Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Godek’s steely eyes might even give “blue steel” a run for its money. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. He’s a little shy by nature. But when Godek took his first steps into the indoor orangutan exhibit, there was nothing tentative about the way he moved. The 8-year-old male Sumatran orangutan is settling right into his new home. After arriving from Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado earlier this summer, Godek completed a standard quarantine at our veterinary hospital where care staff first observed his shy demeanor. His keepers from Colorado told us to expect the young fellow to be gentle and quiet, but also very playful. We had this in mind when we began introductions between Godek and his new social group. The plan is for Godek to live with our older females, 49-year-old Chinta and 46-year-old Melati. Siblings Belawan, female, 36 and Heran, male, 28, have formed a second group. Godek is the first new addition to our orangutan family in 28 years. While our keepe...

Posted by: Kelly Martin, Colobus Conservation Ltd., a Woodland Park Zoo Wildlife Survival Fund project Editor’s note: When an animal needs help, you can rely on our conservation partners to step up. Colobus Conservation Ltd., a Woodland Park Zoo Wildlife Survival Fund project based in Kenya, may have started with a focus on saving colobus monkeys, but their mission now impacts wildlife and communities well beyond that scope. This is one of those stories. Mel the vervet monkey. Photo courtesy Lydia Katsis, Colobus Conservation researcher Mel, a young female vervet monkey, arrived at Colobus Conservation a few weeks ago after being rescued from street entertainers trying to sell her to tourists passing by. Colobus Conservation was called to the scene by a concerned individual after witnessing little Mel tied up, alone and on the ground. She was being handed around for people to see. The asking price for her started at $10. Team Colobus moved fast. As so often happens, on our...

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor Photos and video by: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Whether you spent some time today stuck at home, stuck in traffic, or stuck at work or school, you could probably use a little grizzly bear snow angel magic to make you smile. WATCH: Grizzly Bear Snow Angels on Seattle Snow Day The smiles don't stop there. Now prepare yourself for young arctic fox Hudson who knew just what to do on his first major Seattle snow day...make snowballs! WATCH: Hudson meets snow! This whole place transformed into a winter wonderland today. For some animals, the snow brings out their instincts, and for others, it's a curious novelty. While the animals have plenty of heated and covered spaces to cozy up in, many chose to go out and play today. Hope you did too! Our thanks to the zookeepers and all the zoo staff who came in today to make sure the animals—and our guests—were well taken care of.  Ho...

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, communications Thank you for your continued support and thoughts for the zoo during the event Thursday night and afterwards. We’d like to update you with more details of the fire and the recovery efforts. Fire crews fight the blaze from the roof of the Night Exhibit on Thursday, Dec 15. Photo courtesy of Seattle Fire Department. At approximately 3:15 p.m. Thursday, 12/15, a fire was reported in the Night Exhibit. Within minutes of making the call, the Seattle Fire Department responded. The zoo’s Emergency Response Team also responded. The fire was contained at 4:30 p.m. Visitors were safely evacuated and there were no staff or visitor injuries. Our staff practices emergency drills throughout the year. In fact, we had held a venomous snake drill the day before the fire.  These protocols helped immensely during the incident Thursday night, as everyone knew where they should go and what role to play. Because of our training and...

Posted by: Alissa Wolken, Communications Woodland Park Zoo celebrated its third Chilean flamingo hatching this year on Monday, August 22, 2016. Abandoned as an egg, the chick is being cared for by a dedicated team of zookeepers and animal health staff who are hand-raising the chick behind the scenes. This flamingo chick is being reared by zookeepers until it can rejoin the flock. Photo: John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo. Tiny leg lifts! Photo: John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo. The flamingo chick is currently fed up to five times a day and is learning to follow its zookeepers as they take it on exercise walks. Once the chick is old enough to eat on its own, in about 30-45 days, it will begin to join the rest of the flock in the flamingo exhibit. Video: Flamingo chick plays follow-the-leader.  In addition to the hand-reared chick, two other chicks are currently being parent-reared in the colony. A total of 14 chicks have hatched since the exhibit opened in 2008....

Posted by: Kristin Quirk, Education Father's Day is almost here, a good time to take a closer look at the many forms of fatherhood in the animal kingdom. While its natural for fathers of some species to be entirely absent, other animal fathers fill all sorts of roles: protector, companion, provider, disciplinarian, partner and even playmate. Let's explore the world of animal dads. Golden lion tamarins Golden lion tamarins often have twins so dad’s help is very important in raising the baby monkeys. Photo: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. A male golden lion tamarin takes his role as father very seriously. The typical tamarin dad grooms, feeds, plays with and gives his infants piggyback rides. Hey dads, does this sound familiar? Hornbills With a big, long beak dad is able to slip food to mom living within the tree. Photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. Hornbills will find a cavity or hole in a tree to make their home. The mother hornbill stays inside the t...

Posted by: Stephanie Payne-Jacobs, Zookeeper Yola is taking steps outdoors as she prepares to join the exhibit in June. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. Since the time of our last update , Yola’s caregivers are happy to report that her introduction to her full family group has progressed wonderfully , with each positive step cautiously leading to the next. Now that Yola has outgrown the need for midnight and 3:00 a.m. bottles, our first step was to ask Nadiri to keep Yola with her overnight to allow them time to bond quietly while nesting down for the night. This narrowed their time apart from one another each day to approximately 4-5 hours, when Leo’s group in on exhibit. Keepers noticed a fairly immediate change in Nadiri’s interactions with Yola, whose company, at six rambunctious months old, may be a lot more fun for Nadiri than a needy newborn. Over the past month, play sessions have increased, and Nadiri is carrying Yola more and making more protective ge...