If you give a black-breasted turtle a hibiscus...

Posted by: Kirsten Pisto, Communications

If you give a black-breasted leaf turtle a hibiscus...she might ask for another petal!

Part of Alyssa Borek’s job as Day Exhibit keeper is to ensure all of her residents get a variety of food and enrichment items. Sometimes this means giving an animal a new palatable experience; such was the case with this sweet, little black-breasted leaf turtle and her hibiscus dinner.

Video: Black-breasted leaf turtle snacks on hibiscus. Video by Alyssa Borek/Woodland Park Zoo.

The adorable clip above shows a tiny taste-test starring our black-breasted leaf turtle, Geoemyda spengleri, and her appetite for a hibiscus petal. Four stars to the chef!

Day Exhibit keeper, Alyssa, answers a few questions about this daring culinary adventure…

What does this turtle usually eat in the wild?

In the wild, these turtles eat various invertebrates, such as insects, worms, and grubs. They also eat decaying fruit found on the forest floor and venture into streams to collect insect larvae.

What is the normal diet at the zoo? 

At the zoo, these turtles dine primarily on insects with occasional fruits, vegetables and sometimes flowers.

Alyssa, why did you decide to give her the hibiscus? 

When enrichment items are available, I try to rotate which animals receive them to provide a greater variety to the largest portion of the collection as possible. In rotating among the animals of the collection, this ensures that none of the animals receive any enrichment item too frequently; this increases the value of the enrichment to the individual animals.

When was the first time she tried the flower? 

I believe this was the first time she was offered hibiscus flowers.

What was her reaction? 

She really seemed to enjoy the flower; the video shows her eating a second petal! (The first was consumed before I started recording).

Where was the hibiscus from? 

Our horticulture department provides us flowers when available, usually hibiscus and occasionally orchids for use as enrichment. We also harvest clover and dandelion as well as other standard browse greens to occasionally offer the herbivores in our collection.

A black-breasted leaf turtle hatchling next to its shell. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo.

Did we try giving her any more plants/flowers? If so, which does she prefer? 

I have tried offering them blueberries and other greens. This female is more adventurous than the male she is housed with and will often try the new items. She enjoyed the blueberry, rolling it around for a little while before she was able to grasp it with her beak.

Are there any more interesting changes to the leaf turtle diet? 

As novel enrichment items become available, they are offered to her as well as the rest of the appropriate animals in the collection. They have been offered roaches, snails, slugs, wax worms, and two different types of mealworms in addition to the cricket and earthworm feeds.

Looks just like a wet leaf! Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo.

Where does the black-breasted leaf turtle live? 

You can find the black-breasted leaf turtle in Southeast Asia, where they live in forested areas near streams. At the zoo, they live in the Day Exhibit.

How many black-breasted leaf turtles do we have at the zoo? 

We have a pair on exhibit in the Day Exhibit, and an additional four off exhibit, including a baby hatched here July 2012.  

The black-breasted leaf turtle’s jagged shell helps it camouflage as a leaf on the forest floor. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo.

The black-breasted leaf turtle is one of the smallest in the world, at about five inches long. They have a unique and beautiful shell with rough edges which resemble a leaf. These turtles don’t have teeth, but they do have a beak-like bite!

Black-breasted leaf turtle are threatened due to habitat destruction and over collection. They are also used in traditional Chinese medicine, and are often sold as pets.

Photo by Ryan Hawk/ Woodland Park Zoo.

Black-breasted leaf turtles have uniquely large eyes that lend the species their expressive look! Compare an adult (top) and a young hatchling (below).

Photo by Ryan Hawk/ Woodland Park Zoo.

Visit the Day Exhibit and check out our tiniest turtles!

Jaguar Junior names first-born son Kuwan. Well, sort of…

Posted by: Caileigh Robertson, Communications
Photos by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo except where otherwise noted.



The truth is, Junior buckled.

Leading up to the naming ceremony, the communications and animal management teams prepared with hours of work: planning the press op, selecting culturally significant names, molding papier-mâché enrichment into maracas, and warming up Junior to practice piñatas for a successful ceremony.

Three name options chosen by jaguar zookeepers—Cruz, Tlaloc and Kuwan—were individually paired with tasty, enticing piñatas and hung from a low tree branch for Junior in Jaguar Cove Friday morning. The goal was for Junior to bite into one of the named piñatas and thus ultimately decide the name of his first-born son. The three colorful piñatas tempted Junior toward his big decision with the scents of raw, juicy chicken, which was stuffed inside the maracas. With the lure of his favorite treat, there was no doubt Junior would be game to complete the ceremony and name his son.

Crowds of zoo visitors, staff and press lined Jaguar Cove in anticipation of Junior’s final decision. Quietly cheering on our favorite names, we watched Junior weave through the tall grass to feast on the winning piñata.

He nudged the middle maraca—Kuwan—sniffed, then turned to consider Cruz. Tempted by the previous chicken breast, Junior’s nose met Kuwan again.

But despite what we imagined would happen next, Junior never made any big moves. He buckled. Junior took one last look at the Kuwan option and then kept walking. Maybe it was the build to the big decision, the inviting appearance of his resting area, or just typical cat attitude (cat lovers, you know what we mean). Junior just couldn’t bring himself to sink his teeth into a maraca. 

So, in the middle of his press op, before all of his big supporters, and with the witness of his own caring keepers, Junior retreated from the ceremony to take a snooze on his coveted corner rock. 

After he continued to show no interest in the maracas throughout the afternoon, Junior's zookeepers made the decision to go with his first sniff: Kuwan, from the Hopi word meaning “butterfly showing beautiful wings.” Zookeepers originally selected Kuwan as an option in honor of the butterfly-shaped marking on the male cub's head that helps distinguish him from his sisters (see the male in the middle in the photo below). The two female cubs will be named by donors who have helped bring big cats to Woodland Park Zoo, and we'll be sure to announce their names next.

Photo by Jamie Delk/Woodland Park Zoo

Our ceremony just goes to show; sometimes animals just have their own priorities. And c’mon, can we blame him for wanting a nap? It’s Friday! 

Keep checking back for updates on Kuwan and his sisters. Staff expect visitors will see the new family in Jaguar Cove this summer, but for now the cubs remain behind the scenes with their mother, Nayla.

Otter pop has otter pups in time for Father's Day

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications


The naming contest ends this Saturday, but for right now, we’re calling our new Asian small-clawed otter pair mom and dad. That’s because the pair delivered pups on Tuesday, June 11 behind the scenes of their Bamboo Forest Reserve exhibit!

Mom and dad. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo.

In celebration of our new otter pop this Father’s Day, we’re giving away Otter Pops to zoo visitors on Sunday, June 16. Pick up a free Otter Pop while supplies last at the Rain Forest Food Pavilion.

We’d love to be able to share photos of the new pups with you, but we haven’t seen much of them yet! The attentive parents are keeping them tucked away in their behind-the-scenes den. We can hear vocalizations and have an internal cam set up so keepers can keep a watchful eye on the family and hopefully get a pup count soon!

While mom nurses the cubs, dad helps by gathering food and nesting material. He stands guard over the vulnerable pups, who are born tiny, without the ability to see or hear. They weigh around 50 grams at birth, which is 1.7 ounces, or the weight of a golf ball.

Since both parents are so involved with the rearing of pups, we won’t see them on exhibit in these earliest weeks of nursing and nesting. Though they are off exhibit for now, we’ll see the family out on exhibit again before the end of the summer. We thank you for understanding and we hope you’ll agree that the reward of otter pups at the zoo is worth the wait! You can still explore the other features of the Bamboo Forest Reserve, including a tropical aviary and a kids’ play area until then.

Any zoo baby is cause for celebration, but these pups represent more than just cute additions to the zoo. Conservation breeding of endangered, vulnerable (like the small-clawed otter) and threatened species through cooperative programs across accredited zoos and aquariums allows us to not only maintain genetic diversity for healthy populations, but also support collaborative conservation activities such as research, public education and field projects.

Adopt an Asian small-clawed otter through our ZooParent special today. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo.

These otters depend on connected forest habitat and clean waterways to survive in their southern and southeastern Asian range. Deforestation, loss of wetlands, and increased pollution threaten the species’ survival, but you can help. Adopt an Asian small-clawed otter through our ZooParent special today and $5 of your contribution will go directly to the zoo's conservation efforts, supporting wildlife and habitat protection throughout Asia and across the globe.

Original photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo.

And don’t forget, there’s still time to enter the naming contest! Woodland Park Zoo has teamed up with Umpqua Bank to give two contest winners a $100 Umpqua Bank savings account*, a ZooParent adoption, and a visit from an Umpqua Bank ice cream truck for 100 friends! Names must be submitted in the Malay language as a tribute to the otters’ native southern and southeastern Asian range.

Lessons from Bear Affair

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications

Grizzly brothers, Keema and Denali, demonstrated at Saturday’s Bear Affair: Pacific Northwest Conservation presented by Brown Bear Car Wash what bears can do to your campsite or backyard when you don’t store your garbage, food or gear properly. 

See the damage they caused and learn bear safety tips to avoid these scenarios.

Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo.

If you are camping out in bear country, make sure to pitch your tents in a line or a semicircle facing your cooking area. With this set up, you will be more likely to spot a bear that wanders into your camp and the bear will have a clear escape route, according to our conservation collaborators over at Western Wildlife Outreach.

Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo.

When camping, remember the 100 yard rule. Locate your cook area and food cache at least 100 yards downwind from your tent when not in established campgrounds.

Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo.

Even if you plan to use the waterways, avoid setting up camp next to streams and nearby trails, as bears and other wildlife use these as travel routes.

Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo

If food scraps and good smells are around, a bear will find it. Here, a grizzly investigates the smells inside a kayak left unattended.

Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo.

Use bear-resistant containers to store food. If the bear is thwarted from getting at the goods and leaves in frustration, it will be less likely to go after something like that again. The fewer human-bear encounters we have, the safer the bears and the safer the humans.

Photo by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo.

Say "goodbye" to your fishing pole if you leave it—and any bait or caught fish—unattended. Fish is especially odorous and attractive to bears.

Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo.

Bears aren’t just interested in campsites. In the Pacific NW, we might encounter bears in our own backyards. This pool party was certainly not meant for bears.

Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo.

Who wouldn’t go after chocolate cake? 

When barbecuing or hosting an outdoor party, remember not to leave food, scraps, garbage, recycling or pet food accessible to bears. You don’t want them to start to associate your yard with a food reward, or the encounters will just increase and the danger will escalate.

Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo.

With a bear-resistant garbage can he can’t get into on the left, and a pool he can’t fit into in front of him, who can blame this bear for giving up? 

Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo.

Even if the pizza is long gone, the odors will remain and could attract bears. Store garbage indoors or in bear-resistant garbage cans.

Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo.

Everything is fair game to be destroyed once food or smells attract a bear to your backyard party.

Photo by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo.

The remains of the day.

To learn more about co-existing with not just bears, but other local predators including cougars and wolves, explore more from Western Wildlife Outreach, a Woodland Park Zoo Living Northwest conservation project.

Jaguar cubs get a check-up

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications
Photos by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo

They each now weigh more than an average bowling ball.

It’s getting harder to handle our growing jaguar cubs, and their 9-week exam last week was the first that required anesthesia to safely complete the brief check-ups.

To make sure each cub got the team’s full attention, we conducted the exams one at a time, carefully escorting each cub to the zoo’s mobile hospital in the back of our animal health ambulance. Here the vets completed the basics of each exam, including:

The weigh-in. The cubs are each around 15-16 pounds.

Taking measurements to make sure growth is on track.

The visual inspection, including a look at the paws, skin and fur.

And a dental inspection to see how the teeth are growing and to get a glimpse of their oral health.

After giving each cub required feline vaccinations, they were quickly returned to their behind-the-scenes home where they’d later be reunited with mom.

Of the triplets, the one male continues to be the most docile of the personalities, going with the flow of the transfer and exam without anywhere near the feistiness his sisters displayed. It will be interesting to see how those personality dynamics play out in the way the cubs interact with each other and their surroundings when they make their debut on exhibit in the near future.

What’s up next for the cubs? They’ll all be receiving their names soon, now that we have had some time to get to know their personalities. Each one of the girls will be named by a zoo donor whose support has helped bring big cats to Woodland Park Zoo. But the boy’s name will actually be chosen by jaguar dad, Junior, in a fun little enrichment we have planned later this week. Stay tuned to see what name daddy chooses!

Counting down to Bear Affair with a fish toss

Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo

Do you know what happens to the salmon the Pike Place Fish Market fishmongers use in their world-famous tossing demonstrations after all the high-flying action is done? It becomes food for Woodland Park Zoo’s two grizzly bear brothers, Keema and Denali. This week, that fish was hand delivered to the bears by the fishmongers themselves in a fish toss unlike any other in town!

The fishmongers came out for the special toss to help us promote this weekend’s Bear Affair: Pacific Northwest Conservation presented by Brown Bear Car Wash event, coming up on Sat., June 8.

The sight of fish being hurled through the air during some early practice tosses drew a crowd, and soon the exhibit was packed with visitors waiting to see the real deal.

The bears caught the scent of the fish and, seeing all the action, situated themselves perfectly on the other side of the moat awaiting their meal.

The salmon toss is a great way to reconnect Northwesterners with some of the icons of local wildlife. Brown bears are so closely linked with salmon runs in Alaska, and here too before they were extirpated from most of the Pacific Northwest. Eating salmon is in their natural history and is one of their favorite snacks, especially this time of the year when they are beefing up and craving protein.

Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo

The bears will tear into more than just fish on Sat., June 8 when we set up a kayaker’s campsite (11:00 a.m.) and backyard birthday party (2:00 p.m.) for them to explore during Bear Affair. The bear pair will demonstrate what kind of trouble follows when food, gear and garbage aren’t stored properly. Bear ecologist and conservationist Chris Morgan and zoo staff will help make you more bear aware to avoid catastrophe in bear country.

The celebration of Northwest wildlife continues with representatives from Western Wildlife Outreach, Wolf Haven International, Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation and zoo experts giving talks and presentations throughout the day. Other activities include Karelian bear dog demonstrations that highlight how the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife partner dogs play an essential role in training nuisance bears to avoid human contact, safety camping tips by Boy Scouts, and more.

If you can’t make the event, be sure to watch the bear demonstrations at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. live at http://www.ustream.tv/woodlandparkzoo, when the Bear Cam returns online to stream the action right to your home or mobile device.

This is a must-see event with must-know lessons for Pacific Northwesterners, who can encounter bears and other predators in their backyards, local parks, and on camping trips. Maybe the best way to remember these tips on your next outing is to sing it…