Woodland Park Zoo Blog

The Search is on, Seattle! The UW and The Seattle Times are back with a 3rd year of the popular Emerald City Search . This year, the search is sponsored by Woodland Park Zoo with a special Year of the Frog theme, to help promote our amphibian awareness campaign . The first clue to help you find the hidden Emerald City Search medallion was revealed in The Seattle Times today, and an additional clue will be printed each day for 10 consecutive days. The clues, written by UW experts, are tricky, so consider working with a friend to solve the riddles and find the location of the medallion. First contestant to find a medallion hidden somewhere in the city wins $2,500 in cash and prizes. Official rules here. Good luck!

Here's video of six-year-old western lowland gorilla Calaya mastering the new upright trees and vines recently installed in the gorilla exhibit. This footage was taken at the very first moment Calaya encountered the new structures, and as you can see, she wasted no time in checking them out! The new artificial trees and vines installed in the exhibit will stand up to the rough and tumble of playful (and heavy!) gorillas for years to come. Come check them out!

The ocelot kittens got their first neonatal exam and were given a clean bill of health by their vets! Looks like both kittens are female. And it's official--they are as cute as can be. Case in point: You can even watch the behind-the-scenes footage of their first exam: Newborn ocelots are blind at birth and are helpless for several weeks, relying solely on their mother for care and nutrition. Staff continue to have minimal physical contact and monitor the mother and kittens in the birthing den via a web cam only. We hope to have them out on exhibit in 6-8 weeks. Until then, stay tuned for more video and photos! Photos by Ryan Hawk.

Calaya took to the trees last week as our gorillas were treated to their newly "decorated" exhibit. Two custom-made metal and concrete trees were the main reason for the exhibit makeover. Created by our talented Exhibits crew, the trees--one weighing more than one ton--were installed both for safety and durability. As you can imagine, a 300-pound gorilla jumping on a rotting tree branch can have consequences, so these realistic trees were made to allay any fears of gorillas raining from the trees! Part of the funding for this project came from 3-year-old Lucas Engles-Klann, who, with the assistance of his mom, held a vegetarian meal fundraiser and brought in $1,200 for our gorillas. We were fortunate to have Lucas here when the gorillas first were let into the newly renovated exhibited. Despite his shyness, Lucas seemed to enjoy the fruits of his generosity almost as much as Calaya enjoyed swinging in her new playground! (Photo by Tianna Klineburger)

For the first time in 15 years, we are celebrating the birth of endangered ocelots ! Two kittens were born last week. They are the first offspring of mother Bella, 7 years old, and father Brazil, 12 years old. The gender of the kittens is unknown at this time. To minimize disturbance, staff have minimal physical contact with the new family and are monitoring the mother and kittens in the birthing den via an internal web cam only (from which these screenshots were taken). Things are going well with this first-time mother. She is providing round-the-clock care and demonstrating excellent maternal skills. The kittens are active and nursing regularly. It’s critical at this time to give the mother and kittens their time and space to bond and develop healthily, so the kittens will not be on public view for at least six to eight weeks. We hope to be able to update soon with photos and/or video. You can still catch the father, Brazil, on view in the award-winning Tropical Rain Forest exhibit.

Posted by: Jona Jacobson, Woodland Park Zoo Conservation Department Did you know in the 1970s, only 75 Rodrigues fruit bats were left on the island of Rodrigues, a district of Mauritius? But thanks to concerted conservation efforts, those numbers are now approximately 5,500. This number can drop, however, by as much as 50% during a major cyclone, which occurs every 5 to 6 years. The Rodrigues Environmental Educator Project (REEP) was formed in 1998, and for the first two years the emphasis was on the bats themselves. Starting in 2000, REEP expanded their focus to include environmental issues and school programs. REEP visits 13 schools about every two weeks to conduct lessons with 5th and 6th grade children. The lessons are interactive and hands-on to bolster the teachers' standard curriculum. REEP teaches the scientific, English and Creole names for plants and animals, and takes students out on field trips: 1 to 2 trips per student, per year, during which time the students visit th

UPDATE: Our exhibit crew is putting the finishing touches on the new upright trees recently installed in silverback Vip’s gorilla group . They are adding deadfall and hanging vines and hammocks to make the trees more accessible and usable for the gorillas. Then the horticulture team will bring in soil and finish planting the area. We hope to have the gorillas back out and exploring these exciting new environmental enrichment items within the next few days. If you catch any photos of the gorillas checking out the new trees, please share! You can add them to our flickr slideshow by uploading them to flickr.com and tagging them with the phrase “woodlandparkzoo” or you can email them to us at webkeeper@zoo.org . Photo by Ryan Hawk.