Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications House Slytherin forever! Vine snake checks out the camera. Photo by Ryan Hawk/WPZ. Witches, werewolves and snakes? Let’s face it, snakes get a bad rap. Perhaps more than any other creature, snakes are the subject of much fear and misunderstanding. Like bats , spiders and all things deemed crawly, snakes are unfairly categorized as “creepy.” Slip into any Halloween shop and you’ll find snake motifs among the Draculas and the Swamp Things. In truth, snakes are vital to a diverse range of ecosystems on every continent (except Antarctica). While there are some snakes that pose a threat to humans, the majority of the 3,400 species of snake are harmless, only about 15% are venomous. One reason we fear snakes could, in part, be biological. This article explains how our primate neurons might respond to an image of a snake. I can personally recall my usually very level-headed mother flinging my little brother off a hiking trail in the face of a

Posted by: Dr. Darin Collins, DVM, Director, Animal Health The National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America has proclaimed October 12-18, 2014 to be National Veterinary Technician Week. Please join me in celebrating this week and share with Woodland Park Zoo's veterinary technicians, Harmony, Linda, Teri, Barb and Kimberly, how much you appreciate them and their work! Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Our Woodland Park Zoo veterinary technicians have over a 100 years of combined professional work experience. They are licensed professionals having graduated from accredited programs, and are members of their professional organization. Our technicians are highly trained in the latest medical advances and skilled at working alongside the zoo veterinarians to give all our zoo patients the best medical care possible. Being a zoo veterinary technician is a lifelong learning process through continuing education, and day-to-day work where they must uphold th

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications Ever wonder why snakes are always sticking out their tongues?  Woodland Park Zoo volunteer, Jordan, asked some of the zoo’s most curious visitors to explain…and their answers were pretty impressive! It's hard to trick the smartest zoo kids in the world. Video: Why are snakes always sticking out their tongues? All snakes have a vomeronasal organ, sometimes referred to as the Jacobson’s organ. This special auxiliary olfactory organ, located on the roof of the snake’s mouth, allows tiny chemical particles to be interpreted by the snake’s brain. A lightning fast exchange, the tongue finds these particles from the air, water or ground and delivers them to the Jacobson’s organ. The organ then supplies this information to the brain which interprets the message and the snake reacts accordingly. A snake’s vomeronasal organ, or Jacobson’s organ, sits inside the roof of the mouth. A snake’s forked tongue assists in this adaptatio

Watoto, photographed in June 2014. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. We have heard touching stories from so many of you about how Watoto impacted your lives, and we want to share the latest news to keep you informed on a subject we know is so close to your hearts. Following Watoto’s death in August, we have now received laboratory results that are helping us understand more about the loss of our 45-year-old female African elephant. According to the zoo’s Director of Animal Health, Dr. Darin Collins, the most relevant finding from the pathology report was the chronic, age-related arthritis in the elephant’s leg joints, which had been described during the post-mortem examination. Additional findings in other tissues examined, such as age-related changes in heart and muscles, were mild and within expected limits and were not life-threatening. There was no evidence of an infectious disease process, in the joints or in other tissues examined. In addition, the pathologist did n

Posted by Caileigh Robertson, Communications Back in his outdoor exhibit with his group, silverback Vip is breathing more freely since his successful sinus surgery . In late August, a team of ear, nose and throat specialists joined Woodland Park Zoo’s animal health team to clear Vip of sinus blockage caused by a severe sinus infection, and have continued working with our staff to monitor his progress since the surgery. After the procedure, and necessary days of rest and recovery, Vip’s healthy appetite and curious demeanor were welcome signs to his care team. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo To ensure Vip is on track for long-term success, our animal health team and consulting physicians will take a look at his improved sinus condition and clear any remaining blockage during a follow-up procedure this Saturday, October 4. Our animal health team has also called on the help of a local oral surgeon to give Vip a thorough dental evaluation during this weekend’s procedure. Alt

Posted by: Bobbi Miller, Conservation/ Advanced Inquiry Program Zoology student at Miami University of Ohio and Project Dragonfly As I prepared for my trip to Namibia, all the images from childhood television shows like Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom and Daktari flooded my mind. Would I see a cross-eyed lion? Would Marlin Perkins stand back while Jim went over to examine the deadly puff adder? It didn’t really matter; I was going to Africa—the place of my childhood (and adult!) dreams. But this was no photo safari complete with luxury accommodations. This was an Earth Expedition to Namibia, part of Miami University of Ohio’s Project Dragonfly Master’s Degree program. I was going there to learn. On the way to the Cheetah Conservation Fund. Photo by Bobbi Miller/WPZ. There was the requisite coursework like cheetah biology, community based conservation and education, and conservancy management, but what I really learned was something much more important: the wildlife we so

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor The handsome Pete. Photo: Dennis Dow/WPZ. Thank you all for your well wishes for gorilla Pete, whose dental surgery to remove a premolar was a success! The 46-year-old silverback is already back in his exhibit and doing well. While he was under anesthesia, our animal health experts had a chance to give him a close exam and found Pete to be in good physical condition with no signs of significant cardiac disease—great news for our oldest gorilla. Big thanks to our zookeepers and veterinary team for keeping Pete in great health for his old age—now if they can just figure out what to do about that growing bald spot of his! ICYMI: See how keepers provide special TLC for aging Pete and his mate Nina in their golden gorilla years.