Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications There are hundreds of animal species that call Woodland Park Zoo home—animals that are native to many different remote habitats around the world. This includes species ranging from orangutans of the Asian tropical forest and penguins from the Pacific coast of South America to hippopotamuses and ostriches of the African savanna. But there is another community of animals that rely on the green spaces found right here at home—on our grounds and in other neighboring Seattle area parks. You may have seen them here or in nearby habitats. Or maybe you haven’t noticed them at all... but they are here if you look. We share much of our green space with local and native wildlife. A wild blue heron takes advantage of the lemur's pool. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Set on 92 acres, Woodland Park Zoo offers a lush canopy that is made up of more than 90,000 plants, trees, flowers, shrubs and other greenery representing more than 1,...

Posted by: Kerston Swartz, Advocacy Manager You can help bring this iconic species back to Washington’s North Cascades. Woodland Park Zoo supports grizzly bear restoration in Washington state. You should too. And you don’t even need to put down whatever device you are on right now to make your stance known. Submit a public comment now and tell the government why you want grizzly bears recovered into the North Cascades.  Grizzly bear brothers Keema and Denali. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. Let us make the case. It starts right here with two of Washington’s most well-known grizzlies. It’s no surprise Woodland Park Zoo’s grizzly bear brothers, Keema and Denali, are among the most popular animals at the zoo. With their fuzzy ears, lumbering stroll and impressive swimming (OK, more like floating and bobbing) skills, they’re hard not to love.  Despite their lovability, history has not been kind to grizzly bears in Washington sta...

Posted by: Kerston Swartz, Public Affairs Proceeds from the Save Vanishing Species stamp go to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Wildlife Without Borders program. We're grateful in this digital age that some of you still send handwritten letters. That's because your Save Vanishing Species Stamp purchases from the U.S. Postal Service have just made it possible for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to award nearly $50,000 to the Woodland Park Zoo-Panthera Malayan Tiger Conservation Project and Rimba , our in-country field partner. The new funding will enhance our anti-poaching efforts in Peninsular Malaysia. We have yet to discover a wild tiger roaming the United States, but that doesn’t stop the USFWS from caring about their fight against extinction. Recognizing the critical role humans play in endangered species survival and the growing need for collaboration among countries, the USFWS created the Wildlife Without Borders program to provide grants for intern...

Posted by: Kerston Swartz, Public Affairs and Advocacy Are your ears ringing, boys? It’s just because we can’t stop talking about tigers! Photo: Dennis Dow/WPZ. We’re kind of tiger nerds at Woodland Park Zoo. You already know this: the zoo has its paws in a lot of tiger-related stuff this summer. So far, we opened our new Banyan Wilds exhibit featuring three new Malayan tiger brothers and organized prominent local artists to decorate ten magnificent fiberglass tigers to place throughout the community as part of the Show Your Stripes art tour… and it’s only May. Show Your Stripes Tour tiger ambassadors. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer Lindgren/WPZ. Add to the list a partnership worth roaring about. Tiger Story Time at The Seattle Public Library. Photo by Jerry and Lois Photography. With all this tiger mania going on, imagine our excitement when The Seattle Public Library invited us to partner on its Summer of Learning Program. We’re calling this summer’s program “Wild S...

Posted by: Kerston Swartz, Public Affairs and Advocacy This week, Seattle said YES to renew its commitment to 450 parks, 26 community centers, 185 athletic fields, 120+ playgrounds and one extremely thankful zoo. With the passing of Proposition 1, Woodland Park Zoo will be able to complete major maintenance projects critical to our functionality and guest experience. A stable and dedicated funding source established by creating a voter-approved park district means we can make badly-needed upgrades to our electrical, water and other utility systems, replace aging and inefficient structures and (maybe most importantly) make strides toward our sustainability goals. Here’s what your YES vote makes possible: Preventing energy loss The roof of the Tropical Rain Forest (TRF) building used to look like this: Look at all of that light coming through! Archive photo by Woodland Park Zoo.  Today, it looks like this: Not so much light coming through anymore. Photo by R...

Posted by: Kerston Swartz, Public Affairs Woodland Park Zoo, the Phinney Neighborhood Association (PNA) and Seattle City Light are partnering on Community Solar on Phinney Ridge , a new community solar project going live summer 2014. The project will produce approximately 75 kilowatts of energy from solar panels installed on building roofs at the zoo and PNA, making it the largest community solar project in Washington state. The Rain Forest Food Pavilion will soon be decked out with solar panels. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Enrollment has just begun for City Light customers to participate in Community Solar on Phinney Ridge . You can purchase energy from the solar-modules, and then receive annual credits for the amount of energy generated by your units. Customer investment will end in July 2020 when ownership of the solar panels is transferred to the zoo and PNA. A rendering of the zoo's commissary with a solar panel installation.  As part of the Commu...