Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications The results are in to cap our two-week, online contest to guess the combined weight of Woodland Park Zoo’s two hippos . Today’s weigh-in of 12-year-old Guadalupe and 33-year-old Water Lily revealed the giant pachyderms’ collective weight: 6,279 pounds with Lupe weighing in at 3,285 pounds and Lily at 2,994 pounds! Zookeeper Matt Mills works with Lupe on the scale inside the behind-the-scenes hippo barn. More than 2,800 people entered our statewide hippo weigh-in contest, trying to win a behind-the-scenes experience with our hippos and other prizes. The guesses ranged everywhere from 150 pounds to 6,000,000,000 pounds, but only two entrants came within one pound of the final combined weight, and by random draw, 42-year-old Alane Michels of Sprague, WA was named the winner! Alane was all smiles when we called her this morning to tell her she won, telling us " This is a dream come true! I grew up coming to Woodland Park Zoo an

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Ever hear cackling in the Tropical Rain Forest exhibit? Many visitors do not realize that intense sound is coming from our red ruffed lemurs . Red ruffed lemurs communicate to each other with a complex system of at least 12 different vocalizations that include low grunts, gurgling sounds and that cackle-like roar. Photo by Dennis Dow/WPZ

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Introducing Wonderfully Wild Wednesday , where we’ll feature some fascinating wildlife adaptation each week. Let’s kick it off with one of the zoo’s newest residents—the waxy monkey frog. I don’t need to tell you that the waxy monkey frog is awesome. You can see that for yourself… But I will tell you that this frog—newly arrived to Woodland Park Zoo—is certainly unique among its amphibian brethren. Most frogs have moist skin that is susceptible to drying out when exposed to direct sun for too long. But the South American waxy monkey frog is uniquely adapted to take in rays, allowing it to make a niche for itself in the hot, dry environment of its native habitat in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. So how does the waxy monkey frog do it? It’s in the name (well, the waxy part of the name, not the monkey part. We’ll get to the monkey part later). The waxy monkey frog comes complete with built-in sunblock, a waxy secretion

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications How do you celebrate an ocelot’s 1st birthday? With a turkey cake and mouse candle, of course! Our little Evita is not quite so little anymore. To celebrate her turning 1 year old last week, Evita’s keepers prepared a lovely birthday surprise including some wrapped presents (boomer balls generously bought for Evita from our animal enrichment wishlist ), a papier mache ball with a mouse inside, and a heart-shaped frozen cake made from ground turkey, turkey breast and prepared feline diet with a “candle” that I hope to never see on any cake I eat—a mouse with its tail sticking up like a wick! Evita was slow to investigate her treats until keepers added an unexpected twist—a fresh pile of snow picked from just outside the Tropical Rain Forest exhibit. Evita’s exhibit is near 80 degrees year round, so the snow brought out her curiosity. She rubbed her head in the snow and batted at it with her paws before moving on to the other treat

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications The zoo was closed to the public again today due to the snow and ice conditions. Here's a look at what was happening on grounds: We'll post to www.zoo.org first thing in the morning tomorrow on whether we'll finally be able to open again. Until then, stay safe! Photos by Ryan Hawk and Carol Roll/Woodland Park Zoo.

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications The zoo may be closed today due to “Snowpocalypse,” but many of the animals are still out and about. Some animals retreat indoors or look for a warm spot to tuck themselves into to get out of the snow, while others—like our residents of the Northern Trail exhibit—are in their element. The first animals you encounter in the Northern Trail are the pack of four sister wolves—Doba, Shila, Aponi and Kaya. When we first approached the wolves this morning, they were beautiful to behold in their white fur coated in snow, an elk lounging in the background. But it wasn’t long before one of the wolves interrupted the still, idyllic portrait with a piercing howl. Then the wolves all began to vocalize together and play. They chased. And chased. Then took a break to nibble at the snow. We pulled ourselves away from the scene just long enough to see one of our grizzly bears shaking himself free of the snow piling onto his fur. The

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications Lupe practicing on the scale. Photo by Ric Brewer/WPZ. Was losing weight your New Year's resolution? Well, for our hippos, it’s time to get on the scale! Lily (left) and Lupe (right) in the African Savanna. Photo by Dennis Dow/WPZ. We carefully monitor the weight of our animals and now that we have acquired a new scale to weigh our hippos, we’re holding a contest to see who can guess the combined weight of our graceful 33-year-old Water Lily and the lovely 12-year-old Guadalupe. The winner gets to go behind the scenes to meet the hippos up close! Guadalupe with a snack. Photo by Dennis Dow/WPZ. Beginning today, Washington state residents are invited to guess the COMBINED WEIGHT of both hippos by entering online at www.zoo.org/hippocontest through midnight, January 27, 2012. The winning entry will be the closest to the combined weight (if more than one person gets it right, we’ll draw one random winner from those