Field Trip: Woodland Park Zoo

Woodland Park Zoo Field Trip
Travis Friesner

Date Attended: February 9^th, 2018

Van Driver/Leader: Thomas Murphy

Part 1: Northern Trail

Brown Bear Video: Bear chewing on a bone.

The Brown Bear Exhibit –

The most interesting thing I found about the exhibit itself was how they had a whole stream and water system set up with fish inside. Obviously to mimic their natural environment but, I found the live fish swimming around the most interesting in hopes it was for the bears to go fishing themselves. Some characteristics and adaptations I found interesting are how they eat more than 200 different plant species and how this knowledge of what to eat and how to find the plants are taught to the cubs from the mother. The ability and knowledge to be able to eat a variety of food must really increase their fitness. Another one of course is the well-known hibernation characteristic; being able to sleep off a time when food will be scarce for so long is pretty amazing. The characteristics on a bear’s skull would definitely be large predator type teeth, complex nasal turbinates’ considering all the plants and roots they would need to find and a sagittal crest, those large teeth are not just for show. I was able to see the brown bears; they were given food at the time and were pretty occupied. It looked to be a bone with some sort of meat on them and they were using their long claws to get what remained in the center of the bone. The current distribution of the brown bear in the Pacific Northwest looks to be very little on the map displayed on a zoo’s informational board. It appears only some remain near the Canadian border of the northern part of the state. Only the bear populations in Montana do they appear to come across the Canadian border. Telling the difference between male and female bears is very hard as their obvious physical features have only subtle differences. The only sure way to determine if the bear is either female or male is to observe their urination. Usually the mother bear gives birth to twin cubs that weigh less than a pound at birth and they will stay with their mother for 2-4 years. Bears will eat whatever plants and animals are available to them, known to eat over 200 different plant species, fish, scavenge dead deer and one species in the Rocky Mountains like to eat moths. What is the average number of fish per hour can a brown bear catch?

The River Otter Exhibit –

The river otter shared the same exhibit as the brown bear and along with them; I found that the live fish in the water was really neat for both the bear and river otter to hunt themselves if they wished to do so. Some characteristics and adaptions I found interesting are that they do not need fresh water despite their name; they can also live along salt water coasts. They also waterproof their fur when grooming; spreading around important oils that help their fur repel water along with interlocking hairs trapping air and further insulating the otter from the cold. Because River Otters are predators, characteristics I would likely find on an otter skull would be forward facing eyes, large teeth including canine teeth and a sagittal crest. I did see the River Otter and he was taking a nice nap on a log but, he was pretty close to the glass and got a real good look. River Otters once dominated North American from the tips of Canada all the way to Florida and the Texas Mexico border but, they were pushed back to mostly Canada do to water pollution. However, due to some effort a lot of river otters have returns to the States, as far as Florida on the east but only in the Pacific Northwest in the western side. I read at the zoo that the mothers of river otters teach their young early on to not be afraid of the water. I would assume they have the natural ability to swim but, must be taught to enter the water. The board wasn’t specific on swimming skill. River Otters are a part of the weasel family. River Otters like to live along the shoreline of rivers, lakes, or ponds and they tend to use the burrows built by other animals such as muskrats, woodchucks and beavers.

The Grey Wolf Exhibit –

                Their exhibit was pretty standard but, the most interesting thing I saw was a den that was made near the fence line; unfortunately we didn’t see any of the wolves use it. A couple of characteristics and adaptions that I found interesting with the grey wolves is how the pack will bring food to the mother and pups early on and how they howl to locate each other, reinforce their bond with one another and to warn strangers to keep their distance. Three characteristics I would find on a grey wolf skull would include complex nasal turbinates’ to track their prey, large teeth including canines to both hunt and fight and a sagittal crest for those jaw muscles. We did see many wolves at the exhibit but, they were just hanging out and napping. Unfortunately do to ignorant ranchers, farmers and generally people, they were essentially hunted out of the United States and the distribution on the zoo map shows only coverage in Canada and a few places along the Canadian and USA border with a little bit dipping into Montana and maybe northeastern corner of Washington State. It doesn’t show Wyoming on the map but, they have reintroduced wolves successfully in Yellow Stone Park. A single wolf will eat four to seven pounds of meat a day, however, the wolf pack are only able to kill and eat only one moose out of every 16 they chase.

The Great Gray Owl Exhibit –

                The Gray Owl exhibit was unfortunately small and pretty standard with branches to allow them to perch and rest but, nothing too interesting or unexpected. Some of the characteristics and adaptions I found interesting is the Gray Owl’s ability to hunt purely by sound alone and their specialized feathers that help keep their flight silent for the hunt. Some characteristics I expect to find on an owl skull would be large, front facing eye orbitals as they have very keen eyesight. I would also expect to find large auditory bullae if they can hunt purely by sound along with the obvious beak and lack of teeth. At the time of my visit we were able to see the owl and he was perched on his tree branch scanning the area; often moving his head around but, not doing too much other than that. The distribution of the owl in the Pacific Northwest seems to be limited to the Canadian and US border with a little bit of distribution dipping further into the northeastern corner of Washington State. I was unable to find a specific answer at the zoo about the shape of their face but, I would guess that it has something to do with focusing sound better for their hearing as they can hunt with just sound. The bird was a bit bigger than I expected, there was no size specifications near the exhibit as it only had one small sign with little information but, it was about the size of a watermelon in terms of length, of course it wasn’t as wide, though, I can’t say it was too far off with its large plume of feathers.

Snowy Owl Video: Flapping its wings and a little bit of grooming.

The Snowy Owl Exhibit –

                Similarly to the Gray Owl Exhibit, it was really small and what you’d expect to find in a bird exhibit; it did not have anything particularly interesting or unexpected. It contained the usual branches and platforms for the Owl to perch on and no nest of any kind was present. There was not too much information posted about this owl however, one adaption different from the Gray Owl is the obvious white feathers. The Snowy Owl is one of the few birds that can live on the tundra all year long, because of this, its white feathers are very important during the snowy winter months. During the winter with scarce amount of food, those white feathers would dramatically increase its hunting ability as its feathers keep it both silent by sound and sight. Despite being able to live in the tundra all year long it is also known to migrate during the winters and sometimes found in western Washington State. Its population distribution is mostly in the north spanning across all of Canada and dips across the border from ocean to ocean. In the Pacific Northwest it can be found as far south as the Olympia but, typically stays in the northern part of the state. For skull characteristics; I would expect very similar features as I listed for the Gray Owl, large eye orbitals, large auditory bullae and a lack of teeth and obviously a beak. When I visited the exhibit the Snowy Owl was a bit more active compared to the other birds; it was actively grooming itself combing through its feathers and flapping its wings. Because of this I got a good look at its wing span and how fluffy its feather plume is. A male adult owl will contain the most white feathers as the female owl along with a young owl of both sexes would contain more black bars but, again, the adult male Owl will have the most white feathers.

Part 2: Compare & Contrast – Brown Bear and the Sloth Bear

Sloth Bear Video: Having a snack.

                The Brown Bear was much larger than the Sloth Bear; however, the Sloth Bear seemed to have much longer hair than the Brown Bear despite being from a more tropical climate. However, the Sloth Bear fur seemed thinner than the brown bear and maybe the length helps keep the fur from being too dense and allows more air movement to cool the bear down in the more tropical area. The brown bear also had much larger claws than the Sloth Bear which surprises me as the Sloth Bear really like insects as a food source more and would have guessed that longer claws would be a better fit for the Sloth Bear to reach into trees and such for the insects. The Sloth Bear also is missing incisor teeth in the front; this is to help them suck out insect easier as that is a favorite for the Sloth Bear. These missing incisor teeth along with the size of the skull would be a great indication for identification. When I visited the Sloth Bear, they also had food to eat but, instead of meat, they had a plastic ball that had something inside of it, for some reason I wanted to believe it was honey but, it was a good display how they would take advantage of their missing incisors to suck out the insects they wanted and this plastic ball was forcing them to use this technique to get to the treat inside. On the other hand, the brown bear would use its long claws to get to the bone marrow in the center.  Another note is the color of fur, both species seem to display a pretty uniform look; the brown bears are all brown and the sloth bear all black with its patch of white on the chest. The brown bear color seems to be useful in hiding which I would guess for competition as the brown bear has no competition. However, the Sloth Bear being from a greener tropical region, its color does not seem to be used for either hunting or competition. I would guess its color is more for mating reasons to display health.

Part 3: Reflection

                The connection I can make with the zoo trip and our Biology class is observing the similarities of species on opposite sides the planet and learning how their different environments could have influenced their evolved differences over time. On another note, seeing how much their habitats have dwindled so drastically due to human influence was much larger than I originally expected and did not realize how spread out many of the animals once were. I also learned while talking to some of the staff that some animals can live longer in captivity such as the Penguins. We also discussed how a lot of the animals chosen to be in captivity were rescues or born in captivity; both situations that really diminish chances of survival in the wild. This has improved my perspective on some animals being in captivity, especially when you think about how it helps remove the “out of site out of mind” mentality that keeps harsh farm practices existing today. Keeping the public aware and developing attachments to these animals can really help conservation efforts. Some of my favorite exhibits this trip include the Asian river otters that have small little chirps, the Maned Wolf that was much bigger than I expected; looked almost like a giant fox and both of the bears.