Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor with Gigi Allianic, Communications A wolverine is caught on camera as it approaches a noninvasive hair snare designed to snag a hair that can be used for DNA testing. Photo: Robert Long/Woodland Park Zoo. To study elusive wolverines in the wild, you need to know where they occur. To figure out where they occur, you need wolverines to trigger remote research cameras. To get wolverines to trigger the cameras, you need to attract them with a strong scent, which naturally fades after two to four weeks. To keep that scent refreshed after it fades, you need to hike into backcountry terrain with deep snow and dangerous avalanche conditions in the winter— and that’s where it gets tricky . Senior conservation fellow Robert Long installs a new device that could revolutionize his wolverine research in the Northwest. Photo: Roger Christophersen. Extreme winter conditions can make the small but critical task of refreshing scent lures or baits difficu

Posted by: Jenny Mears, Education Advanced Inquiry Program students reflecting on their experience in Northwest Wildlife Conservation, a regional field course in which students traveled to the Oregon coast to meet with stakeholders in the Oregon silverspot butterfly conservation program.  Interested in pursuing your degree through the Advanced Inquiry Program ? Join us for an informational forum on November 17 or January 21. The Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP) is an exciting Master’s degree offered by Woodland Park Zoo in partnership with Project Dragonfly at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. This program is designed for a broad range of professionals from education, conservation, business, and government settings, and offers a groundbreaking graduate degree focused on inquiry-driven learning as a powerful agent for social and ecological change. The Advanced Inquiry Program combines graduate courses at the zoo with web-based courses, and provides students with hands-on, rea

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor with Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Communications Nadiri, our 19-year-old, soon-to-be mother, rests on some hay inside the gorilla exhibit. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. And now the watch begins. Gorilla Nadiri could give birth any day now. Last night kicked off the round-the-clock birth watch so we have eyes on the pregnant gorilla at all hours of the day. Volunteers Harry, right, and Sue, far left, receive some last-minute guidance and refreshers from keeper Judy, center, before the start of the shift. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. Zoo volunteers head in for their shifts nightly, monitoring the expectant mom overnight via a closed circuit camera. During the shifts, volunteers collect data and look for any telltale signs in her behavior that would indicate the onset of labor. A gorilla keeper is on call each night to respond if Nadiri goes into labor overnight. A keeper thumbs through paperwork the b

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren There is a new billy goat in town and his name is Albert. Hey, Albert! Albert, a young male Rocky Mountain goat, made his debut on the Northern Trail on October 27th. His sure-footedness and intuitive climbing abilities makes him perfectly adapted to his new home on the high rocky outcrop of the exhibit. We think Albert's woolly coat is quite striking against this mossy backdrop. Albert was born in May of 2014 at Calgary Zoo where he lived until moving to Seattle. He now joins the ranks with the oldest mountain goat in North America,  our 20 year old female, CK, who was born here at Woodland Park Zoo. At a year and half old, Albert is much younger than his woolly friend, so keepers are refraining from putting them together (think pre-teen and great, great grandmother). While they are not on exhibit together, they have visual and vocal access to each other in the barn and seem to get alo

Posted by: Fred Koontz, PhD, Vice President of Field Conservation On behalf of Woodland Park Zoo Society Board of Directors and staff, I congratulate the citizens  of Washington for passing Initiative 1401, making Washington the first state in the country to help save 10 endangered animal species groups from extinction by a vote of the people. By creating tough new penalties for trafficking products made from these animals, Washington joins other major port states like California, New York and New Jersey in passing laws that close loopholes allowing the black market to thrive for endangered species products. As Washingtonians, we should be tremendously proud of what we have achieved. Tuesday’s overwhelming election result shows that when asked, Washington voters will stand up to protect species from the cruelty of poaching and illegal trade. This is a groundbreaking, grassroots effort – especially significant is that passing I-1401 undoubtedly will inspire other states

Posted by: Bridget Dunn, Communications In and around Taman Negara National Park in Peninsular Malaysia, we’re working with our field conservation partners Panthera and Rimba to find and protect critically endangered Malayan tigers. This effort was established in 2012 as the WPZ-Panthera Malayan Tiger Conservation Partnership  with a $1 million, 10-year commitment to collaborate with Rimba and Malaysia’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks. One of Rimba’s most important tiger detection tools is a series of remote cameras, known as camera traps, set up around the forest. The traps are motion and heat sensitive, and the images they capture help us understand where tigers are so we can focus our protection efforts in those areas. One great thing about these cameras is how they are documenting that there are more than tigers to discover in this spectacular jungle! Photo: DWNP-Rimba Camera traps aren’t picky—they’ll snap a photo of any warm-blooded animal that moves withi

Posted by: Bobbi Miller, Conservation When we think of October, we think of bright, cool days and brisk nights; early, golden sunsets; things that are scary and go bump in the night; and Halloween with the kids all dressed up and ready to go door to door looking for candy and treats. It’s a time of creepy, spine-tingling excitement for young and old alike. Your Halloween candy choices can be a treat for wildlife, no trick! Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. But while we’re enjoying those crisp, clear days and chilly evenings, the people and wildlife in Borneo, Indonesia and nearby countries are dealing with thick, choking smoke. People there are wearing masks for a very different reason this Halloween, and it's all related directly to our candy. Borneo's Gunung Palung National Park shrouded in smoke. Photo courtesy Tim Laman. Wait, what? How does our Halloween candy relate to fires halfway around the world? Simple: most candy includes palm oil, and