Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Big news: Your votes have made a difference for wildlife! We are proud to announce our conservation partner , Snow Leopard Trust, has won 1st place in the BBC World Challenge ! Thanks to your votes, they will receive $20,000 to help protect wild snow leopards and will have their story told on the BBC's international news outlets to spread the word about big cat conservation. Congrats to the Snow Leopard Trust and our many, many thanks to you all for voting throughout October and November and helping them win this incredible global honor. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Meet the new feathers on the block: the newest group of birds that now call Woodland Park Zoo home. Lola is a 3-year-old, female Aplomado falcon. She is currently at the Raptor Center being trained by her keepers to become part of the free-flight raptor program and will make her debut in the show this December. Olga, a female Steller’s sea eagle, is now on view at Northern Trail where she lives with the zoo’s male Steller’s sea eagle.   This male falcated duck can be found in the Temperate Forest marsh.   A male and two female fulvous whistling ducks can be found in the Temperate Forest marsh. A female brown booby has joined the Humboldt penguin colony. For now, she is outdoors when weather is permitting but she will become more visible as the weather warms. Photos by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo.

Posted by: Jennifer Larsen, Real Close Tour Guide and Tourism Marketing Coordinator I joined Woodland Park Zoo’s marketing team in late March, and 8+ months later it still is such a thrill to call this my place of employment! Having grown up in the Seattle area, I’ve been coming to Woodland Park Zoo since I was a toddler, and it has been an amazing experience to develop a tour program to share that sense of wonder with both visitors to Seattle, as well as zoo members and more frequent guests. Putting together the itinerary and content for our Real Close tour program which launched this year, I had the chance to meet people from all across the zoo’s departments including Animal Management, Education, Admissions, Horticulture, Animal Health, and Guest Services. Thanks to all of them, I am able to weave together stories, facts and anecdotes that entertain and inform our guests as I lead them around our award-winning exhibits. This past summer marked our first season of Real C

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications For the second year in a row, Asian elephant Chai made her prediction for who will win the Apple Cup. Last year her pick of University of Washington proved accurate when the Huskies won. This year she picked the Washington State University Cougars to win. Do you think her prediction will prove true or will Chai have broken her perfect record of one? The wind and rain this morning didn’t stop a food-seeking Chai from bounding onto the field toward the identical Husky and Cougar treat piles made up of hay, apples, bamboo, football-shaped icepops, papier-mache team helmets and oversized papier-mache apples stuffed with biscuits and more apples. Ignoring the boos from the Husky fans in the crowd, Chai went straight to the Cougar pile first—the action that made her pick of the Cougs official. She munched through much of the Cougar goodies before turning to the Husky pile and snacking on those treats too. Those of us watching tried to f

Posted by: Fred Koontz, Field Conservation; Sue Andersen, Zookeeper Since their arrival last April, Woodland Park Zoo's new gray wolves have been delighting visitors with their majestic appearance and playful behavior. The four canids , all female, are an important way for the zoo to help tell the story about this important and endangered species from the Northwest. It also very timely, as the state Fish and Wildlife Commission is considering a state-wide wolf conservation and management plan—a proposal that Woodland Park Zoo supports. Why Conserve Wolves? Gray wolves, also called timber wolves, historically were found throughout North America, but they were relentlessly pursued and killed so that by the mid-1930s wolves were on the verge of extinction in the lower 48 states. Following their 1973 listing as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act, wildlife management efforts have enabled wolves to make a comeback in the Great Lakes and northern Rockies. Bio

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Despite the fact that I’m still munching on leftover Halloween candy, I know the holiday season has arrived now that our Enrichment Giving Trees for the animals are going up and our zookeepers’ annual holiday gift auction is coming this Fri., Nov. 18. Holiday Auction If you are looking for an extraordinary gift that you can’t buy online or from a mall, check out Woodland Park Zoo’s Holiday Silent Auction this Friday to bid on a host of cool gifts including behind-the-scenes animal tours. You’ll get to pick from unforgettable experiences like going behind the scenes to watch an elephant bath, taking a photo with a raptor, or meeting an orangutan up close. The silent auction is put on by the Puget Sound Chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers (PS-AAZK) and will take place inside the zoo’s Education Center (near the South Entrance) on Fri., Nov. 18. Guaranteed bidding will be from noon to 2:00 p.m., and the silent auction

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