Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Craig Newberry, Communications It's official! You can now come see Tandie the lion in our African Savanna lion habitat. The 8-year-old male, who first stole the heart of Seattle as a cub, has spent the last few weeks acclimating to his new home and animal keepers. And now he's ready to show off for guests in the public side of his habitat. Tandie is back! Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Tandie, whose name means fire, was born as a triplet at Woodland Park Zoo in 2014 to parents Adia and Xerxes. The big cat arrived back in Seattle last month after living at Oakland Zoo since 2016. And he's not alone; he shares the spotlight with female Ilanga, 5. The pair have been getting to know each other and are getting along well. “This has been a big adjustment for both Tandie and Ilanga, but they’re both getting along really well. It will be exciting to see how their relationship continues to develop,” said Kim Szawan, an animal care manager at Woodland Park

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo Woodland Park Zoo’s newest bear cub, a female grizzly, is growing and thriving, and she now has a name. Culturally resonating with the abundance of fern throughout the Pacific Northwest, the cub’s name is Fern! Fern was named by special friends of the zoo. Maryanne Tagney and David Jones are longtime supporters of Woodland Park Zoo's conservation efforts. Maryanne's active role in Northwest conservation issues and environmental politics for more than 30 years has moved the needle on the zoo’s ability to preserve and recover landscapes and learn to coexist with wildlife. "We were honored to be asked to name little Fern, the zoo’s adorable new rescued grizzly cub! She is a living and breathing example of the critical wildlife conservation work that we have been supporting since the zoo first created the Living Northwest Conservation Program,” said Tagney. “We were delighted to arran

Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications with Animal Keeper Allison Barr Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Keema! The big grizzly puts on quite a show while splashing in the bear pool, 2022. Since Juniper the brown bear cub joined the Living Northwest Trail in July , the little floof has been grabbing the attention of visitors and has amassed quite a following on certain social platforms, ahem #cutestbearcubinthewholeworld, but all along folks have been asking after Keema, our older grizzly bear too. Keema is still our favorite (we can have more than one), and we're so happy to see his fan club is still going strong. There were lots of questions about how Keema was doing after losing Denali (his brother who passed away in 2020), what he would think of Juniper and the new cub , and how the older bear is doing in his golden years. We asked dedicated animal keeper Allison Barr a few questions about the big guy and her answers will make you fall even more in love with K

Posted by Craig Newberry, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo The days are growing darker across the Pacific Northwest and while the night can be creepy, one creature you shouldn't fear in the dark is bats! These misunderstood mammals play a significant role in keeping our environment healthy. In fact, there are numerous reasons to be a fan of bats; for instance, many of them eat mosquitoes and they're super cool. Little brown bat. Photo: J.N. Stuart via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stuartwildlife/4770991513/ Bat Week is an international celebration of these flying mammals that takes place October 24-31, and it's no mystery why the party ends on Halloween. Bats have long gotten a bad rap, being lumped in with bloodsucking vampires and depicted in movies bombarding folks who wander into a creepy cave. However, you may be surprised to learn that bats aren't particularly active in the Pacific Northwest during the spooky season. Here,

Posted by Craig Newberry, Communications We are thrilled to announce the homecoming of male lion, Tandie, who will turn 8 on October 24. He was born here at Woodland Park Zoo in 2014 to parents Adia and Xerxes. And now Tandie, which means “fire,” has returned home to Seattle after living at Oakland Zoo since 2016. Welcome home! Tandie will turn 8 years old on October 24. Photo: Courtesy of Oakland Zoo Tandie is known for being a thoughtful, smart lion. He is affectionate, displays calm dominance behaviors and we're told he enjoys eating a variety of meat and blood popsicles. Right now he is acclimating to his new home in the behind the scenes areas—getting acquainted with (and in some cases, re-acquainted with) his animal keepers—but you should be able to see him on the public side of the lion habitat very soon. Tandie and his brothers were the most adorable trio of cubs (seen here in 2014). Photo: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo Tandie’s arrival at the zoo is particularly exciting bec

 Posted by Craig Newberry, Communications For three years, female African lion Kamaria has delighted guests alongside her twin sister Ilanga here at Woodland Park Zoo, but now it’s time for the 5-year-old lioness to set forth on a new international journey and possibly start a family of her own. Zoo guests are invited to come bid Kamaria adieu before she departs to Zoo de Granby in Quebec. The last day to see Kamaria is October 17. African lion Kamaria, on left, expresses a moment of tenderness with her twin sister, Ilanga, with Xerxes in the background at Woodland Park Zoo. Kamaria will move to Zoo de Granby in Quebec to be paired with a new mate. Oct. 17 is the last day to see Kamaria. (Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo) Kamaria and Ilanga arrived at Woodland Park Zoo in 2019 under a breeding recommendation with male lion Xerxes. Breeding was never successful due to changing dynamics in the group as the sisters matured, and sadly the geriatric Xerxes was humanely euthanized thi

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications This female grizzly cub will be introduced to our other orphaned cub, a brown bear named Juniper. The two of them will live together in the Living Northwest Trail bear habitat. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo  In mid-July, we welcomed a brown bear cub rescued in Anchorage, Alaska . Now, 3 months later, Woodland Park Zoo welcomes another cub: a female grizzly that was orphaned in Montana due to conflicts between her mom and humans. The cub currently weighs 95 pounds and arrived at the zoo October 3. She is currently in a 30-day quarantine at the zoo’s hospital—standard practice for new arrivals to ensure the wellness of all our animals. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) had recently responded to a wave of bear conflicts stemming from a combination of human safety concerns, habituated bear behavior, unsecured attractants and other issues. On Sept. 20, FWP bear specialists captured an adult female grizzly bear—the mother of the