Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: John Samaras, Penguin Keeper This post is part three of a three-part series based on Woodland Park Zoo penguin keeper John Samaras’ work in Punta San Juan, Peru with a zoo conservation partner . As I look back on the time since my trip to participate in the Humboldt penguin health assessment in Peru, I feel fortunate to have been able to share my experiences with so many people.  From giving a slide presentation to zoo staff and volunteers, to including vivid details of the penguins’ native habitat in my public keeper talks and on special tours, I can draw on the memories of that incredible place and the time and experiences I had there. I began working with Humboldt penguins at the Akron Zoo in Ohio in 1998, and was immediately hooked!  I knew that these peculiar penguins were native to the desert coast of Peru and Northern Chile, they nested in burrows and their main prey was anchovies.  I learned about their behavior from a first-hand p

Posted by: Jennifer Larsen, Real Close Tour Guide and Tourism Marketing Coordinator I joined Woodland Park Zoo’s marketing team in late March, and 8+ months later it still is such a thrill to call this my place of employment! Having grown up in the Seattle area, I’ve been coming to Woodland Park Zoo since I was a toddler, and it has been an amazing experience to develop a tour program to share that sense of wonder with both visitors to Seattle, as well as zoo members and more frequent guests. Putting together the itinerary and content for our Real Close tour program which launched this year, I had the chance to meet people from all across the zoo’s departments including Animal Management, Education, Admissions, Horticulture, Animal Health, and Guest Services. Thanks to all of them, I am able to weave together stories, facts and anecdotes that entertain and inform our guests as I lead them around our award-winning exhibits. This past summer marked our first season of Real C

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Have you ever wanted to feed a penguin just like our keepers get to do every day? Here’s your chance to feed our tuxedo-clad birds! Our Humboldt penguin feeding opportunity kicked off this month and is now available daily through April 1. Each day from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. (or until daily fish supply is depleted), visitors will have the opportunity to add a penguin feeding experience to their zoo visit. For $5, you’ll get to feed the zoo’s charismatic Humboldt penguins a handful of tasty fish and experience these endangered birds hand to beak. You can pre-purchase your feeding opportunity at the West Entrance when you arrive (located at Phinney Ave. N. between N. 55th and N. 56th streets) or head over to the penguin exhibit and purchase the upgraded experience while you are there (cash only when purchasing at the exhibit). We have received wonderful feedback from our visitors who have had the unforgettable experience of f

Posted by: Nora Venne, Education Happy 5th birthday, Zoomazium ! We’re celebrating 5 years of child’s play in Zoomazium with a look this week at what it means to be 5 for humans and different animals. Then the party continues this Saturday and Sunday , Nov. 5 and 6, with cupcakes, live entertainment and birthday-themed activities at Zoomazium including enrichment treats for some of the zoo’s notable 5-year-old residents. In this blog post, we spoke with penguin keepers at Woodland Park Zoo to learn more about what it is like to be 5 years old for a Humboldt penguin .   Q: Human children at age 5 are still very young and completely dependent on their families for care. Give us a brief description of what life looks like for a penguin. Is age 5 young or older for this animal?   A: Humboldt penguins are much further along in their maturity by age 5 than humans are. That’s because the average life span of a Humboldt penguin is around 20 – 25 years in the wild; 25 – 30 year

Posted by: John Samaras, Penguin Keeper This blog post is part two of a three-part series based on Woodland Park Zoo penguin keeper John Samaras’ work in Punta San Juan, Peru with a zoo conservation partner . In part one , I blogged about the diverse wildlife I encountered on my trip to Punta San Juan in Peru where I joined zoo professionals and Peruvian biologists in conducting an annual health assessment of the wild population of Humboldt penguins . Woodland Park Zoo’s penguin exhibit, which opened in May 2009, replicates the coast of Punta San Juan, a barren desert peninsula that juts out into the South Pacific in southern Peru. Here in part two, I’ll take you through the experience of administering the health assessments on these wild penguins, a challenging annual task that is critical to establish baseline data so we can track the health and any emergent needs of this endangered population. From the field: We stood at the edge of a high c

Posted by: John Samaras, Penguin Keeper This blog post is part one of a three-part series based on Woodland Park Zoo penguin keeper John Samaras’ work in Punta San Juan, Peru with a  zoo conservation partner . As part of Woodland Park Zoo’s continuing effort in the conservation of Humboldt penguins , I had the opportunity to travel to Punta San Juan in Peru and take part in an annual health assessment of the wild population conducted by zoo professionals and Peruvian biologists. Woodland Park Zoo’s penguin exhibit, which opened in May 2009, replicates the coast of Punta San Juan, a barren desert peninsula that juts out into the South Pacific in southern Peru. Because of its proximity to the Humboldt current (a cold water current from Antarctica rich in fish and prey species) there is an amazing abundance of life on the rocky coast. Hundreds of thousands of seabirds and tens of thousands of fur seals and sea lions, as well as a large concentration of Humboldt penguins, call this p