San Diego Zoo Blogs

The capybaras living on Elephant Mesa at the San Diego Zoo are doing great. Every morning they wake up, stretch (it’s very cute), and start walking toward me looking for a folivore biscuit or a slice of carrot. If I don’t arrive fast enough, in their opinion, they start cooing and vocalizing for their breakfast. In my last blog, Welcome, Capybaras, I was spending time getting them to eat out of my hands and allowing me to touch them. We have progressed wonderfully since then.
Read the rest of this entry »

You may think most newborn monkeys would blend in with their mothers. However, with silver-leaf langurs it is quite the opposite: their babies are a beautiful bright orange! There are several theories as to why this is; unfortunately, it is unknown which theory is accurate.

Theory 1: It makes it easy for the mothers to find them, as young langurs like to explore. They can sometimes travel a little too far away from their mothers. Being bright orange, their mothers can easily spot and retrieve them.
Read the rest of this entry »

On Saturday, April 25, the elephant staff at the San Diego Zoo received four large gifts for Elephant Odyssey from the elephant staff at the Wild Animal Park. The four Asian elephants, Ranchipur, Cookie, Mary, and Cha Cha, arrived at their new home around 3:30 in the afternoon. By 6 p.m. they were all unloaded and checking out their new home.
Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve all been waiting for it: the elephants have been in training; keepers and trainers have been working long-long hours; construction workers have been, well, constructing. And as of Saturday, it was done!
Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a brand-new week here at the Giant Panda Research Station at the San Diego Zoo, and “The Ladies” are on view this week. It seems odd to be referring to Su Lin that way, but her estrus is over. To my knowledge, there’s been no discussion of moving or mating Su Lin next year thus far. A year is a long way off in the life of a panda, and it will be about that long before she’s once again having a breeding cycle, so, as with most things here, it’s going to be “wait and see.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Installment #6
Read Installment #5, Little Guenon, Big Step

By early March 2009, Gigi was making the transition to Wolf’s guenon life well. She was obviously fully accepted by devoted sister Mimi, tolerated by her stoic father, and her older brother Dru was as gentle and tolerant as we could reasonably hope for. Things were not perfectly harmonious, though. There were times when Gigi’s mom, Fifi, would show some behavior that was concerning to us.
Read the rest of this entry »

Our meerkat group on Elephant Mesa at the San Diego Zoo has seen a lot over its three years. It has grown to 16 members, with many births and non-stop digging. Last week was one of the biggest days of all: moving day. I knew it was coming for months and had been thinking about it constantly. How do I move 16 meerkats in crates to another exhibit without them hurting each other or themselves?
Read the rest of this entry »

Can’t wait until May 23 for the grand opening? Want some Elephant Odyssey fun in your own home or office?

Hard to believe, but the Web team at the San Diego Zoo has outdone themselves yet again. Elephant Odyssey.com has an interactive map, videos, and information on the animals of the Pleistocene and the animals of today! Heck, there’s even a page where you can read up on the individual elephants that will live there.

Still not enough for you? Well, now there’s a fun computer game, too: Elephant Odyssey: The Game! It just launched this week and is already causing people to lose track of time (due to playing it and having fun) as they wander back in time through the Pleistocene epoch.
Read the rest of this entry »

Gibbons are monogamous and, unlike most primates, they maintain a matriarchal society. The natural living arrangements for gibbons are a monogamous pair and their young offspring. When the offspring are mature, they will take cues from their parents and leave in search of starting their own family. The stronger the family bond is between the parents and their young, the more confident they are. They will be more vocal, more defensive of their territory, and more protective of their young. This is reflective of a strong, thriving family of gibbons.
Read the rest of this entry »

I know it has been a while since I have corresponded here on the blog. However, it is nothing to worry about, my lack of writing time is all for a good reason! (Read Rick’s previous blog, Statue Tour: Educating Kids, Wowing Adults.) Since returning from the Statue Tour a few weeks ago, I have been very busy doing interviews on radio, television, and with print media. There was even a day where I gave a presentation during a luncheon and did media interviews before and after at a different location within the Zoo. Whew, that was a eventful day! Yesterday was no different, as I was on local television and national radio all within a couple of hours and all before it was 10:30 a.m.!
Read the rest of this entry »