Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Pike Place Market. Fishmongers. Salmon. Grizzly bears. Woodland Park Zoo. Rain. This isn’t a game of Pacific Northwest word association—it’s a recipe for a rockin’ good time down at the Northern Trail this morning! Our friends from world famous Pike Place Fish Market brought their signature fish-tossing skills to our grizzly bear exhibit today at a media teaser for this Saturday’s Bear Affair presented by Brown Bear Car Wash event. The fishmongers planted themselves safely at the edge of the exhibit—a massive moat stood between them and the bears, don’t worry!—and got to tossing while grizzly brothers Keema and Denali looked on. The first few tosses of the 6-pound salmon were just for practice, though the bears seemed like they were hoping for a slip-up that would land a salmon in their direction. But once the rhythm got going among the fishmongers—tossing the salmon over the heads of dozens of school chil

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications 2012 is the Year of the Dragon, and Tuesday was the day of the Komodo dragon . That’s because the zoo’s male Komodo dragon, Loki, turned 18 on Tuesday and the keepers celebrated dragon-style: with “cake” made out of ground meat topped with a mouse. Loki gulped down his treat with lightning speed as visitors gathered at the exhibit to sing “Happy Birthday” to him. The song lasted longer than the cake! While we often mark our 18th birthday as the milestone between childhood and adulthood, for Komodo dragons, turning 18 means you’re well past middle aged. It’s not known just how long the average Komodo dragon life span is in the wild, but in captivity, Komodo dragons have been known to live up to 25 years. By weight, Komodos are the world’s largest lizard. They don’t get to be that size just by snacking on birthday cake. In the wild, Komodos are known for their hunting prowess, taking down prey as big as Sunda deer,

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications How do you celebrate an ocelot’s 1st birthday? With a turkey cake and mouse candle, of course! Our little Evita is not quite so little anymore. To celebrate her turning 1 year old last week, Evita’s keepers prepared a lovely birthday surprise including some wrapped presents (boomer balls generously bought for Evita from our animal enrichment wishlist ), a papier mache ball with a mouse inside, and a heart-shaped frozen cake made from ground turkey, turkey breast and prepared feline diet with a “candle” that I hope to never see on any cake I eat—a mouse with its tail sticking up like a wick! Evita was slow to investigate her treats until keepers added an unexpected twist—a fresh pile of snow picked from just outside the Tropical Rain Forest exhibit. Evita’s exhibit is near 80 degrees year round, so the snow brought out her curiosity. She rubbed her head in the snow and batted at it with her paws before moving on to the other treat

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications The zoo was closed to the public again today due to the snow and ice conditions. Here's a look at what was happening on grounds: We'll post to www.zoo.org first thing in the morning tomorrow on whether we'll finally be able to open again. Until then, stay safe! Photos by Ryan Hawk and Carol Roll/Woodland Park Zoo.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications The zoo may be closed today due to “Snowpocalypse,” but many of the animals are still out and about. Some animals retreat indoors or look for a warm spot to tuck themselves into to get out of the snow, while others—like our residents of the Northern Trail exhibit—are in their element. The first animals you encounter in the Northern Trail are the pack of four sister wolves—Doba, Shila, Aponi and Kaya. When we first approached the wolves this morning, they were beautiful to behold in their white fur coated in snow, an elk lounging in the background. But it wasn’t long before one of the wolves interrupted the still, idyllic portrait with a piercing howl. Then the wolves all began to vocalize together and play. They chased. And chased. Then took a break to nibble at the snow. We pulled ourselves away from the scene just long enough to see one of our grizzly bears shaking himself free of the snow piling onto his fur. The

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications For the second year in a row, Asian elephant Chai made her prediction for who will win the Apple Cup. Last year her pick of University of Washington proved accurate when the Huskies won. This year she picked the Washington State University Cougars to win. Do you think her prediction will prove true or will Chai have broken her perfect record of one? The wind and rain this morning didn’t stop a food-seeking Chai from bounding onto the field toward the identical Husky and Cougar treat piles made up of hay, apples, bamboo, football-shaped icepops, papier-mache team helmets and oversized papier-mache apples stuffed with biscuits and more apples. Ignoring the boos from the Husky fans in the crowd, Chai went straight to the Cougar pile first—the action that made her pick of the Cougs official. She munched through much of the Cougar goodies before turning to the Husky pile and snacking on those treats too. Those of us watching tried to f

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Despite the fact that I’m still munching on leftover Halloween candy, I know the holiday season has arrived now that our Enrichment Giving Trees for the animals are going up and our zookeepers’ annual holiday gift auction is coming this Fri., Nov. 18. Holiday Auction If you are looking for an extraordinary gift that you can’t buy online or from a mall, check out Woodland Park Zoo’s Holiday Silent Auction this Friday to bid on a host of cool gifts including behind-the-scenes animal tours. You’ll get to pick from unforgettable experiences like going behind the scenes to watch an elephant bath, taking a photo with a raptor, or meeting an orangutan up close. The silent auction is put on by the Puget Sound Chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers (PS-AAZK) and will take place inside the zoo’s Education Center (near the South Entrance) on Fri., Nov. 18. Guaranteed bidding will be from noon to 2:00 p.m., and the silent auction

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Have you ever wanted to feed a penguin just like our keepers get to do every day? Here’s your chance to feed our tuxedo-clad birds! Our Humboldt penguin feeding opportunity kicked off this month and is now available daily through April 1. Each day from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. (or until daily fish supply is depleted), visitors will have the opportunity to add a penguin feeding experience to their zoo visit. For $5, you’ll get to feed the zoo’s charismatic Humboldt penguins a handful of tasty fish and experience these endangered birds hand to beak. You can pre-purchase your feeding opportunity at the West Entrance when you arrive (located at Phinney Ave. N. between N. 55th and N. 56th streets) or head over to the penguin exhibit and purchase the upgraded experience while you are there (cash only when purchasing at the exhibit). We have received wonderful feedback from our visitors who have had the unforgettable experience of f

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Scarves up! Woodland Park Zoo’s animals put their soccer skills to work today as we rallied for the Seattle Sounders FC’s run for the MLS Cup playoffs. The soccer ball kicking exhibition started with Rico, a 4-year-old Sicilian miniature donkey who recently joined the zoo’s Family Farm. Donning a Sounders scarf, Rico skillfully pushed his Sounders soccer ball all around his exhibit using his nose. He used his mouth to get the ball out of the gutter and back onto the playing field. The ref is still out on whether that’s a legal move. Next up was our frisky 2-year-old lion Adia who chased her ball all around the exhibit and even went after it when it splashed into the moat filled with water. It didn’t take long for Adia to crush the ball with her bite and drag it back with her to her rock for safe keeping. Five-year-old snow leopard Tom spent a good 5 minutes first rubbing his fur all over his soccer ball, enticed by the ne