical Rain Forest keepers even g

Posted by: Wendy Gardner, Zookeeper, Grizzly Bear Outreach Project Field Assistant, Sky Valley Bear Smart Project Leader I have a passion for educating people on ways to prevent human-bear conflicts so that bears do not die needlessly because of human caused problems. Since 2006, I have worked as a field assistant for the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project (GBOP), a Woodland Park Zoo Partner for Wildlife . In 2010, I had the privilege to expand my work in the field, joining with Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife’s Enforcement Officer Nicholas Jorg in the Skykomish Valley to establish the Sky Valley Bear Smart Project, focusing on educating the public in the Gold Bar and Sultan communities on how to be Bear Smart . One of the most rewarding and thrilling experiences in my new position came last summer when I helped Officer Jorg handle a female bear that was roaming campgrounds in Monroe. The bear was drawn in by the temptation of food left out by a young group of campers. (Exampl

Posted by: Katie Remine, Education Connecting children to nature is essential to our mission and we do it every day on zoo grounds. But nature is all around us and we’re always excited about the opportunity to take nature lessons outside of the zoo gates and head into the community. We’ll be doing just that on Sat., Oct. 16 at Seward Park where we’ll be taking part in the National Wildlife Federation’s Hike & Seek family event—and we’d love to see you there! A cross between a nature hike and a scavenger hunt, Hike & Seek is a great way to get your family and friends out into nature and experience a local park in a whole new way. Step off from base camp after loads of activities for all ages, and use your map and mission guidebook to create your own interactive nature experience. Along the way, you’ll learn about trees, water, plants, animals and birds. Woodland Park Zoo staff will be there to guide the Stop & Study station on animals. Families will have the opportunity to

Posted by: Dr. Randall Kyes, Global Field Training in Conservation Biology, WPZ Partner for Wildlife For more than 10 years, Woodland Park Zoo has supported the Global Field Training in Conservation Biology (GFTCB) program, a WPZ Partner for Wildlife . Through GFTCB, Dr. Randall Kyes, from the University of Washington and One Earth Institute, and colleagues in Bangladesh, Nepal, Mexico, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, and Brazil have been working together to foster the next generation of global conservation leaders, training university students and professionals to be responsible for the survival of the biodiversity in their home countries. Here is the most recent news from the field from Dr. Kyes… This past summer, we completed our 13th annual Field Course in Conservation Biology at the Tangkoko Nature Reserve in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. We had 10 participants including seven university students, one ranger, and two members of a local conservation o

Posted by: Jenny Mears, Education I’m straining my eyes and craning my neck while sitting in a small boat speeding around a bend in the Kinabatangan River in Borneo. “There! There!” someone shouts and points to the nearby bank. It’s then that I catch my first glimpse of an elephant in the wild, a Borneo pygmy elephant calmly grazing on grass by the river. Eventually, we turn the corner and are able to see the entire herd of approximately 45 elephants. Most of the adult elephants are also ripping up and eating the long grass; some juveniles are wrestling with each other in the river; a few of the babies are nursing. Meanwhile, I am awestruck and amazed, tears streaming down my face, unable to believe that I’m witnessing this incredible natural phenomenon first-hand. Summer 2010 found me embarking on a Field Expedition to Borneo, an island in Southeast Asia considered to be a hotspot of ecological diversity, as part of my Global Field Program Master’s degree through Ohio’s Miami Universi