The Woodland Park Zoo reports that attendance has topped 1,000,000 visitors for the eleventh year in a row. Last year the zoo had 1,094,514 visitors.

The zoo also raised $68.5 million of its $80 million goal in the “More Wonder More Wild” fundraising campaign.

The zoo will introduce two new species to its exhibits later this year – warthogs and Visayan warty pigs, which have mohawk-like manes.

Visayan warty pig; photo by Michael Durham, courtesy of Oregon Zoo.

“The exotic pigs will be showcased in two naturalistic exhibits evoking the endangered warty pigs’ fragile habitat in the Philippines and the warthogs’ arid savannas of East Africa,” according to a press release. The exhibits will open this summer.

Photo of warthog by Siri-Maura Giles, courtesy of Indianapolis Zoo.

Adult admission prices are going up 25 cents, effective immediately. Winter fees are now $11.75 for adults, and $8.50 for children ages 3 to 12. Beginning May 1, summer rates will go up to $17.75 for adults, and stay at $11.50 for children. Toddlers 2 and under are free.

Yesterday, Woodland Park Zoo euthanized an elderly, male arctic fox named Feliks.

“After showing signs of decreased quality of life due to his advanced age, the zoo’s animal care and health teams made the difficult but humane decision to euthanize Feliks yesterday,” said Dr. Jennifer Pramuk, curator at Woodland Park Zoo.

Born in the wild, Feliks came to Woodland Park Zoo in 2004 after he was discovered at the Port of Seattle, stowed away on a trash container en route to Seattle from the tiny, remote Aleutian island of Shemya. Judging by the condition of his teeth, zoo experts estimated he was 3 to 5 years of age when he arrived.

The zoo determined that Feliks was not a good candidate for reintroduction into the wild. He was not in the best of health at the time, underweight with ear mites, a skin mass and hind limb weakness. Woodland Park Zoo provided a home for Feliks in its award-winning Northern Trail exhibit, and under its excellent animal care program, gave him the proper nutrition and health care needed to restore his condition and ensure his wellbeing.

“In the wild, many arctic foxes do not live past 3 years of age,” said Dr. Pramuk. “Yet when Feliks was around 3 to 5 years old, he not only survived an unexpected, tremendous adventure, but continued on to live out a healthy life for many more years at his new home at Woodland Park Zoo.”

Feliks, estimated to be 10 to 12 years old, lived in a mixed species exhibit including mountain goats and a female arctic fox, 11-year-old Somer, which remain on view.

The Arctic fox, weighing 6 to 10 pounds, lives in the far north, in the tundra, and coastal areas of North America, Iceland, Greenland, Scandinavia and Siberia. Found farther north than any other land mammal, the arctic fox travels more extensively than any terrestrial animal other than humans. The arctic fox has a gray or blue coat in the summer and a thick, warm white coat in the winter. In the summer, the fox feeds primarily on lemmings, other rodents, fish, birds and even berries. In the winter, it may follow wolves or polar bears in hopes of eating scraps left behind.

Woodland Park Zoo will highlight its orangutans this weekend, with special keeper talks and enrichment activities for the apes from Borneo and Sumatra.

Activities take place on the boardwalk of the orangutan exhibit in Trail of Vines, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Keeper talks and animal enrichment takes place at 11:30 a.m. each day.

Photo by Ryan Hawk, Woodland Park Zoo.

The zoo’s expert orangutan keepers will give an inside look at the zoo’s orangutans and orangutans in the wild. Posters on display will highlight: how specialized training helps facilitate quality care for the orangutans; the complex palm oil crisis and its impact on orangutans, tigers, and countless species of other plants and animals; the direct involvement of the zoo’s orangutan keepers in the field; and how the zoo’s orangutans have helped advance reproductive studies on wild orangutans. The orangutans will be treated to tropical fruit favorites during a keeper talk about the zoo’s enrichment program. Docents will be on hand with orangutan biofacts, and coloring pages will be available for kids.

Orangutans, a highly endangered species, belong to the family Pongidae, which includes all three great apes: gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans. Distinct subspecies of orangutans live on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Orangutans are losing ground to the unprecedented loss of habitat due to unsustainable palm oil plantations, illegal logging and mining, overpopulation and other human activities. According to the Orangutan Foundation, fewer than 54,000 individuals of the Bornean subspecies remain in the wild. The Sumatran subspecies is critically endangered with 6,600 individuals in the wild.

Orangutan activities are free with zoo admission.

Woodland Park Zoo hosts International Vulture Awareness Day on from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3. It’s included in zoo admission.

Photo by Dennis Dow, Woodland Park Zoo.

Vultures are scavenging birds that help recycle and prevent the spread of disease. Woodland Park Zoo is home to the turkey vulture, a species that ranges from southern Canada to South America. Turkey vulture numbers declined in the 1950s and 1960s, most likely due to the mistaken belief that they spread diseases. Shooting and poisoned baits often targeted these useful birds. Populations have increased in recent years, due to less persecution and safer use of pesticides. Contaminants and habitat loss continue to threaten other vulture species, particularly in southern Asia, where some species have been nearly forced to extinction.

International Vulture Awareness Day includes a talk about vultures at 10:30 a.m. and again at 3:30 p.m., a special raptor flight program at 11:30 a.m. and again at 2:30 p.m., Olympic Vulture Study display with guest biologist Diann MacRae from 12-3 p.m., and games and activities from 12:30-2 p.m. All special activities are at the Raptor Center.

Woodland Park Zoo is admitting all military personnel and emergency services providers free of charge on “Heroes Weekend,” Sept. 10-11, in honor of the 10th anniversary of 9/11. The offer applies to all active and retired U.S. military, police, firefighters and emergency medical services personnel with valid service identification. And up to six of their guests will receive half-off admission.

Beginning Sept. 12, the zoo will make its regular military discount easier. Instead of having to purchase discounted tickets at military bases, active and retired U.S. military and their family members will receive $5 off admission at any zoo gate (must show military I.D.)

Woodland Park Zoo’s 35th annual Jungle Party fundraiser last Friday raised $1.5 million – nearly $70,000 more than its goal.

Performers with Versatile Arts in Phinney Ridge entertained the Jungle Party crowd. Photo by Ryan Hawk, Woodland Park Zoo.

From the press release:

Seattle Sounders FC co-owners, film producer and director Joe Roth and Adrian Hanauer, served as co-chairs of this year’s Jungle Party, themed “Animal All-Stars,” to commemorate the 1,000 animal conservation ambassadors living at the zoo. With celebrity Drew Carey headlining the evening’s jungle humor, more than 800 civic-minded business and community leaders converged on the North Meadow to raise funds for exemplary animal care, engaging education programs and wildlife conservation projects around the world and locally.

In the live auction, three Joe Roth movie experiences sparked ferocious bidding, raising $90,000 alone. Other top-selling items included a Georgia Gerber bronze sculpture that sold for $17,000 and an Alaska tugboat experience for two that went for $10,000.

Stop by the Woodland Park Zoo this week and chat with a zoo keeper as part of National Zoo Keeper Week.

“Our animal care professionals play an important role in providing exemplary care to our animals, inspiring our guests to learn, care and act on behalf of wildlife, and are front line advocates for saving wild animals through public awareness,” Dr. Nancy Hawkes, general curator at Woodland Park Zoo, said in a press release. “National Zoo Keeper Week is a wonderful opportunity, especially for kids, to meet these dedicated and expert champions of animals.”

Photo by Kirsten Pisto/Woodland Park Zoo.

Zoo keepers will meet with zoo-goers at the following times and places:

• Tuesday, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. and 1-3 p.m. in the West Plaza. See and touch some of the food items prepared for zoo animals and try to guess which animal eats it.
• Wednesday, 11 a.m., 12-2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., Zoomazium. See and touch some of the food items prepared for zoo animals and try to guess which animal eats it.
• Keeper Chat: 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. daily; and 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (see entry kiosk for daily location).
• Elephant Keeper Chat: 11:30 p.m. daily, Elephant Forest
• Raptor Flight Program: 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Wednesday-Monday; Raptor non-flight Program: 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Raptor Center.

Members of Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants and Sound Animal Rights Alliance will demonstrate in front of Woodland Park Zoo this afternoon, to renew their calls for the zoo to send its three elephants to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.

An airplane also will fly over the zoo and surrounding areas, pulling a banner that says “Zoo Elephants Suffer.”
Demonstrators will be in front of the zoo’s West Entrance on Phinney Avenue North at North 55th Street from 4-6 p.m. The banner will fly over from 5-6 p.m.

“When people see the aerial message, we hope they will contact the Seattle City Council and WPZ to ask for the release of these long-suffering elephants to the Sanctuary,” FWPZE member Sandy Clinton said in a press release.

More from the Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants press release:

According to scientists, animal experts and WPZ’s own medical records Bamboo, Watoto and Chai suffer from captivity-induced ailments including crippling arthritis and chronic foot infections. These are directly caused by lack of space and severe confinement which will likely lead to premature death.

The three elephants display severe neurotic behaviors such as swaying, pacing in circles and head bobbing; all signs of serious distress. According to behavioral experts like Dr. Gay Bradshaw, “stereotypies are a common symptom of people in prisons as well as animals in zoos. They are a coping mechanism that helps to protect the mind against unbearable stress and trauma.”

Here’s a smattering of neighborhood news.

The Greenwood Senior Center, 525 N. 85th St., needs volunteers for its annual secondhand sale on Friday, May 20, the day before the gigantic Greenwood Garage Sale Day.

Volunteers are needed for set-up from 3-7 p.m. on Thursday, May 19, and from 2-6 p.m. Friday, May 20, to help with clean-up.

As a bonus, volunteers helping to clean up for at least one hour are welcome to take home any treasures you find! And all these volunteer hours can count towards your community service!

To learn more or to sign up, contact LeAnne at gscvolunteer@phinneycenter.org or 206.297.0875.

If you want to show your neighborhood pride, a Ballard business has created hand-printed children’s T-shirts for a bunch of Seattle’s neighborhoods, including ours. Little Orange Room’s “G is for Greenwood” features the Greenwood Car Show, and “P is for Phinney” has zoo scenes. The $22 shirts are available from infant onesies through kids size 10.

Hazel Salon & Organics, 5817 Phinney Ave. N., is holding a fundraiser for Women for Women programs in Afghanistan to celebrate the salon’s upcoming second anniversary on June 15. Buy a $5 raffle ticket for a chance to win salon services and products worth $250, including highlights or color, a haircut, a Brighten and Tighten facial, Organic Apoteke Rejuvenating Kit, and a liter size set of Loma shampoo and conditioner.

The drawing will be on June 15.

The Women for Women programs include direct financial aid, rights awareness classes, job-skills training and emotional support for women around the world.

Woodland Park Zoo is asking for ideas for a name for its new reticulated python.

Photo by Ryan Hawk, Woodland Park Zoo.

The 8-year-old, 100-pound male python just went on exhibit at the zoo. Through noon Friday you can submit a name to the zoo’s Facebook page.

Zookeepers will select their five favorite names from the submissions and fans will then vote on May 17 on the zoo’s Facebook page for their top pick.

The reticulated python is the longest snake in the world, with some rare specimens exceeding 30 feet in length and weighing 300 pounds, though its average size is 10 to 20 feet in length. As a constrictor, the python is not venomous but kills its prey by wrapping around it and suffocating it. The species’ range extends from Myanmar and India, across Southeast Asia and on many of the islands of the Philippines and Indonesia. They are at home on the ground, in caves or in trees and they have adapted to living in towns and cities where they hunt chickens, ducks, rats, and domestic cats, dogs and pigs.

Tickets for this season of ZooTunes at Woodland Park Zoo go on sale for zoo members on Thursday. Online sales to the general public begin Friday.

Here’s the schedule:

• Wed., June 22 – Taj Mahal / Joan Osborne ($26)
• Sun., June 26 – Marc Cohn / Mary Chapin Carpenter ($24)
• Wed., June 29 – Lucinda Williams ($22)
• Thurs., June 30 - The Robert Cray Band ($24)
• Wed., July 6 - AfroCubism ($22)
• Wed. – Thurs., July 20 & 21 - Indigo Girls with Mount Moriah ($26)
• Fri., July 29 – Brandi Carlile ($36)
• Wed., Aug 10 – k.d. lang and The Siss Boom Bang ($35)
• Sun., Aug 14 – The Go-Go’s Ladies Gone Wild Tour ($24)
• Wed., Aug 17 - Carolina Chocolate Drops with special guests ($19)
• Sun., Aug 21 – Aimee Mann with The Weepies ($19)

The Go-Gos perform Aug. 14.

Zoo gates open at 5 p.m.; concerts begin at 6 p.m. and are held rain or shine (no ticket refunds).

Tickets go on sale beginning May 6 at 8:00 a.m. online at www.zoo.org/zootunes. A $2 processing fee is added to all online ticket purchases. A limited number of tickets are available for purchase at Woodland Park Zoo gates during zoo hours: 9:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. daily. Ticket prices at all outlets will include a $1 facility fee to fund maintenance of the zoo’s concert facilities. One child 12 and under per paid ticket is admitted free. Tickets sell out fast, so purchase early!

For the first time, Woodland Park Zoo members will have the opportunity to purchase ZooTunes tickets before the general public. The ZooTunes member pre-sale begins online only on May 5 at 8:00 a.m. Members will receive an exclusive pre-sale link by email and can purchase up to eight pre-sale tickets per show. Pre-sale is available to active members and to new members who have registered online or at zoo entrances by midnight on Saturday, April 30. To become a zoo member, visit www.zoo.org/join.

It’s a big weekend for the Woodland Park Zoo. It’s opening its “Dinosaurs. Real Close” exhibit of animatronic dinos, plus it’s offering free carousel rides courtesy of Seattle City Light.

Seattle City Light recently installed solar panels to help power the carousel. On Saturday and Sunday, zoo-goers can ride the carousel as many times as they want. (Carousel rides are normally $2.)

Photo by Mat Hayward/Woodland Park Zoo.

The “Dinosaurs. Real Close” exhibit opens on Saturday and runs through Sept. 5. The animatronic dinos will move, roar, snarl, hiss and spit. The dinosaur exhibit costs $3 in addition to zoo admission (free for children 2 and under). It is located next to the West Entrance, near the penguins, where the Butterflies and Blooms exhibit used to be.

Syracosaurus and friends arrive at Woodland Park Zoo earlier this month. Photo by Tyler Steele, PhinneyWood intern.

You can purchase dinosaur exhibit entry at the zoo admission gate or at the dinosaurs exhibit; and you can re-enter the exhibit as many times as you want on the day of purchase. The zoo’s summer season officially starts on Sunday, May 1, with extended hours (open 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily) and increased prices.

Last weekend, elephant management and animal health staff at Woodland Park Zoo artificially inseminated 32-year-old Asian elephant Chai.

Dr. Dennis Schmitt (standing, in maroon shirt), a leading expert in elephant reproductive physiology, helped the zoo’s elephant management and animal health staff artificially inseminate Chai. Photo by Dennis Dow, courtesy Woodland Park Zoo.

From the press release:

“The world’s leading experts on elephant health and breeding, including the Asian Elephant Species Survival Plan, recommend that we breed Chai again, by artificial insemination,” explained Dr. Nancy Hawkes, the zoo’s General Curator and resident expert in elephant reproductive physiology. “A baby would be socially enriching not only for Chai, but for the herd. A successful pregnancy and birth would help us begin to re-build a multigenerational social group here at the zoo.”

A 12-year-old bull at Albuquerque Biological Park Zoo contributed the semen. With no offspring to date, he is genetically valuable to the North American population of elephants.

The gestation period for elephants is 22 months. It will be approximately 15 to 16 weeks before the zoo can confirm a pregnancy by ultrasound and through hormonal changes in Chai. If she is pregnant, her due date will be in early 2013. The last artificial insemination procedure on Chai was done last year in June. It did not result in a pregnancy.

Only 30,000-50,000 Asian elephants remain in the wild, scattered across fragmented habitats in 13 Asian countries. The greatest threat to Asian elephants is habitat loss, which inevitably results in conflicts with farmers, villagers and plantation owners, resulting in human casualties and elephant deaths. Human-elephant conflict is the most widespread and difficult issue to tackle for elephants in Asia. Saving elephants requires a network of key players, including AZA zoos, conservation non-governmental organizations, government and international agencies, businesses, and range country elephant experts to collaborate and strategically work together.

Chai previously gave birth to a female, Hansa, in 2000. Hansa died suddenly 6-1/2 years later from a newly discovered elephant herpesvirus.