Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Last week we shared a sneak peek of the new Malayan tiger and sloth bear exhibit Banyan Wilds (opening May 2). Now let’s take a closer look at the three tigers who have been keeping our horticulture crew busy (see evidence below) as they taste test out their new digs.  Our young tigers use all of their senses to get the dirt on their new space. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Liem, Eko and Olan arrived at Woodland Park Zoo in March and will make their debut when the new exhibit opens. The three brothers and their sister were born November 12, 2013 to Malayan tigers Liku and Suhana at Little Rock Zoo. Since their arrival the boys have been getting to know their keepers, exploring the new exhibit and testing out all of its features—especially the tiger stream. At one and a half years old, the young male tigers are curious, playful and especially interested in their keepers and still fascinated with each other. One by

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor VIDEO: Tigers sniff and lick GoPro camera. Produced by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. It may be April Fool's Day, but this is no joke: tigers return to Woodland Park Zoo when the all new Banyan Wilds exhibit opens May 2! The tigers—three brothers named Liem, Olan and Eko— arrived last month from the Little Rock Zoo. Right now the brothers are in a standard 30-day period of quarantine where we monitor their health and establish training and care routines with them. This is a chance for them to acclimate to their new surroundings, get to know their new keepers, and settle in comfortably. Zoo photographer Ryan Hawk set up a GoPro camera in one of the tigers' behind-the-scenes quarantine areas to get this first footage of the coolest new stripes in town. A GoPro camera is set up in a behind-the-scenes quarantine area for the tigers to get up close video. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. We'll be sharing more and more

Posted by: Stephanie Payne-Jacobs, Zookeeper Calaya enjoys organic flowers from the zoo's Rose Garden. Photo: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Calaya joins the dating game As animal caretakers, the daily welfare of the gorillas is our highest priority, but looking ahead and planning for the future of each gorilla is just as important. Such long term plans may revolve around future breeding opportunities, socially appropriate groupings or age related concerns. At the heart of this planning is making sure we meet the mental and physical health of each individual, while also assuring the genetic sustainability and health of the population. Recently, Woodland Park Zoo had to say goodbye to a member of the gorilla family due to a match-making opportunity that we felt was in the gorilla’s best interest. In late February, Calaya, a young adult female gorilla from Vip’s group, was transferred to National Zoo in Washington D.C. as part of a breeding recommendation by the Speci

Story by Ariel Mark, mongabay.com contributor Originally published by mongabay.com ; republished in part via The Global Forest Reporting Network Habitat loss and illegal hunting are leading drivers behind mammal population decline and extinction in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. But what's driving these drivers? Road infrastructure, according to research. Dr. Reuben Clements* from James Cook University, along with his colleagues, conducted the first-ever comprehensive study examining the impacts of road infrastructure on mammal populations in Southeast Asia. Their findings were recently published in PLOS One . An elephant crosses State Road 156. Photo by Reuben Clements. Roads pose extreme environmental challenges, particularly for conservation efforts in the global south, where roads are often intertwined with economic growth and habitat degradation. From just 2005 to 2010, Southeast Asian landscapes saw an increase of total paved roads from 16 to 51 percent,

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Photo by Steve Winter/Panthera. UPDATE:  Wow! Thanks for showing your stripes for tigers—your online votes from earlier this week helped our on-the-ground conservation partner, MYCAT, win funding to expand anti-poaching patrols in Malaysia. It's amazing what we can do when we join forces as a community with partners in the field to fight for a better future for wildlife!  ORIGINAL STORY: Woodland Park Zoo and Panthera work together with on-the-ground partners in Malaysia to protect tigers and their forests— and now one of those partners needs your help! MYCAT (Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers) needs your vote to receive $30,000+ to expand its CAT Walks program , where trained volunteers trek through Malaysia’s rain forests looking for signs of poachers. Snares and traps are recorded, deactivated and reported to the authorities. A poacher's snare hidden in a tree. Photo: Fred Koontz/WPZ. CAT Walkers celebra

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications Dr. Robert Long sets up a non-invasive hair snare to snag wolverine hair that can be used for DNA analysis. Photo by Steven Gnam. Dr. Robert Long, Woodland Park Zoo’s first senior conservation fellow, has been recognized among the first group of 20 scientists awarded  the newly established Wilburforce Fellowship in Conservation Science, announced recently by the Wilburforce Foundation and COMPASS. The overarching goal of the Wilburforce Fellowship program is to build a community of conservation science leaders who excel in using science to help achieve durable conservation solutions in western North America. The Wilburforce Fellowship program provides skills development and sustained mentorship to help spark transformative, lasting change in how scientists approach their work. By bringing together scientists from across a broad spectrum of career stages, disciplines, geographies, and affiliations, the Wilburforce Fellowship will bre

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Today Reps. Pettigrew (D), Buys (R) and Fitzgibbon (D) introduced bipartisan House Bill 1131 to put an end to illegal elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn trade in Washington state. In addition to federal law, state laws are needed to close loopholes that allow the black market to go unchecked. Which one is more precious? You got us this far! More than 7,000 Woodland Park Zoo and Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium supporters joined together to raise our voices on this issue. Legislators are now listening. Let’s be heard! TAKE ACTION It’s time to use your voice once again! Leave a public comment on the Washington State Legislature website in SUPPORT of HB 1131.  You can use the following talking points in your comment: As your constituent, I am writing in support of Woodland Park Zoo’s and Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium’s 96 Elephants campaign and ask you to support WA State HB 1131 to end the sale of illegal elephant ivory and rhin

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications We’ve got a new arrival to the Temperate Forest… he’s got a fiery red coat and his name is Yukiko!  As part of Woodland Park Zoo’s preventive care program, our veterinary team performed a full physical examination of Yukiko including his weight, blood work and radiographs. “We are pleased overall with his weight and blood work and he appears to be in good shape,” said Dr. Darin Collins, director of Woodland Park Zoo’s Animal Health Programs.  Photo by Ryan Hawk, Woodland Park Zoo. Yukiko during his preventative exam. Photo by Ryan Hawk, Woodland Park Zoo. Dr. Darin Collins checks out Yukiko's teeth and gums. Photo by Ryan Hawk, Woodland Park Zoo. The 9-year-old panda arrived under the Red Panda Species Survival Plan conservation breeding program from Red River Zoo in Fargo, N.D. Yukiko will be paired up with our female, 7-year-old Stellar, in the hopes that they hit it off. The breeding season for red pandas occurs fro

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications They may not be as well-known by the 180 million people who visit Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)-accredited zoos and aquariums each year, but desert pupfish , freshwater mussels , and Polynesian tree snails play important roles in their respective ecosystems. If not for the hard work of AZA-accredited institutions and their conservation partners, some of these and many other animals would already have vanished from the planet. With a growing number of human-influenced threats threatening animals around the world, including poaching, deforestation, and an expanding population that already exceeds 7 billion people, we are facing what some scientists call the “Sixth Extinction.” The 228 accredited members of AZA continue to build upon their history and expertise of saving endangered species such as breeding programs that coordinate across many institutions to ensure healthy genetic and demographic diversity and partnerships with loc

Posted by: Peter Miller, Zookeeper with Katrina Lindahl, Horticulturist Woodland Park Zoo provides a home for the critically endangered—animals and plants alike. After local authorities confiscated a number of endangered succulent plants, seized from a collector who illegally dug them up from their native habitats, we are proud to step in and provide the plants with a second chance to thrive. Here, keepers and horticulturists work closely together all the time to choose plants for exhibits and zoo grounds. We look at factors like overlapping native ranges of plants and animals, connections in their natural history, and potential toxicity of plants to animals when making choices.  Using these parameters, we have found appropriate new homes for the plants, all of which are listed as protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). These wonderful specimens have been incorporated into geographically-appropriate animal exhibits within the zoo’s Day

Posted by: Fred Koontz, PhD, VP Field Conservation Nowhere can we make a greater difference for endangered tigers than to work directly in the field. Just one hundred years ago, more than 100,000 wild tigers roamed the grasslands and forests of Asia. Now, less than 3,200 survive. Behind this sharp decline are decades of habitat loss and illegal killing. Today, conservation scientists worry about an accelerating international demand for tiger parts, such as skin for rugs and bone for Chinese medicine. Poachers are pushing this iconic big cat to the brink of extinction. We’re working hard to change that! As you learned in last summer’s field report , Panthera and Woodland Park Zoo established a 10-year, $1 million partnership to assist our Malaysian colleagues’ efforts to save tigers from extinction. The Malayan tiger ( Panthera tigris jacksoni ) is a tiger subspecies found only on the Malay Peninsula. In the 1950s, there were an estimated 3,000 tigers in Peninsular Malaysia; possib