This year the Woodland Park Zoo has welcomed many adorable, and exceptional baby critters. In the spirit of Halloween, they’ve shared the news of the hatching of approximately 30 medicinal leeches (they can be difficult to count!)
Not all babies born or hatched at the Zoo are warm, cuddly, furry or feathered. Some are rather disgusting, actually.
The leech hatchlings are the off-spring of multiple adults the Zoo rescued four years ago. U.S. Fish & Wildlife confiscated the adult leeches from an individual attempting to smuggle them in from Russia. Earlier this year, the Zoo received more adult leeches from a U.S. breeder, and the two nationalities immediately mixed and started breeding.
“Woodland Park Zoo works closely with wildlife agencies as a partner for consultation and providing a safe home for reptiles, spiders, and other animals on a case-by-case basis and, in this case, leeches,” explained Erin Sullivan, an animal care manager at Woodland Park. “We’re very excited about the newest members to our zoo family!”
Medicinal leeches are rare in zoos. “Since medicinal leeches are not a species commonly found in [Association of Zoos & Aquariums] accredited organizations, we are currently trying to collect data…,” said Sullivan.
Feeding leeches can be a messy business. “We feed our leeches blood-filled sausages by filling natural sausage casings with beef blood, tying the ends and warming them up to about 100˚F. We then let the leeches go to town!” explained animal keeper Megan Blandford. “After an initial feeding immediately after hatching, the leeches will be fed only four times a year. But in the wild they regularly go an entire year without eating!”
For many, leeches evoke an ‘ick’ and fear, however in medieval and early modern medicine, leeches were an important medical tool. Leeches are closely related to a subclass of animals that include the earthworm. Medicinal leeches are protected in much of their natural range since they are becoming extinct due to collection for use in traditional medicine. Medicinal leeches have three jaws with tiny rows of teeth.
Visitors fascinated by leeches will be able to see the adults, and babies, in the Woodland Park Bug World, when it re-opens to the public. For right now, the rest of the Zoo is open 9:30a to 4p daily. Go to the Zoo.org website to learn about current COVID-precautions on visitors, and visits, and to purchase timed-entry tickets.
And Happy Halloween!