Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Leo, with Yola and Nadiri in the background, 2016 photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo. Update on Leo’s passing We’d like to share preliminary necropsy (animal autopsy) findings with you regarding our 40-year-old male gorilla, Leo, who passed away on the evening of March 29 after a brief illness. The most significant post-mortem findings indicate the upper middle-age gorilla died from an aortic aneurysm—the internal rupture of the wall of the ascending aorta, the major artery exiting the heart. “The aortic dissection was extensive, extending into the descending aorta, down as far as the lower back region of Leo,” says Dr. Darin Collins, Woodland Park Zoo’s director of animal health. Heart disease emerged as a disease of concern and a major cause of death among all four great apes (gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos) in the early 1990s. In 1991, Woodland Park Zoo lost a male gorilla in his ‘20s due t

Posted by: Gigi Allianic Leo, a 40-year-old male gorilla, passed away suddenly on March 29, 2018 after a brief illness. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Leonel, a male gorilla fondly called Leo, passed away last night at age 40 after a brief illness. The upper middle-age gorilla had been under a 24-hour care this week. He died in his off-view sleeping den. On Monday, the 360-pound gorilla had no interest in food or drink, and did not want to leave his den to go outdoors. The zoo’s animal health team did a visual assessment and a 24-hour treatment plan that included medications, hydration, hand feeding and observation. Plans to anesthetize him yesterday for a diagnostic exam were canceled because Leo had shown significant signs of improvement. “Leo drank and ate a lot and urinated, a positive sign of hydration. Also, his activity levels increased and we even observed play behavior, so we believed he was on the mend,” said Nancy Hawkes, PhD, Woodland Park Zoo’s director of

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Video by Kirsten Pisto, photos by John Loughlin, Woodland Park Zoo A pair of crested screamer birds hatched in early March.  VIDEO: https://youtu.be/QcgyjLpWCc8 A pair of crested screamer birds, both females, hatched in early March. The chicks represent the first offspring between the 15-year-old mother and 23-year-old father. The last successful hatching of this species at the zoo was in 2002. The little chicks are busy stretching their long legs, soaking up the spring sunshine and eating lots of broccoli florets, among other snacks such as a blend of game bird, romaine lettuce and waterfowl pellets. The chicks represent the first offspring between the 15-year-old mother and 23-year-old father. The crested screamer family is currently off public view to allow animal keepers to monitor the chicks closely and weigh them regularly to ensure acceptable weight gains. At 2 weeks old, the chicks are fluffy and downy and currently wei

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Visayan warty pigs in their mud wallow. Photo by Ryan Hawk, Woodland Park Zoo. Warty pigs may not have the prettiest name, but we think they are beautiful! If you haven't stopped by the Trail of Vines lately, you should. Our three female pigs are especially active in early spring. This critically endangered forest pig is found only in the Visayan islands of the Philippines. The relatively small, grayish-brown pigs get their name from three pairs of fleshy “warts” that develop on the cheeks of adult males, but they are best recognized by the white stripe that runs over the bridge of the nose behind the mouth. Mature males also grow a stiff, spiky mane of hair tufts that make them look like the punk-rockers of the pig world. Hey cutie! Photo by Ryan Hawk, Woodland Park Zoo In the wild, Visayan warty pigs used to roam over six different islands of the Philippines, but they’ve lost more than 95% of that habitat due t

Posted by: Alejandro Grajal, PhD, President and CEO Your enduring loyalty and support mean you care deeply about Woodland Park Zoo’s future and the value it creates for your family and for the community you love. Since coming aboard at the zoo, I’ve been on a learning tour—listening to the community’s hopes and dreams for this 92-acre oasis, and ways the zoo can shape the future of wildlife conservation. We are all wrestling with a difficult truth: Our impact on this planet is profound and pervasive. In reality, all wildlife and wild places are now in human care. We have been asking ourselves: what more can we, as a modern conservation zoo, do with this responsibility? In a region renowned for its innovative, out-of-the-box thinking and strong environmental ethic, a lot, it turns out. Watch: We're on a Mission, produced by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. You spoke. We listened. Last summer, I asked the zoo’s Board of Directors and staff to hold conve

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications If you've seen Joel Sartore's images before, you know just how captivating a single photograph can be. Whoa. An endangered Malayan tiger, Panthera tigris jacksoni , at Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo. © Photo by Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark Woodland Park Zoo will host the traveling exhibition, “National Geographic Photo Ark,” from April 20 through October 7. The National Geographic Photo Ark is an ambitious project committed to documenting every species in zoos, aquariums and animal rescue centers—inspiring people not just to care, but also to help protect these animals for future generations. Featuring the work of National Geographic photographer and Fellow Joel Sartore, National Geographic is showcasing this important project through multiple platforms. This exhibition is organized by the National Geographic Society and Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium. A compelling and visually powerful project, the Nationa

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Inspired by the sweeping marshlands of Northeast India—where broadleaf forests meet elephant grasses, rolling rivers and dense pockets of jungle—Assam Rhino Reserve evokes the timelessness of nature’s grandeur. Yet look closer. The new exhibit, opening this May at Woodland Park Zoo, confronts one of the most enduring battles of species conservation: wildlife trafficking. The same wildness we revere in Earth’s breathtaking landscapes, we put at risk for trinkets, knickknacks, placebo medicines, and trophies. Photo of greater one-horned rhinos by Grahm S. Jones, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium Rhinos have become one of the most iconic symbols of wildlife trafficking. But trafficking is not an issue isolated to the wildlife of Asia and Africa. The Assam Rhino Reserve will help shed light on a very local problem—trafficked animals that are smuggled through our own sea and airports, and local species that are also being illegally killed for the

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Peter Zahler will join Woodland Park Zoo as Vice President of Conservation Initiatives in March 2018. As Peter Zahler asks in his article, Super Rare Super Squirrel , “What glides down mountains at night, sleeps in cliff caves during the day, eats primarily pine needles, and was thought to be extinct for 70 years? And, at four feet in length, is the biggest gliding mammal in the world?” Hint: it’s the same species that Peter rediscovered in Pakistan in 1994—the woolly flying squirrel (which was then thought to be extinct). Peter is no stranger to enigmatic species having led conservation projects from Alaska, Arizona, Venezuela and Peru, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji to the temperate mountains and vast grasslands of Central Asia. He has studied animals like the Asiatic cheetah, snow leopard, markhor, hoatzin, bristle-thighed curlew, Mongolian gazelle and grasshopper mouse. Peter’s 30 years of professional experience in cons

Posted by Alissa Wolken, Communications Hello, little ones! Footage of 6-week-old sloth bear cubs in the den with mom, Tasha. ( https://youtu.be/mbOJOale-Fs ) Tasha's 6-week-old sloth bear cubs have opened their eyes! New footage, captured on the zoo’s maternity den cam, shows the growing cubs becoming more mobile and opening their eyes. The two cubs, born December 27, 2017 , are the offspring of 13-year-old mother Tasha and 17-year-old father Bhutan. Cub kiss! Tasha gives her cubs a bath and snuggles them in the den. Screenshot from the keeper cam used to monitor the family. The mother and newborn cubs remain in an off-view maternity den to allow for their best possible welfare. This time is critical for maternal bonding and undisturbed nursing. Animal care staff is monitoring the new family via a camera inside the maternity den to ensure the cubs continue to thrive. Currently, the cubs are doing well and developing well.  Woodland Park Zoo is a participant

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Chinta, our eldest female orangutan, is turning the big 5-0—a cause for celebration! Join us on February 17 for Chinta's birthday bash.  The zoo will shower Chinta and her fellow companions with gift-wrapped presents full of favorite treats, streamers and flowers. And, of course, birthday cake! Chef David Van Gelder with Lancer Hospitality, the zoo’s food concessionaire, will bake a ginger-carrot cake fit for an orangutan and loaded with favorite ape ingredients including carrots, sweet potatoes and ginger. Chinta cools off with a shower in summer 2017. Photo by Carolyn Sellar, Woodland Park Zoo. The birthday girl is the oldest animal currently living at Woodland Park Zoo and one of the oldest female orangutans in North America. Save the date for Chinta's birthday bash! Saturday, February 17, 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. Cake and presents for Chinta: 10:30 a.m.   Birthday activities will take place at the orangu

Posted by: Ryan Driscoll, Education Photos by Ryan Driscoll, Woodland Park Zoo The issues of poaching and wildlife trafficking can seem black and white—it’s bad news.  At least that was the initial sentiment of many of the middle school students who participated in this last semester’s ZooCrew, Woodland Park Zoo’s after-school program. However, as the students explored the issue, they started to realize just how complex the causes and solutions can be.   One student explained why poaching in Africa can be a difficult issue, “people poach because they need the money and they can’t find a job that will pay them enough.  They need to have a way to feed their families.”  This led the students to explore a range of solutions such as recruiting those poachers to become rangers (who protect wildlife), building sustainable industries and supporting local communities that offer alternative employment.  They then explored ways that people here in Seattle could help. They created pro