Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor When lead keeper Stephanie Miller tried to snap a photo of our male blue-billed curassow, he showed a lot of interest in her phone. Playing along, Stephanie reversed the camera so he could see himself on the screen. And that’s when he pecked at it, amazingly hitting the shutter button just right to take this perfect selfie! The duckface is over. It’s all about the curassowface now. And this critically endangered species from Colombia needs all the attention it can get! Look for this beauty in the zoo’s Conservation Aviary.

Plus our heartfelt thanks to Deborah Jensen for 13 years of service! Posted by: Bruce Bohmke, Acting President and CEO Bruce Bohmke. Dear Friends, As zoo members, supporters and partners, you are an integral force in the success of our mission. You also have a vested interest in the future of your zoo. So, on behalf of all the zoo staff and board of directors, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Woodland Park Zoo’s new Strategic Plan 2015-2018: Growing our Reach and Impact. You’ll be proud to know that Woodland Park Zoo is already recognized as a standard-setter among top zoos and aquariums in the U.S. With this plan as our compass, we will evolve to meet our community’s current and future needs, while further shaping and modeling the purpose of zoo-based conservation organizations in the 21st century. Because a significant rise in population is anticipated for the Puget Sound region, we must dramatically increase our reach and impact to serve a growing community. But

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Christine Anne is the Lead Keeper at Woodland Park Zoo’s East Team carnivore unit. Christine has been at Woodland Park Zoo for just two years, but she has been a keeper for over 13 years. Prior to working in Seattle she worked at San Diego Zoo Safari Park as the head lion keeper, as a bear manager at a brown bear rescue center in Sitka, Alaska, and as Assistant Supervisor of Carnivores at Wildlife Safari Park in Winston, Oregon. Her expertise in working with big cats is instrumental to the zoo, especially with three young, energetic new residents—the tiger brothers of Banyan Wilds . So, what is it really like to work with Liem, Eko and Olan? Christine treats a tiger to a spray of milk, a reward for working with keepers to practice health checks. By asking the tigers to stand up, keepers can  easily check their paws, belly and mouth. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. We asked Christine to give us the inside scoop on the tigers

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications Stellar. Photo by John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo. Enticed by a bowl of blueberries, red panda Stellar knows what to do. Photo by John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo. She makes her way to her keeper in a behind-the-scenes room, gets up on her hind legs and props herself onto a T-stand—constructed by the keeper for this very purpose—and waits for her reward. Photo by John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo. While Stellar takes berries from her keeper or sometimes buries her face full in a bowl of biscuits soaked in apple juice, a member of our animal health team conducts a non-invasive ultrasound exam on her. Photo by John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo. We’re hoping for signs that will verify a pregnancy. Photo by John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo. Several months ago, we introduced our new male red panda, Yukiko, to 8-year-old Stellar. The pair has successfully mated and now the ultrasound examinations are regularly underway—eve

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Malayan tiger at Woodland Park Zoo. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Malayan tigers have officially been reclassified from “Endangered” to “Critically Endangered” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature , the leading authority on the risk of extinction. The change reflects the reality of dwindling population numbers coming in from research data. What it doesn’t reflect is the hope that we can turn this around. We know what we need to do to save tigers—protect their habitat, protect their prey base, and protect them from poachers. And thanks to your support, we have boots on the ground in Malaysia implementing these key strategies. Now the work must continue at home. Washington residents can help protect species facing extinction by voting #YESon1401 this November . The initiative seeks to curb the wildlife trafficking trade and sets a new model for citizen-driven conservation. It’s never been more critical.

Posted by: Alissa Wolken, Communications All the way from Wisconsin, a very special delivery has turned into a very special new addition—Woodland Park Zoo’s first hooded crane chick. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Our hooded crane pair has been producing infertile eggs over the past several seasons. When we learned a fertile egg was available to foster from the International Crane Foundation, we worked together along with a Denver Zoo Curator and Species Survival Plan coordinator to give our pair the chance to rear a chick here at Woodland Park Zoo. Packed in a little cooler, the egg flew to Seattle and upon landing at the airport was welcomed with a special sign we drew up. Photo by Erin Sullivan/Woodland Park Zoo. We brought the egg back to the zoo and candled it to assure it was still viable. Candling is the process of holding an egg up to a high powered, focused light source for a few seconds to see if an egg is fertile or to check the health of a d

Posted by: Fred Koontz, Vice President of Field Conservation This morning, I joined our Initiative 1401 partners, Vulcan, the Humane Society of the United States, and the Seattle Aquarium, to announce that 348,627 people signed the petition to get this groundbreaking initiative on the November ballot. We’re one step closer to taking this critical issue to the people of Washington state. Woodland Park Zoo Vice President of Field Conservation Dr. Fred Koontz at today's I-1401 press conference. If passed, I-1401 will strengthen laws that ban the trafficking of products made from endangered animals—animals that are being poached or exploited so much, they are facing extinction. Woodland Park Zoo is proud to join the thousands of Washingtonians who signed the petition sheets in support of I-1401. U.S. Fish and Wildlife confiscated ivory. Photo by Julie Larsen Maher/Wildlife Conservation Society. Earlier this year, Woodland Park Zoo drafted and advocated for legislatio