Woodland Park Zoo Woodland Park Zoo News 2025

Northwest_FIsh_Keeping

Northwest_FIsh_Keeping

Well-Known Member
The Zoo announced the birth of a female Sloth Bear who was born on January 8th and is currently in the hibernation den with the mother. Parents are mom Kushali and dad Bhutan. The cub is named "Bowie" after David Bowie who was also born on January 8th.
She is doing well so far, the Zoo says they'll start introducing her to the public viewing area in April when the weather starts to warm up.

Hello darling Bowie! Newborn sloth bear cub named in honor of birthday twin (the late) David Bowie
 
With the Family Farm getting a big overhaul soon, the Zoo announced their 2 Jersey Steer, Rufous and Remy, will be retiring as ambassador animals and will be moving to a local farm where they'll join a herd and live out the rest of their lives on a big meadow.

Woodland Park Zoo on Instagram: "There are some exciting changes on the horizon for our Family Farm area, and with those changes comes the retirement of our two miniature Jersey steer, Rufous and Remy, from their ambassador animal role at Woodland Park Zoo. We will be moving them locally to The Red Barn Farm, where they will join another pair of highland cows and enjoy a large meadow. We have been so lucky to care for them and watch visitors delight in meeting and learning about these two BFFs. We will miss them, but we know they'll continue to be pampered. You might see their moving trailer in the area in the next few days, be sure to wish them good luck!"
 
Not sure why the Zoo didn't announce it but from various social media posts, it looks like all the walk-through Aviary's and Humboldt Penguins are all back on exhibit and open again which is huge. This includes the African Aviary, Rainforest Aviary, Conservation Aviary, Stellar's Sea Eagle exhibit, and the Humboldt Penguins. (I don't remember if the Cranes and Flamingos were ever off exhibit, but they're back now if they were).
All the Aviarys were previously closed due to the outbreak of Avian Flu for a couple weeks, so it's awesome to see they're back open.

Hopefully next week I'll make a visit and compile a species list since I was waiting for the aviarys to open again
 
Northwest_FIsh_Keeping said:
Not sure why the Zoo didn't announce it but from various social media posts, it looks like all the walk-through Aviary's and Humboldt Penguins are all back on exhibit and open again which is huge. This includes the African Aviary, Rainforest Aviary, Conservation Aviary, Stellar's Sea Eagle exhibit, and the Humboldt Penguins. (I don't remember if the Cranes and Flamingos were ever off exhibit, but they're back now if they were).
All the Aviarys were previously closed due to the outbreak of Avian Flu for a couple weeks, so it's awesome to see they're back open.

Hopefully next week I'll make a visit and compile a species list since I was waiting for the aviarys to open again
Click to expand...
That would be great! They have a fantastic bird collection!
 
Summer Tanager said:
That would be great! They have a fantastic bird collection!
Click to expand...
For sure, I'm curious to see if the bird collection has changed since being closed. I know they did have a few losses and shipped out a lot of their Red Breasted Geese collection so I'm keen to see if they're still in the Wetlands Aviary since they were super friendly last time I was there. (Edit: a post from a few days ago shows some Red Breasted Geese so it looks like they're still at the Zoo thankfully)

The Zoo transferred a three year old Red Ruffed Lemur named 'Lanitra' to the "Wildlife Safari Park" in Oregon, the Safari Park announced. I'm not sure how many Red Ruffed Lemurs are at the Zoo now, last time I heard it was 2 pairs? I'll have to check with someone next time
Log in to Facebook
 
Last edited:
I stopped by today instead since it's super nice today and here are a few updates: (also a full species list from today here)
  • The Black Tree Monitor in the Reptile Realm is now on exhibit
  • Solomon Island Tree Frogs still are not on exhibit
  • The larger habitats in the Reptile Realm got new signage which looks pretty nice
  • One of the habitats in the Rainforest is currently empty, looks like something new will be moving in soon
  • Most exciting part, the construction for the Forest Trailhead seems to be coming along nicely. The outdoor habitats look similar to the San Diego Zoo setups in Africa Rocks which is nice, the Kea exhibit looks at least 3 times larger than their current space. There are a lot of various view points you can see the construction from.
  • Some of the birds in the Rainforest Aviary were moved to the regular habitats, and some new additions include:
  • Green Honeycreeper's (Chlorophanes spiza), Bay-headed Tanager's (Tangara gyrola), and Red-capped Cardinals (Paroaria gularis) in the Aviary.
20250227_104608.jpg 20250227_113323.jpg
20250227_112527.jpg
 

Attachments

  • 20250227_104608.jpg
    20250227_104608.jpg
    319.2 KB · Views: 298
  • 20250227_113323.jpg
    20250227_113323.jpg
    229 KB · Views: 295
  • 20250227_112527.jpg
    20250227_112527.jpg
    87 KB · Views: 296
Now I know USDA reports are spotty, but I got curious to see if maybe the Lorikeets for next year's exhibit have arrived yet and found some things from a report from February 11th of this year that might be interesting:
  • There are supposedly only 4 Matschie's Tree Kangaroos at the Zoo now, there used to be 5 that were publicly known. Not sure if the 5th one was moved to another Zoo since they've been Behind the Scenes.
  • There are a total of 7 Grant's Gazelles at the Zoo, which was also reported in a report from June of last year. Which was shocking to me since I only knew of 3, and I had thought they might've been getting phased out due to how little signage and information in general there are of them at the Zoo. I've never seen more than 3 at a time on the Savanna so they must be behind the scenes somewhere.
  • Surprisingly, supposedly there is a South American Coati (Nasua nasua) behind the scenes somewhere. Which must be very recent since it's not reported on the June 2024 report, and there is no mention of it anywhere from the Zoo. Considering there's only 1 individual reported, it could be a new ambassador animal like how San Diego has an ambassador South American Coati. I can't see it going in the Rainforest since they already have the pair of White-nosed Coati. I'm interested to see if the Zoo will announce it.
  • The report also lists only 2 Canadian Lynx, the Zoo initially had 3. Maybe I missed an announcement of one moving elsewhere.
  • There are supposedly 2 Cabot's Tragopan (Tragopan caboti) (there was only 1 listed on the June 2024 report) which I don't think I've ever seen on exhibit before. Maybe they're behind the scenes for breeding purposes.
  • There are supposedly 2 Kikuyu White-eye's (Zosterops kikuyuensis) somewhere behind the scenes too. I've never seen these before, but maybe they'll be introduced to the African Aviary soon? I'm not much of a bird person but it seems like it WPZ could be the only US holder? Can't find much about the species on Zoochat or the internet in general. I know the new animal director is a big bird guy, looks like he might already be pulling some strings?
Screenshot_20250317_133251_Drive.jpg
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20250317_133251_Drive.jpg
    Screenshot_20250317_133251_Drive.jpg
    98.1 KB · Views: 271
Last edited:
Northwest_FIsh_Keeping said:
There are supposedly 2 Cabot's Tragopan (Tragopan caboti) (there was only 1 listed on the June 2024 report) which I don't think I've ever seen on exhibit before. Maybe they're behind the scenes for breeding purposes.
Click to expand...

I saw Cabot's there in July 2016, they were somewhere over near the farm area/bird string.

Northwest_FIsh_Keeping said:
There are supposedly 2 Kikuyu White-eye's (Zosterops kikuyuensis) somewhere behind the scenes too. I've never seen these before, but maybe they'll be introduced to the African Aviary soon? I'm not much of a bird person but it seems like it WPZ could be the only US holder? Can't find much about the species on Zoochat or the internet in general.
Click to expand...

I suspect this is erroneous and they are a different species of white-eye, based on available information. There are other species of Zosterops present in the US that are much more likely.
 
Northwest_FIsh_Keeping said:
Now I know USDA reports are spotty, but I got curious to see if maybe the Lorikeets for next year's exhibit have arrived yet and found some things from a report from February 11th of this year that might be interesting:
  • There are supposedly only 4 Matschie's Tree Kangaroos at the Zoo now, there used to be 5 that were publicly known. Not sure if the 5th one was moved to another Zoo since they've been Behind the Scenes.
  • There are a total of 7 Grant's Gazelles at the Zoo, which was also reported in a report from June of last year. Which was shocking to me since I only knew of 3, and I had thought they might've been getting phased out due to how little signage and information in general there are of them at the Zoo. I've never seen more than 3 at a time on the Savanna so they must be behind the scenes somewhere.
  • Surprisingly, supposedly there is a South American Coati (Nasua nasua) behind the scenes somewhere. Which must be very recent since it's not reported on the June 2024 report, and there is no mention of it anywhere from the Zoo. Considering there's only 1 individual reported, it could be a new ambassador animal like how San Diego has an ambassador South American Coati. I can't see it going in the Rainforest since they already have the pair of White-nosed Coati. I'm interested to see if the Zoo will announce it.
  • The report also lists only 2 Canadian Lynx, the Zoo initially had 3. Maybe I missed an announcement of one moving elsewhere.
  • There are supposedly 2 Cabot's Tragopan (Tragopan caboti) (there was only 1 listed on the June 2024 report) which I don't think I've ever seen on exhibit before. Maybe they're behind the scenes for breeding purposes.
  • There are supposedly 2 Kikuyu White-eye's (Zosterops kikuyuensis) somewhere behind the scenes too. I've never seen these before, but maybe they'll be introduced to the African Aviary soon? I'm not much of a bird person but it seems like it WPZ could be the only US holder? Can't find much about the species on Zoochat or the internet in general. I know the new animal director is a big bird guy, looks like he might already be pulling some strings?
View attachment 776994
Click to expand...
Woodland Park Zoo had Cabot's Tragopan's on exhibit for many years in Conservation Aviary and then most recently in the aviary next to Bug World before they moved the Edwards Pheasants there. On my most recent visit a few days ago a pair of Cabot's Tragopan's was added into the walkthrough Wetlands aviary. A pair of Temmincks Tragopans used to reside in this aviary for a few years. Its nice to see the species back on exhibit, its been awhile.
 
GoldenTakin said:
Woodland Park Zoo had Cabot's Tragopan's on exhibit for many years in Conservation Aviary and then most recently in the aviary next to Bug World before they moved the Edwards Pheasants there. On my most recent visit a few days ago a pair of Cabot's Tragopan's was added into the walkthrough Wetlands aviary. A pair of Temmincks Tragopans used to reside in this aviary for a few years. Its nice to see the species back on exhibit, its been awhile.
Click to expand...
Ah okay, they must've been moved recently since I didn't see any on exhibit last month. I'll have to go back and see them
Great Argus said:
I suspect this is erroneous and they are a different species of white-eye, based on available information. There are other species of Zosterops present in the US that are much more likely.
Click to expand...
Ahh gotcha, I was hoping I could get your insight lol. I don't know anything about white-eyes but on my last visit, they were redoing one of the rainforest bird exhibits for something new to move in soon. Maybe they're going there, but I'd love if they're added to one of the aviaries. I'm excited to see what they turn out to be
 
Northwest_FIsh_Keeping said:
There are a total of 7 Grant's Gazelles at the Zoo, which was also reported in a report from June of last year. Which was shocking to me since I only knew of 3, and I had thought they might've been getting phased out due to how little signage and information in general there are of them at the Zoo. I've never seen more than 3 at a time on the Savanna so they must be behind the scenes somewhere.
Click to expand...
They have had five for several years now so I'm surprised.

Two females arrived in late 2015. Three additional females arrived in 2020. The current male was obtained in mid-2023, and a little while later he sired a female calf who is now probably around a year old.
 
On March 29th, a keeper suffered a serious hand injury after being bitten by an orangutan through the mesh during a protected contact training session: Woodland Park Zoo on Instagram: "Friends, we shared news today that we'll include below in full. Thank you for your concern and kindness, and thank you for respecting the privacy of all involved Yesterday an animal keeper at Woodland Park Zoo sustained a serious injury to the hand after being bitten through a mesh barrier by one of the zoo’s orangutans during a routine training session. The keeper was immediately transported to the hospital, where they received treatment. For the privacy of the staff member, the zoo is not releasing specific details of the non-life threatening injury. The zoo practices protected contact with all its orangutans, which means there is a physical barrier—such as fencing or mesh—between staff and animals at all times. Throughout the incident, the orangutan remained secured in the habitat and no other staff or guests were involved, injured or at risk. The zoo’s animal care team engages in regular training sessions with many species, including orangutans, as part of their daily routine. “Training encourages the animals to voluntarily participate in their own care by helping them become more comfortable with daily husbandry and medical procedures. Training sessions also foster strong bonds that build trust between the animals and their keepers, and it is always a voluntary and enriching part of their daily care,” explained Dr. Luis Neves, Senior Director of Animal Care at Woodland Park Zoo. A Woodland Park Zoo veterinarian immediately responded and conducted a visual exam on the orangutan involved and confirmed that the animal is safe, unharmed and behaving appropriately. The orangutan habitat in Trail of Vines remains open to guests during zoo hours. The zoo is conducting a thorough investigation into how this incident occurred so that it can continue to prioritize staff safety. The zoo’s animal care managers will also carefully evaluate the protected contact barriers to determine whether any modifications are necessary. We are very saddened our team member was injured and know this has been a very stressful and difficult experience for them. We will do all we can to support them as they heal."
 
Northwest_FIsh_Keeping said:
Now I know USDA reports are spotty, but I got curious to see if maybe the Lorikeets for next year's exhibit have arrived yet and found some things from a report from February 11th of this year that might be interesting:
  • There are supposedly only 4 Matschie's Tree Kangaroos at the Zoo now, there used to be 5 that were publicly known. Not sure if the 5th one was moved to another Zoo since they've been Behind the Scenes.
View attachment 776994
Click to expand...
The 5th Tree Kangaroo you mention, Hevam, was moved to the Minnesota Zoo in mid-2023.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top