Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Woodland Park Zoo was honored with awards from the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) at its annual conference which was held virtually in 2020. The areas of achievement include Volunteer Engagement, Diversity, Species Survival Plan Sustainability and Research. We're very proud of each of these honors and are excited to tell you a little more about the work behind them! Our Volunteer Inclusion Program received two awards this year: Top Honors in the Volunteer Engagement Award category, which recognizes achievement by an AZA member institution in volunteer program development, and a Significant Achievement Award in the Angela Peterson Excellence in Diversity Award category, which recognizes significant achievement in the workforce and audience diversity by an AZA member institution. Photo: John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo The Woodland Park Zoo Volunteer Inclusion Program supports individuals with disabilities who are interested in vo...

Posted by Jim Watson, Wildlife Research Scientist, Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Jim Watson is a friend of the zoo and works with our Living Northwest Conservation Program's Raptor Ecology of the Shrub-Steppe Project. Jim has partnered with us for years and we are excited to share his most recent adventures in raptor research: When Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Woodland Park zoo started our cooperative raptor studies in the shrub-steppe of the Pacific Northwest 20 years ago we probably didn’t envision we were embarking on such a long-term journey. This productive relationship has delved into important projects including migration studies of ferruginous hawks and golden eagles, and how human activities like construction of wind turbines and lead contamination in prey are affecting these iconic raptors. We took advantage of a recent opportunity to look in a little different direction for our cooperative studies within the shrub-steppe raptor commu...

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications An image of a coyote is captured on a motion sensor remote camera through the Seattle Urban Carnivore Project. Photo courtesy of Seattle Urban Carnivore Project / Woodland Park Zoo and Seattle University A healthy ecosystem is one in which plants and animals interact in a dynamic balance. They work together in a way that creates a sustainable and interconnected support structure for the whole environment. All different kinds of creatures, ranging from bees to bobcats, have an important role to play. But some of them—and the behaviors they exhibit—can be misunderstood or even feared.  WHAT IS A CARNIVORE? Most people think the word “carnivore” refers to any animal that eats meat as a primary component of its diet. This is accurate, but the word “carnivore" can also refer to specific mammals that are classified in the order Carnivora . This scientific grouping is not based on diet, but is instead related to a way of classify...

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications A zoo research camera catches a glimpse of a wolverine checking out the new scent lure. Photo: Woodland Park Zoo. As part of a Woodland Park Zoo wildlife study, remote cameras and new, innovative scent lure dispensers—created by the zoo, Idaho Fish and Game, and Microsoft Research and installed last winter in Washington’s Cascade Mountains—have successfully captured images of wolverines, a carnivore rarely seen in the wild. Research scientists deploy motion sensor remote cameras and odorous scent attractants to capture images of elusive species such as wolverines, lynx, fishers, cougars, grizzly bears and gray wolves but, in the past, have faced challenges during the winter. Scents naturally fade and need to be refreshed every few weeks, said Robert Long, PhD, a carnivore research ecologist and a senior conservation fellow in Woodland Park Zoo’s field conservation department. “Deep snow and dangerous avalanche conditions in the Cascad...

Posted by: Jenny Mears, Education Pacific treefrog spotted at Forterra's Hazel Wolf Wetland. Photo: Mike Mallitt.  Yes, YOU can get involved in local amphibian conservation! Woodland Park Zoo has partnered with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) since 2012 to offer Amphibian Monitoring , a citizen science program in which western Washington residents learn how to survey for frogs, toads and salamanders in local ponds and wetlands. We welcome people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds in the program—no science or citizen science experience is necessary! The next Amphibian Monitoring training is Saturday, February 4. At the training you will learn how to find and identify local amphibians in a way that’s safe for people, amphibians and their habitats. Participants will form teams, choose a local wetland or pond, and monitor that site once a month using equipment provided by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, including hip waders, aquascopes and ...

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications Calling all junior conservation researchers! Junior Rangers check camera traps with Paso Pacifico in the Nicaraguan rain forest. Part of their data will help researchers to better understand carnivores such as jaguars and ocelots. Photo courtesy of Paso Pacifico. What is it like to be a conservation researcher in the field? A big part of studying the behavior of animals is being very patient and waiting a long time (sometimes hours, sometimes days!) for animals to make a move. Researchers chart the behaviors they observe to gather enough data for their scientific investigations. Field researchers use ethograms to document animal behavior. An ethogram is a chart which displays a list of possible behaviors as well as a timeline. Using an ethogram, researchers can quickly document the minute-by-minute actions and behaviors of an observation subject. Researchers also rely on sketching and drawing, or photography to supplement their note...

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications This is a tale of two joeys: A 7-month-old wallaby who is just emerging from its mother’s pouch… Wallaby joey peeks out of the pouch. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. …and a nearly 4-month-old wallaroo who is giving us a whole new perspective on what goes on inside the pouch. What we've seen will amaze you.  Let’s take a closer look at the developmental stages of the two joeys.  Wallaby Joey Emerges A hand, an ear, a nose—for the last few months, we have kept a close eye out for any sign of the latest wallaby joey emerging from its mother’s pouch. Born the size of a lima bean back in October, our newest wallaby joey has finally begun to peek out! Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. You can see it still has quite a bit of developing left to do. Soon the joey will grow in a furry coat and spend more time peeking out. As we head into summer, we’ll see the baby eventually begin to take...

Posted by: Karen Stevenson, Woodland Park Zoo Volunteer; additional contributions by Gretchen Albrecht, Zookeeper and Anna Martin, WPZ Volunteer Photo by Gretchen Albrecht/WPZ. Just a few weeks back, the memo came through. It read only, “They’re back!” “They” are barn swallows, Hirundo rustica , and we’re celebrating their return. Here in the Pacific Northwest, barn swallows are harbingers of spring’s longer, warmer days. Warmer days awaken long-dormant insects, and barn swallows—like most little insectivores—follow their food (mostly flies and mosquitos, but also beetles, bees, wasps and so on). They summer here, then when “summer” moves south, they do too, following available food all the way to northeastern South America and the Caribbean basin. Barn swallows are comfortable in our big cities, small towns, neighborhoods and farms. While other swallow species prefer to nest in natural structures hidden from view, such as cliffs or tree cavities, barn swallows build mud nes...

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications In Seattle’s scenic Carkeek Park, you might spend a lot of time looking out at the boats, across at the mountains or up at the clouds. But have you ever looked down? There’s a world teeming below your feet in the Carkeek wetlands, a world we’re just beginning to document with the help of volunteers through the Amphibian Monitoring Program , a Living Northwest citizen science project. Video: Amphibian Monitoring with Citizen Scientists. Produced by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo. The citizen scientists have all signed up for a 6-month stint, committing to do monthly monitoring sessions in local wetlands of their choice to help document the presence of native and non-native amphibians. Carkeek Park serves as a training ground for new volunteers. At the Carkeek Park practice session, citizen scientists use an AquaScope to peer underwater without disturbing wildlife. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Amphibian Monitoring ...