Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications Hey northwest green-thumbs, spring is just around the corner, which means it’s time for Woodland Park Zoo’s Spring Fecal Fest ! This beneficial pile of Zoo Doo will work wonders for a garden! Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Dr. Doo, also known as the “Prince of Poo,” the “GM of BM” or the “Grand Poopah,” has been collecting our highly coveted Zoo Doo or Bedspread all winter and now is your chance to enter a bid to purchase the gardener’s delight! Zoo Doo is the most exotic and highly prized compost in the Pacific Northwest. Composed of species' feces contributed by the zoo’s non-primate herbivores such as elephants, hippos, giraffes and more, Zoo Doo is perfect for growing veggies and annuals. Bedspread, the zoo’s premium composted mulch, is a combination of Zoo Doo, sawdust and large amounts of wood chips. Bedspread is used to cushion perennial beds and woody landscapes including rose beds, shrubs and pathways.

Posted by: Julie Webster, Zoo volunteer and Backyard Habitat class participant Editor’s note: Woodland Park Zoo is once again offering its popular Backyard Habitat classes to help you bring more wildlife to your yard. Former class participant and zoo volunteer, Julie Webster, shares how the lessons she learned have transformed her urban garden. When I first signed up for Woodland Park Zoo’s Backyard Habitat workshop, I was already mindful of the four basic needs I had to meet to support local wildlife in my yard: food, water, shelter and a place to raise young. But it was in the workshop that I really came to understand the importance of cover and plant layering—the essentials to diversifying a habitat—and how these principles could be applied even in a small, urban garden. Maple in my yard before I learned about layering through the Backyard Habitat classes. Photo courtesy of Julie Webster. Layering isn't specifically listed in the four basic needs, but go to the fores

Posted by: Dr. Deborah B. Jensen, WPZ President and CEO Dr. Deborah B. Jensen. Photo by Matt Hagen. Kermit the Frog said it well:  “It's not that easy being green.” Still, the actions we take every day impact the wildlife and habitats that surround us. As a society, how we deal with resource depletion, environmental pollution and climate change will decide the fate of the many animals and landscapes we love. Northwesterners care deeply about this region’s natural heritage.  As a conservation leader, so does Woodland Park Zoo. And so do our city’s leaders. Mayor Mike McGinn has asked the entire community to comment on a new Climate Action Plan for Seattle, which proposes ways our city can become carbon neutral by 2050. The ambitious plan follows the first period of agreements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions outlined in the global Kyoto Protocol, which concluded in 2012. I encourage you to explore the city’s plan and join the dialogue. Such a big goal requires building

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications We’re on the lookout for the wetlands version of a needle in a haystack: small beads, clumped together in tiny masses, hanging to the sides of sticks and logs, submerged under dark, muddy water. But the dozen wader-wearing volunteers in Carkeek Park on a Saturday morning are up for the task.  A trained volunteer wades into the wetlands at Carkeek Park. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. These are citizen scientists and they have studied and practiced for this—the search for amphibian egg masses in our own parks and backyards. Amphibians once occupied pristine wetlands across the Pacific Northwest. But now their marshy homes often flow into or crash up against urban and developing areas. Amphibians are closer than we often realize, and our actions impact them deeply. The endangered Oregon spotted frog is one of eight species the citizen scientists are monitoring. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. With their perm

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications These spring days can be such a tease, sunny and bright one minute and then a windy deluge the next, but ohhh the green! Bright shiny blades of emerald appear in magnificent patches across our lawns and meadows, flowers shoot up between cracks in the pavement and all the zoo appears to be bursting with life. Star magnolia after a heavy rain at the zoo . Photo by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo. The science behind springtime weather has an immense impact on our zoo.  After just a few weeks of spring rain showers and warmer days, the blooming canopy on our 93 acres has changed the landscape considerably. Hundreds of trees, shrubs, and flowers are in full vigor. The thriving green scenery that cloaks the zoo this time of year makes a distinct impression on visitors and residents alike.  Photo by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo During April and May, solar radiation begins to heat up the earth's surface more and more. T

Posted by: Paul Balle, Development Officer I was very excited the day that Forterra, formerly Cascade Land Conservancy, invited Woodland Park Zoo to become a founding partner in their new Carbon Capturing Companies (C3) program. That partnership was announced today at Forterra’s annual breakfast. As a zoo employee and member of our Green Team, an active conservationist, and someone who’s been heavily involved with our WPZ Sustainability Plan and calculating the zoo’s annual carbon footprint, C3 seemed a natural way to partner with 14 businesses and organizations—INCLUDING a famous rock band (Pearl Jam!)—to help make our region greener while offsetting our annual carbon emissions by planting trees in our region. In a nutshell, here’s how C3 works:  Companies and organizations who want to reduce their carbon footprint—and its effects on our region—are encouraged to participate by joining the C3 program. What’s the carbon cost of doing business? Photo by Ryan Hawk/

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications Holidoo is available now in ZooStores. Photo by Woodland Park Zoo. The zoo’s very own Dr. Doo has been hard at work specially crafting a limited edition blend of Holidoo for the holiday season. Unlike the typical Zoo Doo compost featuring manures of nearly two dozen zoo herbivore species, the All Elephant Poo Holidoo is made up exclusively of the “end products” of the zoo’s elephants’ manure and bedding—the biggest and richest composting materials at the zoo. ZooDoo — a work in progress. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Got a gardening enthusiast in your life? Holidoo makes the ideal present. Or that person who seems to have everything? Bet they don’t have Holidoo! Holidoo's source. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. The festively packaged Holidoo product is available exclusively during the holiday season only at the ZooStore in jumbo-sized, 4-gallon containers ($20). Traditional Zoo Doo compost is also availabl

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications The fall season is just a month away, which means it’s time for Woodland Park Zoo’s Fall Fecal Fest ! The annual poop event calls for you local gardeners to enter your bid to purchase the highly coveted Zoo Doo or Bedspread that Dr. Doo, also known as the “Prince of Poo,” the “GM of BM” or the “Grand Poopah,” has been piling all summer. Zoo Doo is the most exotic and highly prized compost in the Pacific Northwest. Composed of exotic species feces contributed by the zoo’s non-primate herbivores, Zoo Doo is perfect for vegetables and annuals. Bedspread, the zoo’s premium composted mulch, is like Zoo Doo but with higher amounts of wood chips and sawdust. It’s the perfect mulch for perennial beds and woody landscapes such as native gardens, rose beds, shrubs, tree rings or pathways. Entries start today! For a chance to purchase Zoo Doo or Bedspread, send in a postcard from September 1 through September 23 only. You