Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Maybe you’ve spotted your best jaguar portrait flashing in our blog sidebar, or perhaps a photo of your kids enjoying the historic carousel. Wonder how it got there? We’re now sharing your zoo photos on our blog! To join in, all you have to do is upload your best zoo photos to flickr.com and tag them with the phrase “ woodlandparkzoo .” They’ll be automatically added to our photo slideshow. Not a flickr user? You can also add your zoo photos to our Facebook fan page !

Well, not crawling actually, but 50 of our Partula snails headed off on a British Airways jet to London Zoo on Tuesday. The reason? To be part of a study prior to a planned 2010 release back into their native Tahiti. Partula nodosa, a species of tree snail, have been extinct on their South Pacific island habitat for the last 25 years. But fortunately, several were saved by scientists and have since been raised in captivity. Four U.S. zoos currently breed Partula (St. Louis, Detroit, Akron) and the program is based here at Woodland Park. The international program, based at London and working with the Imperial College, will be examining the 50 snails shipped over to ensure they are healthy and do not contain any pathogens or parasites that may be harmful once they are released. Evening Magazine covered the momentous occasion with Partula program coordinator Ric Brewer and we hope to see the program air sometime in October or November. London reports the snails arrived safe, sound and sli

Orangutans and other animals enjoyed back-to-school themed treats this weekend to help say goodbye to summer and see the kiddies off to school. Sack lunches, textbooks loaded with surprise treats, and other clever enrichment items were used to not only give our animals a tasty snack, but to also stimulate them with new experiences and to encourage their natural behaviors. Credit goes to our keepers and volunteers who work so hard to create new and engaging enrichment for the animals. The "textbook" covers the orangutan keepers and volunteers decorated (Primate 101, Sign Language, etc.) delighted visitors but were also a hit with the orangutans, who ripped off the paper to use as a shade from the sun.

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