Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo The #SeattleWatermelon has arrived. On June 10 at approximately 9:30 p.m., our Malayan tapir Ulan, gave birth to her first baby, a girl. We are in love. The gestation period for tapirs is approximately 13 months, and for Ulan, her birth window was between April and June, since we weren't exactly sure when she conceived. The average weight for calves at birth is 22 pounds, and Ulan's baby is 18 pounds. Calves are born with their eyes open and can stand within one or two hours after birth—and as you can see from these photos—baby tapirs hit their adorable watermelon benchmark right away! The newborn calf gets a quick neonatal exam by the animal health team before being reunited with mom. “These ‘watermelons on four legs’ are irresistible,” says Kevin Murphy, animal curator. “It will be curiously fun to watch her explore the public habitat, which we did our best to tapi

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Woodland Park Zoo is pleased to announce that its 3-month-old male gorilla, Kitoko, is recovering and doing well. The baby western lowland gorilla sustained head injuries over Memorial Day weekend during a skirmish among his six-member family group. The infant sustained serious injuries to the head including a laceration from a bite wound, resulting in a bone fracture to the skull. Zoo animal health staff had to immobilize Uzumma, the mother of Kitoko, in order to separate the baby and take him to the zoo’s veterinary hospital. A team of pediatric neurosurgery consultants from Seattle Children’s Hospital joined the zoo’s animal health team for evaluation, to conduct the surgical exploration and to close the wound. To minimize the risk of infection, the baby had to spend a night at the zoo’s hospital for intravenous antibiotics and pain medications. He was reunited with his mom the nex

Posted by Janel Kempf, Early Childhood Photo by ardito ryan Harrisna on Unsplash When you’ve been in one place for a while, like we all have been as we stay home and stay healthy, it’s fun to start looking closely at things you may never have noticed. And now that you’ve found some new treasures in your neighborhood, why not make a nature map? Animals all over the world need to know where things are. Sometimes they need to know where to go to get a basic need met, like food, water, or shelter. Other times, they need to know where another animal’s territory begins, so they know where not to go! Different animals have different ways of marking the places and things they need to remember. And, yes, some of those ways involve pee and poop—but not all of them! Ring-tailed lemurs at Woodland Park Zoo. Photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo Ring-tailed lemur males, like the zoo’s five boys, have a spur on each wrist next to a scent gland. To mark the edges of a troo

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Oh baby! Add two more precious newborns to the list of recent Woodland Park Zoo offspring—a healthy set of red panda twins was just born! The twins were born May 25 to mom Hazel and dad Yukiko. Twins Ila and Zeya were the last pair of red pandas born in 2018. We have seen a number of adorable animals born and hatched recently, including gorilla Kitoko born in March, penguin chicks and scaly-sided mergansers hatched, agouti pups born in April, a pudu fawn and mountain goat both born in May, and wallaroo and wallaby joeys that are just now venturing outside of their moms’ pouches! A very tiny, newborn red panda cub is examined during an initial health check up with the veterinary team. The red panda twins are the first born at the zoo since 2018, when Hazel and Yukiko gave birth to a set of female twins which were the first red pandas born at the zoo in nearly three decades. Wi

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Amanda in 2017, photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo We are mourning the great loss of Amanda, our 50-year-old female gorilla, who was humanely euthanized today due to a severe decline in health. During the last couple of weeks, the geriatric gorilla’s appetite and activity level were declining. Amanda was the grandmother of the zoo’s newest baby gorilla, Kitoko, born in March. She was the oldest western lowland gorilla living at the zoo and among the oldest in North America. At 50 years old, Amanda was well into advanced geriatric age, practically double in human years. In zoos, female gorillas can live in to their 40s and 50s. In the wild, the life expectancy is 30 to 35 years. Pictured here in 2008, Amanda carries baby Uzumma on her back. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Amanda was raised at Toronto Zoo. In 1994 she moved to Woodland Park Zoo where she successfully raised three daughters, including Uzumma, the mother of

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Editors note: UPDATE 5/25/20 Kitoko was returned to his mom the evening of May 24th. Uzumma picked him up right away and began nursing. Kwame, silverback and father of Kitoko, was also reunited with the pair that evening. As of May 25, Kitoko and Uzumma are doing well and under the watchful eye of the animal health team and their dedicated keepers who are showering them with lots of TLC. Woodland Park Zoo’s 2½-month-old male gorilla, Kitoko, sustained injuries yesterday, May 23, during a skirmish among his six-member family group. Zoo animal health staff immobilized Uzumma, the mother of Kitoko, in order to separate the baby and take him to the zoo’s veterinary hospital for an examination, including diagnostic radiographs and a surgical repair of the wound. Uzumma and Kitoko, photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. “The infant sustained serious injuries to the head including a laceration from a bite wound, resulting in a

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications On World Turtle Day 2020, we are more committed than ever to protecting vulnerable turtle, tortoise and terrapin species at home and around the world. #TurtlePower A western pond turtle about to be released into protected Washington wetlands. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. For western pond turtles, recovery is possible thanks to a collaborative effort between Pacific Northwest stakeholders determined to give these local gems a head start. Knocked out by predators, loss of habitat and invasive species, the western pond turtle population hit a devastating low of 150 turtles in Washington by 1990. But now, this native species is poised for a comeback. For more than two decades, Woodland Park Zoo has partnered with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Zoo and others to give these turtles a fighting chance. Today, successful reintroduction has brought that population up to more than 1,200. Without the collaborative