Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications In just a few weeks, Woodland Park Zoo Senior Conservation Scientist Lisa Dabek, PhD, will be back in Papua New Guinea to continue her work for the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program (TKCP). During that time, Dabek will meet with national government officials and the U.S. ambassador to Papua New Guinea to discuss TKCP’s goals for 2019 and beyond, which include incorporating the One Health approach into existing local governments’ initiatives. Young children (and future conservationists) celebrate TKCP's 20th anniversary in 2016. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo “The health of humans, wildlife and the environment is all interconnected,” says Dabek. Dabek founded TKCP, Woodland Park Zoo’s flagship conservation program, 22 years ago as a study on endangered tree kangaroos in Papua New Guinea—an island nation with immense biological diversity that is home to one of the last remaining intact cloud forests on the planet. But the same

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications We have some very exciting news! Our 12-year-old giraffe Olivia is expecting her second baby this spring. Olivia's birth window is mid-March into late April. Olivia! Tufani with baby Lulu in 2017. This baby giraffe will mark the first offspring between Olivia and 6-year-old Dave. Olivia had her first baby, Misawa, in 2013 with Chioke, who passed away that same year. Their offspring, Misawa, stole our hearts with his adorably grumpy face. In  2017 Olivia’s sister Tufani gave birth to #SeattlesTallestBaby Lulu (Dave was the father). Olivia, Dave and Tufani make up our current herd of giraffes until this new baby arrives in spring 2019. “Now that Olivia’s in her third trimester, we’re seeing more signs of a pregnancy such as weight gain and a rounder belly. Judging by the size of her belly, combined with fecal testing results, our guess is that Olivia will give birth in mid-April,” says Katie Ahl, our expert giraffe doula and lea

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Our grizzly bears, Keema and Denali, celebrate their 25th birthday on January 15. We've watched them grow from rough and tumble cubs to handsome beasts with fine-tuned palates for salmon, a penchant for romping through their stream and a remarkable nose for coffee grounds. They have inspired thousands of guests to take conservation actions and protect Pacific Northwest habitat. To mark the occasion, we’re giving you the gift of 25 fun facts about our favorite grizzlies—one for each glorious year! Happiest Birthday, sweet bears! 1. Keema and Denali are twins—born January 15, 1994—and have been together their whole lives. 2. Their age is an indicator of the good care they receive here at Woodland Park Zoo. The average life expectancy for a wild male grizzly is 22 but bears in human care can live much longer. The cubs kickin' it in the stream way back in 1994! 3. They are “Cougar bears”. OK, not really, but they were

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications Woodland Park Zoo’s baby Matschie’s tree kangaroo is now venturing out of his mother’s pouch! In time, the joey named Ecki will leave the pouch permanently as he grows more confident and independent. Tree kangaroo joey, Ecki, peeks out of his mother's pouch. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo “Ecki” is named after a beloved elder from one of the remote Papua New Guinea villages that works with Woodland Park Zoo to help protect tree kangaroos and their habitat. The joey and his mother, 11-year-old Elanna, live behind the scenes in an off-view habitat at the zoo. A joey’s journey  While Ecki is just now being introduced to the world, he was actually born eight months ago. When joeys are born, they’re only the size of a jelly bean! Within just one to two minutes of birth, that tiny baby has to crawl from the birth canal, through the mother’s fur, and into the pouch to immediately begin nursing. That’s exactly what Eck

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Sometimes animals need our support protecting their wild habitat and sometimes animals need our help finding a new home. Luckily, we were recently able to assist in two different cases where the expertise of zoo staff found a safe and appropriate new home for some very special creatures — and this story does have a happy ending. A Gila monster is one of several venomous reptiles taken in by Woodland Park Zoo. Photo: John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo A collection of reptiles owned by a woman who recently passed away in southern Wash. is now in the care of Woodland Park Zoo. The dozen exotic reptiles include several Gila (pronounced HEE-la) monsters, copperheads and vipers of various species. Friends of the deceased woman asked the zoo if it could take the snakes and lizards. “As a community service, Woodland Park Zoo accepts all venomous reptiles, whether privately owned or confiscated by local agencies,” said Jennifer Pramuk, PhD., a

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Zeus the mountain goat, much like the king of the Greek gods who hailed from Mount Olympus, is handsome, athletic and sports a stunning white beard. Unlike his namesake, he will not be married to the goddess Hera, instead he’ll kick it with his new BFF Daisy. Hey, Zeus! Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Back in September, we told you about a group of non-native mountain goats being translocated from Olympic National Park during a multi-agency operation to re-establish and assist in connecting depleted populations of mountain goats in the Washington Cascades. The effort to translocate mountain goats from the Olympic Peninsula is a partnership of the National Park Service (NPS), the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW), and the USDA Forest Service (USFS), with support from area tribes. Mountain goats were introduced to the Olympics in the 1920s. Video: A zen moment with the herd on the Northern Trail. Video: 

Posted by: Peter Zahler, Vice President of Conservation Initiatives Woodland Park Zoo is delighted to announce the good news that the highly threatened mountain gorilla has reached the point in its recovery that its status has been downgraded from Critically Endangered to Endangered. Mountain gorillas in the wild. Photo credit: Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund The decision was made by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the international organization that tracks the conservation status of animal and plant species. The decision shows the slow but steady increase in the population of this great ape due to concentrated protection efforts over the last few decades. There are still only about a thousand mountain gorillas left in the wild, found in a few scattered populations in the mountains of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in central Africa. The mountain gorillas have been facing threats from poaching, habitat destruction, and r