Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Caileigh Robertson, Communications You often see our meerkats piled above ground, but it's in underground burrows where they typically make their home. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. However, despite the fact that they are excellent diggers, these burrow dwellers are more often burrow borrowers, as they usually don’t build the burrows themselves. Meerkats will often settle into burrows previously dug by other animals such as ground squirrels and other mongooses.

Posted by: Caileigh Robertson, Communications Although toucans and hornbills look very similar, they are from two completely different families of birds. This is a great example of what is called convergent evolution. Toucans and hornbills are beautiful, fascinating creatures and throughout time, they have both adapted similarly to survive in similar ecological niches, despite the great geographical divide between them. Toucans reside in Central and South America, while hornbills are found only in Africa and Asia. Toucan (left) and hornbill (right) look similar though they are unrelated. Photos by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. They both play the role of forest omnivore, feeding on fruits, insects and small creatures, including bird eggs, lizards and young mice. Their similar bills come in handy when foraging for food. Both groups of birds nest in cavities. These large bills also play a part in protecting eggs and nestlings from potential predators. So how do you tell the...

Posted by: Caileigh Robertson, Communications Unlike the largely solitary snow leopard or jaguar, lions are the most social of the big cats, regularly living in groups known as prides. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Lions live in matriarchal societies, where lionesses make up the majority of the pride and take on various group responsibilities. In most prides, lionesses live among their cubs , sisters and female cousins. A few males live within the group, though most are unrelated. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Lionesses are slender, making them more agile and faster than the males, which is helpful since the females are the primary hunters within the pride. While females hunt, the males guard their territory and protect the cubs from larger predators. Once old enough, male offspring will be run out of the pride and forced to join a bachelor pride until they can dominate a pride of their own. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Have you visi...

Posted by: Caileigh Robertson, Communications With this weekend’s Hawks vs. Falcons game rapidly approaching, let’s take a look at some of the strengths of each opponent. Red-tailed hawk (left, photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo) and peregrine falcon (right, photo by Dennis Conner/Woodland Park Zoo) 1. Hawks capture and kill their prey with their feet, yet falcons rely on the tomial tooth of their beaks to break the necks of their prey. (I wouldn’t want to be that unlucky fellow…) 2. Hawks are known for their slow glides in the sky, while falcons are known for their incredible soaring speeds.  Falcons have produced speeds clocking in at 200 miles per hour! 3.Hawks have broad, wide wings that are perfect for soaring. Falcons have long, slender wings that are pointed at the tip, which give them greater agility in the air. Both hawks and falcons are strong and powerful creatures, but we’ll let the playoffs determine which of the two is best on the field....

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Snow leopards can leap up to 30 feet. That’s great for pouncing on prey but it is also useful when making your way around the rocky terrain these Central Asian animals call home. Photo by Dale Unruh/Woodland Park Zoo. You need serious jumping skills to navigate your way across ravines and between cliffs.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications When you’re the world’s smallest deer, you need a decent predator escape plan in your repertoire. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. If a pudu is threatened, it will run in a zigzag pattern to throw off and confuse its pursuer.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications The “red” in the red panda’s name is easy to understand—the animal’s fiery colored coat serves as camouflage to blend with reddish-brown moss on trees. Photo by Mat Hayward/Woodland Park Zoo. The “panda” part, well, despite the common bamboo diet, the red panda is more closely related to raccoons than it is to the giant panda.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Meerkat pileup! Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Meerkats are the most social of all the mongooses and spend much of their time playing and grooming to maintain their tight bonds.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Emu feathers are designed to hang loosely, which helps keep them cool but also gives them an appearance of having hair rather than the tightly barbed feathers we’re used to seeing on most birds . Photo by Mat Hayward/Woodland Park Zoo.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications A porcupine’s front teeth continue to grow throughout its life. Porcupine nibbling. Photo by Lauren LaPlante/Woodland Park Zoo That’s helpful since it spends its days constantly gnawing on hard substances, wearing down its teeth. Mmmm, tree bark.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Giraffes have the largest eyes of any land mammal.  Photo by Brittney Bollay/Woodland Park Zoo.   Other animals on the savanna use giraffes as watchtowers — with their height and keen vision, giraffes are often the first to spot predators.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Why is a blue-tongued skink’s tongue blue?  Blue-tongued skink. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Because we feed it blue ice pops. Nah, just kidding. That blue tongue is a natural adaptation. A blue tongue darting out dramatically from a skink’s mouth can warn off or startle away predators.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Gorillas are known for their knuckle-walking on the ground, but they are also adept at climbing when they need to navigate through trees, a sometimes surprising sight given their mass. Have you ever spotted one of our gorillas up in the trees? Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Even if you haven’t seen the crested screamer at the zoo, you almost certainly have heard it.  When these birds vocalize, it is obvious why they are named “screamer”—their double-noted trumpeting or guttural drumming can be heard up to 2 miles away! You’ll find our screamers in an exhibit near the flamingos in the Temperate Forest zone .  Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Phyllium giganteum finds protection from predators in its remarkable camouflage, colored and shaped to look exactly like a leaf. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. This insect's camouflage is so convincing, it even has notches that make it look like a leaf out of which other insects have taken small bites.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications An elephant moves its massive trunk with such precision that it can easily pick up a single piece of straw. But for those of you who have enjoyed one of our Elephant Feeding experiences , you know our elephants are far more likely to go for a whole lot of food all at once! Feed an elephant at Woodland Park Zoo! Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Don’t miss this unforgettable experience , offered daily for $5 per person through Sept. 30.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications On this wonderfully wild Wednesday , a bit of advice: avoid getting licked by a lion .  Close up of a lion's tongue. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo Look at the rows and rows of sharp hooks on this lion’s tongue, designed to get meat off of bones lickety-split, and you’ll understand why this is good advice. Photo by Dennis Conner/Woodland Park Zoo.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications A hippo’s eyes, ears and nostrils are located at the top of its head to allow it to see, hear and smell even when its body is submerged in water. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. A lesser known hippo adaptation? The ability to balance watermelon.  Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications How is a meerkat like a bike? Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. A meerkat uses its long, stiff tail like a kickstand in order to balance when it stands upright.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications A giraffe's tongue is over 18 inches long and dark in color, most likely to prevent it from being sunburned as it strips leaves out in the savanna sun. You can see these adaptations up close when you participate in one of our unforgettable  Giraffe Feeding Experiences ! Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo.