Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Alissa Wolken, Communications Woodland Park Zoo turned a shade greener with the unveiling of new Light & Charge electric vehicle stations. The stations are the first of 20 to be installed around Seattle, representing a $1.2 million investment by ReachNow, the mobility services division of the BMW Group. Seattle is the first city in North America to receive the Light & Charge stations, which turn existing streetlights into electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. With more than 1 million annual visitors coming through Woodland Park Zoo, that’s a lot of visibility for the benefits of EVs and car sharing. ReachNow CEO Steve Banfield (left) and Woodland Park Zoo President and CEO Alejandro Grajal (right) test the new electric vehicle charging station installed on zoo grounds.  Green is a color we wear well. Sustainability is at the core of Woodland Park Zoo's mission to save animals and their habitats. By stewarding resources and reducing our impact we

Posted by Alissa Wolken, Communications It’s a milestone year for one of our long-time residents. Blueberry, our beloved knobbed hornbill, celebrates her 20th hatchday (that’s bird speak for birthday) on Sunday, May 7, 2017. You can stop by the Friends by Nature program at the Alvord Broadleaf Theater that day (11:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.) to wish Blueberry a happy 20th! Video: Happy Birthday Blueberry! Blueberry enjoys some of her favorite treats:blackberries, grapes and, of course, blueberries. It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since Blueberry hatched right here at Woodland Park Zoo. Just think, in 1997 Notorious B.I.G.’s “Hypnotize” and Hanson’s “MMMBop” were at the top of the Billboard charts and “The Fifth Element” and “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” ruled the box office. My how time flies. Turning 20 isn’t the only thing Blueberry is celebrating; the hatchday girl is also a new member of the ambassador animals all-star team at the zoo and can be seen regularly

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications We know you all love animals and want to protect wildlife, but it’s not always easy to know what you can do from home that will make a difference. This Earth Day, we've made a list of five easy, impactful ways you can celebrate Planet Amazing (that's Earth). 1. HANG OUT IN THE DARK  A starlit sky over tiger territory in Peninsular Malaysia. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren. Woodland Park Zoo. Why:  Every year people turn off their lights during Earth Hour. The worldwide one-hour event has become a symbol for appreciating the planet, but you can celebrate Earth Hour all year long. Spend some time in the dark once or twice a week, or promise to turn out the majority of your lights an hour before bedtime, you'll sleep better too! Turning off lights and unplugging is an easy way to save energy and become mindful of how much energy you are using. How:  40% of total U.S. energy consumption is consumed in residential and comm

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications Don't get pinched! This Saint Patrick's Day, make sure you are green inside and out. Take this quiz to see where you land on the zoo's green'o'meter. While we're in the mood to rock all shades of green, let's see just how  green  you really are. Take the quiz at http://www.bit.ly/greenasgreen  Good luck! Are you as green as a waxy monkey frog? Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo.

Come on, be honest. Were you an eco-slacker this holiday, even just a little? Are you still shaking off the festive food coma of the last several weeks? The holidays take their toll on us and on our environment; by some estimates, consumption in the U.S. increases by 30% in November and December. Let’s green up our act, friends! Small steps, when we all take them together, can go a long way to creating a sustainable future for animals and people. You’ll find our top 2015 resolutions easy to achieve and realistic to sustain. Step it up even more by sharing your green resolutions with friends and family. Got your own wildlife-friendly green resolutions for 2015? Shout ‘em out to us in the comments below! Go ahead: Satisfy that sweet tooth, sustainably! Original photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo; modified. Everyone enjoys candy treats during the Halloween through December holiday season (even though we’re probably sick of it right now), but not as much as orangutan

Posted by: Caileigh Robertson, Communications Past the zoo’s LEED Gold-certified West Entrance and around the corner from the sustainably built Humboldt penguin exhibit, Woodland Park Zoo is rolling out yet another sun-soaking, solar project: the largest community solar project in Washington state. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo Through a partnership with Seattle City Light and Phinney Neighborhood Association (PNA), 60 new solar panels are currently being installed on the zoo’s Rain Forest Food Pavilion and behind-the-scenes Commissary building. Dubbed Community Solar on Phinney Ridge , the project includes placing a 16-kilowatt grid of solar panels on the zoo’s food pavilion—similar in appearance to the zoo’s solar-paneled Historic Carousel—and an additional 45-kilowatt system on the zoo’s animal food center. A hop, skip and jump from Woodland Park Zoo, PNA’s historic Phinney Center will also be boasting a new, energy efficient rooftop as part of the project. Together, th

Posted by: Kerston Swartz, Public Affairs and Advocacy This week, Seattle said YES to renew its commitment to 450 parks, 26 community centers, 185 athletic fields, 120+ playgrounds and one extremely thankful zoo. With the passing of Proposition 1, Woodland Park Zoo will be able to complete major maintenance projects critical to our functionality and guest experience. A stable and dedicated funding source established by creating a voter-approved park district means we can make badly-needed upgrades to our electrical, water and other utility systems, replace aging and inefficient structures and (maybe most importantly) make strides toward our sustainability goals. Here’s what your YES vote makes possible: Preventing energy loss The roof of the Tropical Rain Forest (TRF) building used to look like this: Look at all of that light coming through! Archive photo by Woodland Park Zoo.  Today, it looks like this: Not so much light coming through anymore. Photo by Ryan

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications Photos by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo One of Woodland Park Zoo’s not-so-secret spaces is actually adjacent to the zoo itself, the WoodlandPark Rose Garden . Established as a civic garden in 1922, the 2.5 acre space is cared for and kept by the zoo’s horticulture staff and our Lead Rose Gardener and rose-master, Matt Manion. The garden hosts nearly 200 varieties of roses, showcasing those that thrive in the Pacific Northwest climate. Showing our appreciation for our dedicated horticulture crew! Since 2006, the Rose Garden has been pesticide free. Pesticides pollute through rain runoff in Seattle, making it all the way to Puget Sound. Plus, we like to treat our animals to roses , and we wouldn't want them ingesting those toxins. Using the natural approach means building healthy soils, practicing smart watering and planting disease-resistant varieties.  Matt says that these sustainable methods will work well in your own gar

Posted by: Kerston Swartz, Public Affairs Woodland Park Zoo, the Phinney Neighborhood Association (PNA) and Seattle City Light are partnering on Community Solar on Phinney Ridge , a new community solar project going live summer 2014. The project will produce approximately 75 kilowatts of energy from solar panels installed on building roofs at the zoo and PNA, making it the largest community solar project in Washington state. The Rain Forest Food Pavilion will soon be decked out with solar panels. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Enrollment has just begun for City Light customers to participate in Community Solar on Phinney Ridge . You can purchase energy from the solar-modules, and then receive annual credits for the amount of energy generated by your units. Customer investment will end in July 2020 when ownership of the solar panels is transferred to the zoo and PNA. A rendering of the zoo's commissary with a solar panel installation.  As part of the Commu

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications When you love wildlife, every day is Earth Day. An Asian small-clawed otter pup. Photo by Stan Milkowski/Woodland Park Zoo. Get into the green spirit on your next visit to the zoo: use our free mobile app to take the GPS-guided Green Zoo Tour. Discover the sometimes hidden ways we save water and energy and creatively reduce waste. Then get tips for how to do the same at home. On the tour, you'll visit LEED-certified buildings, see solar panels at work, discover the difference trees make, and find out what we do with all that animal poop. Together we can reduce our impact on the planet we share with wildlife and with future generations.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications As we countdown to Party for the Planet coming up April 5-13 , it’s time to kick-off the earth-friendly event with a contest! Turn trash into treasure and enter the Upcycled Wild Craft Contest. Photo by Ryan Hawk, craft by Sara Schaad/Woodland Park Zoo. Transform trash into treasure for the zoo’s Upcycled Wild Craft Contest. Use non-recyclable items including bottle caps, old furniture or food packaging to make artful creations that reduce waste and look wild! Contest entries will be judged in the following age categories: Ages 5-8  Ages 9-13  Ages 14-18  Ages 19 + up  Entries will be accepted March 29 – April 11. Drop yours off at the zoo’s West Entrance with a completed entry form . All entries will be displayed in the zoo’s West Plaza and on Woodland Park Zoo’s Pinterest board. Upcycling is a great way to keep items out of the landfill. Photo by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo.  One winner will be selecte

Posted by: Caileigh Robertson, Communications Zoo Doo compost is ready for Spring Fecal Fest. Photo by Ryan Hawk/WPZ. Get your hands on the most desired poop in Seattle. Woodland Park Zoo’s Spring Fecal Fest is here. The annual poop event attracts local gardeners to enter the lottery to purchase the exotic, highly-coveted Zoo Doo and Bedspread that Dr. Doo, also known as the “Prince of Poo,” the “GM of BM” or the “Grand Poopah,” has been piling all winter. Entries are accepted through March 17. What goes in must come out, and what comes out is great for your garden! Photo credits: Elephant by Dennis Dow/WPZ, Giraffe by Ryan Hawk/WPZ, Zebra by Ryan Hawk/WPZ, Oryx by Dennis Dow/WPZ, Hippo by Mat Hayward/WPZ. Pick up where the animals left off. Zoo Doo is the richest, most 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 to grow your veggies a

Posted by: Laura Lockard, Director of Public Affairs and Communications Friends, we need your help! We have an opportunity to clean up Puget Sound by making a major difference here at the zoo—using green technology to keep hippo waste from overflowing into local waterways. It’ll take the support of the state legislature to get us there, so we’re asking you to raise your voice and let Capital Budget Chairs, Rep. Hans Dunshee and Sen. Jim Honeyford and their committees know you support this effort! Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Here is what’s at stake: Woodland Park Zoo is asking the state legislature to help with our commitment to sustainability and resource management in the Puget Sound area by requesting state capital funding for our priority sustainability project: reducing water waste from the zoo's hippo pool in the African Savanna exhibit. With an approximately $2 million state investment, completion of the hippo pool project would accomplish the following:

Posted by: Caileigh Robertson, Communications Photos by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo With a combined diet of nearly 300 lb. of food per day, it’s a little surprising that our three female elephants produce about 900 lb. of waste daily! And what better is there to do with 900 lb. of poo than make paper? In the Banda Hut of the zoo’s African Village, visitors are transforming elephant dung into one-of-a-kind stationery. Beginning with the raw product of elephant poo, zoo staff steam-clean the fibrous poo balls at 160 degrees to eliminate all bacteria. Once cleaned, the poo greatly resembles hay. You see, although each elephant intakes 100 lb. of food daily, only about 40 percent of it is digested for energy. As for the rest, well, it comes back out the other end… The steamed poo is mixed with a gray, paper pulp, an important ingredient in poo paper-making created by mixing old, shredded zoo maps with water. The old maps are shredded, stripped and soaked in water to break down.