Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Katie Remine, Youth & Adult Engagement Manager, Woodland Park Zoo with Ryan Driscoll, Lead Learning Facilitator, Woodland Park Zoo and Amy Twito, Informal Learning Program Manager, The Seattle Public Library Cherry blossoms are blooming, spring is in the air, the perfect time to soak up nature! Photo via  https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasphuston/ Zoos, science museums, and public libraries all share a common goal: to inspire lifelong learning and curiosity in the world around us. In the spirit of fostering experiential learning across generations and supporting early childhood and youth development, Woodland Park Zoo and The Seattle Public Library are bringing an exciting, new learning opportunity to Seattle-based children and families. In partnership with Science Action Club of the California Academy of Sciences , we are thrilled to offer an adventurous “Bug Safari” curriculum for after-school and summer programming! This summer, the library wi...

We are ADVOCATES and DEFENDERS. We are CHAMPIONS and FRIENDS. We are SCIENTISTS and RESEARCHERS and so much more. We are the Association of Zoos & Aquariums: 230-strong accredited member institutions who go to work every day to ensure the conservation of our precious wildlife in their home and in our care. Video: We Are AZA: Join Us! This September, Woodland Park Zoo and Seattle Aquarium will co-host the annual Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) conference. Nearly 2,500 staff from accredited organizations across the nation will gather in Seattle to learn from, challenge and inspire each other to shape the future of community-driven conservation. We’re in it to save species, but we can’t do it alone. The greatest strength of accredited zoos and aquariums is the massive reach and collective impact we have with your support. As thousands of animal keepers, conservationists, educators, executives, horticulturists, and other zoo and aquarium staff arrive in Se...

By: Alejandro Grajal, President and CEO Imagine what it would be like if you never came to the zoo. You may have memories of your children enjoying the open space, learning about animals, or just being happy to share time with you. But in a wildly booming city like ours, we are also seeing increasing economic inequality. Too many of our neighbors, community groups, and families never have the chance to come and enjoy the zoo. As the President and CEO of Woodland Park Zoo, I am proud of our efforts to more than double the opportunities to keep our zoo accessible to everyone in our community– whether it’s through complimentary passes to local nonprofit partners or through new programs we launched to make the zoo more affordable and accessible to all. A quiet moment on the Northern Trail. Through the $5 DiscoverTicket and a $35 Explorer Pass membership , current recipients of Washington Quest/EBT and/or WIC assistance will have more opportunities to visit the zoo. The $5 Disc...

Posted by Daphne Matter, ZooCorps Intern Photos by Daphne Matter, Woodland Park Zoo. Woodland Park Zoo staff pledged to reduce or refuse single-use plastics during Plastic Free July! With support from Seattle Public Utilities, we then invited you to join us by taking the Plastic Free for Me pledge . Here is a recap of what we learned, what we found difficult to give up and a few surprising plastic confessions. Participants will receive a #PlasticFreeForMe water bottle sticker. Thank you to all those who participated in our Plastic Free for Me campaign! 236 of you joined us in our collective effort to lessen our impact on the environment during the month of July. By reducing your consumption of single-use plastics and taking this pledge, you have done your part to save wildlife from the great threat that plastic pollution poses. Why is it so important to keep plastic waste out of our oceans? Plastic presents a grave issue in our world today, especially for marine lif...

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Public Relations Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo More than 1,000 Seattle leaders and philanthropists came together at Woodland Park Zoo’s 42nd Annual Jungle Party fundraising event, giving collectively more than $2 million for the zoo’s pioneering work and conservation mission.  This year’s Jungle Party, themed “Wander Into the Wild,” was held on July 13 and presented by title sponsors The Boeing Company and Callisons, Inc. Woodland Park Zoo Board members Jim Burgett, Ben Magnano, Matt Rosauer, Ethan Stowell and Evan Wyman co-chaired the event. “The extraordinary generosity of our Jungle Party patrons this year is humbling, energizing and inspiring,” said Alejandro Grajal, President and CEO of Woodland Park Zoo. “The contributions from our long-term supporters and new friends will directly support local and global wildlife conservation, world-class animal care at our zoo and a considerable increase in access for chil...

Posted by Rubai Aurora, Community Engagement Specialist Editor’s note: At the heart of our mission, we want everyone to love animals. Sharing the zoo experience means making our programming, physical spaces and storytelling accessible to all. Your zoo has been on a diversity and inclusion journey—mapping out ways we can more genuinely welcome and represent our community. In 2018 and beyond, you’ll see your zoo continue to work toward being a place where every individual can safely and profoundly take part in being a voice for conservation action. Woodland Park Zoo believes the zoo should be inclusive for all. On July 5, 2018, Woodland Park Zoo hosted our first Zoo for All, a day to celebrate our commitment to inclusion, and to acknowledge and honor families and individuals from the special needs community. More than just a day: Zoo for All was made possible through guidance from nonprofit partners in the community, including The Arc of King County,  Speci...

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications This summer, Woodland Park Zoo is celebrating a very special birthday: Our Historic Carousel, which has been at the zoo since 2006, turns 100 years old! We love that this grand piece of cultural history has been part of so many special moments for our guests, and we hope it will be part of many more to come. Woodland Park Zoo Historic Carousel. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo The carousel, which features hand-carved horses and two chariots, was first constructed in 1918 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company and was only the 45th of its kind to be made. It has previously operated at the Cincinnati Zoo and the Great America Theme Park in Santa Clara, California. Eighteen years ago, Linda and Tom Allen, Candy Allen-Whitney and Thomas Allen and the Alleniana Foundation purchased the carousel and generously donated it to the zoo in the hope that generations of families would have the opportunity to experience a celebrated piece of A...