Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Alissa Wolken, Communications I don’t know about you but I’m feeling 22 25! Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. Happy 25th birthday to Maria, our three-banded armadillo! It’s a big milestone for Maria in more ways than one: she’s now a quarter of a century old AND she is the oldest living three-banded armadillo in a North American zoo. (Think about it: Wilson Phillips topped the Billboard charts the day she was born at San Antonio Zoo on April 20, 1991 and Steven Seagal ruled the box office.) Make a wish! Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. To celebrate this milestone, Maria’s keepers and local Girl Scout troop 44261 made her a “cake” out of cardboard decorated with tissue paper flowers and paper and straw "candles." Keepers then sprinkled bugs on top as a special treat. Maria ate a few of the bugs, and then it was nap time once she was full. Her Burmese mountain tortoise neighbor was happy to step in to help her celebrate.

Posted by: Kelly Gross, Zookeeper The African Savanna exhibit expertly mixes species. With a few new individuals and species added recently, keepers are working hard on getting all the savanna denizens to live in harmony! Archive photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. The savanna enclosure is a mixed-species exhibit; a large space where zebra, gazelle, giraffe, ostrich, guinea fowl, Egyptian geese and now bontebok live together , hopefully in harmony. Some of the combinations of animals are more compatible than others. In the past, our antelope species (fringed-eared oryx and Grant’s gazelle) seemed to do fine together, although to be fair, age had mellowed them and they seemed to prefer nothing better than spending the afternoon lying in the warm sun, their sparring days behind them. So far the Egyptian geese haven’t seemed to mind the thundering hooves of the zebra as they gallop past. But perhaps some of you remember last summer when the giraffe and ostrich never seemed to be

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications ZooCorps volunteer Paul Houser, Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/WPZ Let's begin with a quote from William James, "Act as if what you do makes a difference.  It does." When it comes to our dedicated volunteers, we could not find a truer sentiment. This National Volunteer Week, April 10-16, we'd like to acknowledge the  750+  Woodland Park Zoo volunteers who help our zoo shine. From their devotion to the zoo's animal care mission, to their passion for protecting wildlife and wild places—our  volunteers offer a host of wisdom, kindness and patience that inspires our guests and instills in our community a sense of wonder and gratitude.  Alycia Moncrieff assists the horticulture team in the Tropical Rain Forest. Photo by Dennis Dow/WPZ. Volunteers range in age from 12 to 94, and come from all over the place—some commute as far as Kennewick, WA .  From ZooCorps to Counselors in training to docents and a

Posted by: Kelly Gross, Zookeeper Have you been wondering why the savanna exhibit at times looks empty?  Or have you been one of the lucky guests who has seen a beautiful new species of antelope springing about on the freshly growing grass? Bontebok. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. The savanna exhibit is going through a bit of a transition right now. After our two elderly antelope passed away last year, the exhibit started looking and feeling rather empty. Managers worked to identify animals that were available and would fit in with our current collection. In the fall we received two female Grant’s gazelle and two male bontebok from San Diego Wild Animal Park. The bontebok are a striking new addition to the savanna. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. Gazelle tentatively explore their new savanna home. Photo: Katie Ahl/Woodland Park Zoo. We have displayed Grant’s gazelle before and hope to eventually acquire a male to begin breeding,

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