You’ll see me walking around with my clipboard and signing off once the vestibules have been inspected. Several visitors have asked if I’m counting the butterflies. Thank goodness I don’t have to, because the Park received approximately 10,000 pupae! If there is a butterfly in one of the vestibules, I’m not allowed to catch it and put it back in the aviary. I have to call the Butterfly Keeper, yes “Butterfly Keeper,” on the radio and she saves the day.

If only I had a dime for every time I’ve said “please don’t touch the butterfly.” It’s only too easy to remove the tiny scales on their wings, thus shortening their life. The average life of an adult butterfly is only four to six weeks, so the longer they live the more visitors we can share them with. Although it IS perfectly acceptable (and common) for the butterflies to land on you, please resist touching them with your fingers.

The most frequently asked question is “how can I get a butterfly to land on me?” The best thing to do is hold still! Extending one’s arm and chasing a butterfly with it does NOT work. Find a sunny spot where several butterflies are fluttering and remain motionless. Butterflies often land on visitors relaxing on the bench. I’ve also noticed that florescent yellow, orange, and pink seem to be their favorite colors.

If you haven’t already had a chance, stop in and see the butterflies during the annual Butterflies & Orchids event. Walking among hundreds of brightly colored tropical butterflies is enchanting and I sometimes feel like the luckiest person on Earth. The animals, staff, and visitors have made working in the Hidden Jungle a pure delight.

Larkin Chases is an educator/guide at the Wild Animal Park.

Read the rest of this entry »
« Show Less

Blind, helpless, and with a hairdo fit for Fraggle Rock, the hand-reared chick experiences care and attention akin to living in the lap of luxury. But being catered to isn’t necessarily all it’s cracked up to be. Hatching can be a tiring and difficult process in itself and now the chick develops at such a rate that in only 18 days it will open its eyes, grow feathers, and multiply in weight ten times; within 6 weeks it will have learned to fly and feed itself! In order to fuel this rapid growth, staff at the Maui Bird Conservation Center are feeding this youngster on the hour. Rations include bee larvae, ground egg, and cricket innards, lightly seasoned with vitamin and mineral supplements. As the chick grows, the menu will gradually expand to include such adult foods as papaya, mealworms, and waxworms, as well as native berries that puaiohi typically encounter in the wild.

Eventually, this puaiohi chick will either become a member of our captive breeding flock, or join a cohort to be released in the Alakai Swamp of Kauai. That’s a lot of pressure for such a young bird, but puaiohi have it down to a science. Since 1999, HEBCP has released 113 birds (see Spreading the Puaiohi Across the Alakai), and has successfully hand-reared many more. For lucky #200, several months of practice lie ahead before its foraging and social skills are put to the test in the wild. In the meantime, it’s breakfast in bed and a nice, warm brooder!

Sharon Belcher is a Research Fellow for the Maui Bird Conservation Center.

Read the rest of this entry »
« Show Less

Then my mom and I had to get ready for our tour. We were showing high school students around the Zoo. We greeted the kids from Gila Prep. and walked them to the Zoo bus (my mom drove). We drove around most of the Zoo and we stopped at the giraffe barn and at the camel exhibit for an up-close meeting with the critters. I think the kids thought that was pretty cool. My mom did most of the talking but I did mention a few facts along the way. I love the Zoo and have been coming since I was a baby!

We had lunch in the Beastro (employee lounge) and chowed down on chicken-enchilada casserole.

My favorite part of the day was telling the kids what I know about the animals. I want to work with wild animals when I grow up, too, especially big cats.

Piper Townsend

Working at the San Diego Zoo is a dream job and it was wonderful to share the day with my daughter, Piper. Don’t get me wrong: Piper has visited the Zoo scores of times before, but she had never had the opportunity to “shadow” me while I was working in front of the public. I really think it gave her a new perspective on my work. Piper had the chance to see me teach, interpret the animal and plant collection, and, most importantly, encourage the enthusiasm of the students on our tour. I really think if she’d had the chance she would have taken over the program!

It was so heartwarming to see kids with their Zoo folks all over the Zoo today. We saw boys and girls working alongside their parents in Horticulture, Construction & Maintenance, Buildings & Grounds, and even with keepers and trainers. The San Diego Zoo has always been a haven for families; today, the Zoo family felt quite a bit bigger.

According to Sara K. Gould, President and CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women, “Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work®” day is designed to expand opportunities for girls and boys, expose them to what adults in their lives do during the work day, show them the value of their education, and give them an opportunity to share how they envision their future.”

Lisa Townsend Is an educator at the San Diego Zoo. Her 8-year-old daughter, Piper, joined her yesterday for “Take Our Daughters And Sons to Work.” day.

Read the rest of this entry »
« Show Less

The best news of all is that Cairo is getting along famously with her new buddy, a six-year-old American bulldog named Ike. Ike lost his canine companion about five months ago and was badly in need of a playmate. Cairo is just as valuable to a lonely bulldog as she was for a solitary lion cub. We will all remember and appreciate the contribution Cairo made as a companion for Koza. She helped make his short life busy and happy, and full of fun and play.

Here’s to Cairo and her new forever home - we’ll never forget her!

Marcia Redding is a senior mammal keeper at the Wild Animal Park.

Read the rest of this entry »
« Show Less

We went to hear, hold, and play with these special babies and ask questions about their well-being. We wanted to find out what they are really like and what they do everyday as they continue to grow and develop in this special environment.

Yes, we did get to do all of that and much more. Our group of 25 was divided into groups of 5 and we each eagerly waited our turn to don blue gowns and booties and wash our hands before going out to play. These precautions are used to avoid unnecessary exposure to germs that might inadvertantly be transmitted to the cubs.

We entered the play yard and were each given a cub to hold if we wanted to cuddle or to play with them, after all the preparations. I held mine (no name yet, just a number) on my lap and fed him apple slices (provided by the keeper). “My” cub thoroughly enjoyed the fruit and kept putting his face near mine as I softly talked the way you would talk to a baby. Stay tuned….

Cathy G.

Amy Parrott is the San Diego Zoo’s WorldWild Tours escort. Cathy G. is one of our regular panda blog readers, reporting in on her WorldWild Tours China adventures periodically.

Here’s Cathy G.’s previous installment.

Here’s the itinerary of the WorldWild Tours’ China trip.

Read the rest of this entry »
« Show Less

Knowing different behaviors helps in other ways, too. Sometimes items are found in the Absolutely Apes exhibit that keepers would like to remove but are unable to retrieve. A bartering system has been developed with several of the orangutans: if they bring the item, be it broken termite mound pieces, coins, or even an injured bird, they receive a reward. The most memorial exchange was when Janey brought the keeper a hawk that had injured itself against the glass window. She carefully carried the bird to an inside tunnel, collected her reward, and left. The bird was given the medical attention it needed and was released. Needless to say, Janey was nominated and awarded Zoo Employee of the Month!

But let me go back to the orangutan morning exercises. Once the orangutans have had breakfast and the exhibit is ready for them, they are released one by one from their bedroom through a chute to the exhibit. Before they get to the exhibit, each orangutan works with the keeper on the behaviors it knows, and sometimes learns new ones, in the chute. They are rewarded with what we have learned to be their particular favorite food item. The reward is different from animal to animal and it is up to the keeper to remember what works best with whom.

Usually the first to go through the chute are Indah and her son, Cinta (both pictured above). Cinta runs ahead of his mom, eager to receive his peanuts or peas. The newest behavior being learned is holding onto two rings in the chute. By having the animals hold onto both of the rings at the same time, keepers and other personnel can safely manipulate the animal, knowing its hands are holding onto the rings and not reaching for them. The rings are placed at about head height, so the hands are spread and the animal is facing forward. Since Cinta is much smaller then all the other orangutans, he hangs completely spread out with his mouth open, waiting for me to deposit his reward. While he is hanging there, I rub his stomach, back, arms, and different body parts, praising him for his good work.

By this time, Indah has arrived. She is not as enthusiastic as her son, but she does like peanuts. Reluctantly, Indah places her left hand on the ring. As long as she holds onto the ring, she receives peanuts. Cinta is ready for round two and places both his hands in the correct position, again waiting for peanuts. Indah watches Cinta, then decides, okay, I’ll do it again. Sometimes she’ll move further into the chute and hold onto the right ring. Again she is rewarded for holding onto the ring. I even give her extra peanuts if she holds onto the ring and lets me close the chute door behind her. Sometimes she lets me close the door, sometimes she doesn’t; it depends on her mood, and I never trick her into letting me close it. The animals need to know they can trust their keeper. There may be a time when a not-so-fun medical procedure will need to be done and that trust will be needed.

There are many behaviors that are asked of the orangutans: presenting their hands, feet, arms, mouth, ear, back, shoulders, and shoulders again while the keeper holds a needle. The behaviors that each animal knows varies and keepers are aware of what they are. Since Cinta is still young (he turned 2 last month), his range of behaviors is much smaller than the other orangutans, but he is a fast and eager learner. Indah is a smart girl, but a little reluctant to participate. So we go at her speed and comfort level. Training sessions last about 10 minutes, depending on their willingness, and sessions always end on a positive note.

The other orangutans enjoy their training sessions and some will not go on exhibit unless they feel we have done enough. I’ll have to tell you about their sessions some other time: right now I think Cinta is ready for more peanuts!

Yvette M. Kemp is a senior mammal keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

Read Yvette’s previous blog about how the orangutans start their day.

Watch the red apes daily on Ape Cam.

Read the rest of this entry »
« Show Less

When we visited the park, we took official park buses (no other vehicles are allowed in the park), and got off at various points of interest. It is a very well-maintained park with wooden planked paths and “comfort stations” along the way. We saw several crystal clear lakes, beautiful snow capped mountains, incredible waterfalls, and many interesting birds. Jiuzhaigou means “nine-village valley,” which refers to the Tibetan villages in the area. We visited one of the villages and it was very interesting (fun shopping, too!)

On a personal note, I have finally mastered eating with chopsticks!

Amy Parrot, associate director of development for the Zoological Society of San Diego, is the adventure escort for the Zoo’s WorldWild Tours (WWT) trip to China.

Here’s a previous blog about the trip.
Here’s the itinerary for the WWT China trip.

Read the rest of this entry »
« Show Less

To transport Gao Gao and Mei Sheng from their evening lodging to their daytime exhibit areas, the keepers moved them through a sort of panda “subway,” a long fenced-in chute that seemed to snake around the buildings. The keepers and I walked alongside the fences and climbed over the chutes using ladders, all the while encouraging the bears to keep making progress. Of course, the bears were in no particular hurry this morning, so each one took his time to check out the scent markings of the panda that had come that way before him. Mei Sheng even stopped to make his own grown-up scent mark: he did a handstand and rubbed his rump (the scent gland is located underneath the bear’s tail) high up against a wall, marking the area as his territory and showing just how big he is in the process.

Once the bears were all comfy in their exhibit areas, it was on to the rest of the animals in the panda keepers’ “string.” We fed and cleaned the enclosures of western tufted deer (I learned that the San Diego Zoo was the first to exhibit these deer) and Siberian musk deer (hunted for their musk glands for use in medicine and perfumes). The males of both of these Asian deer species had an interesting physical adaptation that took me by surprise: they had long canine teeth that protruded from their mouths like fangs! Apparently, the males use these teeth when competing with other males over territory and/or females.

By now, the first guests were entering the Zoo. The day was already so eventful; it was hard to believe it was only 9 a.m.! My next job was to attend to the three-banded armadillos and the southern crested porcupines. The armadillos were sleeping while we cleaned their enclosure, but the porcupines were awake and excited! Maybe a little too excited: we put some vegetables in a section of the enclosure that could be closed off, and that kept them busy so we could work in the other area without having them running around underfoot. (These porcupines weren’t quite as snuggly as my friend Pocahontas at the Wild Animal Park. She, too, is an African crested porcupine, but “Pokie” is an animal ambassador and she’ll sit in, or under, my lap when I visit her!)

Finally it was time for a lunch break. My next installment will be posted soon!

Mary Zanotelli, an educator at the Wild Animal Park, spent the day with panda keepers during a Visit-A-Job.

Read the rest of this entry »
« Show Less

These locations are booked many months in advance. We recently visited a nursing home in downtown San Diego. Resident Bob Shotwell (pictured above with coworker Sunni Robertson, holding a hedgehog, and me) has been a member of the Zoological Society of San Diego for years. He comes to the Children’s Zoo almost daily and spends the day with us in the Petting Paddock. Bob loves to visit and even brings his lunch along so he can stay longer. Of course, he cannot eat his lunch in the Paddock or the goats would try to steal it for themselves!

The residents at these facilities love seeing the animals, and we feel it’s almost a form of therapy and that’s a good feeling. Children’s Hospital is different in that, of course, you’re dealing with children. They are great to see and talk to and all of them have great questions. On the day we are scheduled to visit, all the nurses and support staff gather the kids in a playroom and we get to spend an hour with them talking about the animals we brought.

It’s always fun to visit all of the people at these locations. We can see how much fun they get out of the animal visits and we hope to continue these visits for a long time.

Lety Cotero is a keeper at the San Diego Zoo’s Children’s Zoo.

Here’s a blog about the Wild Animal Park’s Animal Express program.

Read the rest of this entry »
« Show Less

Dinner was held in the elegant Temple Kitchen Restaurant in the White Pagoda Temple on the lamasery grounds. Red lanterns lit the way after dark, leading guests to a room decorated with Chinese art and ceramic objects as well as a petal-strewn dining table. The unusual setting helped our newly-made acquaintances enjoy an evening that promised that this would be no ordinary trip.

Stay tuned for “Playtime with Pandas” coming soon.

By Cathy G.

Amy Parrott is the San Diego Zoo’s WorldWild Tours escort. Cathy G. is one of our regular panda blog readers, reporting in on her WorldWild Tours China adventures periodically.

Here’s Cathy G.’s first installment.

Here’s the itinerary of the WorldWild Tours’ China trip.

Read the rest of this entry »
« Show Less