Month: March 2016

A Big Loss

Last week we lost an amazing friend at the zoo, Towan the orangutan. If you’re a regular at the Woodland Park Zoo (WPZ) or just an occasional visitor, you probably interacted with or saw him. I loved his interactions with kids. Adults? Meh, sometimes. But kids often seemed to get his attention. As much as he was a part of the WPZ and the Seattle area, his personality became world-wide famous with the reboot of the Planet of the Apes franchise. Actress Karin Konoval used Towan as her inspiration for Maurice in the films.

maurice

At 48 years old Towan was the oldest make orangutan in North America. Towan is survived by his twin sister Chinta, daughter Belawan, son Heran, and the mother of Belawan and Heran, Melati.

Does anyone have any thoughts or pictures of Towan to share? I can’t find any good pictures that I’ve taken of him. There is a button to upload a photo in the comments section.

Welcome to ZooTab!

 

This Blog is primarily about Woodland Park Zoo’s (WPZ) animals and their relatives in the wild. I would really like to be able to tie in conservation information as it relates to them, particularly some of may favorites at WPZ. So be ready to hear about penguins & orangutans in particular.  Much of this is primarily taken from my experiences and learning as a WPZ Volunteer and AIP Master’s degree student.  As a volunteer at (WPZ) I often get to learn really interesting facts or stories about the animals there or things that affect them in the wild; I hope to share some of that here.