FOR MEMBERS OF WOODLAND PARK ZOO • FALL 2019 FALL IN LOVE WITH FOREST CREATURES MAKE TIME TO SEE YOURSELF IN NATURE MYZOO Member Magazine | Fall 2019 | zoo.org 1 MYZOO MEMBER MAGAZINE WOODLAND PARK ZOO 5500 Phinney Avenue North Seattle, Washington 98103 SCHOOL BREAK MAIN ZOO LINE: 206.548.2500 GENERAL EMAIL: [email protected] MEMBERSHIP EMAIL: [email protected] CAMPS www.zoo.org ZOO HOURS: Visit zoo.org/visit for hours and pricing. Alejandro Grajal, PhD, President and CEO Bruce Bohmke, Chief Operations Officer 1/3 square ad space Michele Smith, Chief Financial Officer 2019 BOARD OF DIRECTORS 5.27” x 5.16” OFFICERS Spend your break from Matt Rosauer, Chair Sandy Stelling, Vice Chair school with a naturally Jill Walker, Treasurer awesome day camp! Go Irwin Goverman, Secretary wild during camps that Jeff Leppo, Immediate Past Chair DIRECTORS coincide with select days Amy Alcala Leigh McMillan off school for several Linda Allen Larry Phillips Kristi Branch Robert Plotnick local school districts. Anders Brown Bart Ricketts Warren Brown Kyle Rolfe Jim Burgett Kevin Schofield Lisa Graumlich Diane Shrewsbury Check out this opportunity and tons of other Barbara Gordon Bryan Slinker Angela Griffin Ethan Stowell Mike Hanlon Stephanie True amazing classes at zoo.org/camps Marlon Herrera Tiara Turner Matt Hill Pallavi Wahi Holly Hirai Joe Woods Sandra Madrid Evan Wyman Ben Magnano Jackie Martinez- Ex officio Vasquez Jesús Aguirre Katie Matison Alejandro Grajal Shelley McKinley Jeanne Kohl-Welles MyZoo Fall 2019. Volume 21. Issue 3. Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, WA ZOOPARENT General Information: 206.548.2500 Membership Department and Address Changes: 206.548.2400, RIVER OTTER PUPS ADOPTION SPECIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief: Kirsten Pisto, [email protected] Love how otterly adorable our four Design Direction: Kelly Hampson, [email protected] river otter pups are? Adopt now and Photo Direction: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, [email protected] help fund conservation programs and Designers: Meghan Payne, [email protected], the daily care and feeding of our river Misty Fried, [email protected], Kelly Hampson, [email protected] otter pups and all zoo inhabitants. For Advertising Information: ADOPTION PACKAGE INCLUDES: [email protected] or 206.548.2625 • River otter plush Comments or questions? Write 5500 Phinney Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103-5865 or email [email protected] • Personalized adoption certificate Woodland Park Zoo is a City of Seattle facility managed • River otter fun facts and operated by the nonprofit Woodland Park Zoological • Animal photo Society. MyZoo (ISSN 2153-45659) is published quarterly for $6.00 per year for Woodland Park Zoo (WPZ) • ZooParent window decal members from membership dues by WPZ at • Online recognition for one year 5500 Phinney Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103-5865. Non-profit postage paid at Seattle WA. POSTMASTER send address change to: MyZoo, Woodland Park Zoo, 5500 Phinney Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103-5865 $ All photos are property of Woodland Park Zoo unless otherwise noted. 69 Available through Actual plush may vary. Woodland Park Zoo is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. October 31, 2019 www.zoo.org/zooparent 2 MYZOO Member Magazine | Fall 2019 | zoo.org ™ CONTENTS FALL FEATURES Get to Know Our Pack 4 Upcoming Events Our wolves might look alike (as sister 6 13 Member Tips wolves do), but their wolfy behaviors are as unique as they are. 18 Otterly Awesome Things Where Hope Takes Root 19 Forest Bathing In the forest, you’re likely to hear an 8 20 What’s Your Green Zoo IQ? orangutan long before you see one. Travel to Borneo with zoo staff to 23 Carnivore Spotter find conservation solutions to the 27 For the Frogs palm oil crisis. 28 Kids Pages Animal Spotlight 24 Get to know our elk—a few with incredible second chance stories. ON THE COVER: A lupine greeting for an autumn morning. Photo by Dennis Dow, WPZ. MYZOO Member Magazine | Fall 2019 | zoo.org 3 THURSDAY, OCT. 3 6:00-9:00 PM ZOO.ORG/BREW #THISISHOWWEBREW OCTOBER 1 WINTER ZOO HOURS BEGIN OCTOBER 3 BREW AT THE ZOO* OCTOBER 26-27 PUMPKIN BASH • 9:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. OCT. 26-27 NOVEMBER 5 ELECTION DAY (Vote for animals!) NOVEMBER 11 VETERANS DAY DISCOUNT NOVEMBER 29 WILDLIGHTS OPEN THROUGH JAN 5 Presented by Sound Credit Union (Closed December 2, 3, 9, 10, 24 & 25) DECEMBER 14-16, 21-23 WINTER CELEBRATION ENRICHMENT DECEMBER 25 ZOO CLOSED CHRISTMAS DAY For information visit zoo.org/pumpkinbash All events included in the price of admission or Pumpkins for the animals, trick-or-treating for your little ghouls membership unless noted. and ghosts, and don’t forget BOOmazium for a howling good time! *Indicates separately ticketed event(s). Kids in costume FREE with paid adult admission. 4 MYZOO Member Magazine | Fall 2019 | zoo.org PRESIDENT’S LETTER Dear Friends, From the bottom of our hearts, everyone at Woodland Park Zoo thanks YOU and King County voters for passing the King County Parks Levy. This critical investment will secure acres of additional green and open space, preserve forests, combat climate change and connect natural corridors for people and wildlife. At Woodland Park Zoo, levy funding provides direct support to environmental education programs and important local conservation projects for Western pond turtles and Oregon silverspot butterflies, allowing us to introduce them back into their native habitats. The levy will also provide the zoo with more resources to help school districts throughout King County with higher percentages of students using free and reduced meal programs to visit the zoo, often for the first time in their lives. Our ability to offer extraordinary experiences to everyone in our community, regardless of their background, will continue to be built upon the bedrock foundation provided by the Parks Levy. WOODLAND PARK ZOO Our zoo’s ability to educate, inspire, and entertain relies on the trust we have earned with you, our members and guests. We are incredibly proud that the SAVES WILDLIFE AND trust you place in us has been rewarded by King County voters who recognize the vast importance our parks and green spaces have for making the Pacific INSPIRES EVERYONE TO Northwest a beautiful place to thrive for all of the creatures living here. MAKE CONSERVATION In this issue, you will find stories of forest conservation and the incredible work the zoo and its partners are doing in Borneo to protect one of the last habitats A PRIORITY IN THEIR LIVES. for wild orangutans. Our commitment to saving species and inspiring everyone to make conservation a priority in their lives is built on the foundation you have provided for us. Thank you again for all that you do. Sincerely, Alejandro Grajal, PhD President and CEO MYZOO Member Magazine | Fall 2019 | zoo.org 5 GET TO KNOW OUR PACK Our four wolves serve as ambassadors for their wild cousins—helping people understand and appreciate this graceful and powerful, yet timid species. 6 MYZOO Member Magazine | Fall 2019 | zoo.org o visit to the Northern Trail area is complete With similar-looking whitish coats, our fab four Nwithout a stop to see our wolf pack. As a can be hard to tell apart at first glance, but our species, the gray wolf (Canis lupus) has recently animal keepers tell us these girls all have very made a comeback in Washington state after nearly different personalities! Aponi tends to be the being driven to extinction in the last century by most forceful in the group about getting her way, trapping and hunting. Wolves are now a protected while her sister, Kaya—on the other hand— species in most of the Northwest and most tends to have a more quiet leadership style. scientists agree that they play an important role Doba is the most curious about new people and in our ecosystem—helping maintain a balance new enrichment items. But perhaps that curiosity between all species that share the habitat. But is distracting her, because she is also the most wolves are still very misunderstood and they likely to get some of her snacks stolen by her face many recovery challenges in areas where sisters. And finally, there’s Shila. She is a little coexisting with humans can cause conflict. more reserved than the others—tending to keep herself off the radar. Maybe that is the smartest Our four wolves serve as ambassadors for their strategy of all! wild cousins—helping people understand and appreciate this graceful and powerful, yet timid Our wolf pack can occasionally be heard howling species. All our wolves are females. They are in the early morning or in the late afternoon—and 9-year-old sisters from the same litter, named sometimes, when they hear sirens nearby, they Doba, Aponi, Kaya and Shila. You may have heard will join in the chorus. But before you get any about “alpha” wolves that lead the pack, or other ideas, just know these girls have never seemed individuals that serve a more submissive role. interested in responding to visitors who try While each pack member does, indeed, have a howling at them. Next time you visit, see if you special role in their family group, that hierarchy can identify who is who from their pack behavior. can sometimes be fluid, and individuals can occasionally change roles within the pack Elizabeth Bacher, Staff Writer dynamics throughout their lives. Photos by Dennis Dow and Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, WPZ MYZOO Member Magazine | Fall 2019 | zoo.org 7 WHERE HOPE TAKES By Rebecca Whitham, Staff Writer | Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, WPZ ROOT 8 MYZOO Member Magazine | Fall 2019 | zoo.org In the forest, you’re Tracking these sounds, Mislin and her team of CHANGING FORESTS wildlife researchers know they are in the right place likely to hear an To the orangutan, the forest is when they spot mounds of broken branches and everything.