Newt @ NC Zoo

[an irreverent MSNBC commentary]

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Willow Oak Habitat

Listening to all the zoologic activity in our Greensboro backyard willow oak.

A real tongue twister

A real tongue twister, a photo by ucumari on Flickr.

Ucumari delivers another wonderful portrait and title. Cleveland Zoo.

Extinct

Newt Gingrich in front of robotic T-Rex @ NC Zoo. ("T-Rex" was the candidate's Secret Service code name until that protection ended the day before his visit to that Zoo.)

"Farewell, Newt:"

"a final visit to the zoo"

Here is a photo of the back of Newt Gingrich's head and the lemurs at the NC Zoo, in a by-line article about the now-former presidential candidate.

20 Crossings

Made 20 wet-rocks crossings of Indian Creek on the 7-plus miles of Indian Creek Trail @ Hanging Rock S.P., from the the Dan River to Window Falls and above.

Rhododendron, mountain laurel and poplar blossoms accentuated the scenery.

Gotta Love Nik

I've seen NC Zoo keeper Aaron Jesue feed gorilla Nik during the twice-daily public feedings many times. Wished I'd seen the one Aaron reported today on Facebook.

"After tossing the last carrot to Nik at the 1:30 feed, I went ahead and dropped my sunglasses into the exhibit next to Nik. After jumping from the weird noise, he grabbed the glasses and lifted them up towards me. I came down and asked him to trade at the mesh, and he gently handed them back to me. The visitors cheered as I came out front with my shades (in one piece!) and it made for a perfect keeper/visitor interaction! How can you not love Nik?"

Wet Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bear, a photo by The Zoo Dude on Flickr.

The Zoo Dude took this at the NC Zoo July 15, '11.

Newt Specifics

"Former Speaker of the US House of Representatives Newt Gingrich is visiting the Zoo on Friday April 27 from 8 to 11:30.  He will be at the Stedman Education Center for a private breakfast with local officials at 8:00.  Then he will visit the Dinosaur/Aviary area and the Elephant/Rhino barn area from 9 to 11.

"Speaker Gingrich is an avid animal and zoo supporter.  He wrote the introduction to America’s Best Zoos, has assisted Zoo Atlanta and visits zoos wherever he goes."

" He is also a big dinosaur fan." [Mary Joan Pugh, NC Zoo Deputy Director]

Whopper!

Whopper!, a photo by russlings on Flickr.

Torn about posting a photo of a deceased animal.

But this is an example of how big a Niger River croc can grow...and there are claims that "people WERE disappearing". (Keep all in perspective, however, even actual visual perspective; the 22 foot length i've seen claimed IS feasible.)

Hat tip: Gary Williams, Shavertown, PA. (NOT my photo; unable to give photo credit.)

Newt's Still On

"Friday @newtgingrich is scheduled to visit @nczoo." [tweeted today by @nczoo]

"Whoa little bro you must always first check for veterinarians"

"Whoa little bro you must always first check for veterinarians", a photo by ucumari on Flickr.

"Listen closely, keepers are good, they bring food and treats, veterinarians, well not so much.
"Thor teaches Boo Boo the biggest concern for a bear in captivity. (With apologies to all veterinarians!)"

Detroit Zoo photo, title and quote by ucumari.

"a species that buries dead things"

The St. Louis Zoo will reintroduce critically endangered American burying beetles to "4000 acres of protected prairie".

Pachydern Extermination

Governments must defend their elephants and rhinos.

This is species cleansing.

"Me at the Zoo"

The very first YouTube post was seven years ago today. The topic? "The zoo", of course. (18 seconds)

What Now, Newt?

Will Newt Gingrich be at our Rotary meeting Friday? The NC Zoo?

"A New World"

Or: "The Making of the 'Daily Planet'" [hat tip: @BoraZ):

Dandy Lion in the Yard

DSC_0077, a photo by Tmullen pics on Flickr.

Tmullen NC Zoo pic.

Adult White Orca Spotted

Believed a "first".

Betty White re: "Friends"

Betty White's discussion of her new book: "Betty & Friends: My Life at the Zoo".

" For White, her book was a way for her to “let people know the good that zoos do.” She is especially fond of the way zoos take what they learn from animals in captivity to help dwindling populations in the wild.

"She expanded on this with a story about how the L.A. Zoo, in conjunction with the San Diego Zoo, saved the California condor from extinction by taking in the last remaining 11 birds from the wild and starting  a captive breeding program."

Reduce those Bellyprints!

"Happy Earth Day! I hope you are all working hard to reduce your carbon bellyprints. #EarthDay" [@BronxZoosCobra]

Polly want a nut?

Polly want a nut?, a photo by ucumari on Flickr.

Title and NC Zoo photo of Eastern rosella parrot by ucumari.

No Sunday Earth Day...

...activities at the NC Zoo. As referred to below, the NC Zoo cancelled Sunday Earth Day activities on predictions of inclement weather.

Don't Believe...

 ...everything you see and hear. This (click on link below) was offered late yesterday afternoon, but we got word Friday that Sunday's forecast had led the Zoo to cancel Sunday Earth Day activities and try to consolidate those on Saturday:

NC Zoo celebrates Earth Day - News14.com

Freddie's "the Man"!

Saw the movie "Chimpanzee" last night.

After the movie ended, you saw that camera people understood chimpanzee manners, averting eyes and taking submissive postures as a chimp approached.

What luck that they captured a couple of Freddie's major accomplishments!

Gingrich a "Go" Again

Well, new message to Asheboro Rotarians says Newt Gingrich is again "the program" this coming Friday.

Guess that means his tour of the NC Zoo is also a "go" again.

No Newt?

Our Asheboro (NC) Rotary Club was told yesterday that Newt Gingrich would be at our meeting next Friday and that, as is his custom, he would also be touring the NC Zoo, with fellow Rotarian Mary Joan Pugh.

Later yesterday, however, we were sent an e-mail saying the the Republican presidential primary candidate had changed his schedule and would not be at our Rotary meeting. (No word about the NC Zoo.)

Did read today that "honorary" chair of the Gingrich campaign in NC, Tom Fetzer, had just put his support behind Romney instead.

Did that change Newt's plans? Mary Joan's?

"Daily Planet" (Raleigh Icon)

Inside the Daily Planet is a spherical theater with "three stories of high definition video" of nature scenes.

There's an opportunity for an experience inside a six-seat submarine.

The "entire place has the feel of CSI...with the LED lighting, the images projected onto glass walls, the gleaming labs..." [WUNC public radio today re: Nature Research Center @ NC Museum of Natural Sciences]

Grand!

Opening of new wing (Natural Research Center) of NC Museum of Natural Sciences at 5 p.m.

Congratulations to Dr. Betsy Bennett and all involved.

Seems like the last great improvement was just a year or two ago.

No spiral of decline at this museum!

Making the Case for Nature?

durham, nc, a photo by Plimber on Flickr.

A photo by Plimber.

Not Normal

200 amphibian species have gone extinct since 1979...this is not normal!" [Savethe frogs.com]

"Verbal Bludgeon"

Chicago "Sun-Times" film review: "To the Arctic".

Entertainment Weekly's review suggests that it might be the film's attendance that "is melting at a worrisome rate".

Too bad.

Don't mess with me!!!

Don't mess with me!!!, a photo by belgianchocolate on Flickr.

Another wonderful Belgianchocolate portrait and title.

Facts re: NC Amendment 1

Click on arrow to start, then double-click on screen to see full:

Big Baby

New giraffe. Bronx Zoo.

Newt Nipped

Penguin pecks 'Publican presidential primary principal.

Good thing there was no such "up close and personal" at St. Louis Zoo's Big Cat Country.

"Lost Touch with Reality?"

The king of Spain calls for frugality then goes on a costly elephant hunt which only becomes known when he breaks hip.

"The 74-year-old king [Juan Carlos I], hunting in the Kalahari Desert, tripped on stairs in the chalet..."

"In 1956 Juan Carlos, then 18, accidentally shot and killed his 14-year-old brother Alfonso while handling a gun while on vacation in Estoril, Portugal.

"The king has had eight operations since the 1980s, three of them following accidents while practicing sports."

"Last week Juan Carlos' 13-year-old grandson...accidentally shot himself in the foot with a shotgun he was not licensed to use...at a family estate..."

Perhaps the king should stop "practicing sports" and start practicing gun control, frugality and conservation.

Mystery Boy Rescues Egg

A rare Humboldt penguin egg is spotted by a young visitor to Seattle Zoo. The Zoo wants to thank him for the rescue, but he has not been found.

"The better to eat...

SUN(day) BEAR, a photo by ucumari on Flickr.

...bees, ants, termites, etc. with."

My, Sun Bear (a.k.a. Honey Bear), what big tongue you have!"

ucumari photo; Cleveland Zoo.

Vote Against Amendment 1

Laurelyn Dossett and Friends: Vote Against Amendment One VIDEO from Laurelyn Dossett on Vimeo.

On Time & On Budget!

Bravo NC Museum of Natural Sciences! Nature Research Center - 24-hour grand opening, April 20-21.

Can't…talk…now, mouth…full

Can't…talk…now, mouth…full, a photo by ucumari on Flickr.

Ucumari photo and title. Indianapolis Zoo.

Safari Park Turning 40

The San Diego Safari Park turns 40 next month.

On 1800 acres in San Pasqual Valley, it houses about 3000 animals of over 400 species. Annual visitation is about 2 million.

The Park began as a supplementary breeding facility for the San Diego Zoo, which is on 100 acres in Balboa Park, San Diego. (Annual Zoo attendance: about 5 million.)

Nashville Zoo Shatters Records

A new, single day, paid attendance record was set at Nashville Zoo, April 7. It is 16 percent above the prior high!

And a March record was just set there too. "Dino Trek attendance in March was 200 percent above projections". The new record is 56 percent above the prior!

Is that a Coyote?

"Endangered red wolves threatened by proposed coyote night-hunting rule." (I'm not sure which is what at rather short distance, in broad daylight.) [Hat tip: tdelene]

"Too Many Polar Bears"?!

This fellow is getting too much attention for his claims that "there are too many polar bears and they are over-running northern Canada". You will see CBC Newfoundland and Labrador quoted within his silly offering.

"Over-running"? Let's do the math. We know that Newfoundland alone, a smaller one of 13 Canadian provinces (three or four of which are more "northern Canada" and larger, "more-Arctic" provinces) covers 156,500 square miles. CBC tells us that Canada is "home to 60 percent of the world's 20,000-25,000 polar bears". If all the world's polar bears (let's say 25,000) "squeezed" into smallish Newfoundland, there would be, on average, one per six square miles, as I figure it.

One polar bear per 100 square miles is probably closer to the actual number in Newfoundland.

Gorilla's Big Move...

...across town affects ex-NC Zoo gorilla Ramar.

JoJo moves from Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo to the city's Brookfield Zoo, where he is expected to take over the breeding duties of Ramar (now 44), who left the NC Zoo for Brookfield in 1998.

"Ramar will move to a different display area at the zoo, and there is a possibility a female may be brought in for companionship".

Lincoln Park Zoo is home to Kwan, the 23-year old gorilla born at the NC Zoo, March 1, 1989 and named Kwanza.

NAT GEO Gone WILD?!?

Homo sapiens pushes ursus arctos to behave like ursus maritimus "To see if a Brown Bear can truly hack it in Polar Bear country". Hmmm?!?

It will be interesting...to see if there is a victor, if brown and polar bears end up competing for the same, climate-changed habitat. "Though, in truth, this contest will undoubtedly take generations to play out in the natural world."

So spare Brutus "the serious physical challenges"?!?

Safari Experience...

...in the heart of wildest Bedfordshire" [Daily Mail re: Whipsnade Zoo's Lookout Lodge safaris]

Biggest "Small Cat"

Learned recently from the NC Zoo Cypress Swamp keepers that the cougar is the "largest small cat" or biggest purring cat.

"It is the second heaviest cat in the Western Hemisphere, after the jaguar. Although large, the cougar is most closely related to smaller felines and is closer genetically to the domestic cat than to true lions." [wikipedia]

I Was Framed

I Was Framed, a photo by konrad_photography on Flickr.

"A red wolf at the NC Zoo." [Photo. title and quote - konrad_photography]

Damn!

Polar bears had enough problems. Now some are showing symptoms of disease that has recently killed Arctic seals and also affected walruses.

This Is Not a Caterpillar

318232_10150634081845658_270212045657_9738294_1441366438_n, a photo by russlings on Flickr.

Hat tip: Wimp.com. [This is also NOT my photo]

New Guys @ Detroit

Who us?? Nooo we would NEVER try to find a way out., a photo by ucumari on Flickr.

"This is Thor and Boo Boo, they along with Michael were enjoying their first day out on exhibit [@ Detroit Zoo]. We were very lucky to be there that day as the boys were having so much fun. Being their first day they were intrigued by every plant, rock, water feature and moat (more on that later, notice Michael is not pictured). Don't they look a little guilty to you?" [ucumari]

Mating Window Missed

Edinburgh Zoo giant pandas have missed another annual breeding "window". It is a very narrow window. Females are fertile just 24 to 72 hours each year.

Eggstravaganza!

@ the NC Zoo:

Eggstravaganza Schedule
April 7, 2012

See zoo animals hunt for eggs!

Harbor Seals 10:00am
Cougars 10:30am
Black Bears 11am
Sea birds 11:30am
Sonora Desert egg display 1:30 – 2:30pm
Aviary egg display 1:30pm – 3pm
Gorillas 1:30pm
Baboons 2pm
Chimpanzees 2pm
Lemurs 2:30pm
Elephants 3pm

Hiding in wait

Hiding in wait, a photo by ucumari on Flickr.

Ucumari. Louisville Zoo.

Fertile 2 Days a Year!

Why giant panda breeding is challenging.

Humble Leadership

"It's not about how smart you are. It's about your values."

[Malcolm Gladwell, N.Y. Times best selling author and one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People spoke to High Point University students about the importance of the value of humility in leaders]

Melting Habitat...

...forces zoos to breed polar bears? ["Juliet Eilperin of The Washington Post, and Dr. Jeffrey Bonner, President and CEO of the St. Louis Zoo, talk to [NPR's]David Greene about a push to preserve polar bears.]

Elephant Poaching Spreads

African elephant poaching in Cameroon is now reported in Nki National Park, where Dr. Mike Loomis, of the NC Zoo, has helped collar and study an elephant and its herd's migrations.

Upgrade to Natural

"Children won't find new monkey bars and bright plastic play structures at the upgraded Donnan Park."

"Children...will entertain themselves with such time[-]honoured playthings as rocks, sticks, sand and dirt...a slide built into a hill, a sideways-growing tree, a boulder spiral..."

Mudpuppypalooza

Special, Belle Isle Nature Zoo event in Detroit will honor the mudpuppy (or waterdog). This is not the hellbender (or snot otter).

Mudpuppies are large, "permanently aquatic salamanders".

"Unlike its amphibian cousins, the mudpuppy never forms air-breathing lungs, but relies on red gills behind its head to breathe under water."

Zoo Saves Treasure

Experience tells me that $818,000 to renovate a building which exhibits 75 specimens is probably a bargain, even if the Cincinnati Zoo's Reptile House only cost $14,000 to build, as the Monkey House, 137 years ago.

A National Park Service "Save America's Treasures" matching grant of $409,000 adds to the Zoo's bargain. The "eclectic Moorish" building has skylights and a 40-foot dome.

""People like to see things that are deadly, and people like to see things that are big, and people like to see things that are colorful," said [Erik] Keyster, team leader of reptiles and amphibians at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden." [Love it!!]