EARLY CLOSURE
The zoo will close early at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 28, 2024, for the Thanksgiving holiday.

LIVING NORTHWEST

Connecting conservation science and people in our Pacific Northwest

A Signature Program of Woodland Park Zoo

PROTECTING WILDLIFE

 

Woodland Park Zoo is located in the Pacific Northwest, a region renowned for its beauty and wildness. Surrounded by vast coastal waterways, temperate rainforests, snow-capped mountains, and arid shrub-steppe, residents and global visitors alike enjoy an unparalleled wealth of ecological diversity and outdoor recreation.

As wild species and habitats across the globe disappear at an alarming rate, we must work harder than ever to protect the ecological integrity of the Pacific Northwest. We have a unique opportunity—and an ethical obligation—to provide native wildlife with the space and security they need to thrive, while also enhancing our own well-being. We see the Living Northwest as a place where our vibrant communities coexist with a rich diversity of native wildlife.

Woodland Park Zoo’s unique Living Northwest conservation program helps to recover native wildlife populations, establish long-term ecological resilience in our Northwest landscapes, and empower all people to be wildlife conservationists. We achieve conservation success by investing our efforts in two broad areas:



Species Recovery

Reducing threats to native wildlife and helping to re-establish healthy populations of threatened Pacific Northwest species.


Human-Wildlife Coexistence

Promoting science-informed choices, actions, and policies that cultivate coexistence between people and wildlife.


Participate in conservation science in your community!


Participate in Conservation

 

Recovery Projects

 

The Pacific Northwest supports a remarkable array of wildlife and diverse ecosystems, but has also suffered from a legacy of wildlife persecution and ongoing habitat loss and urbanization. Changing climate patterns also threaten the future of our natural communities.

Projects under the umbrella of the Living Northwest program help to identify and ameliorate the causes of regional species decline, and to encourage the recovery and long-term persistence of native wildlife populations.

 

NORTHWEST CARNIVORES

Oregon Silverspot Butterfly

Western Pond Turtle Recovery

Amphibian Recovery

Raptor Ecology

Bat Conservation

COEXISTENCE PROJECTS

 

Living Side-by-Side With Wildlife

Urbanization and suburbanization are rapidly increasing in many portions of the Pacific Northwest. As seen here and elsewhere, expanding human development and a dramatic reduction in wildlife habitat can push wildlife into growing conflict with people; their opportunities for avoiding us become more scarce. The Living Northwest program aims to help people inhabiting urban, suburban, and rural areas better understand the needs and behaviors of local wildlife so that we can coexist safely and in harmony. Getting to know and appreciate our immediate wild neighbors can also build empathy for more remote and threatened wildlife, benefitting conservation far and wide.

 

SEATTLE URBAN CARNIVORE PROJECT

COEXISTING WITH CARNIVORES

Our Mission

Woodland Park Zoo saves wildlife and inspires everyone to make conservation a priority in their lives.

Land Acknowledgment

Woodland Park Zoo recognizes that these are the lands of the Tribal signatories of the Treaty of Point Elliott. We acknowledge their stewardship of this place continues to this day and that it is our responsibility to join them to restore the relationship with the living world around us.


5500 Phinney Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103   |  206.548.2500  |   zooinfo@zoo.org


Association of Zoos & Aquariums
Seattle Parks & Recreation
Humane Certification