Coffee Breakfast

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Editor

Have you ever tried to catch a flying fish tossed by the Pike Place Fish Market fishmongers? It's not as easy as they make it look! But our bears—and some zoo guests!—were up for the task today.

Breakfast is almost ready, boys! Photo by John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo.

The fishmongers came up to the zoo this morning to offer a special salmon breakfast for our grizzly brothers, Keema and Denali, as we get pumped for this Saturday's Bear Affair: Living Northwest Conservation Day presented by Brown Bear Car Wash.

And the boys in orange got the whole crowd going!

Some were naturals...

Photo by John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo.

Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo.

Some discovered the hard way how slippery a flying fish can be...
And some were truly joyous in victory!

Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo.

But none was as ready as Keema and Denali to get to the main event.

With the crowd cheering, the salmon were sent flying over the moat and into grizzly territory.
And the bear brothers brilliantly waited for gravity to do the work for them.

Salmon is a healthy part of their natural diet. But of course, bears are happy to eat whatever they can get their paws on, which is exactly what you'll see at this weekend's Bear Affair event. Zookeepers will set up a mock picnic and mock campsite in the bears' exhibit throughout the day on Sat., June 6, and Keema and Denali will demonstrate just what happens when you don't properly store food or bear-proof your outdoor adventures.

You'll learn essential safety tips for coexisting with wildlife as we celebrate the wonders of Washington wildlife, from bears and wolves to raptors and turtles, and the zoo's Living Northwest conservation projects working to protect them—with your help!