Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications Fall has arrived and the autumn equinox is September 23! This Friday, September 23, the autumn equinox will take place at precisely 9:04 a.m. The autumn equinox occurs once a year when the earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the sun. This means that the hours of daylight and night time are exactly the same: 12 hours of day, 12 hours of night. After September 23rd, the earth's axis, and the North Pole, will begin to tilt away from the sun. The sun rises lower and lower in the sky so the days start getting shorter until December's shortest day of the year. This creates wonderful long shadows that stretch across the ground during autumn and early winter. The zoo is a perfect place to watch these shadows move, since we have so many tall trees and open spaces. Artists and photographers should take advantage of this time of year. The light is softer in the fall, because the sun's rays are not as dir

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications The fall season is just a month away, which means it’s time for Woodland Park Zoo’s Fall Fecal Fest ! The annual poop event calls for you local gardeners to enter your bid to purchase the highly coveted Zoo Doo or Bedspread that Dr. Doo, also known as the “Prince of Poo,” the “GM of BM” or the “Grand Poopah,” has been piling all summer. Zoo Doo is the most exotic and highly prized compost in the Pacific Northwest. Composed of exotic species feces contributed by the zoo’s non-primate herbivores, Zoo Doo is perfect for vegetables and annuals. Bedspread, the zoo’s premium composted mulch, is like Zoo Doo but with higher amounts of wood chips and sawdust. It’s the perfect mulch for perennial beds and woody landscapes such as native gardens, rose beds, shrubs, tree rings or pathways. Entries start today! For a chance to purchase Zoo Doo or Bedspread, send in a postcard from September 1 through September 23 only. You

Posted by: Kiley Jacques, Senior Rose Gardener It seems there is a widespread message today to be green . We are encouraged to recycle, compost and support sustainability. But have you ever thought to see green ? To imagine what your neighborhood would be without all the trees, shrubs, lawns and diverse vegetation that give life to your world? To view the landscape that surrounds you as a softening agent in a time of all-things-asphalt? More specifically, can you picture our zoo without greenery? Essential to Woodland Park Zoo is a commitment to naturalistic exhibits. Over the years, much thought has been given to the role horticulture plays in exhibit design. The creation of bioclimatic zones—organizing exhibits in such a way as to group together animals from similar habitats—has proven very effective. Construction plans now begin with the researching of an animal’s native environment. It is thought that, with proper planting techniques, our zoo education department can use exhibits

Posted by: Kiley Jacques, Senior Rose Gardener Do you take cream and sugar or pulverized fish and elephant poop with your tea? This isn’t Tetley’s folks! We are talking about compost tea—that mysterious concoction that has many environmentally-concerned folks thinking of alternatives to pesticides. From the inception of our Natural Care horticulture program at Woodland Park Zoo, we have approached the application of this mighty brew as one component of a system intended to support sustainable landscape management. It works in conjunction with other biology-based techniques; it is important to understand that we don’t look to its use as a cure-all for disease problems. Every Thursday morning at 8:00 a.m., I can be found unrolling a bright yellow 200 foot hose while our 250 gallon tank makes its scheduled appearance via forklift. While we prepare for our four hour spray session, the questions start coming. So many visitors find this all very intriguing. Most start with: What is compo

Posted by: Kiley Jacques, Senior Rose Gardener Whether you are a native Seattleite or a visitor to the area, if you haven’t made your way to the intersection of Fremont Ave and N. 50th St, you ought to add it to your list of things to do. It is there you will find the South Entrance to Woodland Park Zoo and one of Seattle’s oldest treasures. Established in 1924, the city’s 2.5 acre Rose Garden was developed with the intention of serving as a “civic garden.” It was to be a place for urban dwellers to enjoy a serene respite as well as learn about roses that perform well in our Pacific Northwest climate. The garden has always had an educational aspect to it and, to this day, that mission remains strong. At a time when issues of global environmental sustainability are at the fore, it is exciting to see efforts being made in our shared backyard. Here, in our beloved garden, we have implemented a new and holistic approach to natural landscape management. The idea is to look at the gar

Posted by: Kathryn Owen, Education When it comes to enjoying fresh fruits and vegetables, what could be better than being able to pluck a ripe tomato or crisp head of lettuce out of your very own garden? For Woodland Park Zoo’s gorilla troops , fresh-off-the-vine produce is just that accessible. In the winter they may be dining on evergreen elaeagnus leaves, and in the summer they may be stuffing themselves with grape leaves and tender vines. A wide variety of animals at the zoo enjoy fresh produce from the zoo’s browse program, which provides fresh leaves, stems and flowers for gorillas, red pandas, colobus monkeys, orangutans, elephants, tree kangaroos and many others. You and I use the term “browse” to mean sampling and exploring—like browsing the shelves of a bookstore in search of something appealing. But the term also refers to the plant materials eaten by browsers—that is, herbivores or plant-eaters that eat the leaves, stems and flowers right off the tree or bush instead of gra

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications Dr. Doo, also known as the “Prince of Poo,” the “GM of BM” or the “Grand Poopah,” has been piling Zoo Doo deeper and higher all winter. What does this mean? It means the annual Spring Fecal Fest is here, the time of year when local gardeners scramble to purchase the highly coveted Zoo Doo or Bedspread. Zoo Doo is the most exotic and highly prized compost in the Pacific Northwest, perfect for vegetables and annuals, composed of exotic species feces contributed by the zoo’s non-primate herbivores. See how Zoo Doo gets made in this clip from the PBS show Biz Kid$ : For a chance to purchase Zoo Doo or Bedspread, send in a postcard from March 5 – 20. You can enter both the Zoo Doo and Bedspread drawings, but separate postcards are required. For Zoo Doo, mark your postcard “Zoo Doo.” For Bedspread, mark your postcard “B.S.” Entry cards will be selected randomly for as many entrants possible. Dr. Doo will contact the lucky drawn entries only.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications If you enjoy the beauty of the Woodland Park Rose Garden , here’s your chance to get the secrets of this garden… Check out the free rose pruning demonstration at the garden this Saturday, February 27, from noon to 3:00 p.m. Hosted by the Seattle Rose Society , the demonstration will include many annual rose pruning practices such as where to cut, how much to cut, how to use your tools properly, and respective pruning techniques for different types of roses. We’ll also be on hand to discuss Woodland Park Zoo’s organic management and integrated pest management techniques used in the Rose Garden. The Rose Garden is free to visit year round and located near the zoo’s South Entrance at N. 50th Street and Fremont Ave. N. Get info on hours and parking on our website . Photos by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo.

Posted by: Katherine Steen, Education Want to join a Woodland Park Zoo team restoring habitat for wildlife at Licton Springs Park? Sign up for a habitat restoration event with us and EarthCorps ! Back on May 16, our zoo team had a great time with EarthCorps and community volunteers restoring habitat at Golden Gardens Park . And now, we’re doing it again! This summer WPZ invites you to share the habitat by taking action to protect and restore wildlife habitat around the world and in our own backyards. On Saturday, July 11th, a team of zoo staff, volunteers, and friends will be joining Earth Corps and the Green Seattle Partnership for a restoration event at Licton Springs Park in north Seattle. Add it to your calendar! Saturday, July 11th, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. What to expect: You'll be side by side with zoo staff and volunteers planting native trees, shrubs, and ground cover. EarthCorps will provide gloves, tools, water, light refreshments (coffee, tea, water and donuts!) and a ta

Posted by: Mette Hanson, Interpretive Exhibits Saturday was a beautiful day to be in the forest, yanking ivy and mulching new native plants. As part of our Share the Habitat summer experience , the zoo has partnered with EarthCorps to connect zoo visitors with family-friendly opportunities to restore forests in our neighborhood parks. Zoo staff and volunteers joined an EarthCorps event last weekend and we were really impressed with how much could be accomplished in just four hours! Seeing the acres of ivy covering trees and blanketing hillsides in our local parks can feel pretty daunting—especially if you’ve ever tried to remove a small patch from your backyard! But with this well-organized group, the work was fun and very do-able – even for kids. (One of the maintenance areas we worked on had originally been cleared by a group of kindergarteners)! Here are the numbers for Saturday’s event at Golden Gardens: - 47,040 square feet of restoration site maintenance (that’s over an acre – W

Posted by: Jenny Mears, Community Engagement Coordinator (Originally posted in Woodland Park Zoo's Backyard Habitat blog.) There are many ways you can celebrate Earth Day in your own backyard and in your community! - Sign up for Water Features for Wildlife class on April 29 at Woodland Park Zoo: http://www.zoo.org/educate/adult/workshops.html - Check out Savvy Gardener classes and a feature story on welcoming wildlife into your garden: http://www.savingwater.org/savvygardener/default.htm - Sign up for a habitat restoration event with EarthCorps this weekend: http://www.earthcorps.org/volunteer.php - Challenge yourself to some of the easy actions on the zoo's tip list for protecting endangered species and habitats: http://www.zoo.org/conservation/help.html - Share how you're spending this Earth Day, Week and Month: Feel free to post your plans in the comments section and share links for your favorite eco-projects. Together, we can share the habitat!

Posted by E.J. Hook, Facility Operations Supervisor The famed Woodland Park Rose Garden, noted as one of 24 All-America Rose Selection Test Garden, has been a favorite local spot since it opened in 1924. Now, thanks to funding provided by the Seattle Garden Club and Committee of 33, a new pergola is gracing the south end of the garden. The pergola restores the traditional symmetry and north-south views to the landscape. Constructed with wrought-iron and stone pillars designed to match the existing fence that surrounds the garden, the pergola will provide the capacity to grow varieties of climbing roses. Horizontal wooden slats from salvaged lumber will create an open "roof", providing further structure for roses. Built-in benches inside will allow visitors the ability to enjoy a view of the garden filtered through a canopy of flowering rose blossoms. Construction is nearly complete and roses will soon thereafter begin to be planted. Another new addition to the garden, less ob

Posted by: Zoo Corps ...and it's hungry. Teams of Zoo Corps interns, zoo keepers and volunteers battle hordes of slimy slugs and strangling weeds to find the most perfect, tiny leaves for its greedy mandible. W ho is this ominous-sounding creature, you may ask? It's the Oregon silverspot butterfly, a threatened species that lives only in the meadowlands of Oregon , where its sole source of food—the Western Blue Violet—is found. Since 1999 Woodland Park Zoo has had a behind-the-scenes program involving hatching, raising and releasing into the wild batches of silverspot caterpillars to help boost the wild population. Because caterpillars of all species are known for being voracious eaters, a major part of the program is harvesting leaves from the violets grown by our Horticulture Department and feeding them to the ever-hungry larvae. There’s also a fair bit of slug relocating (Zoo Corps has a competition to see who can take the most slugs from the deliciou

Despite the cold and rainy weather (and discounting the freaky 80 degree Saturday we just had thrown in to tease us), spring is thundering its way back at the zoo. Our intrepid Horticulture crew has been busy planting, mulching and making way for all the new growth and the impending explosion of blooms. Here are just a couple shots from volunteer photographer Mat Hayward of the signs of spring on grounds. Here also is a link to a listing of some of the things that will be in bloom: http://www.zoo.org/zoo_careers/horticulture.html

It's not quite Vermont, but the color of the season is in full swing at the zoo. The several types of maple trees on the grounds are brilliant in their oranges, reds and yellows right now as are many other types of trees and plants. The 92 acres of the zoo offers hundreds of great opportunities to see some beautiful plants, even during fall and winter! (Take a look at the aerial shot of the zoo below.) Several other plants are blossoming right now, too! To see a few, take a look at the What's in Bloom: http://www.zoo.org/zoo_careers/bloom/october.html