Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Happy Birthday Yola! Yola and her vine swing. Photo by Dennis Dow, Woodland Park Zoo. A very gorilla birthday Mischievous, playful, smart, curious, adorable and loved—that’s Yola. Today, November 20 is her second birthday. The 2-year-old gorilla won’t be getting a heart-shaped cake or streamers, she won’t be renting a bouncy house either—instead she’ll spend the day with her gorilla group, her family, doing what all 2-year-olds do best. She’ll push boundaries by stealing someone’s stick, she’ll snuggle up close to mom when she feels like it, she’ll play chase with her aunt Akenji, and undoubtedly she’ll investigate whatever Leo is up to—but most importantly she’ll be a gorilla. Being a gorilla is important. Gorillas are endangered. We hear that word a lot, but let’s think about what that really means. Their habitat and natural range is shrinking every day, and while we’ve made some progress in providing them protection —m

Posted by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo The cutest, fluffiest little sunbittern chick hatched recently in the Tropical Rain Forest (TRF) canopy!   Hello, little one! At  two or three weeks old, it can already be seen stretching its legs and its trademark long, thin neck around the nest. If you are willing to crane your own neck a bit, you can get a good view! Camouflage fluff keeps baby hidden in the nest. Sunbitterns typically look for dips in tree branches to lay their eggs, lining the nests with mud, moss, plant fibers, and other soft materials. Females lay between one and two eggs, and both sexes share the nest guarding, incubation, and brooding duties. Once the egg(s) hatches, usually in about thirty days, the parents will continue to share feeding and brooding duties. A lesson in how to gulp grubs makes for a picture perfect image. Sticking close to mom, for now. Our chick fledged the

Posted by Kizz Prusia, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo There really is no place like home. Home is where we rest, relax and where we go to recharge. For our residents—the 1,200 animals who call Woodland Park Zoo home— home is where they snooze, play, explore and snack. Seeing Woodland Park Zoo as a home is crucial to how we care for our animals—and just like your home—the zoo needs improvement from time to time to stay in top condition. We are extremely grateful to Seattle voters for passing the Seattle Park District ballot measure nearly three years ago. The funding provided by the Park District—about $1.8 million a year—goes toward maintaining our dens, trees, caves, hot rocks, roofs and watering holes. With this funding, we are able to update old parts of the zoo and keep new parts well-maintained. We consider this “home improvement” to also be preventative maintenance. We’d like to highlight a couple of important projects we hav

Posted by Alissa Wolken, Woodland Park Zoo Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo We have some new long-legged creatures to introduce you to! We welcomed two female maned wolves, sisters Joy and Scarlet, from the Little Rock Zoo in mid-October. You can now visit them at their exhibit in the zoo’s Wildlife Survival Zone. Neither a fox nor a wolf, Chrysocyon is a species all its own with stilt-like legs, a pointed muzzle, an impressive red coat and dark mane along the back. At home in the grasslands and scrub forest of central South America, these crepuscular canines roam the marshes and woodlands at dawn and dusk in search of fruit, small mammals, birds, eggs and invertebrates.  The arrival of Joy and Scarlet followed the departure of the our sole maned wolf, Vinny. Vinny was recommended to be sent to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center to be paired with a female for breeding under the maned wolf Species Survival Plan, explains Shawn Pedersen, a collection manage

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