Deceitful Male Topis...

...raise false alarms to keep females near.

"...just as they reach the edge of his territory he snorts an alarm. It means that somewhere, out ahead of them, a predator waits to pounce on any topi foolish enough to blunder towards it, and so the females stay close. What the females don't know, however, is that the alarm call was a lie."

"Sex, of course, was the reason..."

Columnist Horribilis

Orange County Register columnist Frank Mickadeit streaming his experience live from an exhibit at the Santa Ana Zoo: "Columnist in a Cage: Columnist Horribilis in his Natural Environment".

Art-ic Circle "Polar Bear"

Art-ic Circle "Polar Bear"
Originally uploaded by russlings

Art-ic Circle | "Polar Bear," a monoprint by Kathleen Snow (yes, "Snow"), is one of the works on display in a group show titled "Birds of a Feather" through July at the Northwind Arts Center, 2409 Jefferson St. in Port Townsend, Washington.

Leaving Korup

"This has been a very frustrating trip..."

Dr. Mike Loomis, NC Zoo, reports that elephants have not been seen so far on a return trip to Korup National Park, Cameroon.

"But there's still a chance that we'll have some success yet this summer."

Dogs Track Invasives

Canines are better at finding invasive plants than humans...and that would include birders, wouldn't it? [@tdelene RT @nature org]

"The dogs found knapweed plants or patches 124 times, whereas humans only had 90 hits... dogs had an accuracy rating of 81 percent, compared to 59 percent for people."

"The dogs’ performance wasn’t perfect: they tended to issue more false alarms than humans. And one of the animals, Tsavo, was prone to “distraction by ground squirrels,” the authors note."

Birders Track Invasives

Birders gather valuable info on invasive plants. [@BirdDiva RT @GyG birds]

"The goal is to link specific birds with their new-found preferences for certain invasive plant species."

Good News

"Great News! North Carolina Zoo VHS Wildlife Rehab Center released 11 patients today!!! Releases included 5 Robins and 2 Cardinals as part of our post-release survival study, an Eastern Box Turtle having recovered from an aural abscess, and a young Red-Shouldered Hawk." [NC Zoo Society facebook page]

Riverbanks Zoo Loses Kimya

Gorilla found dead Monday morning.

"Kimya was the largest of the three at about 470 pounds..."

Lost in the Peacock

corn maze
Originally uploaded by russ williams iii

"Love this!! Prepare to be lost & found in the Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park’s new Peacock Corn Maze, opening this coming 4th
of July weekend! The cost to play is $5 for adults and $3 for children.
There’s a $1 discount for park visitors. Children 12 and under need to
be accompanied by an adult." [NC Zoo Society facebook page]

Scotland Neck, NC

Rowe, Rowe...

Three days, two strong Jeri Rowe stories in the "News & Record" (Greensboro) on the NC Zoo and gorillas. Great placements (A1 and A2, "above the fold")!

Today Jeri writes about Dr. Rich Bergl, NC Zoo Curator of Conservation and Research, and how "he has worked to protect the world's most endangered apes: the Cross River gorilla."

"Bergl has seen a Cross River gorilla three or four times for a total of 10 seconds."
But: "He's not out to see the gorilla. He's out to make sure it survives."

Hotel Floyd

Ann is spending the week taking pottery classes at the Jacksonville Center for the Arts in Floyd, VA.

We drove up yesterday and I stayed the night and took Monday off to hike a trail off the nearby stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Ann is staying at Hotel Floyd and staying in the Jacksonville Center for the Arts room (one of 14 themed rooms) in this hotel named for a town known for its music, crafts, arts and the only traffic light in the county.

Our room featured hand-made pottery and furniture.

The hotel is also quite green.

"Hotel Floyd is committed to the goal of sustainability and in doing business in ways that minimize the impact on the environment. This includes such refinements as: geothermal energy heating and cooling system, eco-friendly paints, and using sustainable fabrics in every room made from 100% post consumer recycled materials. Guests are provided with eco-friendly soaps and detergent and pains are taken to make recycling part of the stay at Hotel Floyd."

"avoid...most strenuous uphill sections"

The Rock Castle Gorge Trail, near Floyd, VA, "is a moderate to strenuous 10.8 mile loop with elevations ranging from 3,572 at Rocky Knob to 1,700 feet..."

"parts of the trail are rocky and several sections are quite steep. To avoid the most strenuous uphill sections, hikers can begin at Rocky Knob Campground and head downhill..."it says on the Blue Ridge Parkway, Rocky Knob Trails, brochure the Park ranger gave me today when I asked for a "rather strenuous two-hour hike".

He suggested the three-miles down from Rocky Knob, followed by a return up the "most strenuous uphill sections". Even downhill, those sections were challenging...so I didn't make it all the way down in an hour and five minutes and it was a very challenging hour and twenty minutes back to the car, but it felt good (in a "good tired", "good sore" kinda way) to have done it.

Back to work in the morning.

The Gorillas' Story

My "News & Record" (Greensboro, NC) this morning has a great story on the NC Zoo gorillas, by the always very readable Jeri Rowe - front page, top.

In Memory: Bug, the Rat

Great photos of late, great rat, Bug. (Don't miss Bug's bears.) [@petapixel]

50 Years with Chimps

Dr. Jane Goodall has been doing research on chimpanzees for half a century.

"She witnessed a creature, other than a human, in the act not just of using a tool but of making one. "It was hard for me to believe," she recalls. "At that time, it was thought that humans, and only humans, used and made tools. I had been told from school onwards that the best definition of a human being was man the tool-maker – yet I had just watched a chimp tool-maker in action.""

"Goodall telegraphed her boss, the fossil-hunter Louis Leakey (father of Richard), with the news. His response has since become the stuff of scientific legend: "Now we must redefine man, redefine tools, or accept chimpanzees as humans." Leakey was exaggerating but not by much."

"Must Beat Heat!"

NC Zoo polar bear Aquila seems to have found the way. [@NCZooSociety offers Valerie Abbott/ucumari photo]

Trying to Dry Out

Reporting yesterday on his current "Elephants of Cameroon" visit to Africa, Dr. Mike Loomis is more than amazed by how rainy it has been on this visit.

They head back to Korup National Park today. With what Mike reports about the roads and this recent weather, I hope they make it there in a reasonable amount of time.

I hope they find a TV tuned to the World Cup too.

Ruffs in the Lek!

Visited Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park yesterday and saw the now-populated lek display for ruffs. There were numerous ruff [sandpipers] in the exhibit. Some were beginning to develop their breeding ruffs, which give them their name.

Not Too Shabby

Completed my first full tank of gas (regular) as the sole driver of the new (2010) NC Zoo Society Prius: 455 miles at 51.1 miles per gallon. Will that improve with practice?

"Animal Apartheid"

Interesting take on "'pure' species vs. hybrids" in the animal kingdom. [@BoraZ]

Those who would insist that we must keep the current species "pure" remind me of those linguistic purists who want to purge our English language of "hybrids" like "ain't".

"Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;"

The first four lines of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales reveal how we would talk today if purists had controlled our English language beginning just 600 years ago.

"To me the preservation of putatively pure lineages immemorial smacks a bit of pre-Darwinian biology, with its focus on systematic analysis of fixed and eternal kinds as well as a descriptive analysis of anatomy and physiology. At the other end is evolutionary biology which is a process, a phenomenon, understood as a flux of gene frequencies and morphs over time. It is by definition a refutation of a static conception of nature."

Cool. 'Nuff said, Cuzin. Laters.

Mother Meir

Jessica Meir, scientist, U. of British Columbia, is doing research on bar-headed geese, at Sylvan Heights Waterfowl, Scotland Neck, NC. The National Science Foundation (US) is funding.

"...very impressive flight behavior..." How do these geese fly at high altitudes, like Mount Everest, where there is so little oxygen? Why do the bar-headed geese follow scientist Meir wherever she goes? [NC Zoo Society facebook page]

Full House

"North Carolina Zoo V[alerie] H. S[chindler] Wildlife Rehab[ilitation] Center has about 75 patients in right now, including red-tailed hawks, eastern box turtles, [V]irginia opossums, and lots and lots of baby birds!!!" (NCZ VHS Wildlife Rehab Center facebook page today)

Crab Molt Explained

Excellent explanation regarding the recently popular spider crab molt YouTube video. [@BoraZ]

Thinking Outside the Honey Bee Box

The National Zoo is inviting the submission of recipes utilizing honey and original poetry about the honey bee as it celebrates a new colony season.

"Not only will the submissions be displayed on the Zoo’s website, but one participant will be randomly selected and receive a private tour...of the Pollinarium and Invertebrate Exhibit."

Tiger, Camels Found...Well!

The stolen Bengal tiger and dromedary camel duo appear to have been well cared for. Rewards had been offered.

The Scoop on Poop

A document on dung.

"For instance, did you know that the African elephant is the biggest pooper on earth? A ball of it weighs 2 to 5 pounds, and the animals drops more than 100 of them each day." [Cleveland Metroparks Zoo educational display]

UNC-TV re: Cato Lemur Island...

...at the NC Zoo:

Flight of the Ringtail lemur

Ringtail lemur (DSC_8660)
Originally uploaded by ucumari

Recent ucumari/NC Zoo photo.

Spider Crab Molts

Japanese spider crab's 6-hour molt is shown in under 2 minutes - Enoshima Aquarium in Fujisawa, Japan [@sciencegoddess RT @drisis @kzelnio @sfriedscientist]:

More Rain Trouble

Heavy rains today hampered the Elephants of Cameroon team.

"...tree branches and small trees crashed down onto the trail."

"...we'll go back to Korup National Park, this time focusing on the northern end of the park...we're going to take two collars with us in the hopes that we'll collar more than one animal..."

Spring berries

Spring berries
Originally uploaded by lake life1

Also by lake life1.

Maki

Maki
Originally uploaded by lake life1

NC Zoo photo by lake life1.

"Sweet!"

Prospect Park Zoo baby Geoffrey's tamarins are named Tira and Misu. Proud parents are Cannoli and Napoleon.

Napoleon gives the youngsters piggy-back rides like a good tamarin father. [Video at "piggy-back rides" link.]

Gunshots

Another frustrating day in Cameroon.

"We hiked into an area where our scouts felt we had a good chance of finding elephants...we heard several gunshots. As near as we can tell, the shooters were not hunting elephants...[but] the gunshots would have scared any elephants away..."

Over 5% of Population Dies?

Three Javan rhinoceroses have been found dead recently. The population falls to about 50?

20,000 Crickets

Was walking the halls of the W. David Stedman Education Center of the NC Zoo this a.m. (between General Curator Ken Reininger's office and mine) when I heard them. About 20,000 crickets.

They were in eight or nine boxes, strapped into three delivery units. Recently delivered from the Charlotte, NC cricket "vendor', the packets of live, exotic-animal feed are headed for the RJ Reynolds Forest Aviary, Sonora Desert pavilion and "Prop" - an off-exhibit area for (mainly) bird propagation and holding.

Imagine NC Zoo "Commissary" head Carol Ricketts made put through the order. (That's right..."Ricketts' Crickets".)

Coincidenza!

While I was drafting the prior post, Ann was listening to an NPR piece on Vanessa Woods' book "Bonobo Handshake".

And What about Peaceful Bonobo?

Came across another article (Nicholas Wade, The New York Times) on that 10-year study of warring chimpanzees.

Wade also references our other cousin, the peaceful bonobo.

Warfare among human groups that still live by hunting and gathering resembles chimp warfare in several ways. Foragers emphasize raids and ambushes in which few people are killed, yet casualties can mount up with incessant skirmishes. Dr. Wrangham argues that chimps and humans have both inherited a propensity for aggressive territoriality from a chimplike ancestor. Others argue the chimps’ peaceful cousin, the bonobo, is just as plausible a model for the joint ancestor."

"Dr. Mitani [co-author of the new study on warring chimps] , however, is reluctant to infer any genetic link between human and chimp warfare, despite the similarity of purpose, cost and tactics. “It’s just not at all clear to me that these lethal raids are similar sorts of phenomena,” he said. More interesting than warfare, in his view, is the cooperative behavior that makes war possible."

Dr. Mike Getting Closer

The "Elephants of Cameroon" team has been very close to elephants but have yet to launch an anesthesia dart.

"The last two days have been frustrating and encouraging at the same time," the NC Zoo senior veterinarian reports.

Reward for Proof Animals Watered

Bowmanville Zoo "is offering a $2000 reward for a photo of the [stolen] animals being given water." A $20,000 reward was announced earlier for return of the Bengal tiger and two dromedary camels.

Attack, Kill, Expand, Share

Study says chimpanzees attack and kill others for more resources or mates.

"Mitani warns against using the research to draw conclusions about warfare among humans, instead arguing that his study provides insights into primate teamwork. "Warfare in the human sense occurs for lots of different reasons. I'm just not convinced we're talking about the same thing."

"He added: "What we've done at the end of our paper is to turn the issue on its head by suggesting our results might provide some insight into why we as a species are so unusually cooperative. The lethal intergroup aggression that we have witnessed is cooperative in nature, insofar as it involves coalitions of males attacking others. In the process, our chimpanzees have acquired more land and resources that are then redistributed to others in the group.""

Compare the chimpanzee with another close primate relative, the bonobo. "No bonobo has ever been seen to kill another bonobo."

Most Success Outside of Africa

San Diego Zoo's African elephant breeding program.

"...birth of three calves this year..."

Truck Found, No Animals

That stolen truck hauling a tiger and two camels is found, but the trailer and animals are not with it.

13,000 lb. Father of the Year

Oregon Zoo fans have voted Tusko, the Asian elephant, father of the year.

Dumb

"...kids apparently breaking into the Albuquerque Zoo."

"Pictures showed them with giraffes and sea lions. Police said the youths even went into the rhinoceros cage."

Thieves Take Truck, Tiger, Camels

Animals need water.

Long-Lived & Immune to Cancer?

Naked mole rats have a lot going for them...health-and-longevity-wise, if not handsome-wise. [@BoraZ]

Young and hungry

Young and hungry
Originally uploaded by Tambako the Jaguar

"One of the quite young Mongolian wolves of the zoo of Zürich looking to me in a quite hungry way (I presume).

Uploaded by Tambako the Jaguar on 19 Sep 09.

Baby Mouse Lemurs

"Primates you can hold in your hand. Adorable!" [@Laelaps RT @DukeLemurCenter]

Dr. Mike's Journal - 6/14-17/10

"I was awakened at 0400 by ants biting me." [6/14]

"Along the way, we saw a rhinoceros viper in the road." [6/14; see photos]

"We spent most of the afternoon in town trying to get my field shoes repaired, looking for a card reader to download images, and visiting a bookstore." [6/17]

Invaders!

"An agent with the NCDA recently installed a small, white, tent-shaped trap in one of the trees in the vicinity of Zoo School. This trap is for the Light Brown Apple Moth, which is native to Australia, though it has currently invaded other countries, as well as parts of California. The traps are being distributed throughout the temperate regions of the US, as our weather is suitable for their habitation." [Steve Thornburg, NC Zoo Horticulture Supervisor]


"You may have also noticed a similar orange-colored trap near the mega-generator in the past, which is placed by the Forest Service as preventative measure for the Gypsy Moth.

"These two traps are very similar in shape and size, and again, are in place at this time as a preventative measure, since the two moths have not established our region."

Let's hope they don't. [Watch the gypsy moth spread across the land on the graphic in the Wikipedia post here; I was living in NE Pennsylvania when they arrived there; it wasn't pretty.]

2 Nests, 1 Big Surprise

Big start to 2010 sea turtle nesting season on Outer Banks of NC.

Loggerhead and (screen "2") Kemp's Ridley.

"Daylight nesting is a common behavior of the smallest and rarest of the rare sea turtle—the Kemp’s Ridley. Usually, they migrate in North Carolina’s waters, and we have had many wash ashore in trouble. But hardly ever have we seen an actual nesting Kemp’s."

"With the tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico threatening the beaches where these rare animals nest, we are thrilled to have one mother turtle nesting as far away from the oil spill as she could get. We can only hope that the awful oil spill in the Gulf will not diminish the recovery of these animals. They have overcome so many obstacles throughout the ages."

Zebra heart

Zebra heart
Originally uploaded by jlddvm

NC Zoo photo and title by jlddvm.

Ant & Acacia Teamwork

Ants protect host acacia trees from large foraging elephants. [@iescience]

Now we know elephants shy away from ants and bees. (Not mice, that i know.)

"...a tree depends on ants to maintain its population against damage from the largest land herbivore. To me, that’s just sticking it to the man." ['Course, the lead elephant "man" is always a lady; elephant herds being led by the dominant female.]

Watch for Red Bellies!

The North Carolina Zoo Valerie H. Schindler Wildlife Rehabilitation Center just reported releasing "2 red-bellied woodpeckers that were banded as part of our post-release survival study. If you happen to see them let us know."

Reconnaissance & Soccer

The "reconnaissance team came back with bad news" and the Cameroon soccer team lost to Japan as Dr. Loomis and his African elephant tracking team watched World Cup action on a satellite TV in Cameroon.

The tracking team will move on to Mount Cameroon where another "recon team located three distinct elephant herds..."

Secondary Containment

"...the electrified wire at the top of the exhibit wall where the Gorilla tried to climb was intact and was working when she made her climb. If she had gone any higher she would have made contact with this wire." [from NC Zoo General Curator Ken Reininger's report to staff today]

"The incident took place around 2:15...Sunday. No staff was present at the Gorilla exhibit at the time so we were alerted to a possible problem via a 911 call a visitor had placed. ZooCom received that call at 2:15 pm and alerted Gorilla keepers and other staff. The Gorilla keepers were close by and immediately began calling the Gorillas into their night quarters. All three Gorillas were reported secured at 2:22 pm so this took only 7 minutes to accomplish (great work Gorilla keepers!).

In a YouTube video, he continues, "you can see our youngest (and smallest at 170 lbs) female Gorilla with a branch which she propped up against the exhibit wall and used to climb. She made it far enough to get her finger tips over the top of the wall but then came back down to the ground. When she tried this a second time the branch broke and that was that. It is our presumption that the tree branch was loosened by the storm the night before but fell into the exhibit during the day. We know the keepers searched the exhibit that morning (as all keepers do in every exhibit every morning) and found no security issues including large branches on the ground. We also know that the electrified wire at the top of the exhibit wall where the Gorilla tried to climb was in[]tact and was working when she made her climb. If she had gone any higher she would have made contact with this wire.

"On Monday we kept the Gorilla exhibit closed to do a thorough inspection. Most of what was done had been scheduled months ago to happen on Tuesday but we moved it up one day. On Monday our Arbor crew climbed the major trees in the exhibit and removed any limbs that were even remotely considered at risk of falling. Arbor makes these inspections in the Gorilla and other exhibits every month and has for years. We also had Design staff inspect our electrified wire system and although in[]tact and working normally, we reinforced this system."

"All Duty Officers were just recently trained on the Escaped Animal Recapture Response Plan and other emergency response plans on June 3rd."

Trail Is 6 Inches Deep

"Hard rain. No elephants." [The report from NC Zoo lead veterinarian Dr. Mike Loomis from Cameroon, as he searches for African elephants.]

Ambulatory Vegetable Pots

Pot-bellied gray-shanked douc langurs of Vietnam.

Elephant Louse

Haematomyzus elephantis. You'll only find them on an elephant (African or Asian.) [@NHM_London RT @guardianscience]

Asian and African elephants are endangered, so so is haematomyzus elephantis.

Can You Say "Herbivore"?

"And gorillas don't eat people!! The folks on the news apparently thought that was a concern..." [NC Zoo Keeper Elizabeth Garrison McChesney on media attention to Acacia's Sunday activity.]

(Gorillas have been known to eat the occasional insect.)

Aquaria Make Room For Spill Victims

Virginia and New England Aquariums release sea turtles to make room for Gulf victims of BP oil spill. [@NCZooSociety and @ZandAVisitor]

Da Bears

All da bears. [Hat tip: Bandit's facebook page]

Males Behaving Dadly

"Just in time for Father's Day," comes this article about male primates who "are suckers for babies."

"Female marmosets and tamarins generally give birth to twins, which together weigh about 20 percent of what the father does, and from the moment the babies are born until they reach independence, the male will be expected to carry them most of the time."

"Just so long as it has the downy black fur and wrinkly pinkish face that adult male [Barbary] macaques find impossible to resist. “They will hold up the infant like a holy thing, nuzzling it, chattering their teeth...”

Potential Gorilla Ladder II

With video.

The horticulture professionals and animal curators and keepers will be making sure that Acacia doesn't get another big stick.

Potential Gorilla Ladder

The NC Zoo briefly closes the Forest Glade (lowland gorilla) exhibit after a large, fallen, tree limb offers a potential "make-shift ladder".

Society of Friends

AZA's "Listening to Our Friends" membership research project also asked members of the NC Zoo Society and of 92 other zoo and aquarium member groups: "Which of the following best captures how you think about North Carolina Zoo?
.Like a close friend whose values I share
.Like an acquaintance I admire
.Like a relative I feel obligated to support
.Like a panhandler who pesters me until I give"

40 percent of NC Zoo Society members answered "Like a friend" for an Index rating of 122 (where an Index of 100 equals the average for the 92 member groups).

58 percent of our members chose "Like an acquaintance I admire".

Good work, NC Zoo Society staff. Thank you, Members!

Roseate spoonbill

Roseate spoonbill
Originally uploaded by ucumari

Another strong Metro Richmond Zoo/ucumari wildlife portrait.

Nighttime Zoo!

San Diego Zoo will stay open 9 to 9, June 26-September 6.

"Guaranteed to be wild, and probably a little bit crazy..."

Zoovies!

Outdoor, late night movies at the Santa Barbara Zoo.

zbwlion

zbwlion
Originally uploaded by rustyallie

Paradise Wildlife Park. Uploaded today by rustyalllie.

The Art of Hans Godo Frabel

The Art of Hans Godo Frabel
Originally uploaded by ucumari

Glass art in the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Richmond, VA, May 2010, by ucumari.

Missing Hawk Returned...

...to Cincinnati Zoo.

The Harris's hawk flew off from a birds of prey show Sunday and was spotted recently by an observant neighbor. It came when called, probably for the expected treat. It may have gone without a meal or two since Sunday.

The aging hawk may be retired from show business.

Making Python Comfortable

22-foot reticulated python Bali "feel[s] comfortable" with her head in a narrow tube. She feels like she is "in a cave". Allows a dozen Chester (UK) Zoo workers to safely clean her enclosure.

See photo of "comfortable" python.

Rhino spotting!

Rhino spotting!
Originally uploaded by ucumari

"As we hiked through the bush our guide suddenly stopped and pointed through an opening in the trees. Much to my surprise there was a rhino walking not more the 25 metres from us.

"Ok there wasn't a guide and the rhino is in North Carolina but it was still really cool spotting this guy!" [ucumari, NC Zoo, June 7, 2010]

Why We Have No Fur...

...and why we sweat a lot, stand and should be slim. Because our ancestors lived where it was really hot. [@ScriptPhD]

"...at some point we developed a unique ability to regulate our body temperatures while running, which might have helped people catch prey in hot and dry conditions. "The hotter it is, the more humans have an advantage over other mammals, especially when running."

"No one knows for sure when we became proficient at sweating and when we lost our fur... "But this paper provides strong evidence that the climatic conditions that would have favored such adaptations intensely were present for a long time."

Following Elephant Tracks

Dr. Mike and his team followed elephant tracks today but are a day or two behind the pachyderms. Head north tomorrow.

3rd Generation

Picked up my new NC Zoo Society company car today - the 2010, third generation Toyota Prius.

We will keep the second generation Prius for other staff travel and errands. A 2004 Prius, bought in late 2003, the first sold in Asheboro/Randolph County, it has gone over 201,000 miles, averaging over 50 mpg. Only tires and filters have needed replacement.

I bought, as a personal car, the first generation Prius when it arrived in the US in 2001. It was great, but the 2004 and 2010, were built, "from the ground up" as hybrid/gas/electric cars, and are better yet. Low emissions are their forte...above mpg's.

Would love to be able to consider the new Nissan Leaf, all-electric, but I often travel over 100 miles (the Leaf's one-charge range) a day. Maybe when I retire.

Supersenses!

Seals use whiskers...sharks use nostrils. Much great info! [@BoraZ RT @edyong209]

Fish "leave behind turbulent wakes – even a 10cm long goldfish leaves behind a distinctive flow of water...While invisible to us, these trails are just as informative to any animal with the right tools to read them. And seals certainly have those – their faces are studded with long, sensitive whiskers that act as motion sensors."

"Sharks can famously detect the electric fields of living things, but they also hunt with a keen sense of smell. And it turns out that they can tell where an odour is coming from by working out which nostril picks it up first..."

"The ability to track such wafts of smell improves as the distance between the nostrils increases...[and] this advantage may have driven the evolution of the distinctive heads of hammerhead sharks.

"Their wide heads give them excellent binocular vision, but their widely spaced nostrils also allow them to sample a greater area of ocean in search of delectable smells. They could resolve subtler differences between the arrival of smells at either nostril..."

Tiny Red River Hogs...

...at LA Zoo [hat tip: NC Zoo Society facebook page]:

Bravo! "Alive"

The North Carolina Zoo Society quarterly magazine ("Alive") was much more highly rated by its Society's members than were the magazines of the nation's better zoos and aquariums on average.

In a survey, conducted by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which utilized 24,000 individual interviews of members of 93 zoos and aquariums, in which an "index" rating of 100 means members of the other zoos rated some metric equally to what the NC Zoo Society members rated theirs, and in which an "Index 115" rating is quite high, Alive was rated "Index 162" as a benefit of membership in the NC Society.

Bravo!: Jayne Owen Parker, Ph.D., Editor
De Potter, Design & Layout
and editorial staff:
Stephanie Gee
John D. Groves
Rod Hackney
Dr. David Jones
Michael Loomis, DVM
Hayley McWilliams
Melinda Prior
Ken Reininger
Cheryl Turner
Diane Villa
Gloria Moore, Proofreader
Printer: The Hickory Printing Group

Update: AAZK Awards

NC Zoo Keepers Beth McChesney, Becky Kloepfer and Kelly Murphy will be presented Certificates of Merit in Conservation from the American Association of Zoo Keepers for their Kendall Project.

They will be joined by NC Zoo Keeper Aaron Jesue in receiving recognition at the AAZK annual conference in Philadelphia in August.

High Water/Low Water

Compare the suspension bridge over the Mana River, Korup National Park, Cameroon from NC Zoo's Dr. Mike Loomis in today's Field Trip Earth/Elephants of Cameroon report to the photos taken Jan. 15, 2009.

Mike's made it to Korup. The river and "political" tensions are concerns: "...after the poacher was shot, several research and tourist camps inside the park were destroyed."

New Ocelot Pair...

...recently arrived at the NC Zoo. Next: a month in quarantine.

Whole Lotta Breedin' Goin' On...

...amongst the poison arrow frogs at the NC Zoo General Curator Ken Reininger reported in a staff meeting yesterday.

Cinnamon Black bear

Cinnamon Black bear
Originally uploaded by ucumari

"This is not a grizzly or brown bear. His name ironically is Kodiak. He is a rare cinnamon black bear born in 1999. Less then 3% of black bears have this coloring. Note the large ears and lack of hump that is characteristic of grizzlies." [title & quote by ucumari]

Kodiak is a handsome, Grandfather Mountain black bear.

Saw Kodiak on a May visit to Grandfather, with Ann, brother Gary and sister-in-law Fran.

Limbe Limbo

Dr. Mike's Cameroon rental vehicle needs repairs, but the new collars are working well and just one old one needs some banging.

"...hope and plan...to get on the road tomorrow."

Leave for Limbe

Dr. Mike Loomis is back in Cameroon. The NC Zoo lead veterinarian is hearing good reports from the field.

"...an advance team has been working in Korup National Park already and has seen significant elephant activity in the bush mango areas."

Patient Follow-Up

A bird-banding program aims to track the after-release success of birds that "graduate" from the NC Zoo's Valerie H. Schindler Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.

" Data sheets will be distributed to residents who live near the site where rehabilitated birds are released. The species selected for the project are those birds most commonly treated at the wildlife center. Observers record the date and time of each sighting and note behaviors exhibited by the bird.

"The species selected for the study are typical back-yard or feeder birds and are those likely to be observed following their release. They include the red-bellied woodpecker, blue jay, Carolina wren, eastern bluebird and northern cardinal."

Gift of Surrogate Mother

NC Zoo Society retail manager and Valerie H. Schindler Wildlife Rehabilitation Center volunteer Hayley McWilliams received a call from the Zoological Park Hanes Veterinary Center last week concerning a bobcat kitten that had been found near his deceased mother , who had probably been hit by a car.

"They were calling to see if we had a plush toy bobcat to help imprint the young bobcat kitten for release back into his native wildlife area at some point," Hayley explains.

"Received a message days later...[that]...the bobcat kitten took to the plush bobcat as being part of his family."

The Zoo Society gift shop had plush toy bobcats in three sizes; the largest did the trick!

Traditional Hold or Hurl

Ugandan mongooses pass on one of two traditional ways of opening plastic eggs full of rice and fish.

"Adult mongooses had two ways of breaking into the eggs. The first was to hold them in their front paws and bite into them. The second method was to smash them by hurling them against hard surfaces like stones or trees.

Pups watched the specific techniques that their escorts used, and after they entered adulthood, they mimicked those when scientists left plastic eggs out for them."

Voila! Tradition!

I add more salt, rather than sugar, to oatmeal.

Another AAZK Award!

"Aaron Jesue [NC Zoo keeper's facebook page] So pumped! I was named the 2010 AAZK Mazuri Animal Nutrition Award winner (first recipient of the award) for my part with the gorilla diets. I can't thank Becca enough for nominating me for the award and for her also nominating the award winning Kendall Project ladies, who also deserve a lot of respect for what they've done!"

Better Behaved than Some Students

Two Duke Lemur Center ring-tails escape...head for the library. [Elizabeth Garrison McChesney facebook page, with video]

"Berisades and Ivy were found at Cresset Christian Academy in Durham on Monday...they even looked like students in the library.

"I won't name any names, but they definitely behaved better than some of the students..."

Award for Kendall Project

"Kendall Chimp just learned that The Kendall Project has won the AAZK Certificate of Merit in Conservation Award! Thank you so much to everyone for your support and for helping us raise awareness of the plight of apes in the entertainment industry. "Only if we understand can we care. Only if we care can we help. Only if we help shall they be saved." Dr. Jane Goodall" [Kendall Chimp's facebook page about 3 hours ago]

Obsession for Tigers

Calvin Klein's "Obession for Men" cologne is a favorite of big cats. Zoo animal enrichment and field research benefits follow. [@laelaps]

"Estée Lauder's Beautiful occupied the cheetahs on average for just two seconds. Revlon's Charlie managed 15.5 seconds. Nina Ricci's L'Air du Temps took it up to 10.4 minutes. But the musky Obsession for Men triumphed: 11.1 minutes. That's longer than the cats usually take to savor a meal."

"The Bronx Zoo relies on donations to keep up its supplies. Stella Miller, president of the Huntington-Oyster Bay chapter of the Audubon Society on Long Island, N.Y., says she has donated about 300 bottles of fragrance, collected from friends and acquaintances over the past five years."

Pledge, Parents!

To go outside more. It pays. ("No Child Left Inside". Fight "nature deficit disorder") [@NCZooSociety RT @GreenHour]

Tri-FROG-ta

Tri-FROG-ta
Originally uploaded by ucumari

Blue Poison Dart Frog, Bumblebee Poison Dart Frog and Dying Poison Dart Frog gather at a leaf in one of the two frog exhibits in the entry of the RJ Reynolds Forest Aviary at the NC Zoo.

"I hit the trifecta of frogs within the exhibit.," reports ucumari on her flickr upload of today.

Scientists' Best Idea!

"Ocean-scale national parks to protect the world's struggling marine environment." [@dolphincode RT @sea4ever]

"Like the Serengeti, the Coral Sea [is] one of the few remaining places in the world largely untouched by humanity but still big enough to sustain large populations of animals..."

The "proposed Coral Sea marine park would stretch from the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef to the edge of Australia's waters near Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia."

Avian Punks Go for Broke...

...without brakes.

Another photo poem by bugdreams.

Go Lance! Go Steve!

"I hear Steve Jobs reserved a Nissan Leaf today. You can have the second one boss, I got dibs on the first one!" [recent Lance Armstrong tweet]

Time Well Spent!

"Started my day watching a (wild) mom otter teach her pup to hunt for food. I love otters!" Jessica Donaruma Foti, NC Zoo keeper, yesterday, facebook.

Crocs Cross Oceans...

...by surfing, not swimming.

Can Rescued Pelican Stay Clean?

Strong nesting instinct drives some right back into the oily mess.

"...it’s been learned that the birds must be hydrated, calmed and fed for a day and then cleaned. Their survival rate has subsequently improved."

"...even if they are taken to points far from the spill, their strong nesting instincts will probably drive them right back."

[The brown pelican is the state bird of Louisiana.]

Bears, Berries & Hooves

Human introduction of a species to a small island is yet another "management" failure. [@BoraZ]

The story went something like this: There was a small island. The black bears were happy and things were going well for a very long time. Humans decided in 1896 that it would be nice to add 200 white-tailed deer to the island. Omnivorous black bears don't eat many deer. 70 years later there are 60,000 to 120,000 deer on the tiny island and the black bears are out of food, especially berries, as the deer have eaten the bushes.

"The bears of Anticosti were especially frugivorous, due to lack of nut and seed sources on the island, and the paucity of fish compared to the salmon runs exploited by many mainland bears."

The Child Not Left Inside

Famous "biologist E.O. Wilson recalls his youth immersed in nature." [@stevesilberman]

"...he believes that exploring the natural world is a fundamental stage of cognitive development that our brains have evolved to expect and need..."

"At the age of 13, he discovered a colony of non-native fire ants in Alabama and raised the alarm. Five years later, the State of Alabama commissioned him to complete a report to see how far the (agriculturally toxic) fire ant had spread. This was his first scientific study, published in 1949."

[Saw him speak to kick off a rather recent Association of Zoo's and Aquariums Conference. Fascinating.]

Take Care of the Nests

Speaking of Halley Buckanoff and the Valerie H. Schindler Wildlife Rehabilitation Center at the NC Zoo:

"North Carolina Zoo VHS Wildlife Rehab Center
has admitted over 350 animals to date. The most common cause so far - nest destroyed by human impact. Please remember when doing yard work to check for nests before mowing lawns or cutting down trees and/or limbs. If you can wait, finish your yard work after the animals have grown up and left the nest." [VHS Wildlife Rehab Center facebook page]

NC Zoo Staff Awaits Gulf Call

 

Patagonian Cavy

Patagonian Cavy
Originally uploaded by ucumari

Big rodent portrait by ucumari. (Click on the photo to learn more about the species from ucumari.) Metro Richmond Zoo.

Whatsit?

Nobody new what the "small, furry, long-tailed critter found napping on a Chicago porch" was. Not "until Lincoln Park Zoo experts identified it" as a kinkajou.

"They're typically found not on Chicago porches but in the trees of tropical forests in Central and South America."

"Greatest Butterfly Photos"

"Gasp of amazement", says @sciencegoddess of RT of @insectpaparazzi, who offered the title quote re: the photos.

Stunning Eulogy

For "Gustav the Great Cat" by Wild Muse DeLene.

"I named him after my favorite painter, Gustav Klimt who pounded gold leaf into many of his paintings — the umber-gold of this cat’s coat screamed of Klimt’s work to me. Plus, he truly was a work of art."

It's a family affair!

It's a family affair!
Originally uploaded by ucumari

Ucumari captures fantastic photo at Metro Richmond (VA) Zoo!

"Your Inner Bonobo"

Are these primates smarter than we? [@BoraZ]

"I recently had dinner with Temple Grandin, who was just named one of Time Magazine's most influential people. Temple is autistic. At one point during the meal, she leaned forward, her clear blue eyes wide and unblinking and said,

"'The problem with Normals is that they can't see other types of intelligence.'"

"No bonobo has ever been seen to kill another bonobo. There is very little violence towards females. The infants get an idyllic childhood..."

Hungry Bumble Bee

24 seconds of flying feasting [@sciencegoddess RT Sciegirl]:

Giant Hyenas - Not Cannibals

What ate the hominins, bones, brains and all? [@Laelaps]

"...rather than being the dominant hunters in the area, Homo erectus were often prey for the large carnivores."

Prevent Bird Extinctions

Report sightings of common bird species.

Citizen scientists can help "because [pro] scientists need to compare long-term records of all species to be able to build up a clear picture of how their numbers and distribution change over time."

Highest Altitude Canine

The squared-off Tibetan fox. Video of its unique stalking approach to a pika kill. [@factZooAnimals]

Cuckoo - brood parasite

Cuckoos don't build nests, they steal them.

"The foster parents don’t appear to notice they are rearing a monster. Instead, they work hard to satisfy the demands of the chick, even though it sometimes becomes so large that it no longer fits inside the nest, and has to sit on top. It’s one of the oddest sights in nature."

The Urban Hedgehog

Female and male urban hedgehogs prefer different gardens. [@BoraZ]

"...male hedgehogs take more risks and are more likely to roam across gardens of larger detached houses to find new mates..."

June Bear Photos

Speaking of NC Zoo Society on facebook, check out the 15 or so entries in its June Photo Contest.

"1. One entry per fan. 2. Photo must feature a bear photographed at the NC Zoo."
(More details at posting for "Yesterday at 2:09 p.m.".

Baby Ring-Tailed Lemurs

ZooBorns photo at the link. [Tip of hat the NC Zoo Society on facebook]

Ducklings!

14 photos from Sylvan Heights Waterfowl (Scotland Neck, NC) Duckling Day.

Eurasian Wolf Pups

Very cute. At Berlin Zoo. Also known as European wolf. [@Laelaps RT @katewong]

Giant Shark Nursery

Seven-to-35-foot juveniles and their sharp little teeth. [@laelaps & @ BoraZ]

"Despite the large size of C. megalodon, however, the young of this shark would still have been vulnerable to other seagoing predators of their time, and according to a new study published in PLoS One the "mega-toothed shark" may have protected its young by delivering them in nurseries."

Swim w/ Fur Seals

UN worker Donatella Malfitano reports on her South Island, New Zealand, experience.

"The[] seals played together, from time to time leaving the water in small leaps, diving deep again and passing directly below me at high speed."

"My swim with the seals was organised by Seal Swim Kaikoura, a family team...licensed by the New Zealand Department of Conservation and—as they state—they “ work hard to ensure that we do not disturb the natural behavioural patterns of the seals.""

During Ms. Malfitano's "travels and missions, mostly in post-war or third-world countries, she also looks at the way animals are affected by armed conflict and other threats."