Woodland Park Zoo Blog

This "green" Public Service Announcement debuted this week on the Disney Channel featuring Kermit the Frog and Selena Gomez: The Association of Zoos and Aquariums launched 2008 as the Year of the Frog to build awareness for amphibian conservation. Frogs, toads, salamanders and other amphibians are in danger. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) predicts that at least one-third of known amphibian species are in danger of disappearing from the earth for good. What happens to amphibians today may harm other species in the future. But there’s good news: You can help! Create a frog friendly backyard habitat Conserve water at home--it's as easy as shortening your showers Reduce your dependence on fossil fuels Visit the Year of the Frog website or your local zoo for more tips and ideas

It’s time for the Fall Fecal Fest —your chance to get your hands on our highly coveted Zoo Doo. Why would you want to do that? Garden enthusiasts know that Zoo Doo, made from the manures of the zoo’s non-primate herbivores, is the richest, most exotic compost in the Pacific Northwest . Also available is Bedspread, a composted mulch that is like Zoo Doo but contains higher amounts of wood chips and sawdust. Zoo Doo is so popular, we have to hold a lottery to decide who gets it. If you want to enter the lottery, send a postcard—postmarked from September 5 through September 20—to: Zoo Doo, Woodland Park Zoo, 601 N. 59 th St. , Seattle , WA 98103 . Include the following information: Name Day/evening phone numbers Preference: Zoo Doo or Bedspread Amount of Zoo Doo or Bedspread you’d like to purchase (anything from a garbage bag to a full-size pick-up truck load) Weekday or weekend preference for pick-up Pick-up dates begin October 4 through October 19. The lucky winners lo

Now you can watch the western pond turtle release from earlier this summer on YouTube. Turn up the sound so you can hear from the biologists and zookeepers behind the program, then see a turtle take its first dip in the waters. You can catch all of our newest YouTube videos by subscribing to our channel: http://www.youtube.com/woodlandparkzoo .

Like her elusive wild relatives, Helen—Woodland Park Zoo’s newest snow leopard—made herself hard to spot during her official debut this morning at the snow leopard exhibit. TV and newspaper cameras scrambled to catch a glimpse of the beautiful feline as she crept around trees and hid behind rocks, shyly exploring her new home and the different scents her keepers scattered around the space. Helen, a 3-year-old snow leopard, joins us from Tautphaus Park Zoo in Idaho . Here at WPZ, she’ll make her home with two other snow leopards, 14-year-old Nadia, and 2-year-old Tom. The cat’s name carries on the legacy of devoted snow leopard conservationist Helen Freeman (1932-2007), founder of the Snow Leopard Trust , a WPZ partner for conservation. Together with the Snow Leopard Trust, we’ll be hosting the second annual International Snow Leopard Day event at the zoo this Saturday, August 23, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. At the event, learn all about snow leopard research and conservatio

Posted by Zoo Corps Shade-grown coffee is coffee that’s grown under the rain forest canopy and usually on family-owned farms with traditional methods (without chemicals). Leaving the existing rain forest intact protects the coffee plants from the weather and keeps the soil healthy. This practice also provides habitat for local wildlife and shelter for migrating birds. Some of these birds even visit us here! Tanagers, Warblers, Thrushes, Rufous Hummingbirds, Flycatchers, Vireos, Purple Martins, Sparrows, and many others are all birds that spend their winters in South American coffee territory and have been seen around the zoo during the summer. These birds are among those celebrated in May’s International Migratory Bird Day ( http://www.birdday.org/ )! If you’re interested in supporting ethical farming and protecting migratory birds, check out http://www.shadecoffee.org/ , and look for Bird Friendly or Rainforest Alliance certified products in your local supermarket. You can also find

Posted by: Zoo Corps Have you ever had mango salsa with peanut butter for breakfast? The orangutans have! Every morning, keepers send in ‘grocery lists’ to the Commissary, where all the animals’ food is kept. Then keepers and Zoo Corps interns check the lists and fill plastic tubs from the hay barns, giant refrigerator, and deep freezer. When the bins are filled, a zoo pick-up truck delivers the orders to the hungry animals. Many people have fun stories from their time in the Commissary. Once, a Zoo Corps intern got his wet shoes frozen to the floor of the deep freezer! Another worker spilled coffee on the floor and spent a few days trying to clean up the frozen puddle. While coffee isn’t normally found in the freezer, bags of frozen mice and fish are. The refrigerator holds everything from melons and yams to grape juice and yogurt. In the kitchen, the shelves are stocked with Ensure for older animals, vitamins, graham crackers, bread, popcorn, and the five gallon bucket

Congratulations Lindsay H. and Megan A., our two ZooTunes VIP Ticket Giveaway trivia contest winners! Look for emails from Woodland Park Zoo to find out how to claim your prize. Thanks to all who took a stab at these tricky zoo trivia questions for a chance to win two VIP tickets to The Avett Brothers with Shawn Mullins ZooTunes concert. Curious about the answers? Here they are! 1. What carnivore is found farther north than any other non-human land mammal? Arctic fox 2. What animal uses regurgitation as a defense mechanism to startle the predator and lighten the load for escape? Turkey vulture 3. Zoos have been successfully repopulating what animal into biological reserves in Brazil for over 20 years? Golden lion tamarin 4. Indonesians call what animal “ora”? Komodo dragon 5. The record holder for what animal has over 375 pairs of legs? Millipede 6. What tropical rain forest feature was considered by the Maya to be a holy connection between the land and the heavens a