Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor with reporting by Carolyn Sellar, Zookeeper Ding, the dad of the group. Photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Vegetarians sporting mutton chops? Welcome to Seattle, boys—you’ll fit right in! A family of François' langurs has just moved into the zoo’s Trail of Vines and their distinguished looks and playful antics are turning heads. The all-male troop is led by Ding (age 17), the father of 5 rambunctious boys. As the elder, Ding acts as leader, peacekeeper and resolution maker. His larger head, balding spots and ruffled tail reflect the experience and wisdom he has collected over the years. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. The boys, Ya Ya (age 5), Tang and Petey (age 4), Zhang (age 2.5) and Bouncy (age 2), are in perpetual motion. The smallest and most mischievous is Bouncy. According to zookeeper Carolyn Sellar, “Bouncy is still young enough that he gets away with a lot more than anyone else. Bouncy will soon learn h

Posted by: Kristin Quirk, Education Father's Day is almost here, a good time to take a closer look at the many forms of fatherhood in the animal kingdom. While its natural for fathers of some species to be entirely absent, other animal fathers fill all sorts of roles: protector, companion, provider, disciplinarian, partner and even playmate. Let's explore the world of animal dads. Golden lion tamarins Golden lion tamarins often have twins so dad’s help is very important in raising the baby monkeys. Photo: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. A male golden lion tamarin takes his role as father very seriously. The typical tamarin dad grooms, feeds, plays with and gives his infants piggyback rides. Hey dads, does this sound familiar? Hornbills With a big, long beak dad is able to slip food to mom living within the tree. Photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Hornbills will find a cavity or hole in a tree to make their home. The mother hornbill stays inside the t

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Video: Grow With Yola: Woodland Park Zoo Baby Gorilla Yola, Nadiri, Akenji and Leo are ready. Now, you can visit the family starting at 1:00 p.m. daily. Our thanks to you all for the incredible patience, kindness and support you have shown the gorillas and zoo staff as we gave Yola and Nadiri the time needed to bond and form a family. Mother and daughter, Nadiri and Yola. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. Seeing these two together is everything we worked for, everything Nadiri worked for, and everything your support makes possible. You've followed along from Yola's first days of round-the-clock keeper care through the inspiring updates from keepers witnessing first-hand how Yola is truly growing up gorilla. Yola is never far from mom's side. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. Now you can #GrowWithYola yourself and share your photos and stories to help us build the ultimate digital scrap

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Video: TT for the Bears. Things got very Seattle at Woodland Park Zoo when the world-famous fishmongers from Pike Place Fish Market helped us kick off Bear Awareness week and the big event, Bear Affair: Living Northwest Conservation Day presented Brown Bear Car Wash coming up Sat., Jun. 4. Photo: John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo. Grizzly brothers Keema and Denali could smell the salmon long before the fishmongers sent the fish flying over to them, shouting "TT for the bears" as in "test toss" in fishmonger-speak. Photo: John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo. In true Keema and Denali style, the bears let gravity do the work for them and then dined contentedly. Photo: John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo. Don't let the beautiful exhibit design fool you—the fishmongers were a safe distance from the bears with layers of containment between them, all under the watchful eyes of our animal care crew. That'

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. Nearly three weeks old now, our little porcupine baby is making bolder choices during outdoor adventures. Porcupines are natural climbers and the porcupette's instincts drive it to scamper up each mound, log and tree root it spots. Sometimes we need to be there with a helping hand. A heavily gloved helping hand. Video: Tiny Baby Porcupine Needs a Helping Hand Because a baby porcupine tumble-and-rescue needs to be watched on infinite loop, here's that moment again: Don't worry, little one. Gravity always gets me down too. Though the porcupette is brave when exploring, it's also perfectly content to stay in its den for as much as possible. That's where it nurses with mom in the evening and the darker coziness appeals to these primarily nocturnal animals. Its time outside can be pretty irregular but lucky trekkers through the Northern Trail might spot this littl

Posted by: Bridget Dunn, Communications Christine Anne behind the scenes with the zoo's Malayan tigers. Photo: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. As a tiger keeper, Christine Anne is used to seeing tiger brothers Eko, Liem and Olan playing, eating and stretching out their claws. They’ll be on her mind this summer when she travels across the globe to explore wild tiger habitat. The forest realm of the Malayan tiger. Photo: Woodland Park Zoo. Christine is joining other zookeepers from around the world on Realm of the Tiger, a trip hosted by Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers (MYCAT) to explore peninsular Malaysia. Realm of the Tiger is a five-day program designed especially for zookeepers and docents to enhance their understanding of tiger habitat and the big challenges facing Asian rain forest conservation. Seeing signs. Photo: Woodland Park Zoo. To accomplish this, Realm of the Tiger guides participants through an important wildlife corridor that connects Mal

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications Video: SAFE Western Pond Turtle Conservation via Association of Zoos and Aquariums Today is World Turtle Day and the perfect time to join Woodland Park Zoo and zoos and aquariums accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) to take action to help save the endangered western pond turtle from extinction. For 25 years, Woodland Park Zoo has partnered with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to recover western pond turtles, including raising and releasing turtles back to protected wetlands. Oregon Zoo and other state, federal and private partners have since joined the effort to bring the imperiled species back from the brink of extinction. This western pond turtle hatched overnight as World Turtle Day dawned. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. The species once ranged from Baja California to Puget Sound, including the Columbia River Gorge. In 1990, only about 150 western pond turtles remained in the wi