Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo Keas are native to the forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand, making them the world’s only Alpine parrots. Keas are known for their intelligence, curiosity, mischief and loud, squealing vocalizations! As a matter of fact, their name is believed to come from the Māori people, mimicking the sounds of the birds’ vocalizations—and if you’ve heard it before you’ll recognize that almost ear-splitting “KEEEEE-AAAAHHHH” call! Keas are very hardy birds, well adapted to a cold alpine climate. They are mostly olive-green in color with bright orange feathers on the undersides of their wings and they have a long, narrow, curved, gray beak—great for manipulating things, digging through bark and plucking insects out of crevasses. Woodland Park Zoo is currently home to four of these feisty birds: males Squint, Mahoihoi and Jean Luc and female Teptep. Keas are mostly olive-green with bright orange ...

Posted by Janel Kempf, Learning and Innovation By now, you and your early learners have heard the exciting news—Woodland Park Zoo reopened on July 1! We’ve missed all of you, and can hardly wait to welcome you back. Now that we’re all busy with the newly reopened zoo, we’ll be hitting the pause button on the Zoomazium to You blog, most likely for the summer. For this last entry (for now) let’s talk about the changes you and your youngsters will notice when you first visit us. Welcome back! Photo: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo The ongoing health precautions means the zoo will be different than you and your little ones remember. All the differences you’ll find are important ones, carefully planned to keep you, our staff and volunteers, and all our beloved animals safe. But, as we all know, the young children in our lives are not necessarily big fans of change! And that’s okay! In fact, it’s important for young children to be exposed to things that aren’t dangerous or out-of-...

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Bear Affair: Living Northwest Conservation Day is one of our favorite events. Each year in early June, we get to do what we love best: watch our animals enjoy a special day tailored just to them and watch our visitors fall in love with those same animals, learn more about conservation actions they can take right here in the Pacific Northwest, and become stewards for protecting wildlife in Washington. It's also a day we get to celebrate the incredible work our conservation colleagues are doing too, as many of our peers join us by setting up learning opportunities that start on the North Meadow and wind all the way through Northern Trail. Our volunteers come out on this day, as do ZooCorps teens, and everyone from our horticulture staff (providing beautiful flowers for the mock wedding cake and arch) to our dedicated keepers who make sure the animals have a great day (without eating too many coffee grounds or cake). It doesn't get any bet...

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications Photos by: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo Ahem, drum roll please... Meet Rufous! Rufous is the newest member of the Family Farm. This miniature Jersey cow is just 9 months old, but he has already become a barnyard favorite. Right now he weighs about 415 lb, but he'll be full grown at about 3 years old and could weigh between 1000-1200 lb. His tawny red fur is especially handsome. His main diet is Timothy Hay, a high fiber basic grass hay. The young cow enjoys playing with and eating his browse, fresh edible plants provided by his keepers. Rufous received a Christmas tree, which he nibbled on and also turned into a sparring partner. Sparring is definitely one of his favorite pastimes, a natural behavior for young bull calves. He pushes his ball around the yard with his forehead and feet. Keepers also hung a jolly ball in the barn for Rufous to knock around. Like his barn-mates , miniature donkeys Sam ...

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications All you smitten kittens, it's time to test how wild at heart you really are. We challenge you to take our new ‎ Valentine's Day‬ quiz to see how well you understand the nature of love. Then join us for an early Valentine's Day celebration on Sat., Feb. 13 when it's time for bouquets, sweet treats and ruby red delights for the animals as keepers hand out valentines to our wild bunch. Take the quiz now>>

By Kirsten Pisto, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, unless otherwise noted If you’ve visited the zoo during our Raptor Flight Program , you’ve seen our raptors demonstrate their skillful aerial maneuvers. Experts at flying over the crowd and returning safely to their trainer’s glove, the raptors are used to the oohs and ahhs of a large audience in the flight yard. These birds know the subtle signals of their flight trainers and are practiced at staying on task, even when the peskiest neighborhood crows taunt them from the treetops. Lola gracefully glides between the trees, perfectly suited for quick maneuvering.  As proficient as these raptors are, once in a while keepers put them to the test and try out fresh scenarios. This allows the birds to learn new skills as well as strengthen their instinct to return to their handlers during the free flights. By introducing new terrain, keepers have a good idea of how tuned in the birds are. A quiet Frid...

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications A certain red-capped, white-bearded, perpetually jolly fella made a special stop to ask the animals what is on their wish lists this year. Though the answers were only audible to those with a little magic in their ears, Santa seemed to understand. We're not sure what Pie told Santa, but we're guessing it has something to do with mealworms. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo. Stop by this weekend and next to see if the jolly old elf got it right, at the zoo’s annual Winter Celebration ! Animals will receive holiday-themed treats such as wreaths and evergreen trees adorned with assorted fruit, fancy fish hidden in the boughs of a pine tree or gift wrapped boxes filled with favorite treats! A jaguar investigates a particularly suspicious Frosty. Photo by Dennis Dow, Woodland Park Zoo.  Keepers will offer enriching treats as part of the celebration, which highlights animal behavior such as foraging and se...

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Photos by Kirsten Pisto/WPZ. The delicate petal of a sweet rose, the crisp stem on a freshly cut camellia and a mouth full of luscious nasturtiums leaves! The zoo’s browse gardens are bursting with color and we are celebrating this summer yield with a special delivery of mouthwatering garden plants to our resident herbivores. This is the fifth summer of cross-department collaboration between horticulture, animal management, ZooCorps and the commissary. The program has been a great success in ensuring the animals receive fresh summer treats as well as providing an excellent learning opportunity for our ZooCorps teens. Cat nip is attractive to our big cats, just as it is to a house cat. The plant contains the feline attractant nepetalactone. This honey bee seems to enjoy it as well!  Fennel, mint and sugar-snap peas grow together in the browse garden behind the Tropical Rain Forest unit. Browse gardens are scat...