Our meerkats are digging the beach vibes! 🏖️ Grab your sunnies and flippy floppies and soak up End of Summer Blast this weekend at the Zoo. ☀️🕶️🍍 www.pdza.org/summer-blast
Day in the Life with Rescued Walrus Calf
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium is one of five organizations from around the United States that have come together to provide care to an orphaned Pacific walrus calf receiving rehabilitative care at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward, Alaska, in hopes of giving her a second chance at life. Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium Keeper Stephanie, who is an expert in walrus care, joined zoological experts in caring for the young female walrus. Follow along with keeper Stephanie while she cares for the walrus and feeds her. The rescued walrus requires 24-hour care and multiple feedings a day. Follow Alaska SeaLife Center for more updates and learn more about Stephanie’s visit at www.pdza.org/orphaned-walrus-calf
Dudlee the siamang tasting her strawberry gelatin mix in a puzzle feeder for enrichment! 🍓
📹: Keeper Katie
Butternut the beaver happily snacking away during a close encounter! 🦫
📹: Keeper Alex
Asian small-clawed otters, Arista and Javin, having fun with mulberry browse behind the scenes for enrichment. Asian small-clawed otters are mostly diurnal, spending more time on land than any other otter. They are highly social and love to play, sliding into the water or juggling pebbles.
📷: Keeper Katie
Walrus care experts, unite! ❤
Walrus care experts, unite! ❤ After hearing from our friends at Alaska SeaLife Center that a walrus calf was discovered abandoned, dehydrated, and malnourished on the shores of Utqiagvik, Alaska, we quickly sprang into action to offer our support. Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium Keeper Stephanie, who is an expert in walrus care, joined zoological experts from other organizations accredited by The Association of Zoos and Aquariums from around the US to assist the Wildlife Response Team with caring for the young female walrus. The walrus requires 24-hour care and multiple feedings a day. Follow Alaska SeaLife Center for daily updates on the calf's care.
Have you heard? It’s World Goat Day! In May, we introduced you to the new kids at the Zoo: Kettle, Biscuit, Hopper, Crumpet, Daisy Mae, Rhubarb, and Thistle. 🐐
Sea lion pup Pepper makes public debut!
Sea lion pup Pepper made her public debut today! The 31-pound pup loves splashing, swimming, and diving with mom Eloise, Matia, and harbor seals Qilak and Saya in the large seal/sea lion habitat. Learn more at www.pdza.org/sea-lion-pup-makes-public-debut.
Kali the Sumatran tiger is enjoying her giant popsicle! 🐅 The 11-year-old tiger likes digging her claws into it and licking it for a cool enrichment.
Enrichment comes in many forms, and all of our animals receive daily enrichment. Enrichment is to encourage natural behaviors and provide mental and physical stimulation.
📹: Assistant curator Erin
Sea lion pup Pepper meets her harbor seal roommates
Meet Pepper, our spirited sea lion pup who triumphed over a respiratory infection just after birth. Now two months old, she's thriving—nursing well, growing strong, and enjoying diving and swimming with her mom Eloise. Weighing in at 31 pounds, Pepper is gaining confidence in the water each day, diving deeper and exploring more pools behind the scenes. She's even met the harbor seal roommates, Saya and Qilak—what a journey it's been for this brave little one!
Adorable mole rat Potato enjoying snacking on beets! 🥔 Resembling saber-toothed fuzzy potatoes, these rodents use their long incisors to gnaw through the soil, digging elaborate tunnels. Our Damaraland mole rat colony receives a mix of various produce, and yam tends to be a favorite. In the wild, their diet consists mainly of roots, bulbs, tubers, and aloe leaves.
📹: Curator Natalie
Tasty fish snacks with adorable Asian small-clawed otter, Arista! 🐟
📹: Keeper Katie
Meet our newest prickly resident, Quillow! Quillow is a female prehensile-tailed porcupine, also known as a coendou. Quillow is celebrating her first birthday with us! 🎉 Keeper Alex made Quillow a special birthday cake with banana, butternut squash, tomatoes, blueberries, topped with browse and hibiscus flowers! 🌺
Quillow lives behind the scenes at Wild Wonders and will soon get to know Nigel, our 12-year-old male prehensile-tailed porcupine. Coendous use their long, prehensile tail, which makes up almost 10% of their body weight, for grasping and hanging onto branches, making them excellent climbers. Happy first birthday, Quillow! 🩷
📹: Assistant curator Maureen
Remembering Suki, 1964-2024.
It is with great sadness that we share the news that our beloved elderly Asian elephant, Suki, was humanely euthanized yesterday after a steady decline in her health. Surrounded by her keepers and the zoo’s veterinary team, Suki peacefully passed away in the zoo’s elephant habitat. We are all grieving and mourning her loss.
Suki was a very smart elephant with a big personality. She loved eating watermelon and banana leaves, splashing in her pools, and getting her tongue gently scratched.
At nearly 60, she was the zoo’s oldest resident and lived far beyond the median life expectancy of 48 years for female Asian elephants in human care. She was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 2019 and had chronic arthritis and uterine tumors, similar to fibroids. Over the past several weeks, she had been showing signs of increasing discomfort and cognitive decline, possibly indicative of a stroke or other neurological disease. A former circus elephant, Suki came to the zoo in 1996 and has thrived under the compassionate and attentive care of her experienced team every day of the 28 years that Point Defiance Zoo was her home.
Suki was a magnificent ambassador for her species and will be greatly missed. We invite you to share your own memories of Suki in the comment section below. Learn more at pdza.org/remembering-suki.
Siesta, our two-toed sloth, celebrated his 24th birthday today! 🦥 Keeper Bre made Siesta a special birthday cake with fruit, tofu, chow, avocado, and raisins. 🥑
With a low-energy diet of leaves and fruit, sloths move slowly and can sleep around 15 hours a day. 💤 Siesta was a little sleepy during his birthday party - sloth parties can be exhausting (and adorable). Happy birthday, Siesta! ❤️
📹: Assistant curator Maureen
The GOAT of the balance beam! 🏅
The five critically endangered American Red Wolf pups continue to play, bond, and grow at our offsite facility. The pups are now four months old and weigh around 20 pounds.
Throwback to clouded leopard Rakhan as a playful cub. Today, he turns three years old! Clouded leopards are known for their incredible climbing abilities and are one of the few cat species that can climb down trees head first. Happy birthday, Rakhan!
Clouded leopards are a special part of our zoo. We’re part of the Species Survival Plan, which keeps zoo populations healthy to support animals in the wild. We collaborate with other zoos in the U.S. and Thailand to breed and research this elusive, tree-top-loving cat.
