Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Gray wolf, Shila, was a treasure and we will deeply miss her. Woodland Park Zoo is deeply saddened by the loss of its sole gray wolf, Shila (SHY-lah), who has passed away. Animal keepers found the 14-year-old, female wolf deceased this morning in her habitat. In human care, the median life expectancy for gray wolves is 11 to 12 years old. At 14, Shila was a geriatric wolf. As a standard procedure, the zoo’s animal health team will perform a postmortem exam to further diagnose factors that may have contributed to Shila’s death. Shila was born in April 2010 at New York State Zoo at Thompson Park and moved to Woodland Park Zoo in the fall that year with her three sisters who have all since passed away. Woodland Park Zoo made groundbreaking medical headway for wolves when in June this year its veterinary team partnered with an external veterinary cardiologist to implant a pacemaker in Shila to treat a ...

Posted by Farrah Paul, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo 14-year-old Shila was diagnosed with a  life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia. Woodland Park Zoo’s 14-year-old female gray wolf, Shila, has received a pacemaker in an innovative and groundbreaking medical procedure to treat a life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia. The successful procedure took place June 12, and Shila is recovering well behind the scenes. While pacemakers are common treatments for humans and domestic dogs, a wolf receiving a pacemaker is extraordinarily rare. Woodland Park Zoo’s team is not aware of any previous cases and believes Shila’s pacemaker may be among the first for her species. Shila's procedure to insert this pacemaker may be among the first for her species. Background In early June, animal keepers observed concerning behavior from Shila including decreased activity and appetite, weight loss, and concerning instances of stumbling, weakness, incoordination and falling. Th...

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren and Dennis Dow Woodland Park Zoo Kaya on Living Northwest Trail in 2023 Woodland Park Zoo is mourning the loss of a female gray wolf named Kaya (KAI-yuh). The 13-year-old passed away while under anesthesia for a diagnostic procedure at the zoo’s veterinary hospital. In human care, the median life expectancy is 11–12 years old. At 13 years old, Kaya was a geriatric wolf. Woodland Park Zoo has been home to gray wolves for more than 70 years. Kaya arrived at the zoo in 2010 along with three of her sisters, all 1 year old at the time. Only one wolf, Shila (SHY-lah), a sister of Kaya, remains at the zoo; two of their sisters passed away over the last couple of years. Shila lives in the Living Northwest Trail, which is also home to the new Canada lynx, brown bears, snowy owls, elk, river otters, western pond turtles and more wildlife native to the Pacific Northwest. “For more than seven decades, gray wolves have always ...

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications Members of our wolf pack at the zoo. Photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo Last January, gray wolves were removed from federal protections under the Endangered Species Act, turning management of the recovering species over to states’ control. This delisting has already led to fatal consequences for wolf populations around the U.S. Several states are allowing hunting quotas well above what scientists recommend as sustainable, threatening to reverse the success of recovery and even potentially putting local populations back under threat of extinction. As the world celebrates International Wolf Day—on August 13—Woodland Park Zoo invites you to join us and sign this petition , urging our nation’s leaders to immediately restore federal protection for wolves. Our remote cameras in Washington's North Cascades captured images of wild wolves. Photo: Woodland Park Zoo Washington state’s recovering wolf population is currently protected under state law, a...