What: As part of its effort to involve the public in orangutan conservation efforts, Woodland Park Zoo is celebrating the Ninth Annual International Orangutan Awareness Week. Keepers and volunteers will be available to answer visitors’ questions about orangutans and provide insight into Woodland Park Zoo’s orangutan conservation efforts.

When:
Sunday, November 7 and Saturday, November 13
10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.: Docents to answer questions.
11:30 a.m.: Keeper talk.
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.: Keepers to answer questions

Where:
Woodland Park Zoo’s Orangutan Forest in the Trail of Vines.

Info:
For more information, call 206.684.4800 or visit the zoo’s Web site at www.zoo.org.

Other:
Members of the zoo’s orangutan group include: 36-year-old Towan; 36-year-old Chinta; 32-year-old Melati; 22-year-old Belawan, daughter of Towan and Melati; and 15-year-old Heran, son of Towan and Melati.

Orangutans belong to the family Pongidae, which includes all three great apes: gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans. Distinct subspecies of orangutans live on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Their habitat consists of lower and middle canopy levels of mature lowland tropical rain forests and lower densities in mountainous areas.

Orangutans are an endangered species. Overpopulation, logging, agriculture and other human activities are rapidly destroying forest environments required by orangutans for survival. Woodland Park Zoo is involved in orangutan research and conservation in the wild. Zoo staff traveled throughout Indonesia doing tissue sampling of wild and captive orangutans. This study confirmed that the two orangutan subspecies are very different genetically, and should be managed separately. Today, they are not allowed to interbreed.

Accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, top award-winning Woodland Park Zoo is famed for pioneering naturalistic exhibits and setting a standard for zoos all over the world. With conservation, education and excellent animal care at the core of the zoo’s mission, the zoo is helping to save endangered species in Washington state and around the world including tree kangaroos, snow leopards, red-crowned cranes, African wild dogs, western pond turtles and Oregon silverspot butterflies. By inspiring visitors and others to care and act, Woodland Park Zoo is making a difference in our planet’s future.