Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Commnunications Save $3 on zoo admission when sporting Seahawks gear beginning Jan. 11 through the run for the Super Bowl! As the Seattle Seahawks hit the field for the NFC divisional playoff, Woodland Park Zoo is #TappedIn and will offer an admission discount to fans showing their Blue Pride. Beginning Saturday, January 11, visitors wearing garb or paraphernalia such as a jersey, sweatshirt, hat or beads will receive $3 off zoo admission every day as long as the Seahawks stay alive in the run for the Super Bowl. The admission discount applies only to the child or adult wearing the Seahawks sportswear and is not to be combined with other discounts or promotions. Gather round, 12th man, and catch the broadcast of the Seahawks vs. Saints game in the zoo’s Rain Forest Food Pavilion on January 11. The zoo closes at 4:00 p.m. daily but fans will be allowed to remain in the restaurant until the end of the game that day. (Photo: OK, OK, technically thi

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications While we all get ready to mash the potatoes and whip the pie toppings, Woodland Park Zoo's carnivores are lining up for a Thanksgiving meal with considerably fewer trimmings. What happens next isn't pretty. Photo: Stan Milkowski/Woodland Park Zoo. Turkey Toss returns November 23 with a feast for the beasts. The turkey treats, while perhaps less elegantly prepared than our home-cooked Thanksgiving meals, certainly get us in the spirit of the season! Watch the jaguars, snow leopards and other meat eaters tackle their turkeys and see those carnivorous instincts in the raw. Then the spirit of the season continues with our annual Apple Cup discount , welcoming Cougs and Dawgs to the zoo with a special offer for football fanatics.  Asian elephant Chai enjoys Dawg- and Coug-themed treats to celebrate Apple Cup. That's right, you can celebrate the state football rivalry game by heading to the zoo! From November 25-Dec

Posted by: Jenny Mears, Education Interested in pursuing your degree through the Advanced Inquiry Program? Join us for an informational forum on November 13! Woodland Park Zoo (WPZ) has teamed up with Project Dragonfly from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio to offer the Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP), an exciting Master’s program for a broad range of environmental and education professionals, including classroom teachers, zoo and aquarium professionals, and informal educators. The AIP offers a ground-breaking graduate degree focused on inquiry-driven learning as a powerful agent for social change, public engagement, and ecological stewardship. Woodland Park Zoo is one of eight institutions across the country that offers the AIP Master’s. The first AIP cohort at WPZ started in 2011 (many of whom are graduating this December!) and students have already reported positive changes in their personal and professional lives. We asked Carole Parks, AIP graduate student and an instructo

Posted by: Deborah Jensen, President and CEO The Elephant Task Force —the citizens committee that has been evaluating our zoo’s elephant exhibit and program, including a health assessment of our elephants Chai, Watoto and Bamboo—has just released their final report. I wanted to make sure that you had the opportunity to review the report for yourself. Full report available online. In the report, you’ll find that the Task Force has unanimously adopted the medical assessment by the Expert Review Panel that recognizes the good health and well-being of our elephants, as well as providing multiple options for even better accommodations for our elephants. The report recognizes that the elephant program plays a vital role in the zoo’s conservation mission and concludes that the program efforts should continue and consider further expansion to provide even more value to conservation education. Chai, an Asian elephant at Woodland Park Zoo. Photo: Ryan Hawk/WPZ. What’s nex

Posted by: Caileigh Robertson, Communications Photos by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo Clear the cob webs from your costumes, lace up your running shoes and run wild at Woodland Park Zoo’s 2nd annual Pumpkin Dash 5K Fun Run/Walk presented by Chevron, coming up Sunday, October 27. All racers are encouraged to dress in costume! We're kicking off the Halloween season with two spooktacular races, the 5K Run/Walk and a 1K Kids Dash. 5K race registration is $30 on or before October 27, $40 day-of-race registration. 1K Kids Dash is $10. All participants will receive a Pumpkin Dash Fun Run t-shirt and a zoo pass valid for one admission through December 31, 2013 included with their race fee. Participants in the 5K Fun Run/Walk can anticipate a scenic course beginning and ending at the Green Lake Small Crafts Center. The top three overall male and female finishers will receive awards in the ceremony at the conclusion of the race. Stick around after the race to join Woodlan

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications You can still call him “cutie,” but our nearly 8-foot-tall, 7-week-old baby giraffe  now has an official name: Misawa (me-SAW-wah). Misawa at one month old. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. The name was selected by the current class of Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine students. The zoo works with the WSU program to mentor the next generation of wildlife veterinarians. What better way to honor that connection than by letting them name one of the most beloved ambassadors of the next generation of zoo animals? Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. The students chose the name Misawa, a common greeting in an indigenous Luo language from Tanzania and southwest Kenya, to honor the giraffe’s native range. It’s an especially fitting connection, given the school’s dedication to human and wildlife health through their Global Animal Health programs in east Africa, a region native to giraffes like Misawa.

Posted by: Jessie Maxwell, Education There are more than 5 million people worldwide who go geocaching as a hobby, and this summer Woodland Park Zoo’s Zoo University “Animal Quest” camp added a few more! Photo by Mackenzie Quinn “I’ve never actually done geocaching, but once I’ve gotten to go geocaching I ended up absolutely loving it and want to do it more.” - Alexis L., age 13. It all started with an effort to get Animal Quest campers (ages 12-14) to step into the shoes of a wildlife field researcher: a scientist who does a lot of animal and habitat experiments in the field. The campers explored different tools each day that different wildlife field researchers use—everything from water testing tablets to binoculars to different types of nets to GPS units. As hydrologists the kids tested Green Lake’s chemical and biological health. As ornithologists (bird scientists) they helped the staff monitor and count the barn swallows living here at the zoo. One day the cam

Posted by: Dr. Deborah B. Jensen, President and CEO Did you know that, on average, residents of King County spend as much as 90 percent of our time within 25 miles of home? Given our Northwest love of all things outdoors, thank goodness we have King County’s 200 parks and 175 miles of regional trails to provide us access to nature’s wonders. Whether it’s an expansive network of open spaces and trails or Woodland Park Zoo’s beloved 92-acre urban oasis—we all win when we protect our big backyard. That’s why I encourage you on August 6 to vote YES on King County Proposition One and renew essential support for King County Parks, suburban city parks and Woodland Park Zoo through 2019. A young girl connects with nature at the zoo's award-winning Humboldt penguin exhibit. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Svane. General fund support to King County parks was eliminated as of 2011, so keeping parks open and safe depends on you, me and other county residents renewing two 2007 voter-

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Photos by: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo Hispanic Seafair Queen Tania Santiago gets up close with penguin Cortez thanks to zookeeper Celine Pardo. Curator Mark Myers shows off a wand to this year's Seafair Princesses, but this wand isn't normally meant to go with tiaras. “This is a metal detector,” Mark explains. “Any idea why we might need a metal detector in the penguin exhibit?” “To see if they ate any coins?” a Princess correctly guesses. “That’s right, penguins like shiny objects,” Mark explains, as the ladies all self-consciously look at each other’s sparkling tiaras. Better not drop those in the penguin pool! 63rd Annual Miss Seafair Veronica Asence holds a penguin egg (don't worry, it's empty!). But our crowned cadre is too composed to have to worry about that. This year's Seafair Princesses, participants in the Seafair Scholarship Program for Women, got to go behind the scenes at the zo

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Grizzly brothers, Keema and Denali, demonstrated at Saturday’s Bear Affair: Pacific Northwest Conservation presented by Brown Bear Car Wash what bears can do to your campsite or backyard when you don’t store your garbage, food or gear properly.  See the damage they caused and learn bear safety tips to avoid these scenarios. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. If you are camping out in bear country, make sure to pitch your tents in a line or a semicircle facing your cooking area. With this set up, you will be more likely to spot a bear that wanders into your camp and the bear will have a clear escape route, according to our conservation collaborators over at  Western Wildlife Outreach . Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. When camping, remember the 100 yard rule. Locate your cook area and food cache at least 100 yards downwind from your tent when not in established campgrounds. Photo by Dennis Do

Posted by: Laura Lockard, Communications  Ever wonder how you can do more to help the zoo? Woodland Park Zoo would like to invite you to join our new advocacy program, ZooAction . Every day, issues are being considered at the federal, state and local levels that affect the zoo, our conservation and education programs, and our ongoing effort to save wildlife and their habitats. ZooAction provides a great arena to share policy information as it relates to the zoo and allows you to help advocate for the zoo. By joining ZooAction you are signing up to help advocate for issues that affect the zoo. You can also follow ZooAction on Facebook and Twitter . ZooAction will keep you informed about public policy issues that affect the zoo. You will be asked to take action by contacting your elected officials by phone or email about important issues. We will also keep you informed about how state or local initiatives or ballot measures impact Woodland Park Zoo, such as the upcomi