Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Janel Kempf, Early Childhood Editors note: While Woodland Park Zoo is temporarily closed to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus in our community, our staff and educators want to share a few ways you can connect young learners to nature and nature play... and what better way than to bring Zoomazium to you! Each week, we'll add an activity to this blog to help your family create innovative and educational play time at home. For information about our temporary closure please visit zoo.org/health . Can't wait to see examples of your own Creature Feature! Have you been to a Creature Feature? One of our favorite daily activities in Zoomazium is Creature Feature, a fun puppet story followed by a visit from an Ambassador Animal. While the zoo is temporarily closed, our dedicated animal keepers are still hard at work giving these creatures the very best care. Your favorites like Obi the ball python, Bolivar the red-footed tortoise, and all the other anima

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren Howdy, Fitz! Just because we're all practicing social distancing, doesn't mean we can't bring you up close with one of our newest residents. Woodland Park Zoo has welcomed Fitz to our zoo family and he's getting more confident in his new home every day. This 2-year-old male jaguar arrived recently from Houston Zoo, and he is slowly but surely finding his way around the Tropical Rain Forest. Fitz is young and only a little bigger than Nayla, our female jag and his coat appears to be a little lighter in color. Fitz spent his first month in Seattle under the watchful eye of our awesome veterinary staff, which is standard procedure for new animal arrivals. Once our animal care team gave him a clean bill of health, he was ready to move into his new home in the Tropical Rain Forest area. Once there, this slightly shy guy has been taking his time venturing onto the public side of his outdoo

Posted by Janel Kempf, Early Childhood Editors note:  S taff and educators want to share a few ways you can connect young learners to nature and nature play... and what better way than to bring Zoomazium to you! Each week, we'll add an activity to this blog to help your family create innovative and educational play time at home. Keep calm and otter on! Play like an otter! Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo Hello to all our Zoomazium friends—we miss you! For any new friends out there, Zoomazium is our early childhood hub at Woodland Park Zoo. Even though we're all practicing social distancing to keep our community healthy, we can’t stop thinking about fun ways to play, grow, and learn about animals and their habitats. Each week, we'll share an animal-inspired, educational activity for young children and their families to try at home. Have fun and let us know how it goes! Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo Play Like an Otter What you need: A place

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Photos and video by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo They say nature and adorable animals are therapeutic, so here you go Seattle! #WeGotThisSeattle Uzumma and her 9-day-old baby ventured outdoors for the better part of an hour yesterday, March 12. With temperatures warm enough, and even a few sun breaks, it was the right time to let Uzumma soak up the outdoors with her baby.  Uzumma is an excellent mama and is keeping her newborn close. Pictured here at just 8-days-old, the baby gorilla soaks up some warm spring sun with mom, Uzumma. Of course, it was no surprise when the new mom climbed up to the tiptop of the climbing structure with her baby secured safely under her arm. Keepers tell us that while it might look scary from below, the first-time-mom is a confident climber. Uzumma made more than a few trips up the structure to take in the view and get a good look around. The other members of Uzumma's group co

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications Saying goodbye is never easy, especially to a bird as endearing as Blueberry the hornbill. Known to some as Blue for short, she was an especially flirtatious bird who had the uncanny ability to brighten days and produce smiles. Everyone who met Blue agreed, she brought an air of auspiciousness and her love of life was only matched by her love of blueberries. Thank you for being our very special hornbill, we will miss you. Sweetest Blueberry. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Blueberry, our female knobbed hornbill, passed away due to chronic advanced liver disease and other age-related concerns. Blueberry was 22 years old and was considered a geriatric bird. Blueberry hatched in May 1997 at Woodland Park Zoo and was named after her favorite treat, blueberries! The statuesque bird lived in the zoo’s Conservation Aviary where visitors could see her and learn about hornbills. In 2015, she transitioned to becoming an ambassador animal

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Uzumma gave birth to a baby boy in the wee hours of March 4 and we’re happy to report that mama and baby both appear healthy and are doing well. Uzumma holding her 4-day-old baby in her arms. Here are some of the first pictures we’ve been able to get since the birth—and you can see the heartwarming bond that’s developing between Uzumma and her newborn, who is not yet named. This baby is the first between 12-year-old Uzumma and 20-year-old Kwame. This is also Uzumma's first time as a mom and so far she is rocking it! Our dedicated gorilla keepers, who know them best, tell us that Uzumma is a wonderful first-time mother. They say she’s gaining more confidence each day and tending to all her baby’s needs. She’s very attentive—just like her mother Amanda was with her—and hasn’t put the baby down once. As for the tiny gorilla, he is bright-eyed and seems to be observing

Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications Flashback to last year: Mama Valkyrie is surrounded by her four pups, Tucker, Nooksack, Piper and Tahu. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo We’re coming up on a milestone for our four youngest North American River otters. Almost one year ago, on March 16th 2019, our resident female, Valkyrie, gave birth to her very first litter of pups—two males and two females. Tucker, Nooksack, Piper and Tahu are nearly full grown now and almost ready for their next adventure. Happy birthday, baby! Throwback to one year ago when the N. American River otter pups had their first wellness exam. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo  In nature, young North American river otters might stay with their mother for up to a year while learning to swim, dive and hunt for fish. So it’s no surprise that by 10 months, boys Tucker and Nooksack were ready to separate from mom. Soon, these youngsters will be moving on to other accredited