A new young-un!

A new young-un!
Originally uploaded by ucumari

"We recently acquired two young giraffes. They are not related to the adult female in the photo. They are active and still getting used to their new surroundings. When this one first saw me, they took off for a moment (of course this could have nothing to do with their surroundings. I tend to have that effect! Lol!) " ucumari (photo, title and quote)

White Fur w/ Eye

Originally uploaded by reedb006

Interesting capture of NC Zoo Arctic fox by reedboo6.

Non-Traditional Thanksgiving

Peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches and a trip to the NC Zoo for Lori Wall of Wake County, NC.

"Magical Reindeer Gem Ornaments"

This AP story is full of interesting info and quotes:

"The Christmas ornaments for sale at the Miller Park Zoo's gift shop are partly manufactured by reindeer. Honest!"

Reindeer "droppings are dried, then clear-coated and either painted or rolled in glitter."

"Some folks are surprised at the size of the "gems," which are only about as big as marbles. "Reindeer are so big," zoo maintenance worker Sheldon Williams said. But the droppings are "just a big pile of small.""

Love the Fishes

Ann and I visited the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum & Zoo last week.

One huge (140,000 gallons?) exhibit features hundreds of large fish, including sharks. One large aquarium stands in front of the largest, giving the impression of an even larger open space. There are many small aquaria.

The Aquarium is worth the price of admission alone.

The sea turtles and seals were a treat.

There was some construction and the zoo was sparsely populated. Wallabys, golden lion tamarins, flamingos and lemurs were memorable.

Great Kiskadee up close

Great Kiskadee up close
Originally uploaded by o2bmeek

Ann and I are just back from a week in Bermuda. This introduced bird is as common as a robin in Bermuda now, as is its oft-heard, three-note call. (We were told it was brought in to "manage" a "problem" lizard; understand the locals are a bit tired of the ever-present bird's constant calls, although they are a nice auditory memory to this one-week visitor.)

Found this photo of the great kiskadee by o2bmeek, who wrote "Peter flew in...and took this...while walking on a rail trail."

Ann and I spent much time on the Bermuda rail trails (no rail on the little British islands territory now). The trails took us through some special island habitat and to some great parks and historic sites.

Pubic buses and ferries were also great for getting around without personally using too much of the $8 per gallon gas.

The closest land mass to Bermuda is Cape Hatteras, N.C., yet we drove to Raleigh and flew to Philadelphia on our way to and from! The little territory is one of the most affluent places on Earth, aided by tourism and finance.

How Embarrassing!

Zoo has been trying to breed female polar bears!

Tip of the hat to greenmon.

Daydreamer

Daydreamer
Originally uploaded by ucumari

Recent ucumari portrait of NC Zoo chimp.

Her title.

The BB&T Kitera Forest exhibit, with a chimpanzee population in the teens, offers many opportunities to see this. It still takes ucumari's talent and patience to capture it for others to see.

Anti-Poaching Lessons

As his African elephant visit to Cameroon nears its end, NC Zoo lead veterinarian Dr. Mike Loomis teaches about the risks of poaching great apes to locals.

"We stressed the fact that it is illegal to kill great apes in Cameroon; we also explained how some really terrible diseases, including the ebola virus, can be spread to humans that butcher and eat great apes."

Arctic fox

Arctic fox
Originally uploaded by ucumari

Wonderful ucumari portrait of NC Zoo Arctic fox.

"Poachers Everywhere"

NC Zoo lead veterinarian reports from Cameroon. African elephants for his study are scarce due, it seems, to poaching.

"We found 22 poaching camps in our travels around the area, with ten of those camps recently active; we also found one poached elephant, as well as several other poached animals."

"This area is huge—940,000 hectares, or about two million acres—so our data about elephant activity here will be very helpful to everyone working to decide how best to develop and protect the area's various resources."

Oldest Polar Bear Dies at 42

The Guinness Book recognized Debby of Winnipeg's zoo as the oldest at 42.

"The bear's health had been failing in recent months and she was euthanized Monday as her organs began to fail.

"Debby gave birth to six offspring with her mate, Skipper, who died in 1999 at age 34. All her cubs are still alive.

"Few polar bears reach age 20 years in the wild, but many have survived into their early 30s in captivity."

That zoo's facilities are not up to Canadian/polar bear standards for replacing Debbie anytime soon.

The NC Zoo has State and Society commitments totaling $4.5 million to exceed those standards.

Around and around and around he goes!

Around and around and around he goes!
Originally uploaded by ucumari

"I was taking photos of the sea lions when I noticed a young woman had gotten this guy's [habor seal's] attention. She was making circular motions on the glass and he was turning around in circles! Well, you know as soon as she left I stepped over to the glass and luckily got his attention. He kept doing and doing it. If I moved my hand up and down he would follow it as well. I spent probably 20-25 minutes interacting with this playful fella! A fantastic zoo day!"

NC Zoo photo, title and quote by ucumari.

Zero on Exhibit Most Days

The Milwaukee Zoo reports that polar bear Zero is fully recovered from his recent fall and is on exhibit most days.

More from Mintom

NC Zoo veterinarian Dr. Mike Loomis has made another journal posting from Cameroon. And they have named the big male elephant collared recently.

"He will be called Afanere. His name is in two parts: "Afa" is a word for "forest" in the local dialect, and "nere" means "the way," in the sense of a road or route."

Turning Poo Into Energy

The Toronto Zoo claims it could create much energy from animal "by product".

The NC Zoo and Zoo Society are in early discussions with potential partners about a possible, smaller scale entry into the "poo business".

Ucumari's Lories

Lory's
Originally uploaded by ucumari

Riverbanks Zoo rainbow lorikeets in "high def" thanks to ucumari.

Houston Zoo Mourns Mac

A popular, intelligent, 2-year-old, Asian elephant has died of a common, incurable disease at Houston Zoo.

Can Opener w/ Wings

Cinereous vulture
Originally uploaded by ucumari

Ucumari's been to the Riverbanks Zoo and took a photo of this cinereous vulture.

That beak is famous for its ability to open some big carcasses. That serves the vulture's purpose and that of many smaller scavengers in its mainly-Asian habitat.

Gorilla Baby Video

Here is video of Frank, the newest San Diego Zoo gorilla, and some good info on great apes in general.,

Global Warming Link to Frog Loss Doubted

"We are currently in the midst of a sixth mass extinction event," said Peter Hudson, the Willaman professor of biology at Penn State and co-author of the research study. "And amphibians are bearing the brunt of the problem." [Science Daily, 11/13/08]

"We are facing a cataclysmic global decline in amphibians, caused primarily by the effect of a fungus that was historically not important, but the emergence of which might be associated with climate change, along with the use of herbicides and pesticides," Hudson explained. "The bottom line is that there doesn't seem to be one single explanation for the massive amphibian declines. It could be a mix of other factors."

Zero Is Back

The Milwaukee Zoo polar bear is back on exhibit after his fall off exhibit. The Zoo Director explains on video.

Red Wolf in Fall

Originally uploaded by reedb006

Reed006 captures one NC Zoo red wolf in exhibit that looks no different in this shot than its off-exhibit, Purgatory Mountain (Uwharrie Mountains) location.

More Giraffes Coming

There is now a verbal commitment to send another female giraffe to the NC Zoo. Another male will also be on the way in the future.

If all goes well then, there will be five giraffes in the Forest Edge exhibit here next year when the new giraffe feeding station is in place.

33rd Elephant Collar

Dr. Mike Loomis reports the successful collaring of the first African elephant of this mission to Cameroon.

"We were still working away when the elephant started to stir, so I had to lay my body across his head to try to keep him still while the crew finished attaching the collar. It wasn't a place where I wanted to be, but I had to do it to keep the elephant and the crew safe."

This is the 33rd of the NC Zoo lead veterinarian's many collars through the years.

Detroit Zoo Releases Rare Butterfly

The Detroit Zoo and Michigan's Department of Natural Resources reared and released Karner blue butterflies at Petersburg State Game Area in July as part of a US Fish & Wildlife Services recovery plan.

The plan calls for continued releases of the blue butterflies over four to six years, working toward a "minimum viable population" of 3000 or more.

Another Little Monster

That other Gila monster egg successfully hatched at the NC Zoo.

Getting Organized

NC Zoo lead veterinarian Dr. Mike Loomis is back in Cameroon. His journal notes that he spent the first several days of November readying for two 10-day field operations in the Mintom region.

Mike's current "Elephants of Cameroon" goal is to place tracking collars on three African elephants by early December.

More Fame for ucumari & Willy

"The Sun" features ucumari's photos of NC Zoo polar bear Wilhelm.

Who ya gonna call?!

"Volunteer Valerie Abbott [ucumari], who took the snaps, said: “Wilhelm is a huge hit.” By the looks of it, he likes posing for polar-oids too."

Recent Virgin Birth

F 10 Whiptail hatch 11-3-08 006
Originally uploaded by russlings

This whiptail was hatched very recently at the NC Zoo Sonora Desert too.

"Three of our seven Desert Grassland Whiptail eggs hatched!!! For
those of you who do not know, this is our 10th generation born here at
the Sonoran Desert. This is a parthenogenic species, which means, they
are all female. They have no need for a male to fertilize the egg."

Wendy (Green) Foley
Keeper II- Mammals
Sonoran Desert Exhibit

Hey, Good Lookin'

DSC00891
Originally uploaded by russlings

"We have been working for several years to reproduce this
species and we are very excited about this first reproduction of Gila
Monsters at the NCZOO. If all goes well the little guy should be out
of the shell in a couple of days."

Ezra Ellis
Zookeeper II
Sonora Desert Pavilion

A second egg might hatch as well.

Maggie's Super Year

Maggie, the African elephant who spent much controversial time in Alaska, is said to have spent a first, "super" year in California.

"To celebrate the anniversary [at PAWS Sanctuary], Maggie received an elephant pedicure and a special cake made of bran, molasses, and raisins.

Copy Swan

The photo at this link is of a Coscoroba swan standing on one-leg in a Woodland Park (Seattle) Zoo exhibit full of flamingos. The swan gives the appearance of having picked up the habit from its exhibits mates.

You can tell its a Coscoroba swan because it has that goose-like head, without the normal swan's "black mask". First had this pointed out to me in October during the NC Zoo Society Board visit to Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park, Scotland Neck, NC.

Zoo Calf Named Obama

Frankfurt (Germany) Zoo keepers have named an alpaca calf Obama given all the recent mentions of the name, even in Europe.

Reminds me of when a Ukrainian Zoo last year named skunks Bush and Clinton.

UK Discovers ucumari

The "Telegraph" and the United Kingdom have discovered the wonderful NC Zoo photography of ucumari (Valerie Abbott) posted regularly in Russlings.

Next to her photo of NC Zoo polar bear Wilhelm "surfing" on a red life-saving float, Valerie is quoted: ""The keepers do a fantastic job of keeping different enrichment items in his exhibit. One week he will have his bright lifeguard float, the next a big plastic pickle or even a giant bucket.

"This gives Willy something to look forward to. It's a bit like a child in a toy store – he never knows what fun thing he is going to get to play with each day.

"The float is his favourite toy – when he gets hold of it he loves to jump on it or pull it underwater. Then he'll throw it up in the air and jumps after it. He also loves to get on it and 'surf' or balance on it the best he can.""

Newest Zero News

New from Milwaukee Zoo: "Zero is doing well and fully recovered. Watch for Zero and his companion, Snow Lilly, on exhibit soon!"

Two for One, Twice

The two female bison which recently arrived at the NC Zoo are both pregnant, Zoo Director David Jones told the NC Zoological Park Council's open meeting Wednesday.

One is due in March. The other in May.

Climber

Climbers
Originally uploaded by ucumari

One of the NC Zoo's two young black bears climbs an exhibit tree.

"...they go all the way to the top at times! Fun to watch but a challenge to photograph!" [ucumari, photographer]

Fall Colors & Kudu Too

Fall Color-3-lo-res
Originally uploaded by russlings

The NC Zoo and the African Plains are looking bright.

Tom Gillespie, NC Zoo photo.

Elephant Poacher Gets 5 Years

From Yaounde, Cameroon: a poacher gets a five year sentence for killing elephants as NC Zoo chief veterinarian Dr. Mike Loomis arrives in the African country to try to save the last few thousand of this country's elephants.

Beef-Flavored Toothpaste II

NC Zoo Society member Bob Sebrosky sent along a link to an article about NC Zoo keeper Kelly Wright.

Kelly educated Bob and a group of Lions Pride (Zoo Society planned givers) members Saturday morning about our young black bear cubs.

I pointed out that Kelly was enjoying her "15 minutes of fame" over her training a Zoo grizzly bear, Yaponi, to allow her to brush his teeth.

Yes, the toothpaste is the flavor of beef.

Takin' Care of Business

From the American Association of Zookeepers (AAZK) publication for central NC "The Midden": the Valerie H. Schindler Wildlife Rehab Center reports (for October) taking "care of 2 baby flying squirrels (10g each), Brown water snake, Red Tailed Hawk, Eastern Box Turtle, etc. Successfully released squirrels."

Taking care of business as usual. The orphaned and injured are aided.

Insulated Bear

Check the link for a close-up look at a Polar bear "guard hair". The clear hair looks white through refraction of light. Its inner hollow keeps the bear warm.

"It may look like a toilet roll, but these tubes are polar bear 'guard' hairs - the coarse outer layer that protects the finer under-fur from the elements. Although they look white, they are translucent and each air-filled hollow heat-proofs the bear."

Scarlet Ibis

Scarlett Ibis
Originally uploaded by ucumari

Ucumari has been having some recent success in capturing clear shots of some illusive NC Zoo, RJReynolds Forest Aviary birds. (Link to Scarlet Ibis info.)

Teensie Halloween Treat

CsarPumpkin
Originally uploaded by russlings

NC Zoo elephant C'sar uses his trunk to push a large pumpkin into his mouth October 31.

Yesterday morning NC Zoo Society Conservator's Circle and President's Club life members and I watched African elephants Tonga and Batir doing the same. Sometimes mother and daughter just stepped on the pumpkins to make the goodies easier to handle.

The life members also watched the Zoo chimpanzees get enrichment items, including containers of frozen juice which the chimps enjoyed for a half hour or more. And the members talked to a zookeeper about the two young, 10-foot giraffes and their elderly (30-plus years), 16-foot exhibit companion.

Earlier in the day, Society Lions Pride members (who have arranged planned gifts for the NC Zoo Society) visited the two new, young black bears, watched a seal/seal lion training session and saw the cougars tear into papier mache pumpkins filled with carnivore treat meat.

NC Zoo photo by Diane Villa.

Zero's New "Toys"

Local TV's light handling of a rather serious "animal enrichment" consideration for the Milwaukee Zoo after polar bear Zero fell off exhibit when one of his enrichment items temporarily blinded him as he played with it.

The "toys" play an important role in keeping Zero interested and healthy on exhibit. (Most polar bear enrichment items at the NC Zoo allow Wilhelm normal polar bear activities which mimic his predatory instincts to catch seals and "wrestle" with them in the water.) But "toys" which have proven to cause him to fall off exhibit, with all the troubles that caused the Milwaukee Zoo, will, no doubt, be removed from Zero's "toy box".