Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham and Gigi Allianic, Communications Over the past two years, we have all watched snow leopard cubs Gobi and Batu grow and explore—from their precious first weeks , to their big debut , their first birthday and their participation in a smelly study to help track wild snow leopards. But now we’re preparing to say goodbye to Gobi, our male juvenile who is 2 years old and ready to move on to a new home at Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure in Salina, Kansas. Gobi—who got his name from more than 35,000 votes cast by zoo fans —has been recommended to move as part of a cooperative breeding management program known as the Snow Leopard Species Survival Plan (SSP). SSPs work to ensure genetic diversity and healthy populations. The SSP does not have immediate plans to breed Gobi, but this is an appropriate age for him to make his departure following the natural course of how snow leopards live in the wild. Snow leopards are essentially solitary animals and it is

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Ocelot kitten Evita is acing her exams. At her 9-week exam last Monday, animal health staff gave Evita another clean bill of health. These regular exams, part of the zoo's preventive health program, allow us to monitor Evita's progress and make sure she's achieving critical benchmarks. Evita is indeed hitting all of her developmental stages on target, and she's growing and gaining weight as expected. Animal health staff keeps the exams quick and efficient to minimize the amount of time Evita is away from her mother, Bella. After the exam, she's quickly returned to Bella in a behind the scenes area at the Tropical Rain Forest exhibit. Mom and kitty share a strong bond and Evita's progress is evidence of the great maternal care that Bella is providing. We expect to introduce Evita on exhibit with her mother in another few weeks—aiming for mid- to late-April. We'll let you know when she is ready to make he

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications This summer, dinosaurs are making a comeback! We’ll be opening a limited-engagement exhibit on April 30 that takes you on a journey back in time to discover life-size, animatronic dinosaurs that roar, snarl, hiss, spit and move. There will be 10 dinosaurs representing seven species that once roamed our continent throughout the Cretaceous and Jurassic periods—from a 19-foot-tall herbivore Brachiosaurus to a full-size, fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex . The latest scientific research reveals that these beasts may have been adorned with brilliant colors, scales and fins. We’re having a lot of fun working with the dino creators, Billings Productions, Inc., to reflect that in the look we’re giving our dinos. Here’s a sneak peek at the creative coloration we’re giving the juvenile Styracosaurus —does it remind you of the colors of a certain zoo animal when it is young? Dinos ruled for millions of years and this exhibit will explore the fascinating adapt

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications The last time we showed you wallaroo Fergie’s joey, it was just barely peeking out of its mother’s pouch. But now we have video of the first sighting of Fergie’s joey fully outside of the pouch! You can find Fergie and her joey, which was born last September, on public view in the zoo’s Australasia exhibit . Fergie can be identified by the green tag in her right ear, and though there's no guarantee, with some luck and patience, you might just get a glimpse of the joey too. Photos and video by Wendy Gardner/Woodland Park Zoo.

Posted by: Roxanne Murphy, Community Relations Currently, I'm having a great time going through the Woodland Park Zoo's docent training program. Since I've only been with the zoo for nine months, words can't express how much there is to learn to even try to catch up with my co-workers. This training has afforded me the opportunity to develop a more intimate understanding of our animals , exhibits , horticulture , education and conservation efforts . Best of all, it's fun, and it has introduced me to such dedicated, smart and passionate volunteers and animal and conservation advocates. One of our core assigments was to develop a brief presentation about one of the Woodland Park Zoo's Partners for Wildlife . Lucky for me, our team got the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project . Personally and professionally, I love grizzlies so much that part of my contribution to the presentation included writing a poem about them. We delivered the poem last Saturday and it received l

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications Time for an ocelot kitten update! The kitten recently got a clean bill of health during an examination by our animal health staff. She weighs in at just over 3.4 pounds, is healthy, active and now has a name! Meet the feisty Evita… Regular examinations like the one seen in the above new video are part of our preventive health program for the thousand-plus animals under the zoo’s care. Evita will continue to undergo a series of exams for the next couple of months to ensure she’s achieving acceptable weight gains and other important benchmarks. Evita is now 8 weeks old and is still living with mom Bella in a quiet and safe behind-the-scenes area. We know you are itching to see her in person and the latest update is that we can expect to see her out on exhibit in the Tropical Rain Forest building some time in mid- to late-April. To minimize disturbance for Bella and Evita while they remain behind the scenes, zookeepers are using a closed-circuit

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications It’s fitting on this St. Patrick’s Day that our news is about green and gold. We’re proud to announce that our new West Entrance has just achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Green building certification system! Our West Entrance opened last summer to make the visitor experience more efficient and convenient, with lots of helpful amenities including bathrooms, rentals, member services and even a shade-grown coffee cart. But the green features of the entrance are perhaps a bit harder to see on the surface. The entrance was actually designed with sustainability in mind—from energy-efficient buildings, to low-flow toilets, and Forest Steward Council-certified wood used on exterior siding. The rainwater infiltration system in the entrance was built to prevent the runoff of approximately 975,000 gallons of stormwater a year, reducing the chance of overflow from the c