Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. We've heard stories of river otter sightings during hiking trips or kayak voyages, and some Northwesterners have even spotted otters while simply walking the dog. If you have ever observed a wild river otter in Washington state—or if you encounter one on your next outdoor adventure—we want to hear from you. Become an Otter Spotter and submit your sightings to our new community science initiative , part of our Living Northwest conservation program. We're collecting data on otter sightings across Washington as we launch a new research project that takes a closer look at the state's virtually unstudied river otter populations. Led by Michelle Wainstein, PhD, a local ecologist and conservationist, the research project—River Otters of Western Washington: Sentinels of Ecological Health—has a special focus on one of Washington's most used waterways. Photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Th

Every tiger life is precious, which is why we are very sad to share news about the deaths of three tigers in Peninsular Malaysia. Two tigers were discovered with poachers and the third, a mother pregnant with two cubs, was killed from a collision with a moving vehicle. When Woodland Park Zoo first turned its focus to tiger conservation in 2012, scientists estimated 500 Malayan tigers were left in the wild.  Just four years later, with better data and increased poaching, we believe only about 300 remain. With numbers that low, the loss of three tigers underlines the importance of protecting each individual tiger. Surprisingly, our field partners have found a nugget of encouraging news in this otherwise discouraging report.  Some background: you may recall from previous Tiger Team reports Woodland Park Zoo and Panthera’s Malayan Tiger Conservation Partnership conserves critically endangered Malayan tigers and forests by mitigating threats in the 3.7-million-acre Greater Taman Negar

Earlier this year, the Malaysian Government’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) released a heartwarming video featuring a wild Malayan tiger playing with her rambunctious 5-month-old cub. To most of us, images of a springy cub pouncing on mom are downright adorable, but to conservationists, seeing a vigorous tiger family tells a more important story. The health of mother and cub tells biologists there is sufficient prey for successful reproduction. Locating and protecting adult tigers is only the first conservation step—ensuring that they can raise cubs is the key to a bright tiger future. Welcoming the new year with good news about Malayan Tigers from Jabatan PERHILITAN on Vimeo . Credit: Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) Peninsular Malaysia If you have been following our Tiger Team updates , you already know Malayan tigers face serious threats to survival, specifically from wildlife poaching and widespread habitat loss. In some communities, t

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications Photos: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo If you’ve wandered through the Wildlife Survival Zone in the last week, you may have noticed an adorable new face peering out from atop his pine tree perch. Our newest member of the red panda family has been spotted chasing squirrels, eating pine cones and playfully exploring his new digs. Meet Carson, a 2-year-old, male red panda. Carson was born at Lincoln Children’s Zoo in July 2014 and was named after the famous television host Johnny Carson, who shares the panda’s birth city. Carson arrived at Woodland Park Zoo this February and has been collecting a host of fans ever since. This handsome red panda has a unique look; a paler face, lighter coat and slightly smaller physical features. Carson is a fulgens subspecies of red panda, so he is easy to tell apart from our other two pandas, Yukiko and Stellar. 10-year-old male, Yukiko, and 8-year-old female, Stellar are hang

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications Little brown bat, Canandaigua, NY, photo by J. N. Stuart via Flickr On March 31, Fred Koontz, PhD, the zoo’s vice president of Field Conservation, shared with us some important news he had just received from Penny A. Becker, PhD, a wildlife diversity division manager at Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). It was potentially devastating news. Penny’s email had detailed the first white-nose syndrome detection in a Washington state bat. The bat, found by hikers near North Bend, positively tested for the deadly disease. A mere 30 miles east of Woodland Park Zoo and the first case of white-nose syndrome west of the Rockies, the discovery could be catastrophic for local bats. This is disturbing news for bat conservationists across the country and very concerning for the bats in our own backyard. While you may not have heard much about the disease in the West, it is infamous on the East coast and much of the Midwest.

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications Photos by: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren On January 15th, Junior the 16-year-old, 165 pound, male jaguar made a special visit to the Woodland Park Zoo Animal Health Department for an endodontic tooth repair on one of the biggest teeth in this big cat’s mouth.  During the procedure, Junior is anesthetized and monitored closely by the team of veterinary staff. On the way back to  Jaguar Cove, Junior has a team of vet staff and animal management to look out for him. When keepers noticed Junior’s tooth didn’t appear normal and that his upper right canine was partially broken, veterinary staff called on the expertise of a local veterinary dentist consultant, Allen Matson, DVM, DAVDC of Eastside Veterinary Dentistry in Woodinville, one of only a few board certified veterinary dentists in the country. Lucky for the zoo, Dr. Matson is fairly close by and generously offered to volunteer his time to take a look at Junior’s broken tooth. 

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Our big guy, Towan. Photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. It is with heavy hearts that we share the news today: our sweet old fellow, Towan, has passed away. The 48-year-old orangutan—the oldest in North America born in a zoo—was feeling the aches and pains of getting older, and he passed during a medical examination that was needed to find a new treatment plan to help with respiratory issues that were not responding to medicine. His keepers were by his side, and from the outpouring of love we saw yesterday when we first announced his pending examination, we know he was in all of your hearts as well. Towan (right) and his sister Chinta were the first twin orangutans born in a zoo, here at Woodland Park Zoo in 1968. Photo: Robert Kelley. This community has known and loved Towan since he was born here with twin sister Chinta back in 1968. Many of you watched him grow up and as the decades passed, he watched us too. He saw Woodland Park