Who knew that a pile of acacia branches would elicit such enthusiasm! Instead of scattering browse throughout the black-tailed prairie dog habitat as she normally does, Keeper Christina tried something different by placing it all in one large pile. The prairie dogs were thrilled!

Keeper Stephanie eyed brother/sister emerald tree boas Bert and Spot “being cute.” And we agree! We’ve been asked how two of them can reside together. It’s the case that if they have a large habitat and the individuals are compatible and monitored, like ours, they will do well together.

What a way to cool off! Keeper Selena made some special fruit popsicles for our Bornean orangutans, blending strawberries and diluted apple juice and frozen on popsicle sticks. Here’s Berani, who makes eating a popsicle a joyful experience.🦧

Happy 24th Birthday to our female mandrill, Lulu! Keeper Bryan went all out with a colorful, summery enrichment presentation, and since she loves “bags” (who doesn’t?), they were filled with some of her favorite treats, including popcorn, dried cranberries and yam!

Earlier this week Zoo Docents hosted their annual keeper luncheon in honor of National Zookeeper Week. Thank you Docents, everyone enjoyed the event – it was quite a spread! We end the week as we started it, celebrating our amazing keepers!

Keepers wear a lot of different hats – animal caregivers, dieticians, behaviorists, exhibit designers, enrichment creators, custodians, gardeners, veterinary assistants, educators, biologists, and as doting parents! For the first time in many years, we have both penguin & flamingo chicks.

A mini heat wave here but still cooler than everywhere else as we are in the 70s today! Check out our squad of Chacoan peccaries, who found some mud to wallow in, thanks to keeper Mary! Peccaries do not have sweat glands and wallow in mud to regulate their body temps to keep cool.

We’re kicking off National Zookeeper Week with a Jurassic recreation! That’s keeper Julianna (who normally cares for giraffes and zebras) fending off a trio of velociraptors at the popular, new Dinos Rule exhibit! Of course, we had to show the movie-version w/ actor Chris Pratt’s infamous standoff!

Enjoy this montage of Bornean orangutans, Berani and Judy, snacking on whole coconuts - a special treat - courtesy of keeper Selina! 🥥

And just like that…our boy Boone is 18! Check out his birthday party theme - the FIFA World Cup Final, complete with a rhino-sized soccer ball and giant goal post! For his special day, this sweet rhino was treated to his favorite sweet treat - watermelon!

Summer means the return of our summer programming, including Nature Trail, where guests can meet a variety of animals along a wooded pathway and learn from our amazing youth volunteers! What makes this season special is 2026 represents the 50th anniversary of this groundbreaking program!

Bactrian camels 🐫 drink a lot of water (and no, they do not store water in their humps, a common misconception!). Here’s our male, Bactrius Maximus II, showing an easy way to hydrate as keeper Mary demonstrates! Sound up! It’s slurp-tastic!

What? A giant toad in Lemur Forest? Well, this fake toad offered a bit of curious enrichment for our lemurs, most of which didn’t know what to make of it. Some were, at first, hesitant to approach it. When a few of them finally did check it out, they figured the toad was harmless!

There is nothing quite like seeing and hearing a sloth drink water! Our 16-year-old male Linne’s two-toed sloth, Mooney P. Finch, is seen lapping up refreshing water from his water bowl in a video taken by his caretaker Elyse.

DINOS RULE! is now open! See 21 life-sized, realistic animatronic dinosaurs, from the 40-foot-long T. rex to the giant, flightless Gigantoraptor, and more! Dinos Rule! is a separate ticket from general admission and is $9/per person. Open now thru Sept. 12! bit.ly/4v6a2kA

Bet you were waiting for a penguin chick update! According to the trio’s caretakers: “the babies have graduated out of their tubs and are all together now!” This time-lapse video is from about 15 minutes of feeding and wrangling! They are now a little over a month old! 🐧🐧🐧

It’s World Giraffe Day, celebrating the world’s tallest land animal on the summer solstice, the longest day of the year! This day shines an important spotlight on giraffes as their wild populations continue to decline due to habitat loss and poaching. 1/2

She shoots…she scores! Female fosa, Marie, takes the World Cup seriously, with a keen eye on the goal! ⚽️🌏

We recently announced the successful hatching of three new penguin chicks - check out how their caretakers found out if they were girls or boys during a gender reveal party! 🎉 🐧

Everyone has a bit of World Cup fever, and our goats are no exception! While they are not trying to score any goals, they did score on the treats! ⚽️

Your Sunday zen: breakfast for our Panamanian golden frog.

How fortuitous that we are celebrating the Zoo's 97th birthday this weekend, at the same time that Little Mebo turns 3!  Our red panda caretakers had a great time creating a fun birthday party theme for Little Mebo, who turns three years old today!

Black bears, like Juneau and Valdez, are incredibly curious and intelligent! With their strong sense of smell, there was no doubt that they responded with gusto to some new enrichment stuffed with treats! Their caretakers are always devising new ways to stimulate and keep them engaged.

She is also bold in her exploration of the habitat, having scoped out places for the best views, and has the hang of using tools to forage for her favorite

(possibly Kimani, they have become fast friends!) On occasion you might not see her out with the rest of the troop, while she spends time inside. According to her caretakers, 22-year-old Dara is quite the climber!

This past week she’s been exploring the outdoor habitat on her own, which has been going so well that she’s ready to meet the public. While the social introductions of Dara and our other gorillas continue to unfold you might see her on her own, or paired with another female,

Introducing Dara! Since her arrival from Como Zoo in April, the newest member of our troop of western lowland gorillas has been acclimating to her new home. She’s been slowly but surely getting to know the rest of the troop: silverback Cecil, and the females Bawang, Monifa and Kimani!

One of the longest Farm Farm's residents – Siesta - celebrated her 27th birthday! Arriving to the Zoo as just a wee youngster in March 2000, Siesta is a gorgeous female Gotland pony and favorite character among staff, volunteers and guests.

The best days are when crickets are on the menu! Here’s our Mission Golden-eyed tree frogs being hand-fed using tongs by caretaker Stephanie!

A new bamboo climbing structure was recently added to the Red Panda Treehouse, allowing red panda Little Mebo a new way to navigate her habitat. The ladder bridge allows this arboreal species to get from tree to tree, and of course, guests can easily spot her when she makes the crossing!