Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Dr. Deborah B. Jensen, President & CEO Dr. Deborah B. Jensen. Photo by Matt Hagen. One of the perks of my job is the daily reminder of the many pathways to science and discovery at the zoo. Each of our 300 animal species, and thousands of plant species, has a unique biology and story reflecting the way it, like millions of other creatures, has found to survive on Earth. Likewise, I’m reminded of how zoo visitors’ journeys of discovery can lead to personal insights or new knowledge, or even open pathways to careers or timely innovations. Every day, I get to watch thousands of young people, teachers and families begin this wondrous trek. As a leader and as a scientist, I am privileged to engage our community in building pathways to a sustainable future. In many ways, today’s youth are ahead of the rest of us in recognizing the challenges our world faces, and they are looking for ways to begin designing lasting solutions. Of the 15 global challenges identified

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: Kirsten Pisto, Communications/Public Affairs Photo provided by Somali Community Services Coalition We believe that every kid (and kid at heart) should have access to their local zoo. In 2012, Woodland Park Zoo’s Community Access Program (CAP) partnered with 700 local human service organizations who offered their clients more than 40,000 complimentary passes to Woodland Park Zoo.   Photo from Academy for Precision Learning with middle school students on a field trip at Woodland Park Zoo this past summer. Thanks to support from zoo visitors and zoo members, we are able to reach out to folks in our community who would not otherwise be able to visit. The partner organizations determine how passes are distributed, serving homeless shelters, food banks, senior centers and homes, refugee communities, minority programs, disabled and mental health facilities, low-income youth centers, education programs and more. We are extremely proud of this program and wa

Wishing you a warm and wonderful holiday season, from your friends at Woodland Park Zoo!   Video:  Happy Holidays from Woodland Park Zoo Seattle 2012 from WoodlandPark Zoo on Vimeo . Want to share the zoo love? Send a zoo-themed holiday eCard to your friends and family this winter and save on paper. Video produced by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo.

Posted by Caileigh Robertson and Kirsten Pisto, Communications Yesterday, animals across the zoo were given enrichment in honor of Sounders fever! The zoo’s own line-up of animals gave it their all at a kicking exhibition to cheer on the Sounders heading to the MLS Cup playoffs. Here’s the rundown… In a pre-game scrimmage, our colony of penguins had a ball with their Sounders gear! Back and forth across the pool, the penguins porpoised through the water and dribbled with their beaks. Along the Northern Trail, Denali and Keema defended their Sounders soccer balls in good old-fashioned bear-to-bear defense. There were no passes to be made.  Keema and Denali held the defensive and both earned yellow cards for carrying the ball! At the other end of the Northern Trail, our wolves chased the Sounders ball between the trees and down the slope of their exhibit. Now if we can just get them to pass the ball or do anything other than bite into

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications This little turtle is about to be released into a protected pond site. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. From the parking lot you pull into off a suburban drag, you’d never guess you are about to enter a protected wetlands, where hope for an endangered turtle species hangs in the balance. Pull on your rubber boots, head through the reeds down a thin, winding path flattened by the steps of the biologists ahead of you, and as your feet start to sink into the softening ground, you know you are getting close to your destination—the edge of a small pond with a big story. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. It’s unassuming, but this spot—marked by nothing more than a temporary wooden plank for our safe balancing—is where hundreds of turtles have made the journey back into the wild over the past 20 years through an ambitious conservation effort to bring the native western pond turtle back from the brink of extinction in

Posted by: Susan Burchardt, Zookeeper A raptor flies over a wind turbine. Photo by Gretchen Albrecht/Woodland Park Zoo. As part of our wildlife conservation efforts in the Pacific Northwest , Woodland Park Zoo collaborates with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife on the Raptor Ecology of the Shrub-Steppe conservation program. This spring, zookeepers Gretchen Albrecht, Ros Bass-Fournier, Jean Ragland and I returned to eastern Oregon for three weeks to continue research begun last year . We recorded data on how nesting hawks interact with wind turbines. Hours of observation gives us important insight into how raptors are adapting to this new change to the shrub-steppe habitat. Lupine in a field of turbines. Photo by Gretchen Albrecht/Woodland Park Zoo. Shrub-steppe is a grassland habitat that occurs in western North America. Grasses and shrubs make up the shrub-steppe landscape. The most common shrub, or woody plant, is sage brush. There are many birds,

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Pike Place Market. Fishmongers. Salmon. Grizzly bears. Woodland Park Zoo. Rain. This isn’t a game of Pacific Northwest word association—it’s a recipe for a rockin’ good time down at the Northern Trail this morning! Our friends from world famous Pike Place Fish Market brought their signature fish-tossing skills to our grizzly bear exhibit today at a media teaser for this Saturday’s Bear Affair presented by Brown Bear Car Wash event. The fishmongers planted themselves safely at the edge of the exhibit—a massive moat stood between them and the bears, don’t worry!—and got to tossing while grizzly brothers Keema and Denali looked on. The first few tosses of the 6-pound salmon were just for practice, though the bears seemed like they were hoping for a slip-up that would land a salmon in their direction. But once the rhythm got going among the fishmongers—tossing the salmon over the heads of dozens of school chil