Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Brianna Widner, Community Science Specialist, with Katie Remine, Manager, Living Northwest The 2023 Amphibian Monitoring Community Science program observed more than 42 bodies of water with 646 observations by 97 community science volunteers—now that's something to croak about! Northwestern Salamander Egg Mass, Team Hazel Wolf Wetlands, 2023 Each year, Woodland Park Zoo's Amphibian Monitoring community volunteers help collect scientific data by observing amphibians in local conservation wetland areas. Our volunteers log hundreds of observations of amphibians across western Washington in the iNaturalist online collection of biodiversity observations. iNaturalist is a global community of people who assist conservation efforts by recording observations of organisms and share them with each other to gain a better understanding of the natural world. Woodland Park Zoo’s dedicated Amphibian Monitoring volunteers went out from January through late summer 2023 to look for hi...

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 Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Buttons celebrates a milestone and reminds us to help wild animals stay wild! Happy birthday, Buttons! Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo The spring of 2022 marks a big milestone for one of the more well-known members of our elk herd—Buttons. While we don’t know her exact birthday, this sassy girl—who was born in the wild in eastern Washington—is turning 10 years old! Pregnant elk cows tend to have their calves within the same birthing window, which in our region ranges from the end of May through June. So, it is likely that Buttons was born sometime within that span of time in 2012. Why so scruffy, Buttons? In the spring, an elk's winter coat will drop off and molt into a sleek shorter summer coat. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Buttons gained notoriety several years ago in the area between Ellensburg and Cle Elum where residents—believing she was orphaned—began feeding her, petting her and even putting kids on...