Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications As you all have been patiently waiting, we’d like to give you a little update on our newest arrival. It’s a girl! Hello, beautiful! Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo.  A beautiful, 5’9”, 149 lbs. bundle of joy. She is already bonding with mom and curious about all of the keepers and animal health staff who have been visiting her barn. The sweet new calf is dry, meaning her soft fur is now clean and dry from the birth.  Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo. After a 4:03 a.m. birth on June 20, 2017 , our sweet mama Tufani began nursing her baby in the late afternoon. Nursing is a huge milestone for any new mother, but especially for Tufani who is a first time mom. Nursing is incredibly important for the health of the baby, and another sign that mom and baby are bonding.  In other good news, the calf received good scores on her first neonatal exam with our dedicated animal health team. Dr.

Posted by: Alissa Wolken, Communications Seattle’s tallest baby has arrived! After months of eager anticipation, Woodland Park Zoo is excited to announce 8-year-old giraffe Tufani gave birth this morning. The calf, whose sex has not yet been determined, was born to the first-time mom in the giraffe barn at approximately 4:03 a.m. under the watchful eyes of zookeepers. Hello, baby! Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. Following the critical 72-hour window after birth, the zoo’s giraffe cam will go live, giving the public the opportunity to see Tufani and her baby as they bond in the barn. Viewers can access the giraffe cam once it goes live and see updates by visiting  zoo.org/tallestbaby  and following #tallestbaby on the zoo’s  Facebook ,  Instagram  and  Twitter . Video: Seattle's tallest baby. The unnamed calf and mother are off view in the barn to allow a quiet environment for maternal bonding and nursing. “Within a week or two, we expect

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Video by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren After chatting a bit at the entrance, the Early Stage Memory Loss walking group decides on a destination. “We’re headed to Northern Trail today,” they declare, but it’s much more about the journey. The zoo has been partnering with the Washington chapter of Alzheimer’s Association (AA WA) for more than twenty years. As part of the zoo’s Community Access Program, AA WA receives complimentary zoo tickets to provide an opportunity for families and caregivers to enjoy healthy and healing activities with their loved ones who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.  We also welcome two Early Stage Memory Loss walking groups to the zoo twice a week. Year-round on Mondays and Wednesdays the walkers gather for an hour or two as the zoo opens to check out the grounds, soak up some nature and catch up with each other. A delightfully funny, sharp and welcoming crew, they allowed us to tag along on a few of their walks so

Posted by: Alicia Highland, Education A black bear's image caught by a remote camera in a Woodland Park Zoo study of local carnivores. Photo: Woodland Park Zoo. “ How many times has a carnivore interacted with your waste containers (garbage, compost, recycling) in the previous 12 months? ” asks the neighbor survey crafted by Issaquah middle schoolers. The students are trying to understand how their community’s garbage habits—what kinds of cans and lids they use or whether they store compost indoors—relate to encounters with bears, raccoons and cougars. Issaquah and the neighboring communities of east King County lie at the intersection of expanding urban settlement and iconic wilderness. Surrounded by forested mountains on three sides and Lake Sammamish to the north, the area is also home to abundant wildlife including some of Washington’s most charismatic carnivores: black bears, coyotes, bobcats, and cougars. At the interface of urbanization and wilderness, there is some

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Bear Affair: Living Northwest Conservation Day is one of our favorite events. Each year in early June, we get to do what we love best: watch our animals enjoy a special day tailored just to them and watch our visitors fall in love with those same animals, learn more about conservation actions they can take right here in the Pacific Northwest, and become stewards for protecting wildlife in Washington. It's also a day we get to celebrate the incredible work our conservation colleagues are doing too, as many of our peers join us by setting up learning opportunities that start on the North Meadow and wind all the way through Northern Trail. Our volunteers come out on this day, as do ZooCorps teens, and everyone from our horticulture staff (providing beautiful flowers for the mock wedding cake and arch) to our dedicated keepers who make sure the animals have a great day (without eating too many coffee grounds or cake). It doesn't get any bet

Posted by: Ryan Driscoll, Education Photos courtesy of ZooCrew, Woodland Park Zoo Note from the Editor: Each term, ZooCrew empowers middle school youth to become conservation leaders by providing science learning experiences that inspire them to learn, care, and act through after school and summer expanded learning opportunities. Through the ZooCrew programs, we excite youth from traditionally underserved communities about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) subjects by engaging with real-world conservation issues, preparing them for continued involvement in Woodland Park Zoo’s youth programs, and inspiring them to consider a broad range of STEM and conservation careers. We believe engaging these students, as well as youth across Washington state, is key to solving current conservation issues in our own backyard and around the world. Learning with the zoo doesn’t just take place on zoo grounds! As the school year winds down, we wrapped up another awesome sprin

Roxanne Sanders, a first-grader, was new to Seattle when her mom signed her up for a summer camp at Woodland Park Zoo so she could make some friends. However, Roxanne made more than friends. She found she liked exploring the zoo and the fact that there was more to the camp than just keeping the kids busy. “They taught you lessons about the animals, where they came from, how they live,” Roxanne said. “We got to see what the animals were doing and how they reacted.” Zoo camps became part of Roxanne’s life. She attended Zooper Day Camp for kids 4 to 9, then Zoo U for kids 10-14. In 2010, she became a counselor in training, and now, as a college student, she’s working as a camp assistant. Roxanne at Woodland Park Zoo. “Throughout elementary school, I knew I wanted to work with animals,” Roxanne said, “When I started thinking about college a few years ago, my parents were pushing me into medical jobs, but that wasn’t what I was interested in. I decided to go with what I wanted