Point Defiance Zoo 2020

Got a chance to visit the Point Defiance Zoo last month.  Did it in the nick of time as it was before the zoo closed and the stay at home orders happened due to coronavirus.  It is unclear when the zoo will reopen.  Tentatively planning a trip to Northwest Trek again this year, but it will have to wait until later this summer (probably sometime in August or September).  Hopefully the coronavirus stuff will go away by then.  If not, then well, then Northwest Trek might have to wait until sometime in 2021.

Here was me at the zoo.  Nice thing about going during the week at this time of year is that it is not nearly as crowded.  When I was there last year, I went on a weekend and it was alot more crowded (almost struck out on parking too).  By the way, I went there in the nick of time too as it closed about a week later due to the coronavirus pandemic going around.  No telling when the zoo will reopen.  Also may affect my ability to visit Northwest Trek or the Woodland Park zoo if the pandemic drags out too long.  Hopefully the pandemic will start winding down by summer time.

Red wolf exhibit.  On the surface, these guys can look like coyotes, but they are really red wolves.  Most of the red wolves can be found in the southeast part of the US (particularly in the eastern part of North Carolina).  I've been to the Carolinas last 2 years (did a trip in spring of 2018 and another trip in the fall of 2019), but didn't see any wolves either time.  I tried setting up my trail cam near the resort we were at in Asheville when we were there, but I didn't get anything that time.  Also, usually we stayed at hotels during the trip and one has to watch out for theft when setting up trail cameras in public areas.  Best footage I got happened in Florida near Pensacola (got gray foxes, a coyote, opossums, armadillos, and raccoons that time).  Also got raccoons, squirrels, and deer on the camera near Williamsburg Virginia too.   

Here is the exhibit area for the red wolves.  Interestingly, this year, the zoo had some volunteers from the University of Washington Tacoma branch helping to observe the wolves.  Red wolves are an endangered species (moreso than gray wolves) and zoos like the Point Defiance Zoo are doing their best to keep them from going extinct).  

Red wolf sleeping.  Like coyotes and foxes, I imagine that wolves are going to be more active at night
than during the day.  Probably not used to being up during the day. 

Managed to get a closer shot of one of the wolves

more wolves.  Here, I was able to get several of them on camera.  Point Defiance Zoo is unique in that they have Red Wolves.  Woodland Park Zoo and Northwest Trek have the traditional gray wolves instead (probably the arctic kinds of wolves considering that those ones have white fur).  

Musk ox

Here is a picture of the arctic fox exhibit sign.  Initially the fox wasn't out, but eventually she did come out, but I had to check back a few times.  In the past visits, the arctic foxes were alot easier to spot and harder to miss, but this last time, they weren't as easy to spot.  Might have to with either the warmer weather or the fact that they are down to one fox now (they used to have 2 of them, but one passed away since my 2017 visits).  Either way, the fox wasn't out initially.  Even thought that maybe the other one was euthanized since the 2019 visit as the other fox was getting up there in age too, but eventually she did come out.  By the way, there were frogs in the exhibit too, and you could hear them chirpping.

Here is the Walrus exhibit.  Zoo has a new walrus.

Visited the new aquarium.  Here was me going through the tunnel.  By the way, Point Defiance Zoo is very close to where the Puget sound is (the Tacoma Narrows Bridge is pretty close too).  

Hammer head sharks

Check out this "snow globe" with jellyfish.  Looked kinda cool.  I am sure space is tight though for the jelly fish.  Not sure how they maintain the take

Like Woodland Park Zoo, the point defiance zoo also has its own penguin exhibit.  Lots of penguins here.  Penguins would be an unusual sight here in the states (at least in the wild) as their native habitat is in Antarctica (a long ways down south from Washington State).

Iguana exhibit

sleeping tiger

here is a chimpanzee.  

Imagine encountering a tiger like this guy in the wild.  At one of the tiger exhibits, you can see this guy resting on a hill side.  Here in Washington, we don't have tigers in the wild, bu there are mountain lions in various places

elephant exhibit

now the tiger was on the prowl.  One would definitely have to be very brave to work with tigers as they are known to eat humans sometimes.  They have sharp claws and sharp teeth too.

Tapir Exhibit

here is the other aquarium.  Seem to be alot smaller than it was prior to the new aquarium being built

check out these great white sharks swimming around.

Here you can see mount rainer in the distance.  Went to Sunrise Mount Rainer back in September.  By the way, Northwest Trek is on the way to Mount Rainer and is to the southeast of Tacoma (near Eatonville), so the volcano is never too far from Tacoma.  By the way, Rainer can create a ominous feel to living in the Tacoma area (Puyallup moreso), because it is a dormant volcano, and we know that someday it will likely become active once again someday and erupt.  To be fair, technically I did live in the Tacoma area for about a year and a half while I was going to Pacific Lutheran University for college (lived in the dorms there during my time there), though about a year and a half later, I transferred to Northwest university in Kirkland and spent the remainder of my college years there.  But going to college at Pacific Lutheran University was a new experience for me (first real taste of what it would be like moving out of the nest) and I got a good taste of what its like living near Tacoma.  Anyways, the Tacoma area will likely get devastated should it erupt again in our lifetime, so it is one thing to be aware of living down there.  When it will erupt again?  I have no idea, though I am sure it would be in the news if it were to wake up again.

Here are the wolves again.  Made another attempt to see the arctic fox.  

two red wolves together.  Possibly a male and female wolf together.  I believe the zoo is breeding the red wolves (with the idea of reintroducing them into the wild in the southeast states eventually)

Checking the fox exhibit again.  Still no fox out.  The frogs were chirping though

Polar Bear exhibit.  Point Defiance Zoo is unique in that they have polar bears instead of black bears or grizzlies.  One would definitely have to be careful when encountering Polar Bears in the wild as they are known to eat humans sometimes.  Around here, you are more likely to encounter black bears instead in the wild.  Looks like many of the animals were napping when I was there.  I wanted to get there sooner, but I had to visit some stores for Crossmark along the way (North Bend and Snoqualime safeways), so I was a late arrival.  I figured that North Bend and Snoqualime are more on the way to Tacoma than Snohomish, so that is why I stopped at those stores first (wanted to consolidate trips too).  Plus from Snoqualime, instead of backtracking to 405 / 5 on 90, one can hop on highway 18 and take that to Federal Way instead (starts off as a 2 lane highway, but it quickly turns into a freeway near the Issaquah Hobart road interchange and remains a freeway the rest of the way to 5).  

Now the bear was waking up

Here is the puffin exhibit

Here is the lower area of the Walrus exhibit.  There is a window where you can see into the water where the walrus is.

here was a brief show I was watching where the trainers were feeding the sea lions.  By the way, harbor seals can be a common sight in the puget sound (moreso than whales) as you can often see them swimming around, especially on nice sunny days.  

Yeah, the arctic fox was finally out.  I almost struck out on the foxes this time around as most of the time, the fox wasn't out.  Luckily my patience paid off (sometimes it pays to check back every now and then if the animal isn't out).  Yeah, the zoo used to have 2 arctic foxes (prior to the 2019 visit), but now they are down to one fox: Maggie the arctic fox (the other was Scout, though scout died of old age).  Maggie is getting up there in age too, so she might not be around for much longer either (I think 12-15 years is about average life expectancy for foxes in captivity, though that is longer than their wild counterparts as wild foxes only live till about 4 years on average).  

He was Maggie the arctic fox wandering around.  Was trying to get a good photo of her, but she kept moving around.  Plus there were other people watching her too, so getting a perfect angle was difficult.  By the way, I asked one of the zoo keepers on whether or not they plan to get her any new playmates, and they said no.  So they probably won't get any new foxes in until after Maggie dies (ether that or they may discontinue the exhibit at that point considering that the Woodland Park Zoo discontintued their arctic fox exhibit after theirs passed away).  Do they get new foxes (red or arctic)?  Only time will tell for sure.

Here the zoo keeper was feeding Maggie the fox.  On a side note, I recall a youtube viewer saying this comment last year: ""Travis Rynning Poor fox he looks unhappy to be caged up instead of living free in the wild 1 month ago"
I feel for him, but unfortunately, it is not my place trying to free the foxes (by the way, I had to turn off the comments due to the coppa stuff, not sure if zoo related videos should be marked as "for kids" considering that zoo videos may appeal to a mixed audience even though kids are not my primary audience) and I am sure they are caring for her.  I agree, she probably could use another playmate, but she is getting up there in age, and may or may not react well to another fox in the enclosure.  Most likely, if they get new foxes, it will be after Maggie passes away (whenver that is).  As for freeing the foxes, well I don't work for the Point Defiance Zoo nor do I own the park, so it is not in my jurisdiction on whether or not to free them (or any other animal for that matter).  If you guys have complaints about the animals, you are welcome to contact zoo management directly (their website is at https://www.pdza.org/#).  By the way, zoos and wildlife parks do have their benefits too as it is a way to see animals you might normally see in the wild (especially more elusive species such as foxes and wolves).  Normally to see arctic foxes in the wild, one would have to venture all the way north of the Arctic Circle.  According to Google Maps, Deadhorse Alaska for example is about 2678 miles north of Point Defiance Zoo (at least by road).  Would take a long time to drive there just to see them in the wild.  There are red foxes in the area too (especially on San Juan Island as well as at Mount Rainer National park), but they are elusve and you are usually more likely to see coyotes in the wild around here than red foxes, so being able to see them in a zoo or a wildlife park is one way to be able to see those kinds of creatures.  Also, even if the foxes could be freed and released back into the wild, it would likely be a death sentence for her considering that she has lived a sheltered lifestyle most of her life (plus she is getting old and will likely die anyways within the next few years) and if she got released into the arctic, she would likely die (probably get eaten by a red fox, polar bear, or starve to death).  By the way, ultimately, it is up to zoo management on whether or not to release animals back into the wild and I have no say in that matter.    Sorry to disappoint animal rights activists, but hey what am I supposed to do?   Not like I can just sneak in there one night, steal the fox, drive up north to northern Alaska and free here in the wild.  Would probably get busted, go to jail for several years, and probably get and banned for life if i tried something like that.  Plus even if i did succeed, she would likely die if released into the wild anyways.  Better to leave things the way they are for now as the zoo keepers know what is best for their animals.

Fox wandering off.  Would have liked to hang around longer, but I was already at the exhibit for over a half an hour anyways and wanted to be considerate of other visitors.  Plus the zoo was going to close soon anyways.

After leaving the zoo, I felt like going to Anthonys and having an appetizer and a drink (pear martini).  Would have gotten a full meal, but my mother was making dinner anyways (plus Anthony's is expensive if you get a full meal).  Plus the restuarant is close to the ferry terminal for Vashon Island and you get to see the ferries coming and going.  I actually had to go to Vashon Island for crossmark once (had to visit 2 convenience stores at one point) so I can say i have been there before.  Will have to visit vashon again someday and explore..  

Here is the Vashon Island Ferry.  I admit, I was tempting to drive to Kingston and take the Edmonds - Kingston Ferry back, but I do recall doing that once back when I was in college, and it took considerably longer than expected, plus it costs extra money taking the ferry as opposed to driving, plus I wanted to see the Nisqually Wildlife refuge area too, so it had to be one or the other, but not both.

Did the 5 mile drive, and managed to get photos of some of the wildlife.  Here i got out of the car at a parking area and got a photo of the deer that way.  Difficult to get photos of animals while driving as you have to pull over to do so, plus you always get impatient drivers going through there too (some people are always in a hurry, even along the 5 mile drive, so one has to be careful pulling over to take pictures of animals).

Add caption

managed to get a photo of this deer crossing the road

Managed to get pictures of some of the raccoons this time around.  Raccoons and deer can be a common sight along the 5 mile drive.  One definitely has to drive slowly on the 5 mile drive as they can easily hit the raccoons otherwise.  There are supposedly red foxes in the area too, but they are much harder to spot and don't seem to come near the road.  You are probably more likely to encounter the foxes along the trails than along the road, though the park closes after dusk and the 5 five mile drive is supposedly haunted too at night, so I wouldn't want to do the drive alone at night.

Bingo.  Got a nice closeup shot of one of the raccoons before moving on.  Kept the windows closed as I didn't want the raccoon getting in the car (happened to me in Wisconsin once as a kid where my family was camping at Penninsula State Park one year and while my parents were setting up camp, some raccoons got in the car and I got spooked too, as I didn't know how to react to the raccoons getting in, probably should have hazed them, but I didn't know better at the time.

Add caption

Sponsored links section

Featured ads from Amazon