Woodland Park Zoo Blog

The Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program is based at Woodland Park Zoo and in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, the eastern half of the island of New Guinea located north of Australia. This remarkable island is just now being revealed to science with a variety of new species being discovered and identified. Kangaroos in the trees may seem strange to many people; the common image of a kangaroo is the iconic image of the variety found in Australia. But tree kangaroos, of which there are about 10 species, inhabit the tall forest canopies of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Australia. Looking a bit like teddy bears with long tails, these elusive marsupials were becoming rare in PNG due to hunting and loss of habitat from logging. The Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program (TKCP) has been successful because it has been directly involving the indigenous land owners in decisions about how and what land can be used. Also, the program helps fund health care and nutrition projects for the villagers. They i

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo World, meet Keweng (kay-wing), or “Kay” as she is affectionately nicknamed for short!  This sweet female Matschie’s tree kangaroo, born to mom Elanna and dad Rocket in January, is named after a village in the YUS Conservation Area (YUS) in Papua New Guinea. YUS is home to Woodland Park Zoo’s Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program , and Keweng is one of the main villages in YUS. “Keweng is the home of Mambawe Manauno, the first landowner and former tree kangaroo hunter, who showed me tree kangaroos for the very first time in 1996,” explains TKCP founder and Director Lisa Dabek, PhD (also WPZ’s Senior Conservation Scientist). “Manauno was also the 2003 recipient of the Woodland Park Zoo Conservation Award. It’s so great to be able to pay tribute to his work with the naming of this special joey.” Day by day, little Keweng is becoming more familiar with the world around her. She was

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications Mayor McGinn proclaimed March 7-11 “Woodland Park Zoo Field Conservation Week.” The proclamation ushers in a huge week for Woodland Park Zoo’s growing role in conservation as we host an international conservation conference and summit this week. Nearly 250 zoo and aquarium conservationists, field biologists, wildlife agencies, and conservation organizations from 23 different countries and disciplines will come together for the biennial Zoos and Aquariums Committing to Conservation (ZACC) conference. The conference brings together some of the most successful field conservationists to share knowledge and findings, build stronger conservation bridges between wildlife and local communities, and establish direct links to zoos, aquariums and their stakeholders. The need for conservation solutions is more urgent than ever. On a global scale, the planet’s precious wildlife is facing the worst extinction crisis since the dinosaurs vanished 65 million y

Posted by: Hilary Aten, Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program Last night, TV viewers across the U.S. discovered an animal few had ever seen before, but are now not likely to forget. Woodland Park Zoo's work to study and protect the endangered Matschie's tree kangaroo was featured on both ABC World News and ABC Nightline --showing rare glimpses of the animal's elusive, tree-top lifestyle in the remote, dense forests of Papua New Guinea. Click to watch the full story online (will open in a new window): From November 5-7, 2009, ABC News anchor Dan Harris joined researchers from Woodland Park Zoo-based Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program (TKCP) and National Geographic at the program's Wasaunon field research site in the Papua New Guinea cloud forest of the Huon Peninsula. Through a generous grant from National Geographic and the Waitt Foundation's exploratory research program, Kyler Abernathy and TKCP's Dr. Lisa Dabek successfully captured and outfitted two wild

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Want to see what the tree kangaroo joey is up to? Now you can watch joey and mom through a limited-engagement web cam , streaming live from the family’s behind-the-scenes maternity den! Screenshot taken from the live web cam (you can stare at it, but it won’t move in this pic!). Watch the tree kangaroos live at www.zoo.org/animalcam Born the size of a lima bean in June 2012, this tree kangaroo baby is just starting to emerge from its mother’s pouch. Through the video monitor, you can see the joey and its mom, Elanna, in a behind-the-scenes maternity enclosure. The cam is streaming live from one of their rooms, but the family has access to an adjacent room, so there may be times when they are not visible on camera. When's the best time to watch? Tree kangaroos are crepuscular, which means they are most active in the morning and at dusk.  Tree kangaroo joey emerging from pouch. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo.

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications with Amanda Dukart, Animal Keeper We have a host of amazing staff, including animal keepers. Our Keeper Spotlight series aims to highlight their work and their passion for saving species as well as getting our readers an insider view of what it might be like to work at Woodland Park Zoo. Hello! My name is Amanda and I work as an animal keeper at Woodland Park Zoo. I currently work with tree kangaroos, wallaroos, wallabies, emus, kea, kookaburra, masked lapwing, wonga pigeons, blue-faced honeyeaters. But in the past I’ve worked with everything from big cats to primates, grizzly bears to reptiles! Today I am going to show you around my day-to-day a bit and how I work with our tree kangaroos. Amanda poses with a snack of fresh veggies for the tree kangaroos. This is their indoor space, behind the scenes. I earned my Bachelor of Science in Biology and then started my animal keeping experience at Chahinkapa Zoo in Wahpeton, North Dako

Posted by: Alejandro Grajal, President and CEO Alejandro Grajal with Coba the spectacled owl As the year wraps up, I take stock of what I’ve discovered in my first seven months at Woodland Park Zoo. So many highlights stand out to me. But what stands out most is what an amazing force for nature YOU have been. Thanks to you, the zoo is closing out a very strong year. Day after day you cheer our mission on. How well a community supports a nonprofit—in words and in actions—is a good measure of the organization’s value. I’m pleased to report that more people are coming to the zoo to take part in the wonders of species conservation. We’re on track to touch the hearts and minds of 1.32 million guests this year. What’s more, in an increasingly competitive experience economy, zoo membership and private support have remained strong, and special ticketed events have done particularly well this year. You’ve helped to bring about positive impact beyond our 92 acres as well. Each December

Photos and emails are trickling in from WPZ staffers who are currently up in the mountains of Papua New Guinea , celebrating what may be one of the most inspiring Earth Day stories this year. On Earth Day yesterday, thousands of Papua New Guinea villagers gathered in the Teptep village on the Huon Peninsula to hold a traditional Sing Sing, or celebratory gathering, to honor the creation of their nation’s first national Conservation Area . The new YUS Conservation Area—187,000 acres of tropical forest made up of land donated by 35 local communities—will be protected forever from hunting, logging and development. Joining them at the Sing Sing were Woodland Park Zoo Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program staff, representatives from Conservation International , and dignitaries of Papua New Guinea including the Acting Prime Minister—as it is the 12-year culmination of our work together with the villagers of PNG that has brought about this conservation milestone. Lisa Dabek, TKCP Director and WP

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Big news here at Woodland Park Zoo... We are thrilled to announce  that Woodland Park Zoo’s Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program has helped preserve 187,800 acres of pristine forest habitat with Papua New Guinea’s first ever Conservation Area. That’s an area the size of all five NYC boroughs combined! After 12 years of work, Woodland Park Zoo and partner Conservation International have reached agreement with Papua New Guinea land owners and government to establish the YUS Conservation Area, named for the region’s three rivers, the Yopno, Uruwa and Som. The area will protect thousands of species—including the endangered Matschie’s tree kangaroo —and some of the most critically diverse habitat on the planet. Though the nation has declared protected areas in the past, this is the first of its kind to prohibit all hunting, mining, logging and development—a new level of commitment to conservation a decade in the making for the people of Papua New

Posted by Ric Brewer, Communications Our very own Dr. Lisa Dabek, director of the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program, was recently featured in the New York Times for her use of portable solar power technology in the field. Since much of her work takes her into the remote cloud forests of Papua New Guinea, you can imagine that finding an electrical outlet would be a bit of a challenge! She began using solar power to help charge field equipment and is championing this resource as technology improves (you can even charge your cell phone by the sun now!). Read more about Lisa's solar efforts in the New York Times . And discover more about how you can help the  Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program . Dr. Lisa Dabek (right) and Toby Ross lay out a solar array to collect power to recharge their equipment in the field. Photo courtesy TKCP

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo We’re jumping for joey over our latest baby reveal—an 8-month-old Matschie’s tree kangaroo! The male joey was born last August to mom Omari and dad Rocket and he weighs two pounds already. His name is Havam which is the word for “tree kangaroo” in one of the many languages of the YUS Conservation Area in Papua New Guinea, home to wild and endangered Matschie’s tree kangaroos. It is normal for marsupials to spend their first months of life completely in their mother’s pouch—so it’s no surprise that Havam is just now starting to venture out and explore. Tree kangaroos are born hairless, blind and only the size of a jelly bean. In order to survive, the joey must quickly crawl from the birth canal, through its mother’s fur and into her pouch to immediately start nursing. At first, Havam did get a little bit too eager to make his debut, explains animal keeper Beth Carlyle-Askew.    “Havam exited Omari’

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor From welcoming new faces to celebrating old friends, heralding conservation milestones and leading veterinary breakthroughs, it’s been a year to remember. We take a look at some of our favorite stories from 2014—those that touched our hearts, made us smile, and made a positive impact on the world we share. Here’s to a wild 2015! 14. Grizzly brothers turn 20 Photo by John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo. We’ve watched grizzly bear brothers Keema and Denali grow up at Woodland Park Zoo, transforming from cautious little cubs to kings of the Northern Trail. When the pair turned 20 last January, they… slept right through it . Winter is a time of little activity for bears, after all. But as they stirred from their winter slumber, we surprised them with a belated birthday blast in April, complete with mounds of snow trucked in by our good friends at Crystal Mountain Resort. Hidden throughout the snow were favorite treats from meaty knuckle bone