Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Asian elephant Chai at Woodland Park Zoo. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Woodland Park Zoo loves our elephants Chai and Bamboo, and we deeply mourn the loss of their herd mate, Watoto. Her recent death sent waves of grief through our community of staff, volunteers, members and guests. She was part of our family and will forever be honored in our memories. Woodland Park Zoo’s elephant program continues to spark dialogue in our community. Productive dialogue has led to positive change, including the creation of the community-based Elephant Task Force , which concluded our elephants are in good physical and emotional health, and recommended some improvements to our program already underway. Unfortunately, this dialogue is being colored by inflammatory campaigns from local and national activist groups and the media they garner. These campaigns rely on alarming sound bites that confuse and mislead well-intentioned people and mischaracterize the zoo as profit-driven and ent

Posted by: Karen Stevenson, docent; Susan Burchardt, raptor keeper; and Anna Martin, docent When you saw “Vulture” in the title, what came to mind? Did you think of the Marvel® comic book character? Of big, red-headed black birds pecking around fresh road kill? Important members of almost every continent’s cleaning crew? A featured friend of raptor fans at the zoo? How about “all of the above”? Vulture in flight. Photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. The cartoon version is property of Marvel comics and we’ll let Marvel speak for him, but living, breathing, feathered vultures are represented at Woodland Park Zoo by Modoc, the zoo’s turkey vulture ( Cathartes aura ). Mo is a member of the Raptor Center’s educational team. He is the zoo’s ambassador for all vultures around the Old World (Europe, Asia and Africa) and the New World (the Americas). Susan Burchardt, one of the zoo’s raptor keepers says, “Vultures are easy to ignore or vilify, but they are a cornerstone in so many

Posted by: Fred Koontz, Vice President of Field Conservation, and Jennifer Pramuk, Animal Curator An Oregon spotted frog is released into protected wetlands after being raised at Woodland Park Zoo. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Yesterday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told this little frog we've got its back. Woodland Park Zoo applauds the USFWS on its official decision to extend federal protection to the Oregon spotted frog as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. This big move will go a long way in making recovery possible throughout the Oregon spotted frog’s northwest range. An adult Oregon spotted frog. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Once common and widespread in Puget Sound area wetlands, the Oregon spotted frog now inhabits 10% or less of its former range in the Pacific Northwest. That loss means more than just devastation to our native frog population. As Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Acting Supervisor, Tom

Posted by: Caileigh Robertson, Communications Zookeepers and animal health staff wheel Vip out of the zoo's animal hospital after the surgery is completed. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. Last week, we asked for your best wishes for western lowland gorilla Vip , who has been battling a severe sinus infection. After last week’s CT scan and a critical surgery this week to treat his chronic sinus infection, the 35-year-old silverback is successfully breathing through his nose for the first time in weeks! Vip is steadily improving, and for now he is spending time behind the scenes at the gorilla exhibit, getting some extra TLC from his keepers. A peek through the door of the operating room at Woodland Park Zoo's animal hospital. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. After the CT scan confirmed a complicated sinus infection, we realized the 425-pound patient would require sinus surgery to drain the blockage and physically remove the major

UPDATE: As we all mourn the loss of Watoto, we ask that in lieu of flowers you help us honor Watoto’s memory by joining the 96 Elephants campaign to save African elephants in the wild from extinction. Take the 96 Elephants pledge at www.zoo.org/96elephants to tell state leaders we want an end to ivory sales in Washington. Share this with your friends. Thank you for helping us honor Watoto. Most days at Woodland Park Zoo are inspired by wonder and happiness given to us by our beautiful animals. Rarely are there days we write with sad news. Today we are unable to find words to make this easier for any of us. Watoto, photographed in June 2014. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Earlier today, 45-year-old African elephant Watoto passed away in the care of our veterinary and animal care staff. Around 7:00 a.m., keepers found Watoto lying in the elephant yard, unable to return to her feet. After multiple attempts to help her stand up, a piece of equipment was brought in to

Posted by: Caileigh Robertson, Communications UPDATE: Vip is recovering from his CT scan, which revealed findings consistent with a severe sinus infection. We are working with a consultation team led by doctors from the University of Washington Department of Otolaryngology (ears, nose and throat) to plan for a near-future surgery to resolve this infection. We’re hoping for a positive outcome for Vip and are cautiously optimistic he’ll make a full recovery. Thanks for all the positive thoughts and well wishes—it means so much to us! Silverback Vip. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Woodland Park Zoo’s 35-year-old silverback gorilla, Vip, will undergo a diagnostic procedure for treatment of a chronic sinus infection. “In recent days, Vip has shown signs of a complicated sinus infection,” said Dr. Darin Collins, Director of Animal Health at Woodland Park Zoo. “Vip has unfortunately not responded as expected to recent treatments, which are often effective in treating a mor

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor On this World Orangutan Day, we shout out to all the kids who left their handprints at the orangutan exhibit earlier this month as a pledge to save these endangered primates. Photo by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo. The activity, part of our Asian Wildlife Conservation Day celebrations, helped the next generation realize that the fate of orangutans is in their hands. Photo by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo. Orangutans are struggling to survive in the wild, their populations under threat by the loss of forests in Asia. We work with the  Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program (GPOCP), a Woodland Park Zoo  Partner for Wildlife , to address the conservation crisis in the field. Wild orangutan. Photo by Tim Laman. The main goal of GPOCP is to work with the communities surrounding Borneo’s Gunung Palung National Park to foster sustainable stewardship of the area’s natural resources and build a future where orangutans and ot