Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Katie Remine, Education In December of 2016, a fire damaged Woodland Park Zoo’s Day and Night exhibits . Staff from across the zoo came together with local firefighters to respond to the emergency and protect the animals in our care. With this tragedy in recent memory, we were very saddened to learn about a fire that impacted the conservation community in Eastern Washington. In late June, a brush fire caused great damage to the Pygmy Rabbit Recovery Project. But, like our experience at the zoo, a wide variety of partners and stakeholders came together in response to the emergency. This August, our Advanced Inquiry Program graduate students were able to go out, get dirty and help our friends at the Pygmy Rabbit Recovery Project. Pygmy rabbit in a breeding enclosure in central Washington’s shrub steppe. Photo by Katie Remine/Woodland Park Zoo. Weighing less than a pound for an average adult, pygmy rabbits are the smallest known rabbit species in the world and are the

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications This summer we asked kids to show us what kinds of creatures might be hiding in their backyard — the results were some very creative and rare species indeed. The MyZoo Kids' Backyard Creatures contest invited kids ages 3-5 and 6-10 to design their own inspired creatures, whether real or imagined and after sorting through a stack of over 100 entries we have the winners! Grand Prize: Age 6-10 Artist: Lauren Orrison , age 7 Name of creature: Lady Lizard Nocturnal, eats pollen, lives underground and likes to dance. We loved Lauren's wild use of mark making and a creature that reminds us of something we have seen before, but can't quite place. Lauren will receive an overnight experience at the zoo in August. Great work Lauren! Grand Prize: Age 3-5 Artist: Carly Rodgers , age 5 Name of creature: Sazzy Nocturnal, eats reptiles, lives in a swamp and likes to hide. There was something a little

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/WPZ. After a closer look, it turns out our 1-month-old snow leopard is a boy, not a girl as reported two weeks ago during a quick neonatal exam. At a follow-up exam with veterinarians today we, uh, uncovered the truth. Sometimes determining the sex of young animals, particularly cats, can be more of an art than a science. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/WPZ “Male or female, we’re pleased our cub remains in a healthy condition. Both eyes have opened and he weighed in today at 4.2 pounds, a healthy weight for his age,” said Dr. Darin Collins, Woodland Park Zoo’s director of animal health. Veterinarians will continue to administer health exams every few weeks until he’s about 16 weeks old for weight monitoring, vaccinations, and critical blood and fecal sampling, explained Collins. The check-ups are a part of the zoo’s exemplary animal welfare program to ensure each animal receives optimal health care.

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications Lulu's first day on the savanna. Photo: Dennis Dow/WPZ. This happened today. It's a new milestone for baby giraffe, Lulu. For the first time, the 1½-month-old giraffe ventured onto the vast African Savanna exhibit with mom Tufani and the herd. Hey there, guinea fowl. Have you met Lulu? You're about to! Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/WPZ. “Lulu’s adventurous spirit and self-confidence were on full display during her first introduction on the savanna. She crossed out to the savanna cautiously, but once she was out there, she explored, galloped, and met our gazelle, guinea fowl and a few ducks,” said Katie Ahl, a lead keeper at Woodland Park Zoo. Video: Lulu's New Adventure “Lulu is very independent but you could tell Tufani and Lulu were keeping an eye on each other and it was good to see them check in with each other throughout the introduction,” Katie added. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/WPZ. Lulu’s

Posted by: Kelly Martin, Colobus Conservation Ltd., a Woodland Park Zoo Wildlife Survival Fund project Editor’s note: When an animal needs help, you can rely on our conservation partners to step up. Colobus Conservation Ltd., a Woodland Park Zoo Wildlife Survival Fund project based in Kenya, may have started with a focus on saving colobus monkeys, but their mission now impacts wildlife and communities well beyond that scope. This is one of those stories. Mel the vervet monkey. Photo courtesy Lydia Katsis, Colobus Conservation researcher Mel, a young female vervet monkey, arrived at Colobus Conservation a few weeks ago after being rescued from street entertainers trying to sell her to tourists passing by. Colobus Conservation was called to the scene by a concerned individual after witnessing little Mel tied up, alone and on the ground. She was being handed around for people to see. The asking price for her started at $10. Team Colobus moved fast. As so often happens, on our

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Getting weighed at two weeks old. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. Here is your first look at our newest addition! Born July 6, this little snow leopard had her first veterinary exam on Thursday. It was the first time we’ve been able to get close to baby, since snow leopards are born so helpless and depend on mom’s close care. Video: Two-week-old snow leopard baby  The exam went quickly because snow leopard mom Helen wouldn’t have it any other way. We got a good look at baby and that's when we found out we have a girl on our hands. She currently weighs 2.6 pounds and appears to be healthy. One of her eyelids has already opened and one remains closed. A cub’s eyelids normally open around two weeks. Her belly was full of milk, which means she is nursing and getting nourishment. That belly is full of milk, a great sign that she's nursing properly. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. Helen has

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. Diana Ross and Lionel Richie. Sam and Bagus. Some duets are timeless. For newly matched siamangs Sam and Bagus (bah-GOOSE), it’s only been a week and yet somehow it’s like they’ve been together forever. Sam and Bagus are an instant pair! Photo by Carolyn Sellar/Woodland Park Zoo. Sam lost his mate here at Woodland Park Zoo last year when our geriatric female Briony passed away. Across the country, Bagus lost her long-time mate at Palm Beach Zoo. A siamang’s social life is naturally structured around being in a bonded pair. Though Sam’s and Bagus’s keepers gave them all the TLC two lone siamangs could ask for, we all knew that what they needed most was to be part of a pair again. Sam and Bagus were well matched on paper. We work with other accredited conservation zoos through the Species Survival Plan to track the genetics of endangered species, such as siamangs, in our care. This way we can collaborate on m

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications Photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo Their patients are usually human. But a team of local medical specialists joined Woodland Park Zoo's animal health team last month to perform emergency umbilical hernia surgery repair on 38-year-old gorilla Vip. The all-star team re-convened with our veterinary team over the weekend to examine silverback Vip’s surgical site and perform dental and sinus procedures. The good news: Vip is doing great! “Thanks to the expertise of the medical team, Vip successfully pulled through both the surgery and follow-up examination and is back with his family as he recovers,” said Dr. Darin Collins, Woodland Park Zoo’s director of animal health. “The elderly gorilla remains under close observation by his attentive caretakers and we’ll continue to keep him on a prescribed program of analgesics and joint medication.” Prior to the surgery, keepers had reported the 430-pound western lowland gorilla had sho

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Standing in the sun-soaked tent at Molbak’s Butterfly Garden, we are surrounded by fluttering pollinators, gorgeous blooms and the giggles of some very special visitors. They wait, holding very still, anticipating a lucky butterfly landing.  Gabriana and her little sister Asuzana, 3 years old, soak up the magic of a butterfly overhead. “I really think they will land on me,” an optimistic 4-year-old Emilio explains to his mom. The butterflies seem to flit and dart just above the laughter of this group of toddlers. These kiddos and their parents are here with a group called YoungLives, which offers support and provides resources for teen moms and their young children in the greater Seattle area. YoungLives is part mentorship and part community resource for young mothers (primarily middle school through high school-aged) at a time when they may feel isolated from family, friends or

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo “I’m really not a seafood person.” quips Giovanni, “Ooohwee, that’s a strong smell! Humboldt penguins feast on anchovies, trout, smelt and herring at Woodland Park Zoo to mimic their natural diet in the Humboldt Current off the coast of Chile and Peru. Sometimes the aroma can be potent! Giovanni, ‘G’ for short, is visiting the Humboldt Penguin exhibit with his Big Brother Luke. The pair is a match with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound and they are here to get a special close up look at penguins with keeper Celine. The pair has experienced many outings since being matched by Big Brothers Big Sisters about 8 months ago, from trips to the arcade to grabbing burgers to just hanging out after school — but this experience is by far the most pungent. Community Access Program tickets provide a special opportunity for the children in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, a