Woodland Park Zoo

General Detail:
I went to the Woodland Park Zoo on February 25, Sunday at 9 am. The weather was cold and there was little showers. During this field trip, we explored animals in the Northern Trail, African Savanna, and Tropical forest animals. We saw a variety of animals like snakes, birds, gorillas, lions, lemurs, etc.... One person in our group fed a bird. We also learned more about each animals we saw by looking at the posters that were posted with the description of each animal.

I chose to go on this field trip because it been a long time since I have been to the zoo and I wanted to see the animals (especially gorillas). The zoo was the only field trip that sounded interesting to me than the other two field trip provided.

Part 1: Animals of the Northern Trail

Brown Bear:

The most interesting thing at the bear exhibit was the seeing the claws of the bears. They were huge and sharp. They can kill a person easily with those claws. Three characteristics I would expect to see on a skull of a brown bear are huge canines and molars on the back of their jaw because they are powerful carnivores but they also eat vegetation more than meat. I would expect their eyes to be forward because they are predictors. Finally, they would have a well defined sagittal crest since they do eat meat and have canines. I did see one brown bears, but he was sleeping during the whole time we were watching him. Brown bears and Polar bears evolved from a common ancestor and are closely related species. Their main difference is their fur color and where their habitat. Polar bears are white and live mostly in the arctic environment and northern hemisphere. Brown bears are brown and live in Europe, Asia, and North America. Brown bears are mostly distributed in the northern cascades. Someone can identify the difference between an adult male/female brown bear by looking at their body shape and legs. Females legs appears shorter and thinner than a males leg. Males have a square like head while females have a narrower head. A mother typically gives birth to two cubs at once. They weigh less than a pound at birth. A brown bears diet mostly consist of plants, insects, fish, and animals. What is the speed and strength of a brown bear?



Grey Wolf:

The most interesting thing I saw in the gray wolf exhibit was one of the wolves feeding on a small animal that was recently killed. One thing that I learned about the characteristics of wolves is that they can hunt and kill an animal that is as big as a moose. Three characteristics that I would find on a skull of a gray wolf are a complex nasal turbinates because they need to use their smell to find food. They would also have a well defined sagittal crest since they are carnivores and use their powerful jaw to tear meat from animal they hunt. I did see wolves, most of them were just walking around and smelling the ground while one was feeding on a small animal. Gray wolves and huskies share a common ancestor and they look alike. Gray wolves differ from huskies by habitat. Gray wolves can live in areas that have different climates while huskies cannot live in high temperature because of their thick fur. The distribution of gray wolves in the pacific northwest in mostly in the east part but they can also be found in the northern and south cascades. The three reasons that gray wolves howl is to find each other, to reinforce close relationships in their pack, and to warn strangers to keep their distance. An adult wolf can eat four to seven pounds of meat in a day. Wolves can successfully kill and eat one moose out of the 16 they chase. How long does a pack need to travel in a single day to find enough food?

Great Gray Owl: 



The most interesting thing in the great gray owl exhibit was seeing how they can camouflage with the environment that surround them, it was hard to see them and take a picture. What I learned about the characteristic of a great gray owl is that they are silent hunters and have an eyesight that is incredibly keen. Three characteristics that I would see on a skull of an owl is that their eyes in the middle of their skull and would be pushed back further than their forehead. Their ear hole would not be symmetrical to each other, one would be slightly upwards than the other. Their nasal turbinates would not be complex because they don't use their smell as often than they use their ears to listen for their preys. Great gray skull would be more circular than a snowy owl skull. I did see a great gray owl and it was just sitting on a branch of a tree doing nothing. They are mostly distributed the the south east side of the pacific northwest. The purpose of the shape of the great gray owls face is to in-hence their hearing. The shape of their face makes it easier for them to hear small sounds and sounds that are far away. They are about 2 feet in body length, 2 to 4 pounds, and their wings can span up to 5 feet. One benefit the great gray owls' plumage provides is that it allows them to swoop down noiselessly behind unsuspecting prey. How do great gray owls hunt in the winter?

River Otter:


The most interesting thing I saw in the river otter exhibit was how fast the otters were swimming, it was hard to get a good picture because they were swimming back and forth really fast. What I learned about their adaptation is that they are adept on land or in water. Three characteristics I would expect on a skull of a river otter are four canines because eat fish, turtles, and crayfish. They would also have a sagittal crest since they use their canines to eat fish but it won't be well defined. They would have a complex nasal turbinates because they swim underwater and they can stay under water for a while. I did see one river otter and it was just swimming back and forth and it would stop and sit on a rock and go back to swimming again. River otters and Eurasian otters are both from the same family of mustelidae. They both have the same diet of fish. Eurasian otters are different in their color, they have a shorter neck, and broader face. They are distributed in the northern region in the temperate forests. River otters are not born swimmers, their parent teaches them how to swim after they are born. River otters belong to the mustelids family. They like to live on bog lakes with banked shores. They use dens to make their homes. How many dens can a male site over a period of 16 months?

Porcupine:


The most interesting thing in the porcupine exhibit was learning that porcupines stink, but they didn't when we were there. What I learned about a porcupines characteristics is that they their quill to be driven into the muscle of predators. The three characteristics I would find on a porcupines skull are incisors to eat wood. They would also have a not complex nasal turbinates because they don't use their smell often. Their eyes would be further back because they are preys. I did see the porcupine, he was by the door and behind the pile of branches hiding. Porcupines closest relative is a Capybara because they both have incisors. The porcupine exhibit was stinky because they use their bad smell to keep predators away. They are distributed along the south coastlines. They mostly like to reside on trees. Porcupines eat barks in the winter. Their quills is different from needles because their quills is tipped with microscopic barbs. What do porcupines do during night time?

Part 2: Compare and Contrast ( Gray wold and Maned wolf)

Gray wolves and Maned wolves are both from the canidae family. The gray wolf was in the northern trail while the Maned wolf was in the temperate forest. The maned wolf are tallest of the wild canids. they have long legs that is an adaptation to the tall grasslands of South America. Gray wolves have a broader snout, shorter ears, and shorter torso and longer tail. Their coat color ranges from almost pure white through various shades of blond, cream, and ocher to grays, browns, and blacks. The Maned wolf has a fur that may be reddish brown to golden orange on the sides with long, black legs, and a distinctive black mane. The Maned wolf is shy and flees when alarmed, so it poses little direct threat to humans while the gray wolf is a social animal. The gray wolf  is believed to be closely related to dogs. The Maned wolf is closely related to a fox. The wolves derived traits are long tails, walking on their toes, and have four toes to each hind foot. They also have 42 teeth.



Part 3: Reflection

One thing that I learned on the field trip that connects with what we studied in bio 212 class is the diversity of the animals and natural selection. One animal that we saw was an Owl. There were two types of Owls at the zoo, one of them was the Great Grey Owl and the other one was the Snowy Owl. Both of them are Owls but they differ in habitat, size and shape, and color. This might be a cause of natural selection.

My experience on this field trip changed my perspective on animal biology by giving more information of how most of the animals in the zoo are endangered species. It made me want to learn more of the animals are endangered and how we can help prevent that from happening.

The most interesting that I learned on this field trip was that giraffes have super charged hearts. Even though this information was not written on the posters at the zoo, it was mentioned by one student while we were looking at the giraffes.