Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications With the recent baby boom at Woodland Park Zoo, we have posted endless photos and updates on all the fuzzy and feathered new faces that call the zoo home. But with Mother’s Day and Mom & Me presented by Verity Credit Union just around the corner, let’s not forget about the amazing animal moms who are working hard every day to care for these little ones. Adia Original photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo; modified. When you watch lion mom Adia at play with her high energy cubs, you can see just how youthful she herself is—giving as good as she gets with the four little tail biters that never turn down a game of tag. At just 3 years old, it wasn’t long ago that Adia was a cub herself. Adia watching over a playful cub. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. But motherhood has certainly brought out the lioness in young Adia. Caring for four cubs is no easy task for a first-time mom, but her instincts kicked in the moment s

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications This season brings eight new additions to our endangered Humboldt penguin colony. The chicks will make their debut later this summer once they get a little bigger and become proficient swimmers. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. One of the youngest chicks, seen here at 10 days old, hatched on April 27 to 13-year-old father Pizarron and 3-year-old mother Maria, who herself was born at the zoo in 2010. That brings the total number of penguins hatched at the zoo since our award-winning exhibit opened in 2009 to 32! As Humboldt penguins are endangered, these hatchings--part of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums Species Survival Plan (SSP) conservation breeding program--add up to lots to celebrate. SSPs maximize genetic diversity, with the goal of ensuring the long-term survival of populations and the health of individual animals. These new generations of penguins help us continue to  tell the story of what is happen

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications One day old tawny frogmouth chick. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. The tawny frogmouths didn’t want to be left out of the zoo’s baby boom , so they hatched their first chick of the season last week. Adult frogmouths sport mottled, grayish feathers that let them camouflage themselves like a dead tree branch, but they start life as a little, white puffball, covered in downy feathers. What do you think the tawny frogmouth chick looks most like? At one day old, the chick weighed in at 16.5 g (0.58 ounces). Its parents are doing a good job caring for it in their nest. The chick is weighed daily to make sure its growing as expected, and we’ll offer some supplemental snacks (little bits of mice) if it needs help putting on weight. One day old. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. The chick’s parents have another fertile egg in their nest, so we may have a second hatching on our hands soon. The family lives behin

Posted by: Bamboo Forest Reserve team A huggable Asian small-clawed otter mascot greeted children at the ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday and grand opening celebrations on Saturday. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Zoo fans of all stripes shared an otterly huge success story last Friday. Hundreds of donors, zoo members, public officials, families and children gathered to celebrate Bamboo Forest Reserve Day, officially declared by members of the Seattle City Council. A swift snip of the vine signaled the official opening of our newest exhibit to an eager and deserving community. L-R: King County Councilmember Kathy Lambert; Seattle City Councilmember Jean Godden, King County Councilmember and zoo board member Larry Phillips; Jennifer Carter and Louisa Malatos, representing the Joshua Green Foundation; Nancy Pellegrino, WPZ Board Chair; Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles; Deborah Jensen, WPZ President and CEO; Bill Bryant, Seattle Port Commissioner, and Seattle City Councilm

Posted by: Matt Mills, Zookeeper Were you aware that without serious action it is estimated that rhinos will disappear from the wild by 2030? Organized crime syndicates have spread into wildlife crime; bringing technological advancements, networks of smugglers, and high powered weaponry with them. Rhino horn is more valuable than gold in certain markert, and because of this an average of two rhinos are lost every day. White rhino at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Kenya. Photo by Matt Mills. Why is rhino horn so valuable? In parts of the world people have been lead to believe that rhino horn is a cure for everything from the common cold to cancer. Science has disproved this belief. In fact, rhino horn is made of tightly compacted hair. Does that sound like a cure-all to you?  It's not too late to stop the disappearance of these magnificent creatures from our planet. There are an estimated 30,000 rhinos still left in the wild, many of which live in conservancies ded

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications Sketching out exhibit layout ideas waaaaaay back when we first started designing Bamboo Forest Reserve. Designs for the new Bamboo Forest Reserve exhibit—including a new home for a pair of Asian small-clawed otters—started two years ago with a sketch on paper. The otters slowly emerged into their new exhibit this week. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Now that we’re seeing the design work turn into reality with phase one of the exhibit opening this weekend, we’re discovering that we aren't the only ones with ideas on how the exhibit should look. The otters have designs of their own! Tearing up the plants to make their bed. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. This week, the otters were introduced to their new home, and we watched them put the finishing touches on the exhibit themselves. Video: Otters rearrange the plants. Produced by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Narration by Caileigh Robertson/Woodl

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications As we gear up for the May 4th opening of phase one of our new Bamboo Forest Reserve exhibit, some of the details are starting to blossom! Here is a little sneak peek at the landscape horticulture elements that are part of the new exhibit. It’s all about landscape simulation—the zoo’s horticulture department seeks out plants that will thrive in our Pacific Northwest environment, while mimicking the flora found in the thick forests of Southeast Asia. Shaping a new exhibit’s greenery has three key components: 1.) the comfort and safety of the animals, 2.) allowing visitors to observe our animals in an environment inspired by natural habitats, 3.) and telling clearly the story of the entire biome, its diverse plant and animal species, and its conservation connections. Our horticulture team helps tell the conservation story of sharing the forest; the health of the forest being dependent on all its wildlife, from the fiercest tiger to the tinie