Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Komodo dragon at Woodland Park Zoo. Photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo What do you do when your 150-pound Komodo dragon needs to visit the doctor? You put him in the car and drive to the vet’s office, right? Well, it’s not quite that simple—but a recent appointment for Selat, one of our older Komodo dragons, provides a good opportunity to show how our awesome animal care team comes up with custom plans to meet the health needs of every critter in our care. Whether we’re working with the small and fluffy or the large and scaly, our team will do anything for animals! Selat gets regular physical therapy treatments from the zoo's animal care team. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/WPZ Selat is a 20-year-old male Komodo who is geriatric. Like many aging animals (and humans) he is experiencing mobility issues in his joints and limbs related to advanced osteo-arthritis. For the last couple years, Woodland Park Zoo staff have been wor

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Photos by PAWS Wildlife Center Female black bear recovering at PAWS Wildlife Center. Photo credit: PAWS Wildlife Center Sometimes wild animals need a little help. In this case, a particularly big wild animal needed more than a little help. Today, this female American black bear is resting comfortably, healing and recovering at PAWS Wildlife Center in Lynnwood —but a few months ago her very survival was dependent on the cooperation of several partners dedicated to wildlife conservation. In early December, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) received a call about a female bear that had been hit by a car in Poulsbo, Washington, east of Seattle. Black bears aren’t often seen in our region at that time of year because they typically den up for the winter months, but they do occasionally wake to move around or change denning sites. It took several days of searching but wildlife officers were finally able to locate and immobi

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Our grizzly bears, Keema and Denali, celebrate their 25th birthday on January 15. We've watched them grow from rough and tumble cubs to handsome beasts with fine-tuned palates for salmon, a penchant for romping through their stream and a remarkable nose for coffee grounds. They have inspired thousands of guests to take conservation actions and protect Pacific Northwest habitat. To mark the occasion, we’re giving you the gift of 25 fun facts about our favorite grizzlies—one for each glorious year! Happiest Birthday, sweet bears! 1. Keema and Denali are twins—born January 15, 1994—and have been together their whole lives. 2. Their age is an indicator of the good care they receive here at Woodland Park Zoo. The average life expectancy for a wild male grizzly is 22 but bears in human care can live much longer. The cubs kickin' it in the stream way back in 1994! 3. They are “Cougar bears”. OK, not really, but they were

posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications At Woodland Park Zoo, we want to inspire people of all ages to make conservation a priority in their lives. Taj and Glenn want that, too! In case you haven’t met them yet, Taj and Glenn are the greater one-horned rhinos who moved into the zoo’s new Assam Rhino Reserve earlier this year, and they are already inspiring the next generation of wildlife protectors. That generation includes lots of motivated kids of all ages who are active in their communities and schools. They want to save wildlife. They want to make a difference. And we want you to know about them! In Assam, India, children walk past a school wall mural dedicated to the preservation of rhinos in Manas National Park. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo We recently shared a story with you about children who live in the Manas community of Assam, India . They take an oath every day at school with their fellow classmates to protect the wildlife and wild places near

Written by Stephanie Payne-Jacobs, gorilla keeper Note from the Editor: We told you earlier about Kwame , a ninteen-year-old male western lowland gorilla who came to Woodland Park Zoo from Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C. just last month. That story picks up here in the words of Stephanie Payne-Jacobs, one of our dedicated gorilla keepers. She reminds us of why Kwame was chosen to be the new silverback for a group of our females and then takes us through their first days of forming a family.  Kwame, pictured at his former home, Smithsonian's National Zoo/Photo: Skip Brown Beginnings Our search for a new silverback, the adult male leader of a gorilla family, began just weeks after Leo’s passing in March 2018. While still processing the loss of sweet Leo, we knew we had to begin the search in order to bring a sense of normality back to the lives of the females Leo had left behind. These females, 22-year-old Nadiri, 17-year-old Akenji, Uzumma, who is

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Indian Flying Foxes. How can you not love those foxy faces? Photo: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo Every living creature has an important role to play in the ecosystem—a special niche that they evolved to fill. Some are very misunderstood despite the good they do, and this can lead to misconceptions that make some people fearful of nature’s most valuable players. Examples include spiders that help control insect populations and snakes that do the same for rodents. We’d like to introduce you to another often misunderstood creature—one that calls Woodland Park Zoo, home. Meet the Indian flying fox ( Pteropus giganteus )—also called the giant fruit bat. Hangin' around. Photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo There are more than 1,000 different species of bats found throughout the world and the Indian flying fox—which is so named for its fox-like appearance—is one of the largest. There can be some color variation, but most of these bats ar

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Saturday, September 1st is officially Vulture Awareness Day! Modoc is a very special vulture!  Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. At Woodland Park Zoo, we appreciate vultures like Modoc, our 32-year old turkey vulture, every day! Why? Because vultures all over the world help keep our ecosystems healthy and clean. Vultures don’t hunt live prey. They’re mostly scavengers that feed on dead animals which would otherwise rot. The acids in their stomach are so strong that they can neutralize all kinds of dangerous germs and bacteria—which helps minimize the spread of disease to other animals and to people. Featherless or lightly feathered heads help vultures, like Modoc, keep clean while feeding on carcasses. Photo by Elizabeth Bacher/Woodland Park Zoo. Even though it might not look like it at first glance, vultures are also role models for good hygiene! Carcasses can be messy, so featherless or lightly feathered hea