Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Fred Koontz, Field Conservation; Sue Andersen and Amy Brandt, Zookeepers For Wolf Awareness Week, we’re giving you a glimpse into the fascinating dynamics within the zoo’s pack of wolves living in our award-winning Northern Trail exhibit. Did you know Woodland Park Zoo has had wolves in its collection for more than 60 years? The zoo’s wolves serve a critical role as ambassadors for their wild counterparts. The current pack consists of four female litter mates born at New York State Zoo in April 2010. They have four distinct personalities. When you next visit the zoo, see if you can identify them from their pack behavior: Doba is the pack's "alpha" or most dominant wolf. She is often visible in the front and center of the exhibit, where she can keep track of the other wolves. If you see a wolf gathering bones or toys that is likely to be Doba! Shila is the pack's most submissive member. She spends most of her time lying a bit distant from t

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Keema and Denali stop to sniff each other after rolling around in coffee grounds. Keema and Denali may not have known the world was watching, but they still put on quite the show Wednesday when we broadcast a special bear enrichment session through our newly relaunched Bear Cam . The 17-year-old grizzly bear brothers received beehive and hornet’s nest-shaped piñatas Wednesday. While it took staff almost a week to put the piñatas together, it took the bears just minutes to destroy them! Inside the beehive piñatas, the bears found some of their favorite fruit treats including honeydew, apples, grapes and pears. The hornet’s nest contained a pocket of honey that the bears lapped up. Coffee grounds : bears :: catnip : cats Scattered around the space were coffee grounds from Caffé Vita . Why coffee grounds? Since the bears have a strong sense of smell, such a pungent treat is extremely attractive and stimulating to them. The b

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Need a little more excitement in your afternoon? How about 1,350 pounds more excitement? Broadcasting live with Ustream Woodland Park Zoo's popular Bear Cam is back online and streaming live via Ustream . The cam, which has been gone for more than a year, is back by popular demand and bringing you incredible views into the zoo's grizzly bear exhibit in the award-winning Northern Trail. To celebrate the return of the cam, we're giving the bears a special enrichment treat this week: piñatas filled with coffee grounds (generously donated by our friends at Caffé Vita). Tune in on Wednesday, August 3 at 11:15 a.m. (PST) to watch the bears enjoy their stimulating enrichment treat. On a typical day, Woodland Park Zoo’s 17-year-old grizzly bear brothers Keema and Denali can be seen foraging for food, fishing for live trout, and exploring the stimulating sights and smells in the zoo’s award-winning Northern Trail e

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Molly and Oliver, our newly arrived 3-month-old porcupines , had a check-up with our vet team this week. The exam, part of their standard 30-day-quarantine, included taking radiographs, blood samples, and weights. The animal health team deemed the two healthy and fit. Vets also inspected the bodies of the porcupines, which are covered with long hairs and quills. An adult porcupine is covered with 30,000 or more quills, with only its snout, throat, belly and feet pads exposed. The young pair is getting ready to move to their Northern Trail exhibit where they will be making a public debut in just a few weeks. This health exam helps to give us some baseline data so we can track how well they are doing once they get out there and as they grow and mature. Regular examinations are a part of the excellent animal care and preventive health program for the more than one thousand animals under the zoo’s care. We’ll update again when Molly a

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications The snowy owlet that hatched in June is doing well and growing fast. It has begun to venture away from the nest and is quite active, moving around its exhibit and taking food from keepers now. The chick had its first vet exam this week and weighed in at 3.3 pounds. Because of the decline in snowy owl populations due to West Nile virus, it was very important for this young bird to receive the first in a series of West Nile vaccinations during the exam. The vets also drew blood for DNA testing which will determine its sex—we’ll let you know when we get the results! The chick is still largely covered with downy feathers but is beginning to grow in its adult plumage that gives the snowy owl its well-known white coloration. Look for the fast-growing chick on exhibit now in the Northern Trail biome of Woodland Park Zoo. Photos by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo.

Posted by Ric Brewer, Communications The world's third largest species of rodent will soon be making its appearance at Woodland Park Zoo. Can you guess what it is? Well, if you've looked below at the photos, you already know: the porcupine! Two young porcupines will soon join the other animals in our award-winning Northern Trail exhibit. The pair, Molly and Oliver, is approximately 3 months old and came from Weickert's Wildlife in Bent, Minnesota. Molly is the larger and darker of the two, and even though Oliver likes to try and push her around, Molly steadfastly stands her ground. They also have decidedly gourmet tastes, preferring willow branches over apple and delectable treats such as peanut butter. Porcupines (the term is derived from the Middle French porc espin meaning "quilled pig") are in the order Rodentia which also contains mice, rats, the South American capybara -- the largest rodent species -- mole-rats, and chinchillas, among others. Beaver, by the

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications Snow is in the forecast at Woodland Park Zoo with the hatching of a snowy owl chick! This owlet was hatched on June 13 but we have not yet determined the gender of the chick. Keepers have been monitoring the owlet and it appears to be in good health. The parents and chick live in our award-winning Northern Trail exhibit, but you won’t be able to spot the chick just yet as mom is sitting on the nest taking good care it. The owlet is growing very quickly, and it might be just another week or two before visitors will be able to spot it. This species of owl is migratory and nomadic. Every seven to 10 years, the Arctic-dwelling snowy owl appears in Washington state during winter months in large numbers, known as an "irruption," a period when young owls leave their breeding range in search of food. Many raptor species are facing decline due to human-imposed activities. Raptors provide many benefits—they consume many animals that hu

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications “There goes the barbecue…” Last week we shared some photos from our Bear Affair event held June 4. In our latest video, you can see 700-pound grizzly bear brothers, Keema and Denali, in action. Watch with your sound turned up to hear bear expert and zoo conservation partner Chris Morgan provide insight on bear safety as the grizzlies show us exactly how much damage they can do to our campsites and backyards. Always be bear aware. If we do our part to keep attractants like garbage, birdseed and barbecues contained when camping or living in bear country, practice bear safety and give these animals plenty of space, we can help protect not just bears but people too. And never keep marshmallows in your sleeping bag! For more info on grizzlies, how we're protecting them in Washington state and what you can do to be bear safe, visit: http://bearinfo.org/ . Video shot and edited by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications At Bear Affair this weekend, zookeepers teamed up with bear ecologist Chris Morgan from the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project —a Woodland Park Zoo Partner for Wildlife —to demonstrate what happens if we don’t follow safety precautions when living or camping in bear country. Our partners at GBOP want us all to be Bear Smart and act responsibly to ensure the safety of people and bears. They tell us sanitation and common sense are the keys to preventing problems. Remember, food and odors attract bears. Carelessly stored human food, livestock feed, garbage, and even barbeque grease and bird seed can attract bears and keep them coming back. Do not allow a bear to get a food reward and associate that reward with humans—you may endanger yourself and other people, and the outcome is often the unnecessary death of a bear. Bear Affair visitors learned Bear Smart tips and practices, but if you missed the event, you can find those tips at the GBOP w

Posted by: Jane David, LVT, Hospital Manager, Animal Surgical Clinic of Seattle Maybe it is just coincidence that “ aguila ” means “eagle” in Spanish, but when a Steller’s sea eagle from Woodland Park Zoo needed specialized surgery for a fractured bone, Dr. Alexander Aguila of the Animal Surgical Clinic of Seattle was ready! On March 23rd, Dr. Darin Collins, Woodland Park Zoo Director of Animal Health, contacted the surgeons at Animal Surgical Clinic of Seattle regarding a potential fracture repair on the right wing of a Steller’s sea eagle named Natasha. Exhibited in the award-winning Northern Trail exhibit at the zoo, Natasha is the female of a breeding pair acquired in 2010 . Steller’s sea eagles are among the largest and heaviest of the raptor family, and Natasha weighs in at 13 pounds with a wing-span of over 6 feet! On the morning of March 22, Natasha (pictured in the background above) was found on the ground of her zoo enclosure. She appeared to be having difficulty main

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications The sound of howls and yips may be heard through the zoo as a pack of 1-year-old gray wolves explore their new home in our award-winning Northern Trail exhibit . The four canids, all female, were born at New York State Zoo and arrived at Woodland Park last September. After a 30-day standard quarantine, the wolves have spent the last several months in an off-view enclosure getting acclimated to their new surroundings and routine. Last week they took their first steps out into their exhibit at Northern Trail and have adjusted well. The wolves are conservation ambassadors representing the complex and volatile story of the return of the wolf to Washington state and the challenges their endangered cousins in the wild face. Although the wolves are nearly full grown, ranging from 75-85 pounds, they are young and still very curious and active. The best way to observe them is to stand quietly and watch the natural behaviors of a wolf pack. They ar

Posted by: Roxanne Murphy, Community Relations Currently, I'm having a great time going through the Woodland Park Zoo's docent training program. Since I've only been with the zoo for nine months, words can't express how much there is to learn to even try to catch up with my co-workers. This training has afforded me the opportunity to develop a more intimate understanding of our animals , exhibits , horticulture , education and conservation efforts . Best of all, it's fun, and it has introduced me to such dedicated, smart and passionate volunteers and animal and conservation advocates. One of our core assigments was to develop a brief presentation about one of the Woodland Park Zoo's Partners for Wildlife . Lucky for me, our team got the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project . Personally and professionally, I love grizzlies so much that part of my contribution to the presentation included writing a poem about them. We delivered the poem last Saturday and it received l

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications The King's Speech may have taken home the Oscar, but the academy of zoo fans voted for their own Best Picture this past week and the award goes to... This otter video , featuring our two river otters enjoying a heart-shaped, fish-filled popsicle for Valentine's Day, took home the prize of WPZ Best Picture with 29% of the vote. We want to thank you all for voting! It helps us get a better sense of what types of videos you all enjoy most and sparks some ideas for what we might do next. Stay tuned to this blog or our YouTube channel to catch new videos when they debut--one of them may just be a Best Picture winner next year. Video produced by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications A splash of fruit juice, a handful of smelt, and lotsa love are surefire ingredients to a river otter’s heart. Our annual Valentine’s Day enrichment event is coming up on Saturday, and we gave press a sneak peek of the action today when we let our river otters indulge in some fish-filled, heart-shaped ice pops. River otters Sunny, a 15-year-old female, and Duncan, a 13-year-old male, swam with amazing speed and agility to chase after the pops that were dropped into their pool in the award-winning Northern Trail exhibit . After munching their way through the ice pops, we gave the otters another enrichment opportunity—a heart-shaped wreath stuffed with frozen smelt. The wreath proved the perfect size for the otters to swim through as they picked off the frozen fish. Love will be in the air for the zoo’s other animal ambassadors as they celebrate Valentine’s Day with heart-shaped ice pops, herbal bouquets, heart-shaped steaks, and more on Satu