We heard the first bellow on St. Bees Island, Australia, at 5:30 p.m from the Rain Forest Gulley (See Jen’s blog, Motorcycles and Koalas). The next one came from the Knoll, then the South House Gulley, and back at the Rain Forest. About every minute or two we could hear the koalas calling to each other. What was going on?
|inline

If you’ve traveled around the San Diego Zoo over the past five or so years, you may have noticed some areas that looked like they were right out of the pages of a conservation magazine discerning the woes of clear cutting in the Amazon rain forests. What’s going on?

Over the last 25 years or so, the Zoos’ grounds have lost around 75 percent of the tree cover that it had, due in part to construction of new facilities and old, unsafe trees that had to be removed. The final nail was put into the coffin on some of the eucalyptus (pictured) by the eucalyptus long-horned borer, the lerp psyllids, and drought during the years starting in 2000. Eucalyptus trees county wide were hit hard by the psyllids, and that was true here in the Zoo.
|inline

I know many folks have been waiting for news of Etosha and M’bari, the pair of lions that currently live in the original lion exhibit at the Wild Animal Park. As many of you know, Etosha has a history of having difficulty in delivering her cubs. Her first pregnancy resulted in a caesarian section. Sadly, once again, her latest pregnancy did not end well.
|inline

Ellie recalls the first 10 years of giant pandas at the San Diego Zoo. Read her previous blog, The Panda Decade, Part 2.

It was mid-August, 1999, at the Giant Panda Research Station at the San Diego Zoo and staff was keeping a close eye on Bai Yun since her artificial insemination in April. There were subtle behavioral changes and hormonal shifts, but would this be a pseudopregnancy or the real deal? Veterinarians had used ultrasound procedures to attempt to determine pregnancy, but in those early days of research no one could be absolutely sure. For those of us outside the Station, little things hinted that it could get very exciting very quickly: panda narrators were called into individual, closed-door meetings before our respective shifts. No one would speak of the subject of these meetings, but each narrator emerged, in turn, wearing a broad grin! Panda Canyon was blocked off to all traffic, even foot traffic; and construction on the nearby Owens Rain Forest Aviary project came to a halt. And we waited.
|inline

Have you been to see the carnivorous plant Bog Garden in the Monkey Trails and Forest Tales habitat at the San Diego Zoo? If not, definitely make it a priority next time you’re here. These fascinating insect-devouring plants are as beautiful as they are remarkable. The Bog has been one of our most challenging horticultural features and also one of the most satisfying. Only about 10 feet across by 6 feet wide (3 by 1.8 meters), the Bog gets more than its fair share of attention from horticultural staff as well as the public. Venus fly traps Dionaea muscipula (pictured), sundews Drosera species, and the spectacular North American pitcher plants Sarracenia species grace this small garden just left of the golden-bellied mangabeys on lower Monkey Trails.
|inline

Our sun bear cub is now 64 days old, and is doing very well (see Suzanne’s previous blog, Sun Bear Essentials). Marcella, the dam, is leaving the den regularly to feed and to interact with enrichment items the keepers are leaving for her. She is still keeping her den meticulously clean, and regularly brings in new bedding material to spruce up the den for her cub.
(more…)

The second Saturday of every month, a small group of regulars meets in front of the San Diego Zoo e-a-r-l-y in the morning. Deborah takes roll call as young people arrive and Dian checks in with their parents. Dan is there with a smile and a hearty hello. And Deirdre and I greet them, gather them up, and head off into the Zoo to meet up with Joe.

This isn’t just any group of regulars, though. They are participants in the Children’s Rainforest Art Explorer program, hosted jointly by the Zoo and the SUCCESS Optimist Club and consisting primarily of pediatric oncology patients and their families from Kaiser Permanente San Diego.
|inline

There have been quite a few changes in Tiger River in the past couple of weeks, and I can’t say that all of them have been for the better. The first change, as many of you already know, is that our young tiger brothers, Mata and Rimba, have moved to their new home at the Palm Beach Zoo in Florida (see Bridget’s previous blog, Tiger Brothers Ready). I drove with them to the Los Angeles airport on November 8 and watched as they were loaded into the cargo area of the plane.
|inline

Can’t find me? Look up, way up here in the tree; that’s where you’ll find me!

Mei Sheng (I call him Buddy) loves to perch himself up in the tree to look for his keepers to come and feed him. This bird’s-eye view is a neat way to look for all kinds of activity. So, Mei Sheng climbs just like his baby sister Su Lin, except he’s a lot bigger.
|inline

Zoo InternQuest is a career exploration program for high school students. For more photos see the Zoo InternQuest Photo Journal. To meet the Interns, read the Intern Profiles.

In 1996, two giant pandas, Bai Yun and Shi Shi, came to the San Diego Zoo on loan from China. When the pandas first came to the Zoo, very little was known about them. Several divisions from Conservation and Research for Endangered Species (CRES), veterinary services, and Zoo animal care teamed up to study as much about the pandas as they could.
|inline