Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Have you ever wanted to feed a penguin just like our keepers get to do every day? Here’s your chance to feed our tuxedo-clad birds! Our Humboldt penguin feeding opportunity kicked off this month and is now available daily through April 1. Each day from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. (or until daily fish supply is depleted), visitors will have the opportunity to add a penguin feeding experience to their zoo visit. For $5, you’ll get to feed the zoo’s charismatic Humboldt penguins a handful of tasty fish and experience these endangered birds hand to beak. You can pre-purchase your feeding opportunity at the West Entrance when you arrive (located at Phinney Ave. N. between N. 55th and N. 56th streets) or head over to the penguin exhibit and purchase the upgraded experience while you are there (cash only when purchasing at the exhibit). We have received wonderful feedback from our visitors who have had the unforgettable experience of f

Posted by: Nora Venne, Education Our look at the life of 5-year-olds continues in honor of Zoomazium’s big 5th birthday . In this post, zookeepers shed some light on what life is like for a 5-year-old snow leopard . Q: Human children at age 5 are still very young and completely dependent on their families for care. Give us a brief description of what life looks like for a snow leopard. Is age 5 young or older for this animal? A: At 3 years of age, our male snow leopard Tom had all ready consummated a relationship and at 4 years of age he was a father of two! Next year at age 5 he will once again hopefully father more children. Cats mature very quickly. In captivity snow leopards can live to be 18, although some live longer and a very few live to 21. Scientists are still researching how long snow leopards live in the wild but a domestic housecat would be considered in its upper 30s in human years when it was 5. Q: For humans, kindergarten is just starting at age 5. Some

Posted by: Nora Venne, Education Happy 5th birthday, Zoomazium ! We’re celebrating 5 years of child’s play in Zoomazium with a look this week at what it means to be 5 for humans and different animals. Then the party continues this Saturday and Sunday , Nov. 5 and 6, with cupcakes, live entertainment and birthday-themed activities at Zoomazium including enrichment treats for some of the zoo’s notable 5-year-old residents. In this blog post, we spoke with penguin keepers at Woodland Park Zoo to learn more about what it is like to be 5 years old for a Humboldt penguin .   Q: Human children at age 5 are still very young and completely dependent on their families for care. Give us a brief description of what life looks like for a penguin. Is age 5 young or older for this animal?   A: Humboldt penguins are much further along in their maturity by age 5 than humans are. That’s because the average life span of a Humboldt penguin is around 20 – 25 years in the wild; 25 – 30 year

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Scarves up! Woodland Park Zoo’s animals put their soccer skills to work today as we rallied for the Seattle Sounders FC’s run for the MLS Cup playoffs. The soccer ball kicking exhibition started with Rico, a 4-year-old Sicilian miniature donkey who recently joined the zoo’s Family Farm. Donning a Sounders scarf, Rico skillfully pushed his Sounders soccer ball all around his exhibit using his nose. He used his mouth to get the ball out of the gutter and back onto the playing field. The ref is still out on whether that’s a legal move. Next up was our frisky 2-year-old lion Adia who chased her ball all around the exhibit and even went after it when it splashed into the moat filled with water. It didn’t take long for Adia to crush the ball with her bite and drag it back with her to her rock for safe keeping. Five-year-old snow leopard Tom spent a good 5 minutes first rubbing his fur all over his soccer ball, enticed by the ne

Posted by: Jenny Mears, Education Are you an educator interested in earning your Master’s degree with Woodland Park Zoo as your campus? Would you like to join formal and informal educators from around Puget Sound and the world in building a strong foundation in ecological literacy, inquiry-based learning and field investigation? Instructors learn through observation at Woodland Park Zoo's award-winning Humboldt penguin exhibit. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. If so, Woodland Park Zoo and Project Dragonfly from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio are thrilled to introduce you to the Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP), an exciting new Master’s program for educators. Co-delivered by Woodland Park Zoo professional education staff and faculty at Miami University, the AIP combines graduate courses at the zoo with web-based learning communities that connect you to a broad network of educators and community leaders. Foundations of Inquiry students test whether the water stride

Posted by: Peter S. Miller, Zookeeper “Is it safe to come out yet? Not yet, maybe tomorrow.” These are the thoughts that might arise in the brain of a Louisiana pine snake hatchling. It is a chance decision that could mean your life or death in the wild. Such is the beginning of life for an endangered Louisiana pine snake. Next thoughts: hide or eat. When your serpentine undulations would signal a nearby predator that a tasty meal has just emerged from a clutch of eggs under the soil, stealth is critical…but so is breakfast! As the old adage goes, “eat or be eaten.” The Louisiana pine snake, Pituophis ruthveni , is a species under threat from habitat alteration of its native longleaf pine forest in the southeastern United States. This species has just increased its numbers on planet Earth by two, thanks to hatchlings that emerged late this summer at Woodland Park Zoo’s Day Exhibit. This accomplishment might not sound like much, but when your species is rare in the wild and

Posted by: Fred Koontz, Field Conservation; Sue Andersen and Amy Brandt, Zookeepers For Wolf Awareness Week, we’re giving you a glimpse into the fascinating dynamics within the zoo’s pack of wolves living in our award-winning Northern Trail exhibit. Did you know Woodland Park Zoo has had wolves in its collection for more than 60 years? The zoo’s wolves serve a critical role as ambassadors for their wild counterparts. The current pack consists of four female litter mates born at New York State Zoo in April 2010. They have four distinct personalities. When you next visit the zoo, see if you can identify them from their pack behavior: Doba is the pack's "alpha" or most dominant wolf. She is often visible in the front and center of the exhibit, where she can keep track of the other wolves. If you see a wolf gathering bones or toys that is likely to be Doba! Shila is the pack's most submissive member. She spends most of her time lying a bit distant from t