News from Docents,
Zoos and Aquariums
May
16, 2008
Dreamnight at the Zoo
The mission
of "dreamnight at the zoo" is one annual and cost-free evening out in
the zoo, preferably on
the first Friday
of June, from 18:00
untill + 22:00
hours for chronically
ill and disabled children and their familymembers.
Many of the
AZAD member zoos are participating in “Dreamnight at the Zoo.” This event started in 1996 at the Rotterdam
Zoo and by 2001 they had increased from 1 hospital participating to 13
hospitals and institutions. In 2000 spreading
to Amsterdam Zoo, the event has continued to spread across Europe and then to
Canada in 2003. In 2004 the first USA
zoos started participating. Check out
the history page on the “Dreamnight at the Zoo” website to see how fast it has
spread of the last few years. You can
check to see if your zoo or aquarium is participating on the partners page. Dreamnight
If your zoo
is not participating this year then maybe you can help organize the event at
your zoo next year.
See you at “Dreamnight.”
May
12, 2008
Eggs-Ceptional
Year For Condors!
Endangered California condors at the Oregon Zoo's Jonsson Center for
Wildlife Conservation, an off-site facility, have produced a record number of eggs
this year. Eight eggs have been laid since February, one from each mature pair
of birds, and we're anticipating the zoo's most successful condor-breeding
season ever.
October 20, 2007
Staff members
from Cheyenne Mountain Zoo have put
forth a huge effort to help us make smarter consumer choices in an attempt to
limit non-sustainable palm oil consumption. They have compiled a list of candy
(just in time for Halloween). You can access the list by going to the
following link:
October
16, 2007
Dear Volunteers,
The Wildlife Conservation Society Institute, on behalf of the Institute for Museum and Library Services and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, is conducting a survey to learn about the attitudes, beliefs, and experiences of zoo or aquarium volunteers in this country. This is the first time that any study of this scale has been conducted and they are very interested in getting representation from as many zoos and aquariums as they can.
The survey, called the National Zoo and Aquarium Volunteer Survey Supplement, will take between 20 and 30 minutes to complete and only complete surveys will be considered valid. They realize that this is a lot of time to commit to an online survey, but really want to make sure they are thorough because this has never been done before.
We hope you would be willing to help this first national effort to understand volunteering at zoos and aquariums. They would ideally like at least thirty volunteers from our institution to participate in this study, but we hope to get as many of you to participate as possible to ensure we are well represented.
Please paste the
URL link below into your internet browser to complete this survey before 6:00 am, October
22, 2007.
http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB226ZB7VYZWN
January 23, 2007
Four condors from the Oregon Zoo were
recently sent to The Peregrine Fund's World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise,
Idaho, for preparation leading to release in the wild in Arizona. Among these
birds is Tatoosh (No. 367), born in April 2005, the second condor to be hatched
in Oregon in more than a century. Our first hatched condor is already flying
free, doing well, and has struck up a relationship with an "older
woman" who is leading him astray (off the reserve).
January 8, 2007
Oregon
Zoo...
a record number of ZooLights visitors helped the zoo surpass its previous
milestone. From Nov. 25 to Dec. 31, attendance for ZooLights alone reached
130,603. This trumped the previous year's ZooLights attendance by 44,849
visitors. Visitors for the year
totalled 1,447,116, the highest attendance in the zoo's 120-year history.
November 7, 2006
Oklahoma
City Zoo looses Eileen
Hoskins, longtime docent and AZAD member. Many knew her as the Gorilla Lady,
she was an institution at the zoo and in her prime visited zoo's throughout the
US and even internationally following the ancestry of our gorilla
troops. A few months back the Zoo Friends organization ran a story on Eileen, fortunately she was able to enjoy this
article and was very proud of her service to the zoo.
Elephants grow reflective in
zoo
Elephants can recognize their reflection, placing them in an elite group of
self-aware animals that includes humans, apes and dolphins.
Scientists made the
discovery after setting up a mirror in front of three female elephants at Bronx
Zoo in New York. The animals used it to watch themselves eat and used their
trunks to examine inside their
mouths. One repeatedly touched an X painted on her forehead with her trunk. http://www.timesonl
Estates
leave Columbus Zoo $4.2 million
Columbus,
Ohio, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium's endowment fund boosted
its bottom line by more than $4 million thanks to two bequests.
Zoo officials
said they waited to announce the gifts, made in 2003 and 2004, until all legal details
of the estates were settled, the Columbus Dispatch said.
Officials
said the donations -- $2 million and $2.2 million -- are two of the largest
bequests in the zoo's history and came as a surprise, the Dispatch said. The
zoo's development department had not worked with the estates, learning of the
gifts through letters from the estates' attorneys.
Officials
said the gifts will go into an endowment used to fund special education and
conservation projects, and to buy animals, the Dispatch said.
Bouncing baby
boy, elephant that is at the Houston Zoo. He arrived on October 1,2006, at a record
setting weight of 384 lbs. Check here
for current information on the baby and to vote for his name. Read more
August 30, 2006
August is the
month for Babies
The
Saint Louis Zoo welcomed a
bouncing baby elephant August 2. It’s A
Girl! After two weeks of voting with
over 20,000 votes her name is Mahila. Read
more
The Houston
Zoo announces the birth of a baby girl giraffe on August 10. She made her
debut at 3:50 pm that afternoon. Votes
are still being taken to help decide her name.
Read
more
Houston Zoo will be
hosting ZACC
Conference
Houston,
Texas, the nation’s fourth largest city and a leader in business, entertainment
and the arts, will be the host city for the next Zoos and Aquariums
Committing to Conservation (ZACC) Conference, scheduled for January 26-31, 2007.
June 16, 2006
The Oregon
Zoo has a new level of volunteer. The program started last summer and
was so successful that we are doing it again this year. Our butterfly
house reopened last year and we need to have several people on duty all the
time. It was more than our ZooGuides could handle along with their other
responsibilities. The new level is made up of temporary volunteers who
get about 10 hours of training and work only the butterfly house, the lorikeet
exhibit, and certain positions during concerts. We call them Zoo
Ambassadors. Last year several of them went on to take the full ZooGuide
training in the fall.
Submitted by Gloria Koch,
Oregon ZooGuide
Meerkats on Animal
Planet
Follow the dramatic social life of the Whiskers
family in this 13-part series, airing Fridays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Animal
Planet. Check the Animal Planet web site for more information, meet the
family, games, etc., all about meerkats.
March 20, 2006
Detroit Zoo Opens Zoofari Gift ShopSubmitted by Ellen Kulie, Docent
A brand-new 2,400-square-foot animal-themed market is opening at the DetroitZoo on Wednesday. Visitors will find food items such as fudge which will beprepared in the store, muffins, take-out salads, sandwiches, and specialtycoffees. Merchandise will include jackets, T-shirts, stuffed animals, masksand musical instruments. There will be an education and family center, withanimal-themed books, interactive toys, games and puzzles.
February
25, 2006
Research Collaborative for
Conservation: Zoos and Universities
Working Together
Engaging
and Empowering Local communities in Conservation
Dr.
Daniel Rubenstein of Princeton University
AAAS Annual
Meeting, St. Louis, Missouri, 17 February 2006
- The Grevy’s zebra is one of the
most endangered members of the horse family in the world. Dr. Daniel Rubenstein of Princeton University
reported at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science (AAAS) that population numbers for Grevy’s in their home range of
Kenya and Ethiopia have plummeted from 15,000 to 2,000 animals. To read more click here.
January
28, 2006
THE ZOO
by Karen Sutton
The Docent Council of The ZOO and
Botanical Gardens of Northwest Florida, located in Gulf Breeze, Florida has
elected new officers for 2006. They are Dr. Phil Heise, President; Carol
Samuels, Vice-President; Lisa Ann Edge, Secretary; and Jerry Ellis, Treasurer.
Notice we have a new name, again.
We had an excellent Christmas
fundraiser this past year. In October one of our docents got the bright idea of
knitting scarves. There were about 10 docents that knew how to knit so we
bought supplies and started knitting. By the time our ZOO lights started we had
quite a supply and several orders waiting to be filled. We knitted 216 scarves
and near the end we used left over yarn and made some ear warmers. We sold the
scarves for a minimum donation of $15.00 and the ear warmers for a minimum
donation of $5.00. We profited over $2800.00 to use toward helping our animals
at the zoo.
We recently opened our Large Snake
Pavilion. It has been a big hit especially on the weekends when the docents get
some of them out for the public to see and touch. Speedbump is one of our
favorites. She is approximately 16’ long, over 21” around and weights in excess
of 150 lbs. She is a Burmese Python that was hand raised. We had one docent,
Jerry Ellis, who donated well over 100 hours working on the pavilion for the
large snakes that our director, Doug Kemper, dedicated one exhibit, “Bonita”, a
reticulated python in his honor.
We are also in the process of building
Wild Florida. We have our black bears, coyotes, and the gray fox exhibit was
opened a couple of weeks ago. The raccoon exhibit is next.
Several of our docents have sponsored
animals/ exhibits over the past year. Tim and Karen Sutton sponsored Dragon
World with “Ivan” the Komodo Dragon as the star attraction. They also sponsored
“Little Bob”, one of our Bobcats. The Docent Council sponsored “Tank”, our
Eurasian Lynx. Ten individual docents went together and sponsored the Coyote
exhibit for “Luna” and “Sasha.”
January
25, 2006
Zoos and Aquariums Committing to Conservation
January 26-31 2007 Houston, Texas
Hosted by the Houston Zoo
ZACC is a bi-annual event that promotes the role of zoos and aquariums in supporting conservation activities worldwide, both at their institutions and in the field. Conference participants include representatives from zoological institutions, international conservation organizations, local non-governmental organizations, government agencies, funding agencies and, most importantly, field biologists and conservationists. Bringing together individuals from different countries and disciplines, ZACC conferences help to build a stronger and more effective global network for wildlife and habitat conservation, and to establish direct links to zoos, aquariums, and their constituencies.
For more information you may contact zacc@houstonzoo.org or phone 713-533-6745
Pete Riger
Field Conservation Program Manager
Houston Zoo
1513 N. MacGregor
Houston, TX 77030
713-533-6745
priger@houstonzoo.org
January
23, 2006
Louisville Zoo Docent Breaks
the Record
By
Kathy Nuss (Louisville Zoo Docents) and Marcelle Gianelloni (Curator of
Education)
We
all know that docents are the “backbones” of our education departments
dedicating many hours as volunteer teachers.
The Louisville Zoo is pleased to announce that a record has been
accomplished this winter with Janie Glass being the first docent to volunteer a
total of 8,000 hours.
Janie
has been a docent “extraordinaire” since becoming a docent in 1989. She has
served on the docent executive board as Treasurer (2 year term), as Secretary
(two year term), taught classes to school groups (her favorite
classes
have been “Living Dinosaurs”, “Reptiles and Amphibians”, and “Kentucky
Animals”) and has helped with many wetlands tours. She has also been the historian for the group
researching and updating records of past docents going back to 1975 and
recording the current docent monthly hours. A tedious endeavor! To add to her long list of volunteer
activities, she enjoys outreaches going out to nursing homes, hospitals, day
care centers, and schools bringing a variety of animals from opossums to
tenrecs! Janie can also be found
interpreting in the HerpAquarium where she is sure to point out the
Sheltopusik!
Janie
Glass has been a truly dedicated volunteer helping our Zoo with its mission “to
better the bond between people and the planet.”
Congratulations!
January 11, 2006
Mudpuppy Palooza at the Belle Isle
Nature Zoo
On January 15, 2006, Belle Isle Nature Zoo
will hold their first annual Mudpuppy festival, Mudpuppy Palooza. With games and fun for all ages. Celebrating
Michigan’s very own Giant Salamander. Events will include: Mudpuppy poster
contest, Mudpuppy face painting, name the Nature Zoo’s Mudpuppy contest, be a
Mudpuppy, educational programs about Mudpuppies and salamanders, and much more.
November 10, 2005
Babies, babies, babies.
Zoo Atlanta has had a baby boom in
their gorilla troup. Ksss had twins on Nov 1
.
September 9, 2005
For
information on Zoos and Aquariums affected by Hurricane Katrina click on this
link http://www.AZA.org or you can click on http://www.aza.org/Newsroom/hurricaneupdate/
which has a list of many of the AZAD member zoos along the Gulf Coast and how
they are doing now.
July 13, 2005
Test-tube apes
Zoo's Sumatran orangutans get assist with reproduction
Zoo Atlanta officials will know in a week or so whether the zoo's critically endangered Sumatran orangutans — Biji or Hati, or maybe even both — are with ape.
If so, it'll be a "very big deal," the first time one of the great apes has become pregnant through in vitro fertilization, said Dr. Hilton Kort, co-founder of Reproductive Biology Associates in Atlanta, a pioneer and leader in the development and refinement of clinical procedures that enhance pregnancy outcomes in people.
Read
more about this at this link http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/0705/13apebirth.html
Oregon
zoo Welcomes third Asian Bull Elephant
The
Oregon Zoo welcomed a third Asian elephant bull this month. Tusko weighs
in at 13, 500 pounds and is 33 years old. He joins Packy, who varies
between 14,000 and 12,000 pounds and is 43 years old, and Rama, Packy's son,
who at age 22 weighs a mere 8,200 pounds.
The Oregon Zoo plans to breed Tusko to their 22-year-old female,
7,760-poundSung-Surin, who has not yet produced a calf. Tusko has sired 3
calves to date.
July 10, 2005
Giant Panda Baby Born at National ZooZoo's Pandas Produce First Cub, High Hopes By D'Vera Cohn, Washington Post The National Zoo's panda Mei Xiang gave birth yesterday to a squealing, squirming cub the size of a stick of butter, and elated zookeepers said she is giving it the tender care that befits its status as one of the world's most endangered animals. Even as they rejoiced in their first panda birth after years of effort, zoo officials cautioned that the coming days would be critical to the cub's survival. They praised the mothering skills of Mei Xiang, who was holding a rubber toy at the moment of birth and at first seemed surprised by her squawking cub. But she quickly gave it her full attention. "She looked kind of startled for all of about two minutes, and then she picked the cub up," said Lisa M. Stevens, associate curator for pandas and primates. "She picked it right up and began cuddling and cradling it. The cub responded immediately and settled in." It might be weeks before keepers can get close enough to learn the cub's sex, because the mother will hold it close and the keepers will not intervene unless something goes wrong. A photo released by the zoo shows thenewborn -- which weighs perhaps a quarter of a pound compared with its mother's 250 -- resting on Mei Xiang's arm in an indoor den at the Panda House as staff and volunteers watch via closed-circuit cameras in a nearby room. The road to panda motherhood has been a three-decade cycle for the National Zoo marked by many hopeful springs and sad summers. The zoo's previous pair of pandas had five cubs during the 1980s, but none lived more than a few days. From the moment Mei Xiang and Tian Tian arrived from China in 2000, they have been celebrities and the subject of speculation about how soon they would add a cub to the tiny population of giant pandas worldwide. The Panda House will be closed for at least three months to avoid disturbing mother and baby, zoo officials said, but the public will be able to monitor them on round-the-clock webcams. The outdoor panda yard willremain open, and zoo visitors will be able to see Tian Tian when he is outside, as he was for much of yesterday. Mei Xiang was artificially inseminated March 11. She had recently been acting like a panda mother-to-be -- sleeping much of the day, eating little, building a bamboo nest in her den and cradling apples. Hormone tests showed that she could be pregnant, and volunteers with Friends of the National Zoo began a 24-hour watch last month. But pandas often have false pregnancies. Zoo veterinarians hoped to capture a pregnancy on a sonogram, but the panda had not sat still for one since June 20. It was about 1 a.m. yesterday when volunteer Susan Hughes, watching a monitor, noticed that Mei Xiang seemed restless and unable to settle down. The animal was licking herself, grunting and honking. Hughes had seen videos of panda births and thought those were signs of labor, so she called Stevens, who asked longtime keeper Brenda Morgan to come in. Hughes, who has been on panda watches since the 1980s, was so busy taking notes as part of her volunteer duty that she missed the birth. She heard the young panda's squeals, she said, and then became so excited that she couldn't write anymore. It was 3:41 a.m. "There's a cub! There's a cub!" Morgan exclaimed to Stevens over the phone. Both are veteran zoo employees who were on the delegation that went to China to bring the pandas to Washington. "She's doing a great job at being a mom," an exhausted Morgan said as she left the Panda House about 1 p.m. "She's cuddling the baby. If it's fussy, she repositions it. "She's very bright," Morgan added. "First babies are dicey. She's paying close attention. I'm happy for her." Morgan described the cub as "very vocal and fussy" -- like a newborn baby. "That means it's doing well, too." The cub will not be named until it is 100 days old, a Chinese tradition. Under the zoo's 10-year, $10 million loan agreement with China, the cub will be sent there when it is 2 years old. Stevens said cubs generally stay with their mothers for 18 months. The zoo's attempts to breed its first pair of giant pandas, a gift from the Chinese government to President Richard M. Nixon in 1972, were marked by repeated heartbreak. After a decade of false starts, Ling-Ling produced a cub in 1983, which died of pneumonia three hours later. She had a stillborn cub in 1984. In 1987, she bore twins; one died immediately, and the other died of an infection four days later. Her last cub died of pneumonia 23 hours after birth in 1989. Ling-Ling died in 1992, and the male, Hsing-Hsing, died in 1999. Suzan Murray, the zoo's chief veterinarian, said that Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing were older when they began reproducing and that the female had chronic urinary tract infections that put her offspring at risk. But, sheadded, "The first couple of weeks are a tense time, and we'll be monitoring [Mei Xiang] very closely." Mei Xiang, whose name means "beautiful fragrance," is 6. Tian Tian, whose name means "more and more," is 7. Pandas can reproduce from about 4 years old until about 20. Tian Tian began trying in 2002, but Mei Xiang fled up a tree. The pair mated briefly in 2003 without result. They tried last year, after which Mei Xiang was vaginally inseminated and had a false pregnancy. This year, afterthe pair tried to mate several times but failed, a zoo reproductive scientist injected Tian Tian's sperm directly into the female's uterus, a technique that zoo officials say has a 55 percent success rate. Panda gestation periods range between 90 and 185 days; Mei Xiang's was 120 days. Only about 1,600 giant pandas remain in China's bamboo forests, where they are endangered by poachers and by encroaching development. But pandas also are fussy breeders. The female is in heat only two or three days a year. In zoos, detecting a pregnancy is difficult, although experts hope that eventually a combination of behavior monitoring, hormone tests and other technology can improve the odds. Only three other zoos in the United States exhibit giant pandas -- those in Atlanta, Memphis and San Diego. The San Diego Zoo has had two successful births. The National Zoo's happy news comes as the animal park emerges from a troubled era in which its accreditation was on provisional status for a year before being restored, a National Academy of Sciences report criticized its management, and its director, Lucy H. Spelman, resigned. Now, in addition to the panda birth, the zoo is drawing crowds to see five cheetah cubs, will open a new panda area with double the outdoor space next year and is undergoing a 10-year, multimillion-dollar renovation. "Is it okay if I skip?" Stevens asked as she walked toward the microphones at the zoo's morning news conference to announce the birth. "We've been waiting so long for another cub, you wonder if it is real," she said. "We're thrilled and a little scared because we want it to go perfectly." Staff writer Yolanda Woodlee contributed to this report. For more about the new cub and other panda information, go to http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas.
June
13, 2005
Seneca Park Zoo Docent quoted.
Positively
Pittsford still a plus
Despite
rain forcing some to stay home, many turn out for fun
Sarah
K. Winn
Staff writer
PITTSFORD — With children
and his niece, John Sidou, 38, of Pittsford, climbed the stairs of the
oversized slide, clutching a burlap sack. Just a few seconds later, he was down
at the bottom, smiling.
"I enjoy doing it with my kids
and my niece," Sidou said of his slide ride. "It's fantastic to get
the family out together."
Even though rain may have reduced the crowds on Sunday, Positively Pittsford, a
free, family-oriented festival on Main Street, featured games, food, local
merchants and music.
The slide and face painting were a hit
with Sidou's family.
Sidou's niece, Elisa Bousdas, 9, likes the slide for obvious reasons.
"Because it goes really fast and they are really long," Elisa said.
His daughter, Soula, 9, and Elisa had
matching green snakes painted across the bridges of their noses.
"I got the same thing because we are supposed to be twins," Elisa
said.
Younger sister Melina Sidou, 8, said she went down the slide "probably 10 times." Niko Sidou, 6, is hoping to get a green snake like his sister and cousin, but he wants it on his hand.
While some enjoyed the rides and face
painting, Mad Science of Rochester and the Wegmans Zoo Mobile also drew sizable
crowds.
Noah Meyers, 6, of Pittsford, watched as a beaker bubbled over after dry ice
had been added.
"When you breathe in," Noah
said, "you breathe in oxygen. And you breathe out carbon dioxide."
Minutes later, he was learning about Isaac Newton.
Noah's father, Steven Meyers, said Mad Science is his son's favorite part of
these types of events.
Lisa, a 10-year-old three-banded armadillo, ran around in her fenced area at the Seneca Park Zoo's Zoo Mobile. A giant African millipede and Amir, a bearded dragon, joined her.
"You can't stress education and
conservation too much," said Jeanne Tankersley, a zoo docent.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050613/NEWS01/506130330/1002/NEWS
March
8, 2005
Tama Lays First Condor Egg of 2005!
By Gloria Koch, Oregon Zoo.
Tama, one of our female condors (last year's egg/chick
producer), has again laid the first egg of the season. The egg was first
seen by keepers February 19. This time around Mandan, Tama's mate, is playing
the proper Papa role, exchanging incubating duties with Tama. Keepers had
some tense moments until Mandan demonstrated that he would accept his fatherly
responsibilities this time or again play soccer with the egg.
The egg has been candled and declared fertile. Therefore, the first
Oregon Zoo chick should hatch about April 19-21, several weeks ahead of last
year.
* * * * * *
I know this is small potatoes compared to Los Angeles, San
Diego, and the Bird of Prey Center in Boise but it is very exciting for
us. And to think that last years chicks are learning already to be free!
Our little girl (not so little any more) is going to be sent to a pre-release
pen in Mexico from the Los Angeles facility which puppet raised her after she
was declared "fragile" while still in the egg.
March
4, 2005
First Oregon
Condor Chick Leaves Town!
By Gloria Koch, Oregon Zoo.
Number 340, male, the first California condor chick hatched
in Oregon in over 100 years, left Portland by plane March 2 for Pinnacles National
Monument where he will learn about being a wild condor before being released
into the wild later this summer.
Number 340 has been showing typical signs of breaking the apron strings and
will be sent to "prep school" with 6 other juvenile condors from the
3 other breeding facilities, where they will learn from a 13-year-old condor
mentor bird who will, among other things, teach them about condor social
hierarchy. Call it a special kind of survival school. After
graduation, #340 will be released in an area over the California Gabilan
Mountains near Salinas in Central California.
The final dollars have been raised to complete the breeding facility and we
will soon see a new bird joining the Condor Creek crew. Pismo, a
21-year-old female, will be our own mentor bird who will conduct classes in our
own pre-release aviary which should be completed this summer. Our future
juvenile chicks will stay at Condor Creek until they are ready to be released
directly into the wild.
The zoo's dream of condors flying free in Oregon, part of their historic range,
may come true but only after sustainable populations are established in
California and Arizona.
P.S. Five Humboldt penguin eggs laid already this year as of March
1. Guess being TV stars really encouraged them!
January 6, 2005
The Ultimate Zoo series premieres Friday night Jan 07 at 8 pm. EST They spent some time as the Detroit Zoo this summer filming in their Arctic Ring of Life exhibit. http://animal.discovery.com/ Click on the "Shows A-Z" link on the left, then the U across the top, then Ultimate Zoo, to get to the schedule for local times.
Growing
Up Penguin It’s nesting
season for the Humboldt penguins at the Oregon Zoo ...and eggs abound. Join
zookeepers Shawn and Rick as they help an endangered penguin chick begin her
incredible journey into adulthood. (filmed last year) Animal Planet,
January 20 at 12:00 p.m.PST (Check your local listings for correct time)
News from the Penguinarium is that our gals and guys are
already starting to breed...a whole month early! Guess they like being
stars. Submitted by Gloria Koch
October 11, 2004
The Birmingham Zoo announced that a
team of veterinary and human physicians and surgeons successfully installed the
first cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) device in a gorilla. Read more about it at http://www.birminghamzoo.com/
The following items
were gathered by Ellen Kuliee from the newsletters she receives from the member
organizations. Please feel free to email
information of what is happening at your Institution to Webmaster@AZADocent.org so we can
share it here on the website.
The Woodland
Park Zoo will host the Northwest Docent and Volunteer Association
Conference in 2007. Great job! Volunteers will plan and run the conference,
with staff support. Ramblings, the
Newsletter for Woodland Park Zoo Volunteers, October 2004.
Pittsburgh Zoo
and PPG Aquarium docents are planning a craft fair in November. Artists, knitters, sewers and other crafters
will participate. Bakers and cooks will
contribute treats. Docent Doings,
Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, October 2004.
Seneca Park Zoo
docents continue to support conservation projects in Madagascar. They held a successful Madagascar Fete. Through their efforts, they raised money for
the International Conservation of Tropical Environments, and the Madagascar
Fauna Group. They also provided funds
for a researcher to purchase 100 microchips for use in tracking mouse lemurs in
Ranomafana Park. Seneca Park Zoo
Society Docent Newsletter, October 2004.
Denver Zoo
volunteers have a book club. They
discussed “The Secret Life of Bees” in September and “The Dogs of Babel” in
October. Books under consideration for
future months are: “The No. 1 Ladies’
Detective Agency,” “The Magic Circle,” and “A Walk in the Woods.”
Volunteer Voice, the Monthly Newsletter of,
by and for the Volunteers of the Denver Zoological Foundation, October 2004.
Akron Zoo
education curator Candace Bates thanked volunteers, stating: “Your commitment to volunteer your time to
secure the future of the Akron Zoo is an essential part of the work that all
AZA institutions do-the work of improving the future for our children and for
wildlife.” Akron Zoo,
EdZoocation Information, October 2004.
Cabrillo Marine
Aquarium welcomed seven prospective volunteers in
their September docent class by treating them to a potluck lunch. What a great tradition!
Fins & Tales, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
Volunteers Newsletter, September 2004.
October 1, 2004
Hurricane Ivan Slams Into The Gulf Coast
By Tim Sutton and
Doug Kemper
September 15th
& 16th hurricane Ivan slammed into northwest Florida and southern
Alabama. In the direct path of the
hurricane was The ZOO located in Gulf Breeze Fl. Due to detailed planning and coordinated
efforts by the staff no major loss of animals occurred even though extensive
damage to foliage, trees, and some exhibits took place. The ZOO was temporarily closed and plans to
re-open to the local community during October. This is primarily due to the
hard work of staff, zookeepers, volunteers and teams from Lowry Park Zoo in
Tampa, Montgomery Zoo, Busch Garden in Tampa, and Disney Animal Kingdom in
Orlando. The docent council and zoo
staff would like to thank all those individuals and zoos that provided
assistance in the recovery effort.
May 20, 2004
Houston
Zoo bids Farewell to M’Kubwa
“Mac”, as the public knew him, was
51 years old and the only Eastern Lowland Gorilla in captivity in North
America. He had been at the Houston Zoo
since arriving from Oklahoma City Zoo in 1985.
http://www.houstonzoo.org/Index.asp?Page_ID=333