Point Defiance Zoo Photos August 2017

Hey everyone, I went to Point Defiance Zoo for the second time this year on Friday (went with a friend).  Here are the photos I took and commentaries:

Here is a friendly goat in the petting zoo section.  For a mere $.50 you can actually feed them pellets too (they lick them from your hands)

Here is a meerkat at the zoo

This meerkat was looking right at me

Here is a corn snake coiled up

Here are some frogs hanging out

Here, I was sitting in on an elephant feeding event, where zoo keepers were feeding the elephants.  It should be worth noting that the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle no longer has elephants at this time.  They still have an enclosure for elephants in the asian section, so it is possible that they may get new ones some day, but it is not clear if or when they will be getting new ones, so for now, the Point Defiance Zoo is the better zoo to see elephants

Here is a tiger relaxing in his exhibit.  Point Defiance Zoo has several tigers on display

Here is a brave sea gull wandering around in the tiger exhibit.  Luckily for him, the tiger was napping, but the bird definitely could find himself becoming lunch for the tiger (literally) if he is not careful.

Here are some apes hanging out.

Here is a porcupine on display.  I nicknamed him "Sonic the Porcupine" (pun on Sonic the Hedgehog)

Here is the porcupine again.  BTW, it should be worth noting that Northwest Trek also has porcupines on display (in the forest animals exhibit).

Here is another tiger on display, watching visitors as they go by.

Another tiger.  It should be worth noting that I brought a digital camera with me instead of the go pro.  I have determined that digital cameras are better for getting pictures of animals in zoos than go pros are (go pros are better at close range photos, but not so much at longer range).

This tiger was on the prowl

Here is an iguana on display

Visited the aquarium part of the zoo once again, here are some sea anenomies

Here is a mini coral reef

More fish on display

These fishes were hidden in the sand

Here are some jelly fish swimming around.  Jelly fish are a pretty common sight in the Puget Sound

Sand dollars

Here are some more sea anenomies.

More fish swimming around

Here is an overhead view of one of the tanks

More jellyfish swimming around.

Here is a see through jellyfish tank.  

Here are some penguins swimming around.  Both the Point Defiance and Woodland Park Zoos have penguins on display

More penguins

Here is a red wolf hanging out.  Was originally at the aquarium, but then i found out that one of the zoo keepers was getting ready to give a talk on the red wolves, so I decided to check it out.  

This wolf was yawning and watching visitors going by

Here is another red wolf hanging out.  Point Defiance Zoo is unique in the Seattle area in that is is the only zoo I am aware of that actually has red wolves instead of the more traditional timber (gray) wolves.  Northwest Trek, Woodland Park Zoo and the Olympic Game farm all have grey wolves (more native to the Pacific Northwest, especially in British Columbia and parts of eastern Washington and Idaho), while the Point Defiance Zoo has red wolves instead.  They are smaller than grey wolves and can look more like coyotes, though they still have the canis lupis scientific name (canis lupis rufus to be exact).

This red wolf was sleeping.  Like foxes and coyotes, I have heard that red wolves are primarily nocturnal creatures and are probably not used to being up during the day.

Here is a closer shot I got of the sleepy wolf.  One nice thing about digital cameras, it is easier to get closeup shots of animals even at medium range.  There was a zoo keeper giving a talk about the wolves and feeding them treats too, so he probably didn't remain sleeping for long.

Here is a musk ox sleeping

This guy was waking up

Managed to get a closeup shot of this arctic fox.  One thing that both the Point Defiance Zoo and Northwest Trek has in common: they both have their own unique foxes on display.  At Northwest Trek, they have the more common red foxes (most foxes in Washington State come in the form of red foxes, along with their silver and cross variants), and at Point Defiance Zoo, they have arctic foxes.  These guys are smaller than red foxes, but still have lots of energy and are actually bolder than red foxes.  These guys will actually come up to near the front of the exhibit, making for some good photo and video moments. Also, it should be worth noting that the Woodland Park Zoo discontinued their arctic fox exhibit last time I was there.  They used to have arctic foxes as well, but now they are down to just one fox (Hudson the arctic fox) and he is one of their animal ambassadors and they only show him at some of the shows they do.  It is not clear if or when the woodland park zoo plans on getting new arctic foxes, but needless to say, the Point Defiance Zoo is the better zoo to visit them. 

Here is another arctic fox in the exhibit, trying to nap.  This guy seems to be a bit more shy around people than the other fox is but he was still sleeping out in the open.  Unlike the other fox, it looks like this guy was already slowly starting to turn white.

This fox is still in his greyish brown coat.  Arctic foxes are unique in that their fur coats change at least twice a year.  In the summer months, they come in their greyish brown coats (like this one pictured), but if you visit the zoo in the winter (like I did last January), they will be fluffy and white (much cuter too).

Here is a flashback moment from when I went to the zoo back in January.  Same fox, but different look.  

Here is my friend Daniel getting a picture in front of the arctic fox exhibit.  If you look closely, you can see one of the foxes in the background.

Here is me doing a selfie in front of the arctic fox exhibit.

Here is a polar bear.  Tried to get a better shot of him, but he was retreating to his den.

Here is a sea otter swimming around

Here is a puffin bird

This bird was looking right at me

In this photo, I managed to get several puffins

Here is a walrus swimming around.  The Point Defiance Zoo is unique in that they have walruses on display.  This is the only zoo I am aware of that has walruses

This walrus was waiting for his food.  A zoo keeper was feeding him fish

Definitely couldn't resist getting pictures of these arctic foxes.  They are pretty cute creatures.  It looks like this fox is already starting to grow his white coat (the other is still greyish brown at the time of this post).  By the way, considering that most arctic foxes are found in the arctic where climate is much colder, I bet they find winters in the Seattle area to be quite mild compared to that in say Barrow Alaska for example (temperatures here rarely get below 0 and usually doesn't get below 30 degrees, except during arctic blasts which do happen sometimes in the winter).  I understand arctic foxes don't start to shiver till temperatures go below -70 degrees (which is pretty much unheard of in Seattle).   

This arctic fox was hiding behind a stump and just chillin.  I have heard that foxes are usually nocturnal creatures and most active at dusk and dawn, so they are probably not used to being up during the day.  

This arctic fox was watching visitors as they come by.  Starting this last January, my luck at getting pictures of foxes at zoos has increased dramatically and I am much more familiar with them too.  Will be sure to get more pictures and/or videos of them on future visits.  One tip: like I said earlier in the post, if you visit Point Defiance Zoo in the winter, these guys will be all white and much more fluffy. (and cuter too) 

These 2 ladies the hosts of the New Animal Show at the Wild wonders animal theater.  It has a western style theme and they show off some animal ambassadors, like a dogs, ant eaters, aardvarks, eagles, and owls to name a few.  Can be fun and entertaining to watch.  They don't have anteaters or aardvarks on display elsewhere at the zoo, so these shows do seem to offer an opportunity to see them.

Here, a volunteer was feeding an ant eater what looks like ants (or whatever is in the tube).  As their names imply, anteaters eat primarily ants and termites by lapping them up with their tongues and swallowing them whole.  Usually harmless to humans (though they can scratch with their claws in self defense), deadly to insects (especially ants and termites).

Here is an aardvark (pretty similar to anteaters barring some obvious differences)

Managed to get a closer up shot of the aardvark

Here is a funny picture of one of the birds (I think it is some kind of heron) trying to eat what looks like a toy frog.  Don't worry, no frogs or birds were harmed in the making of this photo and the zoo keepers did take away the toy frog before the bird could swallow it.  Of course, if it was a real frog, the bird probably would have swallowed him (he seemed hungry to me).

Managed to get some pictures of this hound dog.  He is supposed to be like a police dog and helps facilitate the show.

In this photo, one of the ladies was showing off a small burrowing owl.  Kinda like a barn owl, but smaller.  

Here is a lady holding a bald eagle.  Here in Washington State, bald eagles are actually quite common in the wild and you usually don't have to go far to see them flying around sometimes.  Even seen them in my own back yard some times.  Though one good place to look for them in my opinion is the Snoqualime falls area.

Here is the hound dog flying in a small hot air balloon (actually it is on a pulley system).  

Here is a closer up photo of the dog flying around

Here are some larger fishes swimming around at the shark exhibit

Here is a shark swimming around.  By the way, are any of you feeling brave?  I have noticed sometimes that people can pay to get into this cage (with diving gear too) which is lowered into the shark tank and even opens up for some up close encounter with the sharks.  I know I wouldn't be that brave to get up close to them like that (hey they are wild animals and could attack if they wanted to), but some people do just that.

Here is a small reef with fishes swimming around.

Here is a clouded leopard sleeping.  He wasn't out earlier when I was there, but sometimes it helps to check back sometimes if you miss an animal you want to see the first time.

Here is the harbor seal exhibit.

Here are some harbor seals and california sea lions swimming around.  i remember seeing sea lions when i was younger in San Francisco once.  Back when I was in 4th grade, I remember visiting Pier 39 in San Francisco and seeing some sea lions there (too young to take photos, but I do remember the experience).  As for harbor seals, you can actually see them swimming around in the puget sound somtimes, especially in the Everett area.  One really good place to see seals in the wild: Malibu British Columiba (there is a church camp and retreat center there).  I went to Malibu for a Men's church retreat with my church and remember seeing seals swimming around in the inlet there (definitely by far a more common sight there than whales are).

Here is a seal swimming under water (there is a lower section in the exhibit where you can see them swimming around)

Tried to snap a photo of this sea lion.  The glass seems to get foggy, which can make it somewhat difficult to get pictures of them.

Aw, this arctic fox was sleeping.  All of the interaction with visitors probably made him sleepy.  It should be worth noting that it was somewhat overcast when I was there, so getting pictures of the arctic foxes was much easier than it was in January.  In  January, the sun sets earlier and you get more sun glare, as I found out the hard way when trying to get videos of them with my go pro).

Bonus footage

Here is the entrance to the zoo.  It should be worth noting that the zoo can get crowded, especially in the summer and on weekends, and parking spots do fill up rather quickly, so I recommend going as early as possible.

Here is my friend Daniel by the zoo entrance.  

You can see this crane towering over the zoo and park.  The zoo is in the process of building a new aquarium (which is supposed to house sea turtles along with several other aquatic animals not found in the main aquarium) and is expected to be completed by next summer (2018).  I will have to be sure to visit the new aquarium after it is done sometime next year.

Here is a picture of the Tacoma Narrows bridge.  The five mile drive can be fun to do and offers views of the Puget Sound, Vashon Island, and even the Tacoma Narrows bridge.  It is a nice scenic drive through the park and is a good place to see raccoons and deer roaming around.  There are supposedly red foxes residing in the park too, but I have yet to actually see one myself, though I suspect that the chances of seeing them might actually be better if you hike along the trails in the park instead of driving as they usually don't seem to come by the road like the raccoons do (the foxes probably hide out in the woods and can be easy to miss unless if you know where to look for them).  I actually drove across the Tacoma Narrows bridge this time and stopped for dinner in Bremerton (about 30 miles way from Tacoma).  Highway 16 goes right to the Bremerton area and also functions as a gateway to the Kitsap Penninsula as well as the Olympic Penninsula (especially near the north end of the Kitsap Penninsula with highway 104 connecting right to highway 101 near Sequim).

Here is a picture of the Bremerton waterfront.  Bremerton can make a good side trip to do from Tacoma and Point Defiance Zoo.  From there, you can either drive back around (though you do have to pay a toll going across the Tacoma Narrows bridge going towards Tacoma) or take a ferry back (either near Port Orchard, Bremerton or even at the north end near Kingston).  

Here is one of the ferries coming into Bremerton.  I thought about taking the ferry back to Seattle myself, but ultimately decided to drive back the way I came instead (there was a Mariners game going on in Seattle anyways, making for extra traffic on the streets there).

Here is a navy destroyer in the waterfront.  You are never far from the navy base and shipyard there.  Also, to the north of the Bremerton area is the Bangor submarine base.  I wouldn't be suprised if restaurants like Anthony's are popular hang out spots for people in the navy there.

Got more pictures of Bremerton

I liked this monument in Bremerton.  I didn't stay in Bremerton too long, mainly just got dinner and then headed back home (was starting to get late anyways).

Well, that is all for Point Defiance Zoo August 2017.  I will try to go there again next winter and possibly summer too (after the new aquarium is done) and get more photos and videos.

Have you been to the Point Defiance Zoo before?  Feel free to share your experiences below in the comments section.  

Thought about visiting Point Defiance Zoo yourself?  You can visit their website at https://www.pdza.org/ for more details about the park.