Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by John Loughlin, Woodland Park Zoo Bats may be top of mind on Halloween, but these amazing mammals should be revered every day of the year. Woodland Park Zoo’s six bats—Indian flying foxes—recently received their annual exams and are healthy and thriving. A radiograph shows off the massive wingspan of the Indian flying fox. The zoo’s animal health team performed the wellness exams at the zoo’s veterinary hospital. Ranging in age from 8 to 11 years old and weighing between 1.3 and 1.8 pounds, each bat received an overall health assessment that included body weights, bloodwork, dental and radiographs. The checkups are a part of Woodland Park Zoo’s exemplary animal welfare program. The  Indian flying fox , also known as the greater Indian fruit bat, has a widespread range on the Indian subcontinent that extends from Pakistan to Southeast Asia and China, and south to the Maldive Islands.  “There were some small wing

Posted by: Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos: John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo A zookeeper holds Jumoke's hand. Concussions, ACL tears, and knee cartilage damage are among the common injuries the UW Medicine sports medicine and head physician of University of Washington’s football team diagnoses and treats. Over the weekend, Dr. Kimberly Harmon brought her sports medicine expertise to help diagnose an injured gorilla at Woodland Park Zoo. The zoo called in Harmon and other human and animal medical specialists for a diagnostic examination on Jumoke, a 32-year-old, female gorilla who was born and raised at the zoo. The 275-pound western lowland gorilla sustained leg wounds during a scuffle off exhibit in the sleeping dens with a young female gorilla in her group named Uzumma. Woodland Park Zoo's animal care staff prepare Jumoke for her exam.  Martin Ramirez, Woodland Park Zoo’s mammal curator, said gorillas are generally calm animals, but scuffles are not

Posted by Alicia M. Highland, Education  Woodland Park Zoo’s Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP) Master’s students and alumni are enacting environmental stewardship and social change locally and globally. Here is just one of  their amazing stories : This week’s blog features AIP alumni Nate Brown. He shares how his AIP experience took him on a journey to Patagonia, Chile and helped him discover the importance of engaging local communities in environmental conservation.  Why did you apply to the Advanced Inquiry Program? As much as I love science, I knew right away that I didn’t want to become a scientist as a profession.  I came to this program because I was finally able to see the need for education, communications, and community engagement within the conservation world. Those were values and skills I could bring and develop further. I just needed to learn how to apply them. What impact has the program had on you personally and professionally? This program has ha

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Wildlife trafficking continues to put species on the brink of extinction—globally and locally. This is why we stand with the community in their commitment to end illegal wildlife trade. In spring 2018, one of the world’s most iconic symbols of poaching is coming to the zoo: rhinos. This will mark the first time rhinoceros will be at our institution in its 118-year history. Greater one-horned rhinoceros. Credit: Grahm S. Jones, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium Greater one-horned rhinoceros, Asian brown tortoises, and demoiselle cranes will be showcased in the Assam Rhino Reserve, a new, temporary exhibit that will amplify attention on the cruelty of poaching, the illegal trade and the turtle extinction crisis. In November of 2015, Washington state passed an historic citizen’s initiative for endangered species. Initiative 1401 made Washington the first state in the country to help save 10 endangered animal species groups from extinction

Posted by Jenny Mears, Education Note from the editor: There’s a world teeming below your feet in the Washington wetlands, a world we’re just beginning to document with the help of volunteers through the Amphibian Monitoring Program , a Living Northwest citizen science project. Amphibian Monitoring is offered through Woodland Park Zoo’s Living Northwest program, in partnership with Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW), Northwest Trek, and Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. Going on the sixth year of this citizen science effort, volunteers work in teams to survey ponds and wetlands in King and Snohomish Counties. An Amphibian Monitoring volunteer surveys Magnuson Park for egg masses with her team, which is comprised of ZooCorps teen volunteers. Photo by Lyra Dalton, WPZ staff The sixth season of Amphibian Monitoring  has come to an end, and Woodland Park Zoo’s citizen science program has much to celebrate: A successful transition to iNaturalist , a user-fr

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications World Gorilla Day asks people from all over the world to celebrate these amazing animals and take action to protect endangered gorillas in the wild and save their ever-shrinking natural habitat. Yola has captured our hearts, but her wild cousins need even more. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo. The largest of the primates, gorillas are often the first great ape that we are introduced to as young children. Their intelligence, gentle nature and magnificent strength make them both awe-inspiring and familiar. They are also the most closely related primate to humans, after bonobos and chimpanzees.  Every day, we see zoo guests, members, keepers and volunteers alike, standing in awe of playful Akenji, peaceful Pete or curious little Yola.  Their presence is inspiring. It is easy to love them, but on World Gorilla Day we ask you to act on behalf of this critically endangered species. Yola and Nadiri enjoy the spring b

Posted by Ryan Driscoll, Education 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  communities across King County  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. What does the word sustainability mean?  That was the question we asked during the ZooCrew Summer Learning Program , and 22 middle-school students from across Seattle came up with some