Woodland Park Zoo Blog

 Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Royal ball python, Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren | Woodland Park Zoo Lunar New Year ushers in 2025 with intelligence,  resilience  and renewal as we celebrate year of the snake! The symbol of the snake in the Chinese zodiac is known to represent charm, intuition and deep thinking. This year is also an Earth snake, which means 2025 could be a year for growth and creativity.    As snake enthusiasts, we also want to take this opportunity to celebrate snakes as the ecological powerhouses that they are. Snakes encourage biodiversity and are often ecosystem stabilizers as both predator and prey. There are more than 3,000 species of snake worldwide and around 150 species native to North America. At Woodland Park Zoo, we have a long history of caring for snakes and educating guests about their role in the ecosystem. We want you to get to know a few of our snakes—and hopefully you can channel their cool, chill, ectothermic vibes into 2025...

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications In case you missed our keeper spotlight on  Instagram (@woodlandparkzoo)  last week, here’s an inside look at what it’s like to work with snakes, lizards and turtles as part of Woodland Park Zoo’s reptile and amphibian team. Hey everyone, we'd like to introduce you to Alyssa Borek, lead keeper on our reptile and amphibian team. Alyssa is a herpetologist—an expert in caring for our turtles, snakes, frogs and lizards. We're going to hand you over to Alyssa today for an up-close look at what it takes to care for these amazing creatures. Enjoy! Alyssa Borek with a flowerbox turtle. Photo by Peter Miller. Hi everyone, thanks for following me along today as I show you a few really cool parts of being a zookeeper and working with herps. In this photo, I am holding one of my favorite turtles here at Woodland Park Zoo!  This is one of our female flowerback box turtles, or as I refer to them, Cuora galbinifrons .  These...

Posted by: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Communications Photos by: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo Misho gets a pre-operation inspection from veterinary staff. Say hello to Misho the chuckwalla, a member of our Woodland Park Zoo family since he arrived here in 2000. Chuckwallas are lizards native to the southwestern US and northern Mexico, typically measuring a little over one foot in length. Like many plant-eating reptiles, they enjoy basking on rocks in the sun and eating leafy greens. At 25 years old, Misho is certainly getting up there in age. And recently keepers noticed he hadn’t been feeling all that well. Misho at the zoo's animal hospital.  Reptiles like Misho certainly aren’t known for being the most emotive creatures, and he can’t exactly tell keepers what’s wrong. So how can keepers tell when a lizard isn’t feeling himself? “It has to do a lot with posture and behavior,” explains Dr. Kelly Helmick, Woodland Park Zoo veterinarian. Healthy and happ...

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications In 1973, two very special creatures had just arrived at Woodland Park Zoo. The pair of dwarf crocodiles were just 5 years old when they settled into what would become their swampy Seattle home. The calm, cool and ever-chill crocodiles became iconic residents of the Day Exhibit, greeting visitors with their toothy grins for over 44 years. The unmistakably toothy grin of a dwarf croc. Photo by Kirsten Pisto, Woodland Park Zoo. If you were one of those visitors, you might recall them basking under the heat lamp in their grotto or catching a treat or two during Sunday feedings. But more than likely what you remember is a feeling of Zen. Simply being in their presence often inspired visitors to slow down and relax. Now, at 49 years old, the pair has embarked on a new adventure, retiring where many Americans choose to spend their golden years: sunny Florida. While we may have shed a few tears at the thought of them leaving (not c...

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications Resilient frogs, lizards, and turtles show that life goes on after surviving the December fire that damaged the Day and Night exhibit building where they resided. Since being safely evacuated from the building through a heroic effort by Seattle Fire Department and the zoo’s animal care staff , a pair of tiger-legged monkey frogs has produced 50 tadpoles—a first-time breeding at the zoo for this species. Watch the video: A Sign of Hope After Woodland Park Zoo Fire “We observed the monkey frogs in a ‘love embrace’ on Christmas Eve. The fact that these animals could breed and reproduce after a fire and being placed in temporary housing is a testimony to the excellent care and dedication provided by our animal care staff. This is wonderful news and a sign of hope after the fire,” said Jennifer Pramuk, PhD, animal curator and an expert in reptiles and amphibians at Woodland Park Zoo. In addition, shield-tailed agamas (lizards fo...

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor with Jennifer Pramuk, PhD, Curator Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. Little bigger than a penny, a flowerback box turtle hatched at Woodland Park Zoo on May 7, 2016. This is the third hatching success of this critically endangered species at the zoo, each one a triumph in the fight against extinction. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. The common name for this turtle refers to the beautiful colors and ornate designs on its carapace. Native to China, Vietnam and Laos, it is endangered because it is desired as an ingredient in some traditional medicines and for the pet trade. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. Turtles have been around for 220 million years and survived the massive extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs. Yet these ancient survivors are now going extinct faster than any other group of terrestrial vertebrates. Almost 50% of known turtle species are listed as threatened with ex...

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. The future weighs 2 ounces. We’re at the edge of the pond, and there are leaves scattered in the water that are bigger than the turtle in my hands. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. But now that it’s large enough to avoid the mouths of predators such as invasive bullfrogs, this turtle has a big role to play. After hatching and getting a head start at life behind the scenes at Woodland Park Zoo, turtle #5 and 24 others are off to their next great adventure: rebuilding the wild population of native western pond turtles in Washington state. Photo by John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo. Western pond turtles were once common from Baja California to Puget Sound, including the Columbia River Gorge. However, loss of habitat, commercial exploitation for food, disease and introduced predators, such as bullfrogs and large-mouth bass, decimated their numbers. Photo by Jer...