Woodland Park Zoo Woodland Park Zoo News 2024

Today the zoo announced that (2.0) Kinder goats named Jacob and Storm were recently euthanized from sharp declines in health, mobility and body condition. Both were 18 years old and were the two oldest Kinder goats in human care.
Woodland Park Zoo

 

Piece of January 2024 News Not Mentioned:

On January 26th, the zoo announced the sexes (4.2) and names of the flamingos, Bernando, Sunny, Amaya, Gonzo, Magdalena, and Rosales.

Woodland Park Zoo

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On March 5th, the zoo announced that they will be transferring a (0.1) Malayan tapir named Sempurna to another AZA facility after March 13th*.

Woodland Park Zoo
Sempurna the tapir leaving zoo for new adventures

*An internal document stated that the facility will be transferring the tapir to a Canadian facility, though I am not sure if that is up to date.

 

Nile Hippo "Water Lily" has survived surgery and is now healing after undergoing a complex anesthetic procedure.
Woodland Park Zoo

 

A baby Gorilla is due this summer. It will be the zoo's 3rd baby Gorilla since March 2020. Here's a detailed blog post all about the upcoming birth:

A baby gorilla is on the way! Pregnant gorilla will be a first-time mom this summer

 

On March 20th, the zoo announced that while the surgery was successful, tissue samples that were obtained from the hippo revealed that Water Lily has fibrosarcoma (cancer of the connective tissue) in an inoperable malignant tumor. Her care team is currently working on an optimized plan to improve their quality of life as there is no documented case of a hippo with a type of sarcoma leading to curative treatment being out of the question in terms of possibilities.

Woodland Park Zoo
Hippo procedure reveals cancer diagnosis: palliative care plans being developed to ensure ongoing quality of life

 

The zoo’s young female sloth bear will be moving to Brookfield Zoo next week:

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Sempurna moved to the Calgary Zoo in Alberta.
The Calgary Zoo

 

Two North American River Otters were born on March 29th. The zoo announced the births on Facebook today:

Woodland Park Zoo | Seattle WA

 

WPZ recently acquired a new ambassador animal, a Virginia Opossum named Skookum: Meet Skookum: A bright, curious rescued opossum with a taste for apples—but only without the peel!

 

The opossum is from Puget Sound WildCare, where they were trying to rehab him but it did not succeed. He was too friendly towards humans. His mother was hit by a car. He is around 5 to 6 months old. It is all in the article you provided

 

A female Grant's Gazelle named Dawa was born on March 5th to father Kamali & mother Blossom. This is the first gazelle born at Woodland Park since 2005:

Introducing Dawa! This little gazelle calf provides a big dose of joy!

 

Very sad news, 45-year-old female Nile Hippo "Water Lily" will be euthanized early next week from declining health complications following a cancer diagnosis last month.
Woodland Park Zoo

 

She has been at Woodland Park Zoo almost her entire life...45 years. The zoo's blog mentions finding a new home for the remaining Hippo ('Lupe') and the zoo does not intend on bringing in any more Hippos. It's the end of an era.

Woodland Park Zoo to say goodbye to beloved hippo, Water Lily

 

It is extremely sad to see that yet another facility is going out of Nile Hippos soon. However, I do hope that they will be able to find a nice new home for Lupe and that she can maybe even breed.

 

Hippo Expert, do you know which North American zoos have males that might like another adult female for the bloat? At 25 Lupe is a fine breeding age.

 

Hippos leaving WPZ has been a long time coming. Hippo exhibits have evolved a lot since it was built and it's now very outdated. I've love it if they could built a brand new big and modern one, but they don't have the resources.

 

I for one am glad to see another zoo go out of common hippos. It's one of the most costly species to keep, and once LSS systems are factored in are also take up more space than any others (except maybe elephants). Especially once we factor in that most zoos don't even keep hippos in natural social groupings or exhibits with large terrestrial areas, it definitely seems for the better that hippos are becoming slightly rarer in zoos. It lets the zoos focus on other, more endangered species.

 

What could possibly go in the hippo exhibit when Lupe eventually leaves?

 

If I had to guess, maybe Pygmy Hippos because that is a frequent and easy replacement for zoos getting rid of Nile Hippo exhibits. It would also be a massive throw-off to visitors to have a parking lot called “Hippo Lot” when they have no hippos lol.

 

Water sustainability was a big factor in the decision to phase out nile hippos, as the hippo pool currently accounts for ~20% of the entire zoo's water usage. For this reason I'd be surprised if they replaced them with pygmy hippos, or any other animal that is also reliant on large amounts of water. When the Oregon Zoo phased out hippos, they filled in the old pool and used that enclosure for rhinos instead. Renaming a parking lot makes a lot more sense in this situation.