Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Christy Cheever, Development This summer at the zoo we are teaching guests about the environmental benefits of eating locally, and in an earlier blog post we talked about how we also try to feed our animals locally produced food as well. But where the food comes from is just one part of this sustainable story--we're also very involved in where it goes. As animals process their food, their bodies take in the vitamins and nourishment they need to live and thrive. The rest ends up as waste. And at the zoo, that’s the makings of some prized material… Zoo Doo . Zoo Doo is finished, dark and rich compost with some woody material remaining. Woodland Park Zoo creates nearly 1 million pounds of compost each year saving $60,000 per year in disposal costs. The zoo’s non-primate, herbivore animals’ manure is used for this process. This includes the elephants, hippos, zebras, giraffes, gazelles, and oryx among others. The Zoo Doo process begins when fresh manure and straw bedding are

Posted by: Susan Parke, Education This summer Woodland Park Zoo is promoting four different actions that we can all take to slow climate change through our food choices. One of these actions is to eat locally grown, seasonal produce, which has a lower overall carbon footprint than eating higher up on the food chain or sourcing food from far away. To do my part, I decided to join a CSA this summer—a Community Sponsored Agriculture program, just about the easiest way to get local produce from the farm straight to your dinner table. Every week I get an email reminder from the CSA to select eight items of locally grown produce that will be included in my box. So far, as I expected, there have been mostly greens, both salad and braising, but there have also been vegetables and grains as well. My first week I selected baby fennel, spring onions, turnips, yellow potatoes, a couple of different kinds of salad greens (including arugula – yum!), braising greens and eggs. Eggs fresh from the far

Posted by: Gretchen Albrecht, Zookeeper Woodland Park Zoo’s lush habitat often attracts local wildlife. For the first time, we’ve confirmed that wild Cooper’s hawks are nesting here on zoo grounds. Their nest has been spotted in the chestnut tree in the wallaroo exhibit in our Australasia biome. The pair has successfully fledged three young birds which are still heard around the zoo food begging from time to time. They are learning to hunt on their own at this point, but they still get an occasional meal from their parents. Both adults are second year birds meaning they both hatched in 2009. We can tell this by their plumage since they are currently molting from their immature plumage (which they keep for one year) into their adult plumage. Often the nests of younger, less experienced birds are not successful or they raise fewer young, so it has been fun to see this young couple do so well with their fledglings. To get a better understanding of the population of Cooper’s hawks in the a

The Louisiana Pine Snake Species Survival Plan is one of more than 30 field conservation projects in 50 countries around the world supported by Woodland Park Zoo. Here is an update from the field by one of the conservationists working to return Louisiana pine snakes to the wild… Posted by: Steve Reichling PhD, Memphis Zoo Curator and Woodland Park Zoo conservation partner Repatriating the Louisiana pine snake to the eastern portion of its historic range, 50 years after its extirpation, progressed further this August with the release of three more hatchlings. These are especially important snakes because they are carrying externally attached radio transmitters which will allow us to keep tabs on them, at least for a short while, and thereby learn a little about how they are adapting to their environment. Early in the morning, I met staff biologists and rangers who work in the Catahoula District of Kisatchie National Forest, which is where our reintroduction is taking place. The potentia

Posted by: Kiley Jacques, Senior Rose Gardener Whether you are a native Seattleite or a visitor to the area, if you haven’t made your way to the intersection of Fremont Ave and N. 50th St, you ought to add it to your list of things to do. It is there you will find the South Entrance to Woodland Park Zoo and one of Seattle’s oldest treasures. Established in 1924, the city’s 2.5 acre Rose Garden was developed with the intention of serving as a “civic garden.” It was to be a place for urban dwellers to enjoy a serene respite as well as learn about roses that perform well in our Pacific Northwest climate. The garden has always had an educational aspect to it and, to this day, that mission remains strong. At a time when issues of global environmental sustainability are at the fore, it is exciting to see efforts being made in our shared backyard. Here, in our beloved garden, we have implemented a new and holistic approach to natural landscape management. The idea is to look at the gar

Posted by: Martin Ramirez, Curator Lions, tigers and jaguars eating less red meat at the zoo? Who would have thought?! But if you think about it, carnivores in the wild will catch and eat the occasional fish or fowl to supplement their diet, so why not in a zoo? All of the zoo's carnivores receive a commercially prepared diet that meets their nutritional needs. These diets consist of red meat and are fed most of the week. However, there are some benefits to eating whole chickens or turkeys once a week. The bones in uncooked fowl help keep their teeth clean and the animals welcome the variety. Chickens can be offered to the animals in interesting ways. They can be hidden in the exhibit or hung from a spot where the animal has to reach for it. By reducing the red meat our carnivores eat we're not only improving their overall health, we’re also helping the environment. Researchers have determined that 2.5 times more oil is used in the production of red meat than with chicken. For

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Woodland Park Zoo is a photographer’s paradise so take your best shot and enter it for a chance to win the cover of Woodland Park Zoo’s 2011 calendar, hitting member households this November. Photographers—amateur and professional alike—are invited to submit their best animal photograph taken at Woodland Park Zoo. To enter, upload your photo to http://www.zoo.org/calendar-contest from August 16-30. Zoo judges will select their top 10 choices and open up the final voting to the public. Voting takes place online from Sept. 7-10, when the finalist photos will be posted to the zoo’s Facebook page. There you can cast votes by clicking a photo’s “Like” button. The photo with the most “Likes” as voted on by zoo fans will win the cover shot and a prize package including a one-year zoo membership for two adults and two children, plus a $50 zoo gift card . What makes for a winning photo? We’re looking for photographs that showcase the beauty and dram