2022 Annual Impact Report

WE ARE LIVING NORTHWEST

We discover, recover, and coexist to assure a healthy, thriving Northwest that sustains people and wildlife together.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

These are the lands of the Tribal signatories of the Treaty of Point Elliott (1855), whose stewardship for the waters, plants, land and animal relatives in the Northwest has continued since time immemorial. Woodland Park Zoo acknowledges this stewardship, the sovereign rights of the Tribal signatories, and our responsibility to join with these Tribes to inspire and advance the restoration of relationships between humans and the living world around us.

Lushootseed Language

gʷəɬ dibəɬ, ti dᶻixʷ ʔaciɬtalbixʷ, tiʔəʔ dəxʷƛ̕ubatəb ʔə ti tudᶻixʷqsčəɬ ti tliti ʔal bəkəltiu (1855). sgʷaʔčəɬ swatixʷtədčəɬ. ləcutix̌dub ʔə ti dᶻixʷ ʔaciɬtalbixʷ tul̕ʔal tudiʔ tudᶻixʷ pədtab ti swatixʷtəd ʔi ti swətixʷtəd, ti qʷuʔ ʔi ti x̌ʷəlč, ti tatačulbixʷ ʔi ti titčulbixʷ. suxʷtəb ʔə ti Woodland Park Zoo tiʔəʔ cədiɬ ləcustix̌dxʷ ʔə ti dᶻixʷ ʔaciɬtalbixʷ ʔi ti sgʷaʔs šəɬx̌əčəbs dxʷʔal ck̓ʷaqid. huy, ʔuyayus ti Woodland Park Zoo ʔəsq̓ʷuʔ ʔə ti dᶻixʷ ʔaciɬtalbixʷ dxʷʔal kʷi ɬubəshəliʔtxʷs ti swatixʷtəd ʔi ti bək̓ʷ ʔucəɬdalb ʔal ti swatixʷtəd, ʔal ti qʷuʔ ʔi ti x̌ʷəlč, ʔal ti šqulgʷədxʷ. ti Woodland Park Zoo gʷəl ʔabyid ti tatačulbixʷ ʔi ti titčulbixʷ ʔə kʷi shəliʔ. ʔəsx̌aƛ̕tub ʔə ti Woodland Park Zoo gʷəp̓aʔcutəs kʷi bək̓ʷ gʷat dxʷʔal kʷi skʷaxʷads tiʔəʔ q̓ič syayus.

TO OUR FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS ,

What does it mean to be Living Northwest? It is a choice we all make to embrace and enjoy the beauty and majesty of our region, and to commit to protect and preserve it so that the Pacific Northwest thrives for generations to come. Together, we are all Living Northwest. You have my gratitude for joining us on this journey.

Last year, building upon our regional, species saving work, we embarked as a community on our ambitious Living Northwest movement to create lasting change in the Northwest and welcome everyone to discover, recover and coexist with wildlife. Starting in Woodland Park Zoo’s own 92-acre urban forest, our transformation of the Northern Trail into the Living Northwest Trail was completed in late 2022 as an activation point to inspire guests to discover local wildlife and explore how nature connects us all in our shared Northwest home.

The Living Northwest Trail now includes several new flagship habitats joining our beloved local wildlife – the Nysether Family Riverhouse, which is the ideal place to view bear cubs Juniper and Fern enjoying their new home, the Pigott Family Lynx Exhibit with three male Canada lynx bounding through complex pathways carefully crafted by zoo staff and the Cathy Herzig Basecamp Northwest featuring the zoo’s award-winning Western Pond Turtle Recovery Project.

Your continuing belief in our mission and long-term viability enabled us to enter into a new 20-year Management Agreement with the City of Seattle. As we complete the first year of this agreement and look forward to the years to come, we continue to expand the zoo’s robust accessibility and inclusion initiatives that provide transformative zoo experiences for everyone in our community, and advance our extended Strategic Plan and a new Forests for All movement that expands upon the momentum of our Living Northwest movement.

Anchored by an ambitious new exhibit to be built on the site of our former Day and Night Exhibits and global conservation initiatives, the Forests for All movement will protect, restore, and sustain forests across the world to ensure habitat for wildlife, livelihoods for people and climate solutions for all. With your continued support, we will bring this effort to life and sustain and enhance forests for all.

Thank you for your passionate support this year. Please explore this report and what you have made possible. I invite you to join us next year as we continue saving wildlife and inspiring everyone to make conservation a priority in their lives.

Sincerely,

Alejandro Grajal, President and CEO DIRECTORS

Anders Brown, Chair

Irwin Goverman, Vice Chair

Jill Walker, Treasurer

Katie Matison, Secretary

Sandy Stelling, Immediate

Past Chair

Linda Allen

Christi Beckly

Katie Bellows

Sue Borgman

Dori Borjesson

Warren Brown

Stacey Campbell

Claire Godoy-Arnett

Angela Griffin

Rosemarie Havranek

Marlon Dylan Herrera

Holly Hirai

Jonathan Kil

Jeff Leppo

Shelley McKinley

Lian Neeman

Larry Phillips

Robert Plotnick

Kyle Rolfe

Michael Ronan

Omari Salisbury

Kevin Schofield

Diane Shrewsbury

Effie Toshav

Justin Umagat

Alison Winfield

Joe Woods

Ex officio

AP Diaz

Alejandro Grajal

Jeanne Kohl-Welles

Andrew Lewis

2023 BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFFICERS

DISCOVER

Connect with nature and green spaces to discover wildlife all around you.

Internship Program

For the first time, the zoo had the privilege of hosting five paid interns this summer from the Seattle Promise and Seattle Youth Employment Program aimed at opening career paths in wildlife conservation, sustainability and related fields. This new internship program serves young people from communities experiencing racial, social and economic disparities. The interns worked with several zoo teams including Marketing, Government Affairs, Behavioral Husbandry, Silverspot Butterfly Lab and Facilities.

“Working on a team of individuals who are determined; live and die for the animals, community engagement, and animal husbandry was the foundation of my time at the zoo... From the caring staff, amazing manager and directors I am leaving grateful, experienced, and skilled.” - Yonas

Sherifaw, Government Affairs Intern

Community Spotlight: New Community Members Welcomed to the Zoo

As part of the zoo’s public benefits offerings which help make the zoo more accessible for all in our community, the zoo was honored to welcome more than 20 children in partnership with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) this April. Primarily from Afghanistan, these children are newlyresettled refugees settling into life in the U.S. with the help of the IRC. The zoo arranged a special visit and ambassador animals program for the kids to provide an uplifting experience and welcome them as our neighbors and community. They gasped in awe as red-tailed hawk, Gunnar, spread his wings for flight, and they soared with joy as they discovered all the diverse animals in their new home region.

Inclusion Festival

Kids of all abilities and their caregivers brought their five senses to the Seattle Sensory Garden at Woodland Park Zoo this summer to experience the Seattle Public Library & Woodland Park Zoo’s Inclusion Festival. Held in partnership with The Arc of King County and Northwest Center, 140 guests explored the sensory garden, enjoyed a braille-enhanced StoryWalk ® about bees, and an American Sign Language (ASL)-interpreted story time and a pollinator puppet show featuring ASL interpretation.

Mission Critical

In December 2022, Woodland Park Zoo was awarded a competitive grant by the Pacific Northwest-focused M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust to increase our capacity to evaluate the effectiveness of our mission in pioneering and innovative new ways. This three-year grant will position Woodland Park Zoo among the first zoos in the world to begin the work of measuring and assessing the role of zoo experiences in motivating and inspiring zoo visitors and audience members to engage in environmentally sustainable behaviors.

With this enhanced capacity to understand the impact of our programming and messaging, our zoo will become even more effective at designing and offering experiences that inspire everyone to make conservation a priority in their lives—ultimately supporting thriving communities where people and animals coexist sustainably, in the Pacific Northwest and around the world. We anticipate that what we learn through this grant-funded work will have ripple effects throughout our peers in the U.S. and worldwide, with long-term potential to make a considerable difference across our industry in how zoos and aquariums work to save species and habitats for wildlife and people, alike.

Welcome to Our Zoo Family!

Have you discovered the new faces at Woodland Park Zoo? From fluffy sloth bears to a magnificent lion, this year we welcomed many new and returning animals to our zoo family.

Click on the image to learn more about the new additions to our zoo family.

Thirty-four endangered juvenile western pond turtles were reared at Woodland Park Zoo before being released back into protected wetlands!

You may have seen two white noses of the coatis, Onix and Pearl, who are the first of their species to live at the zoo!

Three male Canada lynx have made a purrfect new home in the Living Northwest Trail living in a fission-fusion dynamic – a new animal husbandry standard.

Happy New Year! Sloth bear mom Kushali and dad Bhutan rang in the new year with the birth of twins—a male, Madhu, and female, Lila.

Two bear cubs rescued from Alaska and Montana, Juniper and Fern, are exploring their new home and becoming fast friends and companions!

Our western lowland gorilla population has grown! Olympia, Jamani, and Nadaya joined Jumoke to form a new troop this year.

The King returns! Lion Tandie returned to Woodland Park Zoo from the Oakland Zoo. He is the son of our beloved Xerxes, who sadly passed away this year.

RECOVER

We restore habitat, recover wildlife and recharge our communities for a thriving Northwest.

I Spy a Native Carnivore! Pacific Marten Detection

A Pacific marten, a rare native carnivore now living only in high elevations, has been recorded for the first time by a motion-triggered wildlife camera in the Olympic National Forest. Martens once occupied a broad elevational range, but due to climate change, trapping and habitat removal, they appear to be gone at lower elevations. In the past 50 years, only two dozen sightings have been confirmed. In collaboration with Olympic National Forest, the zoo installed cameras and scent dispensers to detect martens and achieve this historic conservation milestone. The survey team was delighted to discover multiple photos of one Pacific marten visiting the station in January 2022, and this detection will help to guide the recovery of this native, forest-dwelling species.

Community Spotlight: Seattle Children’s Hospital Kids

Name Penguin Chick Yolanda!

This summer, kids in long-term isolation units at Seattle Children’s Hospital named one of Woodland Park Zoo’s newest Humboldt penguin chicks after being introduced to our penguin flock by animal keeper Celine Pardo during their monthly Zoom with Zoo experience. Woodland Park Zoo partners with Seattle Children’s Hospital to bring uplifting animal experiences to children unable to visit the zoo in person. The kids voted for their favorite name and met their newly named penguin chick–Yolanda! The experience brought the children much joy and a strong sense of connection to the animals at the zoo.

Comprehensive Animal Care

The zoo’s veterinary team promoted Tim Storms, DVM, to head veterinarian! Our veterinarian teams provided extraordinary comprehensive care to our animals, going above and beyond to offer routine care and protect them from COVID-19 and the avian flu. Many susceptible animals received a COVID-19 vaccine, and through the zoo’s successful medical behavioral training program, many animals willingly participated in the vaccine administration by standing still to receive the shot in exchange for treats and tasty rewards.

The veterinary and animal care teams responded this year to the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), also known as “bird flu” by adding additional protections for many of our birds for their safety. Due to their diligence, our birds remained free of HPAI.

Check out the new, interactive antiwildlife trafficking display and learn how you can take steps to protect wildlife in the Pacific Northwest and around the world.

Savvy Travelers at SEA –Anti-Trafficking Display

A new educational display at Seattle-Tacoma Airport (SEA) empowers international travelers to prevent wildlife trafficking in how they shop, eat and experience while abroad. In an effort to protect and recover wildlife from endangerment due to endangered wildlife trafficking occurring around the world, in partnership with SEA, the Assocation of Zoos & Aquariums’ Wildlife Trafficking Alliance (WTA), Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium and Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, Woodland Park Zoo unveiled this first-of-its-kind interactive installation at SEA. Several other zoos and airports are now following our lead and using our modular design to create installations of their own.

Sustainable in Seattle

Did you know clippings from your trees may have been a delicious treat for our animals this year? If you saw Seattle City Light (SCL) trimming your trees to clear space around power lines, your branches’ destination may have been the zoo!

The zoo, Seattle Parks and Recreation and SCL all care about cutting back on waste, increasing sustainability and providing enrichment to zoo animals. In our newest partnership, the zoo collects the branches trimmed by SCL before they grow into utility lines and gives them to our animals for an extra crunchy treat called browse. This sustainable partnership reduces the zoo’s carbon footprint, preserves green spaces at the zoo and contributes to our Zoo Doo program.

Click here to learn about one of the community groups partnering with our zoo who toured the Zoo Doo yard, fed browse to Dave the giraffe, hosted a festival at their farm and showed us how they are making conservation a priority in their lives.

Zoo Doo is compost composed of species feces pooped by a variety of the zoo’s non-primate herbivores, including the animals snacking on the tree clippings. Local gardeners seek out this prized compost to garden with healthy, organic materials and keep plants growing strong.

Thank you to the other organizations that contribute to our sustainable browse project: Seattle Department of Transportation, University of Washington Arboretum, Seattle University, Oxbow Farms and Nussbaum Group.

COEXIST

Bear Additions and a Sad Farewell

Our Living Northwest Trail welcomed two rescued brown bear cubs–Juniper, a coastal brown bear from Alaska, and Fern, a grizzly cub from Montana. Both cubs were orphaned and too young to survive in the wild. Juniper was found roaming alone on an Alaska air force base and Fern became an orphan as a result of human-bear conflicts, highlighting the importance of coexisting with carnivores. The zoo also bid a sad farewell to 28-year-old grizzly bear, Keema—a beloved member of our zoo family whom we lost in December.

The zoo is honored to be a home to these bears and is proud to be a partner of the Friends of the North Cascades Grizzly Bear Coalition advocating for the recovery of this iconic species in the North Cascades.

Community Spotlight: Lambert House Pride Dance

In support of Pride Month and LGBTQ+ youth in our community, the zoo hosted Lambert House’s Youth Pride Dance on the North Meadow featuring a dance, games, food, a youth-run drag show and a special animal experience for more than 150 LGBTQ+ youth from across the state. In support of the kids, the zoo hosted the event at no cost to the youth or Lambert House.

Lambert House is one of the only social service agencies in Seattle and King County dedicated solely to LGBTQ+ youth and was the first LGBTQ+ youth support center in the United States. Providing a safe, welcoming space for Pride at Woodland Park Zoo allowed the teens to socialize and make joyful memories with kids who have similar and/or shared life experiences.

“This garden is a reminder that by transforming our own understanding and behavior, we can create healthy habitats for these miraculous creatures.”

- Woodland Park Zoo Animal Curator Erin Sullivan.

The Buzz at the Capitol

Washington state’s Capitol in Olympia is a-buzz with a new pollinator garden supporting butterflies, bees and birds. Woodland Park Zoo created the garden’s concept, worked with state agencies to build the garden and procure the plants, and designed the signage on display to inform visitors about the critical role of pollinators and how to attract and protect them. Visitors to the Capitol can learn about the remarkable pollinators that play a critical role in our environment and steps individuals can take to protect them.

When we respect each other’s needs, we can coexist with animals and each other.

Salmon People’s Proclamation and Symposium

Indigenous Peoples from across the Pan-Pacific salmon seas gathered for an International Indigenous Salmon Seas Symposium organized by Indigenous-led non-profit, Se’Si’Le. The zoo was honored to host and support Se’Si’Le as they led discussions about conservation and saving critical species, because when salmon thrive, we all thrive. The symposium concluded with a press conference in the Living Northwest Trail for a historical signing of Salmon People’s Proclamation and formalizing their solidarity to protect salmon and the indigenous lifeways they support.

Green Investing

Woodland Park Zoo’s endowment is core to our long-term sustainability. We also care deeply about the long-term sustainability of our planet. In 2015, Woodland Park Zoo adopted a sustainable investment strategy for the zoo’s endowment to prioritize funds with positive environmental and social impacts, with a goal of reaching a 50% threshold for sustainable investments by 2020. Starting in 2016, our sustainable investment portfolio expanded by 10 percent each year. When we met the 50% threshold in 2020, we didn’t stop there! At the end of 2022, 75% of our endowment assets were invested sustainably.

This, coupled with the fact that we have made sustainable investment models available for zoo staff who participate in our 403(b) program, positions us as a leader among our peers and serves as a model for other zoos and aquariums nationally and globally. The greening of our endowment parallels its continued growth. In 2016, Woodland Park Zoo’s endowment was $11.9M. Today, thanks to smart and sustainable investing, coupled with continued generosity from our community, Woodland Park Zoo’s endowment has grown to $27M. We will continue expanding our sustainable investments over time, providing critical financial underpinnings for our work and programs long into the future in full alignment with our mission.

ADVOCACY IN ACTION!

Learn more about other ways you can advocate for native Northwest species:

Prevent Wildlife Trafficking –Click here to learn more about our exhibit at SEA Airport

Recovering Grizzly Bears –Click here to learn more about the recovery of this iconic Northwest species

The Living Northwest Conservation Program welcomed a Doris Duke Conservation Scholar, MAIYA LESTER , who focused on community bat conservation projects including TRANSLATING MATERIALS INTO SPANISH .

654 COMMUNITY MEMBERS participated in the City Nature Challenge documenting more than 7,705 OBSERVATIONS, advancing science, and discovering local nature and wildlife for themselves.

two years combined!

43 COMMUNITY MEMBERS logged 173 BAT OBSERVATIONS or “bat passes” around the city of Seattle this summer–there may have been a bat pass in your neighborhood!

34 WESTERN POND TURTLES were released into the wild. Over 2,300 turtles have been given a head start at the zoo, re-establishing self-sustaining pond turtles in our state

PROTECTING OUR FLOCK! Thanks to 82 donors who contributed almost $6,000 in two weeks, 300 BIRDS received extraordinary, indoor care during the threat of avian flu

More than 144,000 GUESTS visited WildLanterns presented by BECU generating more than $2.2 MILLION for the zoo

THREE WildLanterns SENSORY FRIENDLY evenings welcoming more than 2,800 GUESTS

Explore the connections we have made this year with our land, animals and each other that fuel the Living Northwest movement.

48 ANIMALS vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus

2,000+ OREGON SILVERSPOT BUTTERFLIES RELEASED into the wild – that’s more than the past

PREMIER SEATTLE CHEFS created gourmet bites for more than 3,800 GUESTS at Whiskey & WildBites presented by First Tech Federal Credit Union

500 GUESTS raised more than $1.6 MILLION for Woodland Park Zoo at this year’s Jungle Party

FREE AND DISCOUNTED TICKETS helping create an accessible zoo

111,375 Community Access Program tickets

662 Seattle Public Library Pass 110 Camp scholarships

2,837 Explorer memberships

17,146 Discover tickets

27,000+ volunteer hours supporting our mission

22,700+ Free or Discounted School Group Admissions

The return of KIRO 7’s regional Emmy-winning WILDLIFE: A LOOK INSIDE WOODLAND PARK ZOO FOR SEASON 3

2,100 GUESTS sampled the best from local breweries at Brew at the Zoo raising $114,155

44,000 MUSIC LOVERS joined us for the 38th season of BECU ZooTunes presented by Carter Subaru raising more than $590,000

2022 FINANCIAL RESULTS*

$275,000 WAS RAISED FROM OVER 1,000 DONORS during several philanthropic giving days that take place throughout the year – thank you for your generosity!

The long-term viability of Woodland Park Zoo and our impacts on wildlife, habitats and people are rooted in financial support and stability. Please see below for a 2022 financial report.

Membership

$4.8 (7%)

Visitor Revenues

$22.9 (34%)

Public Support

CONSOLIDATED REVENUES: $57.9 Million

$13.6 (20%)

City-Funded Major

Mainteneance Funding

$2.2 (3%)

Donations and Grants, including In-kind

$18.9 (29%)

Endowment

Investment Unrealized

Loss $4.5 (-7%)

CONSOLIDATED EXPENSES: $55.7 Million

Animal Care

$9.9 (18%)

Horticulture, Maintenance, Exhibits and Facilities

$9.7 (17%)

Guest Services, Admissions and Business Development

$5.8 (10%)

Administrative and Support Departments $6.2 (11%)

Development

$3.0 (6%)

Membership $1.2 (2%)

Marketing, Community Events and Public Affairs

$6.0 (11%)

Education and Conservation

$8.0 (14%)

City-Funded Major Maintenance

$5.9 (11%)

WOODLAND PARK ZOO SAVES WILDLIFE AND INSPIRES EVERYONE TO MAKE CONSERVATION A PRIORITY IN THEIR LIVES.

In appreciation and gratitude for the 500 donors contributing $2.8 million to the Living Northwest Trail, we hosted an opening party for donors on December 10 to celebrate the zoo’s first-ever exhibit devoted to the Pacific Northwest!

Please view our full report and this year’s generous supporters at zoo.org/impact