Sunrise Surprise 1/20

An even chillier morning than yesterday, everyone was nonetheless excited to be at the Zoo for January's last Stroll. The guests took advantage of the warmth of the Otto Center briefly before heading down to the center of the Zoo and up into Cat Canyon.

The New Guinea singing dogs, Samber and Marlin, were outside, and they seemed just as interested in the guests as the guests were in them. The Keepers were on the outside of the enclosure this time; both dogs were keeping a close watch on them just in case random treats should happen to appear. Both got some Keeper attention, though Samber managed to get more than Marlin. Though smaller, she's very much the dominant of the two. Many times, Keepers have to give Marlin attention separately so that Samber doesn't get aggressive with him. It's not wise to take attention from the princess! The two of them get many different toys, which are switched out often. They love to play with their toys, but their interest fades fast, and switching the toys out keeps them "new" and interesting. Samber gave everyone a nice singing demonstration, and after falling in love with both dogs, we all moved down to the next exhibit.

Our gorgeous striped hyena girl, Malia, was waiting for us outside. Earlier, catching up with the group after waiting for the last guests, I passes Malia and Jipenzi who watched me walk by them. I was so entranced by their deep, soft, moving eyes, that I nearly walked full speed through a huge trash can! Now the whole group was in front of their enclosure, and Jipenzi came back out to join Malia and impress the guests. Striped hyenas are smaller than their spotted relatives, and they don't make the "laughing" sound that the other hyenas are known for. They are more beautiful than photos can really depict. Striped hyenas look as though they're pastel chalk drawings that came to life! One of the Keepers had a new toy for the pair, and Malia came over as she was about to toss it into the enclosure. She raised up the long fur down her back, showing how excited she was. The Keeper threw in the toy, and Malia sniffed and poked at it for a moment before Jipenzi came and snatched it, running off in triumph.

As we pulled away, the Educator led our final January group to the bottom of the canyon and into the panda's classroom exhibit. An early observer, who records the panda's activities, had come in that morning, so both mom and baby were already out when we arrived. Zhen Zhen, self-proclaimed master tree climber now, had gone straight up the big tree and was snuggly curled into a panda ball near the end of a high branch. Mom Bai Yun was munching away at her bamboo pile. We were able to get a terrific view of her, as she walked around to give everyone ample photo opportunities. Bai has been described by many as the "perfect panda". Her markings are so perfect, crisp, and beautiful that she looks like she was manufactured. Stuffed animal makers aspire to make their creations look like Bai Yun! We were all pretty cold by this point, but the pandas were paying no attention to the temperature; they're built for the cold and have even been known to play in the snow in the wild, repeatedly sliding down snowy hills. We finally moved on to "Muffin Land" and wrapped up our morning. It was an awesome Stroll month as usual. I can't wait to see what we'll be doing next month!

Special Group Tour 1/19

After the morning's Sunrise Surprise Stroll, one of the Educators invited me to accompany him on a Special Group Tour. Golbon, a large food service marketer, had invited it's distributors from across the country to a special Zoo trip. The huge group was divided across two Educators, and it was obvious that everyone was very excited to be there.

The group started off on a short walking tour. We made our way to the Bactrian camels, where everyone was able to meet and feed Mongo, Amu, and Heidi. Mongo was having a surprisingly unslobbery morning. WE knew it couldn't last, and the dry streak came to an end when a big slobber blob fell right down the inside of a woman's shirt as she was feeding him. Eww! She was very good natured about it; I mean, how many opportunities do you have in a lifetime to get drooled on by a huge camel? The group got to peek a little further behind the scenes, spotting a red tree kangaroo, some food storage, and a nice big heap of Zoo poo. The Zoo produces four-and-a-half tons of manure each day, most of which is sold. The state highway department is a frequent customer, using the manure to fertilize the plants and flowers along the interstates.

Heading to Elephant Mesa, the group was able to witness the meerkats feeding before we all boarded the bus for the rest of the tour. The three elephant girls, Devi, Tembo, and Sumithi, were happily munching on branches. They are so strong that they can break branches up to eight inches in diameter! Contrary to common belief, female elephants can have tusks. Tembo has large tusks, but only a little bit of Devi's are visible, because she likes to break them off. It's hard to estimate how long an elephant can live. Over the course of their lives, elephants grow six sets of teeth, approximately every ten years. After the last set falls out, wild elephants most commonly die of starvation. In zoos, accommodations are made for the elephant's meals, usually just making them mushy, so that they can live much longer.

We passed the giant anteaters and saw that mom is still carrying the baby, though it looks like he may be getting a bit too big for it. They are patterned so that mom and baby's stripe aligns, making it tough or predators to be able to distinguish the young one. Giant anteaters can eat an average of thirty thousand ants or termites a day! Obviously it's not practical to come up with that many ants daily, besides the fact that they would crawl out of the bowl, so zoos feed them a special insectivore meal that's formulated specifically for them. The anteaters say that it's really long lip licking good!

We passed some of the Zoo's ficus, a portion of which is shipped daily to the Sumatran rhinos at the Cincinnati Zoo. Their rhinos were having some trouble previously, because they didn't have the ficus in their diet. Now they're getting a daily dose, and not only has their health improved, they've just had their fourth baby rhino! As they are critically endangered, this is terrific news.

Lopping down into Cat Canyon, the group learned many interesting tidbits about the various animals we passed. The bateleur eagle's name is French and means "tightrope walker". The Siberian lynx have been known to hunt possums climbing up the outside of the lynx's enclosure. This was discovered by some night observation, after Keeper's kept finding possum skulls stuck in the fence five to six feet in the air. The lynx would pounce and grab the possum's tail, pulling it through the fence. Only the head couldn't fit through. Wow and eww! The warthogs in this particular canyon were the basis for Pumbaa from Disney's "The Lion King". Disney's animators didn't feel the warthog's body was quite the big screen image they were looking for, so instead they used the body of a pot bellied pig in the Children's Zoo. It is believed that the light swath of puffy hair on the head and back of a baby cheetah causes it to resemble a ratel from a distance. As ratel are very fierce and aggressive little guys that even lions won't bother with, this provides the baby cheetah with an extra defensive camouflage until it gets older. Orson, the black jaguar, has a different hunting style than most big cats. Jaguars wait high in the trees until their prey walks by below. Dropping down on top of them, instead of going for the throat, they actually use their amazingly powerful jaws to crush their prey's skull! It's no wonder Orson makes such short work of the giant bones he's given.

We turned up Bear Canyon to find the grizzly brothers joyfully digging up their enclosure. They quickly overcame their shyness at first coming to the Zoo and are now crowd favorites, striking plenty of closeup poses. The lion sisters were snoozing together in a patch of sunshine as we made our way up the hill and across the front of the Zoo.

Down into Tiger River, the tigers were temporarily off exhibit. Due to unfortunate recent event at the San Francisco Zoo, most zoos have decided to take extra precautions in their tiger exhibits. (This picture is from before.) On a good note, the tigers have been witnessed mating, and we are all crossing our fingers for baby tigers in the near future. We did get an excellent view of the okapis wandering through the trees and the hippos, who were soaking in a little sun themselves. Rounding the corner, the guests got a great view of Su Lin the panda perched up in a main exhibit tree. Baby panda viewing had been extended by an hour, so most of the guests chose to disembark to get a peek at little Z. The tour was great, led by a terrific Educator, and the group was extremely pleased. Thanks to the wonderful Golbon group; it was great having you!

Sunrise Surprise 1/19

The morning was very chilly, and the Zoo bunnies were once again snuggled in their burrows. The red Zoo squirrels are always out, though, and each morning that I pass them, they seem to be questioning my audacity at doing so. :)

Once again, we headed down into the canyon, which can be a lovely ten to fifteen degrees cooler in the mornings and evenings. But everyone is generally too excited to mind, and no one was disappointed this morning! This time two Keepers were inside of the enclosure with the New Guinea singing dogs. There was certainly no lack of singing today, or in female Samber's case, begging. :) Singing dogs do not bark like domestic dogs. Their "singing" can sound a lot like whining, but unlike other dogs, they can widely vary the tone and pitch, and their "songs" can be very diverse. Choosing to ignore the Keeper's back as a sign that she wasn't going to be rewarded for begging, Samber squeezed behind the Keeper and begged at her back. At one point, she stood up and put her front paws on the Keeper's shoulders, which made everyone laugh. Keepers say that it's sometimes difficult to not just give the dogs all the treats they have, just because they're so adorable. After some more singing demonstrations, we moved down to the striped hyenas.

The two hyenas were very active again today and gave the guests some wonderful photo opportunities. A less desirable photo moment was Malia's up close and detailed demonstration of scent marking, also called pasting. Squatting down, the hyena will extend its scent gland and rub it across a rock, a blade of grass, or I've been told, even a Keeper's leg. The thick, light-colored (and extremely smelly) paste that is excreted lets other hyenas know whose territory they're in. Hyenas are actually more closely related to cats than dogs, and they're very curious and extremely strong. Male Jipenzi gave everyone a bright white closeup of his teeth when he began to chew on part of the fencing. Apparently another keeper had pushed some food through previously, and Jipenzi was getting those last tasty molecules. Building enclosures for hyenas is very challenging due to their combined strength and curiosity. Currently, there are spotted hyenas in quarantine at the Zoo hospital that will be on exhibit soon! Preparations are currently being made.

Now it was panda time, and the guests hurried down into the classroom exhibit. Baby Zhen Zhen had been outside in her tree for almost two days and had fortunately come down the night before, enabling this morning's guests to see her come out. The short two weeks had shown huge progress in little Z's climbing skills, and as soon as she came out, she made her way right up the tree. She had been going steadily higher, and today she went into a new part of the tree she had never been to before. It's amazing, and a little nerve-racking, to see her up so high. But pandas, like all arboreal creatures, are built to fall out of trees. Keepers say that Zhen Zhen is so padded on her bottom that she almost feels diapered. Mom Bai Yun came outside and resumed her place at the comfy bamboo eating spot. I've been told that Z is more rambunctious than Bai's previous three cubs, and that she "bugs" Bai quite a bit more. For example, when Bai Yun needs to move a cub, she will use her front paw to pick the cub up by the scruff of the neck. Instinctively, the cub will go limp, letting the mother transport them. Zhen Zhen apparently didn't read that part in the "How to Be a Panda Cub" manual, and she squirms and wriggles and tries to get Bai's paws off of her. One day Bai Yun was so tired of Z's wriggling that she set Z down and sat on her! Not that it has made much of a difference. :)

As thrilled as everyone was to see the pandas, we were all happy to get to our muffins and hot drinks. The Educator and I delivered muffins to all of the wonderful Keepers that had helped us for the morning, and we wrapped things up. As always, an awesome Stroll!

Special Speaker 1/16

Tonight's topic was "Solving Disease Mysteries- Cases from the files of the Wildlife Disease Labs". There are four separate labs: pathology, Zoo clinical, Animal Park clinical, and molecular diagnostic. A spectacular and interesting doctor paid a return visit to tell us of a few cases. As a general rule, I don't post names in these blogs unless requested. This is one of the tough times; we love this doctor!

The Wildlife Disease Labs examine animal tissue cells to help diagnose those that are sick and prevent others from getting sick. First the disease is investigated, and the risk is assessed. Is it really a problem? A diagnosis and a diagnostic plan are made, and if necessary, animal management intervention is implemented. The cases can be fascinating, as are some of the things that are discovered.

The first cases involved six rainbow lorikeets that had died over a six day period. Obviously, something was going on, and keepers wanted to prevent further losses. The birds were all in great physical condition, which was even stranger. Histopathological examination, which looks at the cellular "footprints" of a disease, revealed that the birds had some lung damage. A closer look showed that this was caused by a disease carried only by possums. After some surveillance, they found that possums were sleeping on an overhanging branch. Going to the bathroom in their sleep, the droppings were getting into the lori's food. Where the disease was harmless to the possums, it was lethal to the birds. Keepers trimmed the branches hanging over the enclosure, and the problem was solved. Who would've thought?

The second case was unfortunately of a twenty-two-day-old California condor chick that passed away. The condor problem is both strong and crucial, so this situation was odd and disturbing. It was found to have a pox virus. Usually in the skin, this particular pox had gotten into the organs. Now there was a major scare. Not knowing the virus' origin or if it could be passed to other condors, the entire program was in danger of being shut down. The doctors checked case histories and a (safe) sampling of native birds. It turned out that the carrier was the California towhee, a little native bird. Apparently a mosquito had transferred the virus between two birds. The great news was that no two birds of any kind could pass it between them, so neither the native nor captive populations were in danger, and the condor program was safe. More good news: the governor has passed legislation banning lead ammunition in condor areas, which will effectively eliminate the birds' main issue in the wild. Yay!

The doctor told us about a baby lion tailed macaque that was getting hypothermic. The mother had two children previously, both without issue. Hypothermia is usually only found in the babies of inexperienced new mothers. Doctors asked keepers to try and locate some of the placenta in the enclosure for examination. Compared to normal placental tissue, the sample they looked at was awful. They shone a special light through the sample and noticed a crystalline structure spread throughout the cells. That particular structure is only found in one thing. The keeper had accidentally picked up a little piece of leftover sweet potato. =) The baby macaque ended up just needing a little extra care than most and turned out just fine.

The discussion was rounded out with two cases of large apes. A mandrill was showing some arm weakness for two days and was examined for possible causes, but then sadly passed away the next day. Doctors found free-living amoeba in the mandrill's brain, which can develop cysts. A special protozoologist at the CDC used a process called immunoflorescence to attempt to identify it. There are six different species of amoeba, and they can be identified by which particular lit antibody flourishes on it. However, this one eluded them all. Years later, a thirteen-year-old gorilla was experiencing weight loss and lethargy. Keepers assumed at first that she was grieving the recent loss of an older gorilla. When she did not improve, she was checked out and found to have abdominal masses and liver damage. Was it cancer? A biopsy revealed that is was amoeba! The doctor called the CDC and found that they had since identified the previous amoeba as a new species. An examination of the gorilla's water was officially reported to contain a "cornucopia of weirdness", including this new amoeba, and the water sources in her enclosure were replaced. The new amoeba was named Balamuthia mandrillaris, in memory of the first mandrill. Research into thirty years of records revealed a total of five cases, including these two, where this amoeba was the culprit, always in old world primates. This research has helped doctors to identify this condition in some AIDS patients as well. The whole talk was fascinating, and the doctor presented the cases in an understandable, mesmerizing, and often humorous way. I can't wait for him to come back- thank you doctor!

Sunrise Surprise 1/6

The morning began with a slight drizzle, and I saw the first Zoo bunny I'd seen in over a month. The early mornings in December had been pretty chilly, and I imagine those bunnies had been sleeping in, all snuggled up. The drizzle was kind enough to leave before the guests arrived, and we began our stroll!

Heading down into Cat Canyon, our first stop was the New Guinea singing dogs. Male and female Marlin and Samber were waiting in their enclosure to see if all of the sudden attention might result in some snacks. Females are dominant in singing dog society, and Princess Samber is no exception. Just over two years old and a mere eighteen pounds, Samber does not hesitate to let the older and larger Marlin know who's boss! Singing dogs are pack animals, but unlike domestic dogs, they are not motivated to "please" the pack leader. Also, they do not exhibit the same tame qualities, so they are not recommended as pets. However, it is extremely difficult to find pure blood singing dogs in the wild today, as they have been interbred with domestic dogs. Neither Samber nor Marlin were in a singing mood this morning, so after a talk with the Keeper, we continued down the canyon.

Next door to the singing dogs are two gorgeous striped hyenas, male Jipenzi, which means "beloved" in Swahili, and female Malia, which means "striped". Around seventy pounds at full size, striped hyenas are significantly smaller than the more commonly known spotted hyenas, and they do not "laugh" like the spotteds. They love patrolling their territory, playing in the water, and their toy ball. One of my favorite animals, striped hyenas look like living pastel chalk drawings; they are truly beautiful. They have a mane of long hair down their back that they can erect when they are excited or agitated, making them look twice their size. They are extremely strong and can eat every part of an animal. However, they regurgitate the horns, hair, and hooves, as they have no nutritional value.

Tearing away from the hyenas, we continued to the canyon bottom into the panda classroom exhibit. Mother Bai Yun and new baby Zhen Zhen, now five months old, had gone onto exhibit just one week ago for two hours a day. As guests anxiously lined the walkways, keepers let little Z out, and everyone's hearts melted. Zhen Zhen is currently like a little round panda poof, and she was just beginning to learn to climb. Like any toddler with a new found skill, she went right to the exhibit's trees and slowly, teeteringly made her way up to the first good sitting spot. The "run" of a baby panda is really cute and funny- she looks a bit like a Weeble with legs. =) Bai Yun came out afterwards and lounged against a rock, breaking right into a large pile of bamboo. Z is Bai's fourth cub, and she is much more at ease with her. The group ooh-ed and aah-ed for a bit longer, then we headed over for muffins and hot drinks. Thank you as always to our Keepers and Educator for a great Stroll!