Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo We’re so excited to announce the latest additions to our zoo family—the birth of three red ruffed lemur babies on March 29. This is the first lemur birth at Woodland Park Zoo in 16 years. These three bouncing babies were born March 29th to first-time red ruffed lemur mom, Sally. The triplets were born to first-time mom Sally who will turn 5 this summer. There are two adult males in Sally’s group—brothers Orion and Lucien who will be 14 years old next month. We don’t yet know which one is the father of the babies, but that’s not unusual in lemur groups. A genetic test may be done later to learn that. We have not been able to determine the sexes of the babies yet, but quick neonatal exams have confirmed the triplets are thriving; the zoo’s animal health team will continue to perform exams to closely monitor their weight gains. Currently, they range in weight from 6.7 to 7.8 oz., which is within the ...

A young orangutan, known to conservation researchers as Mamai, playfully spies on us. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. In the forest, you’re likely to hear an orangutan long before you see one. A rustling in the leaves. A tree limb snap. A crisp lip smack to warn you if you’re getting too close. Tracking these sounds, Mislin and her team of wildlife researchers know they are in the right place when they spot mounds of broken branches and piled leaves in the canopy—fresh orangutan nests. There’s a stirring in one of them. A treetop toddler pokes a red head through the leaves. The team’s data logger records the behavior. “We take note, every three minutes,” Mislin explains. Peeling away from mom, the four-year-old orangutan climbs out on a limb for a closer view of us. It would seem she’s conducting her own primate study. Mislin recognizes the young one, whom they’ve named Mamai and keep regular track of in their study. Composed entirely of local community m...

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos: John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo A zookeeper holds Jumoke's hand. Concussions, ACL tears, and knee cartilage damage are among the common injuries the UW Medicine sports medicine and head physician of University of Washington’s football team diagnoses and treats. Over the weekend, Dr. Kimberly Harmon brought her sports medicine expertise to help diagnose an injured gorilla at Woodland Park Zoo. The zoo called in Harmon and other human and animal medical specialists for a diagnostic examination on Jumoke, a 32-year-old, female gorilla who was born and raised at the zoo. The 275-pound western lowland gorilla sustained leg wounds during a scuffle off exhibit in the sleeping dens with a young female gorilla in her group named Uzumma. Woodland Park Zoo's animal care staff prepare Jumoke for her exam.  Martin Ramirez, Woodland Park Zoo’s mammal curator, said gorillas are generally calm animals, but scuffles are not ...

Godek’s steely eyes might even give “blue steel” a run for its money. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. He’s a little shy by nature. But when Godek took his first steps into the indoor orangutan exhibit, there was nothing tentative about the way he moved. The 8-year-old male Sumatran orangutan is settling right into his new home. After arriving from Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado earlier this summer, Godek completed a standard quarantine at our veterinary hospital where care staff first observed his shy demeanor. His keepers from Colorado told us to expect the young fellow to be gentle and quiet, but also very playful. We had this in mind when we began introductions between Godek and his new social group. The plan is for Godek to live with our older females, 49-year-old Chinta and 46-year-old Melati. Siblings Belawan, female, 36 and Heran, male, 28, have formed a second group. Godek is the first new addition to our orangutan family in 28 years. While our keepe...

Posted by: Bobbi Miller, Conservation There is a rite of passage that happens every October: the time-honored tradition of trick-or-treating on Halloween. Here, that means searching for the perfect costume to be donned on October 31st (and getting extra mileage out of it at Woodland Park Zoo’s Pumpkin Bash , of course!). We know Halloween is coming as the days get shorter and a pronounced chill fills the air. Colorful leaves fall gently to the ground, providing a crunchy blanket for small trick-or-treaters to walk on. Sweet little orangutan baby in the trees.  Halfway around the world in Borneo and Sumatra, the rainy season is just beginning. But the orangutans are not walking on the leaves that have fallen to the ground because orangutans are arboreal, spending most of their lives in the trees. There, those leaves become the umbrellas that keep small orangutan feet and heads dry.  Like small children, orangutan babies have a longer childhood dependence on ...

Guest scientist post by: Marc Ancrenaz, PhD, HUTAN, a Woodland Park Zoo Partner for Wildlife Courtesy of HUTAN. Orangutans are now one step closer to extinction. Based on an assessment led by Borneo Futures, scientists from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have officially downgraded the status of the orangutans living in Borneo to Critically Endangered , the last step before reaching the dreadful status of Extinct in the Wild. Scientists have proven that the number of orangutans will decline by about 80% between 1950 and 2025 given current development plans by the governments of Indonesia and Malaysia. These numbers are hard to fathom. To put them in perspective, an 80% decline is equivalent to losing four out of five people you know ; it is equivalent to the disappearance of a staggering six billion of the current global human population in 75 years with no new births. Actually, many populations of orangutans have already disappeared in Borne...

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor with reporting by Carolyn Sellar, Zookeeper Ding, the dad of the group. Photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Vegetarians sporting mutton chops? Welcome to Seattle, boys—you’ll fit right in! A family of François' langurs has just moved into the zoo’s Trail of Vines and their distinguished looks and playful antics are turning heads. The all-male troop is led by Ding (age 17), the father of 5 rambunctious boys. As the elder, Ding acts as leader, peacekeeper and resolution maker. His larger head, balding spots and ruffled tail reflect the experience and wisdom he has collected over the years. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. The boys, Ya Ya (age 5), Tang and Petey (age 4), Zhang (age 2.5) and Bouncy (age 2), are in perpetual motion. The smallest and most mischievous is Bouncy. According to zookeeper Carolyn Sellar, “Bouncy is still young enough that he gets away with a lot more than anyone else. Bouncy will soon learn h...

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Video: Grow With Yola: Woodland Park Zoo Baby Gorilla Yola, Nadiri, Akenji and Leo are ready. Now, you can visit the family starting at 1:00 p.m. daily. Our thanks to you all for the incredible patience, kindness and support you have shown the gorillas and zoo staff as we gave Yola and Nadiri the time needed to bond and form a family. Mother and daughter, Nadiri and Yola. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. Seeing these two together is everything we worked for, everything Nadiri worked for, and everything your support makes possible. You've followed along from Yola's first days of round-the-clock keeper care through the inspiring updates from keepers witnessing first-hand how Yola is truly growing up gorilla. Yola is never far from mom's side. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. Now you can #GrowWithYola yourself and share your photos and stories to help us build the ultimate digital scrap...