Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications One of more than 500 Oregon spotted frogs reared at Woodland Park Zoo that were released into the wild last week. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. Precious frog . That's the meaning of  Rana pretiosa , the scientific name for the Oregon spotted frog, and a fitting one for a disappearing native. But there's good news to celebrate: more than 500 Oregon spotted frogs reared at Woodland Park Zoo were released last week into marshy wetlands at a protected site in Pierce County. These precious frogs will help rebuild the wild population in their native Northwest. Dr. Jennifer Pramuk, Woodland Park Zoo curator, packing frogs for an early morning release. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. The frogs were collected from wetlands as eggs and placed at the zoo for hatching and rearing for several months in a predator-free home as they transformed from tadpole to juveniles. This head start increases the

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Photos by: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo At just about two weeks old, a typical day for our triplet lion cubs includes filling their bellies with mom’s milk and figuring out how to get their limbs to cooperate with their will to explore. The boys have doubled their birth weight, now weighing between 6.7 and 7.9 pounds. Looks like we’ve got one milk hog in the litter, but don’t worry—all are within a healthy weight range. To make it easier for keepers to tell the cubs apart at a quick glance, each boy has been shaved in a unique spot. When they are all squirming around mom, wrestling for a cuddle or a spot to nurse, sometimes a quick glance is all you get! Video: Lion Triplets Grooming Mom Adia and the cubs are spending quality time together in a behind-the-scenes nursing den where they can have quiet and minimal disturbance. Keepers watch them via an internal video monitor to keep an eye on the family. So far, we only h

Posted by: Jenny Mears, Education Interested in pursuing your degree through the Advanced Inquiry Program? Join us for an informational forum on November 13. Woodland Park Zoo (WPZ) has teamed up with Project Dragonfly from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio to offer the Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP), an exciting Master’s program for a broad range of environmental and education professionals, including classroom teachers, zoo and aquarium professionals, and informal educators. The AIP offers a ground-breaking graduate degree focused on inquiry-driven learning as a powerful agent for social change, public engagement, and ecological stewardship. Woodland Park Zoo is one of eight institutions across the country that offers the AIP Master’s. The first AIP cohort started in 2011 (and graduated last December!) and students have already reported positive changes in their personal and professional lives. We asked Kate Marcussen, AIP graduate student and a Woodland Park Zoo Education Progr

Posted by Caileigh Robertson, Communications Sam the miniature donkey. Photo by Dennis Dow/WPZ. Sneezes, sniffles and itchiness are all signs of allergies in humans and, as research indicates, they’re common symptoms in allergic animals too—especially for one miniature donkey at Woodland Park Zoo. Sam, one of our two mini donkeys living at the Family Farm, is allergic to hay! Zookeepers noticed him becoming itchy around hay, which serves as feed for Sam and his herd mate, Rico. Sam continuously rubbed and scratched against posts in his Family Farm barn, and his coat became short and thin. After a blood test came back confirming his hay allergy, our keepers and animal health team crafted a treatment plan to reduce his symptoms and ease his discomfort. Photo by Ric Brewer/WPZ. Keepers promptly switched Sam’s feed to Bermuda grass hay, which doesn’t trigger allergic reactions like Timothy grass, commonly known for its pollen allergen. Although Sam experiences itchy sid

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Spiders are sort of the worst best. Homes and backyards in the Pacific Northwest seem to be teeming with spiders during the fall season and dewy-dropped webs float oh so delicately between the sidewalk and your face. But don’t get all antsy (ahem… spidery), we spoke with Sue Andersen, zookeeper at the Bug World exhibit, to learn more about these incredible eight-legged beauties. Video: A colorful look at spiders. Produced by Kirsten Pisto/WPZ. Volunteer Jordan asks zookeeper Sue Andersen about her love of spiders and why everybody should appreciate them! Sue, you have to work with spiders every day at Bug World. Were you always at ease around arachnids? To tell you the truth, no. When I first started volunteering at Woodland Park Zoo, all I knew was that I wanted to become a keeper. My very first assignment was to help feed the golden orb weaver. They are long legged and they are web-builders, meaning they like to hang o

Posted by: Dr. Deborah Jensen, President and CEO Photo by Matt Hagen. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “The first wealth is health.” It’s a truism that applies to all species. Although we may think our aches and pains are uniquely human, biologically speaking, Homo sapiens is just another species of animal. As a result, we are more similar genetically to other creatures than we are different, so we share many naturally occurring diseases. Health professionals caring for animals and humans often confront similar clinical questions, but to date don’t readily have avenues to work together on solutions. Woodland Park Zoo is working to change that. As global health challenges ask us to be more creative about our long-term well-being, we’re asking: what can we learn from a cross-species approach to health. Can we harness knowledge from both the veterinary and human medical sciences? At the 4th annual Zoobiquity Conference, November 1, 2014, held at the University of Washington an

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor The lion cubs, seen here at three days old, are doing well behind the scenes with mom Adia. Watch them wrestle and roll around as they position themselves for nursing in this new video: Video: Baby Lion Cub Sweetness In case you missed it, find the first photos and video of the cubs  in the birth announcement from last week. We'll continue to provide updates on the three boys from behind the scenes. It'll be some time before we see the family out on exhibit. For now, they need to focus on nursing, bonding with mom, developing their motor skills and getting big and strong!