San Diego Zoo Blogs

Nyack

Although the cubs are still sporting an identifying shaved patch of fur, it is getting much easier to tell them apart; I suspect we won’t need to shave them for much longer. Guests always ask how we tell the lions apart. This is a good question, but not one I can give an easy answer to. Some of the cubs are easy: Sarabi, for instance, is much darker than all of her siblings. But for others, I liken it to identical twins: if you have ever known a set of identical twins, I am sure you can relate! When you first met, you hoped they would be dressed differently so you could tell them apart, but as you got to know them, it became easier to tell who’s who even if they were in the same outfit.

Ingozi

We are making progress with the cubs’ training, and more often than not the cubs are doing what they are told. We are still working on a timely return to the “house” at the end of the day, and with a few exceptions, they are all falling into the routine. Our first training step is still getting them to know their names. All have adjusted well to their meat diet and are now receiving five pounds (2.3 kilograms) each day! Nursing has been steadily decreasing, which I am sure must be wonderful for their poor mothers. I sure wouldn’t want a 132-pound baby with huge teeth trying to nurse! In the wild, lion cubs would be weaned at six to eight months of age, and the eight-month mark is fast approaching.

Nyack

Nyack, our hand raised cub, is doing great. (Read Kym’s blog, New Cub Joins Lion Camp Pride.) Even though he is a month younger than his playmates, you would never be able to tell. He is not the smallest and gets along with all seven cubs. He is becoming quite the little lion and making all of his human “moms’ very happy. He made the transition to a protected contact environment (meaning we no longer share the same space with him) like a champ but still is the only cub to actually come up to the fence without being coaxed with food. He likes to be near his “moms,” but more and more he might just rather stay with the group.

Kamau, our only remaining lion from Mina’s first litter, is becoming quite the adult male lion! His mane is filling in nicely and he is now bigger than both females but still has a way to go before reaching his full size. Kamau is still waiting for his new home in Sacramento to be ready, and right now spends most every evening on exhibit.

Ingozi

Many guests are already looking to the future and are asking when our lions will breed again. While we are very fortunate to have had such great breeding success and as much as these cubs are a joy to us, the keepers, and to all of our guests, we will be giving Mina and Oshana a break from motherhood after this litter is grown. Following the Species Survival Plan’s recommendations, and due to our breeding success, we have implanted the females with a contraceptive device to prevent any pregnancies in the short term. This allows us to keep our pride intact and allows Izu to stay with his family until we can make an informed decision on whom and when we will breed any future females.

Kym Nelson is a senior keeper at the Wild Animal Park.

I will be observing the behavior of the three girls living together in order to find out who is the dominant sister, and then compare the girls’ hormone levels to see which sisters, if any, are cycling. This will tell us if suppression is occurring and if it is by the dominant female. Makena can then be compared to the other girls, since her hormone levels should be normal and she will be cycling regularly since she lives alone and has nothing to suppress her cycle. However, she does live near male cheetahs, so I’ll also be able to see if she starts to flirt with the boys because they are so close.

So who am I? My name is Megan Petersdorf, and I am joining the Behavioral Biology Division of the San Diego Zoo this summer as an intern. I am a fourth year biological anthropology student at University of California, San Diego. My past experience includes interning at the Oakland Zoo, where I developed enrichment for the primates, specifically the squirrel monkeys. I am very excited to be at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park this summer researching the female cheetahs’ behavior and hormones.

Before I dive into the first step of the project, the behavioral research, I need to make sure that I can tell each of the sisters apart! Makena lives alone, so I’m set with recognizing her. However, all three sisters on exhibit look very similar and it gets a bit tougher being able to spot the differences between them. Luckily I’ve been practicing and I think I’ve got it down. Once I explain the unique qualities they all have, I hope you will be able to visit the girls at the Park and tell them apart as well! Coloration and spots are the best places to start. Pombe has the densest pattern of spots, while Moyo and Etana’s spots look similar. Moyo and Etana also have similar coloring: they are a lighter shade of orange than Pombe. So now that we can spot Pombe by her spots, we just need to be able to tell Moyo and Etana apart. Here’s where the tail comes in: the end of Moyo’s tail is all brown, whereas Etana has another white stripe at the end of her tail. This all may sound confusing, but if you take the descriptions out when you look at them, you will catch on fast! Just remember: Pombe had dense spots, Moyo has the lightest coloration with dark end of tail, Etana has an extra stripe at the end of her tail.

Now that I can tell all the girls apart, I’m excited to finally begin taking behavioral data. Keep checking back throughout the summer for updates on my progress and to let me know if you visited the Wild Animal Park and could tell the girls apart!

Megan Petersdorf is a Bonner Summer Student Fellow in the San Diego Zoo’s Division of Behavioral Biology.

When Tiger River opened in 1988, Tom joined the team in that area. After six months in Tiger River (left), he returned to the Horticulture Department, joined the “Detail Crew” (now called Landscape Installation Maintenance Staff, or LIMS) and remains on that crew today. Over the years, Tom has become a highly valued member of the Horticulture team. Besides having an incredible breadth of experience and knowledge, he is also one of the hardest workers I know. From fine pruning to operating heavy equipment, Tom’s experience is indispensable when it comes to moving plants and trees to new locations, or in placing large landscape items like boulders or boxed trees into a garden.

Working at the Zoo for all these years has been a “phenomenal experience” Tom exclaims. He enjoys the creativity aspect. He relishes turning unremarkable landscapes into showcase gardens and working with nature to create something beautiful. While being interested in many types of plants, in particular Tom is drawn to the caudiciforms (plants with swollen bases), or anything unique, rare, or bizarre.

Mychael McNeeley is a lead gardener at the San Diego Zoo.

We started early again and released Kalluk and Tatqiq first onto the exhibit. As soon as they came out, they immediately noticed all the people stationed around the area and looked at us as if to say, “Okay, when is she coming out?” Again, these bears are smart and there’s no getting anything past them! After about five minutes, we released Chinook, who didn’t hesitate to approach for greetings. They were mostly directed at Tatqiq, but, as usual, Kalluk was right there to investigate what was going on.

Where as last time Tatqiq was hesitant at first and unsure of Chinook’s intentions, this was not obviously the case now. Almost immediately, Tatqiq was backing into the pool, enticing Chinook to follow. After a few head-bobs and peek-a-boos, Chinook obliged. Kalluk stood on the edge of the pool, watching the game before him and feeling a little left out. He decided not to wait for an invitation and plunged into the pool to join in the fun. Needless to say, what followed was several hours of entertainment!

There were periods of one on one, two on one, and everybody for themselves. They chased each other on land and reared up for wrestling. And then, in the afternoon, there were naps to be had by all. By the end of the day, Kalluk was sacked out in front of the exhibit, Tatqiq was curled up in her bed of palm and ginger browse, and Chinook was in the bedroom area grazing on her bone.

Just like before, we will continue with variable shifts and pull-offs as well as the separation of Chinook overnight, not just to help reestablish and strengthen our management, but also because Chinook still likes some alone time. But whether you’re visiting the San Diego Zoo or watching Polar Cam, your chances of seeing frolicking polar bears are pretty good!

Kelly Murphy is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

To date we have raised nearly $60,000 for Wolong, which will be a big help when they start to rebuild. Of course, we hope to raise much more in the future! Their plan is first to move most of the pandas and the Reserve staff to Ya’an, where temporary facilities for pandas and people will be built. They will not be able to rebuild the main panda center at Hetauping because expert geologists have determined that it is too dangerous a location. This makes me sad because the location was so beautiful—a steep narrow valley, carved out by the Pitiao River, surrounded by snow-capped mountains. But this is precisely why it is so dangerous. When another earthquake strikes, tons of rock and debris could bury the center, taking with it many more lives. The nearby village, Shawan, may also be too dangerously located to rebuild the administration headquarters. Most probably, only a few pandas will return to a small center in the Wolong Nature Reserve. The Wolong staff is searching for new, safe areas to rebuild.

Wolong will never be the same. I consider Wolong my second home, so now I know that I can’t go home again to Wolong. Although this brings me great sadness, I am happy to know that the energetic and dedicated staff at Wolong will go on, they will rebuild, and they will continue their world-class efforts to breed and conserve giant pandas. And, thanks to the support from so many of you, you can say that you helped make that happen.

Ron Swaisgood is the co-head of the San Diego Zoo’s Giant Panda Conservation Unit.

Every single animal that was in an exhibit on the mesa had to have a plan: getting the animal out, transporting it, and having a location ready to receive the animal. Since we did not have the space at the Zoo to deal with all of these displaced animals, some were sent to the Wild Animal Park, others to institutions around the United States, and some to our large hillside holding facilities that used to be called the goat turn-around at the Zoo.

Our team still cares for a great number of these animals off exhibit every day. To make space to accommodate some of these species, we connected three large hillside areas where the animals dominated the whole cul-de-sac of goat turn-around. At our highest point, we had over 45 animals made up of 7 different species in one large, open space. Included were scimitar-horned oryx; addaxes; barbary red deer; Bactrian wapiti; Soemmerring’s gazelles; Speke’s gazelles; and Cuvier’s gazelles.

When caring for such a large group of animals, it is important to really understand all of the dynamics of each species. They would disperse across several acres of hillside, each species defining its own territory. We would feed out according to the layout of the enclosure to ensure every animal was able to safely get to food and water. With all these dynamics, there was still a leader-elect of the entire area: the dominant male scimitar-horned oryx, a large, white antelope with long slender horns that start from the head and curve back toward his rear.

Every day, the main catch pen for the whole area was serviced by a keeper, which meant it was cleaned and had fresh food added. There is only one door from the enclosure to get in, so while the keeper would be in the catch pen making noise during cleaning, all of the animals would congregate around the door in anticipation of its opening. However, with 20 to 30 hungry animals standing around, who gets to go first? That is where the dominant oryx would make his case. He would always stand at the door when it was opened, but he would not go in. He would wait for the other five oryx to make their way up and get in safely. If another oryx was across the exhibit, the dominant male would call for it to come over and everyone would wait until the last one made its way into the catch. The dominant male would stand guard and not allow any of the other species in. It just took a simple nod of his horns, in the direction of any other brave attempt, to keep them away. After the last oryx went into the catch, he would follow. It then became a free-for-all for everyone else! It was an amazing sight to watch this organization and underlying hierarchical chain commence. That male looked after his group, and for that they were rewarded every day by getting to have the first pick of the food.

The dynamics have changed a little in the past few months because our oryx and addaxes were sent to Tunisia to be reintroduced into giant protected reserves. The San Diego Zoo acted as in intermediate quarantine holding facility for all of these animals that came from institutions around the world. They were held here until all of the proper medical tests were done and permits were arranged. All of the animals made it safely to Africa, where they now have an incredible amount of space where it will take that male much more time and energy to run the show, compared to hanging out by a door flinching his head. I wish him well!

Adam Ruble is a keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

Read Adam’s previous blog, Caring for Hoofed Animals…

These past weeks, as special tour groups visited Su Lin in the late mornings, they were frequently treated to a high-spirited, romping bear. We wondered if this was her way of entertaining herself in this quiet area, but this seems to be a pattern, as she gave our visitors on Wednesday quite a show on exhibit! We saw the tentative exploration, careful sniffing, and thorough investigation typical of pandas entering an area previously occupied by another bear, but as the morning progressed, it became just plain fun. Climbing, reaching for bamboo growing nearby, hanging upside down, running and rolling, and, yes, I do believe that she was playing to the crowd. We’ll keep watching this, but she is certainly still in the “playful young panda” stage.

It’s also a surprise to see how big she’s gotten. Nearly 156 pounds (71 kilograms), she’s grown visibly in the last few months. She’ll continue to grow until she’s four years old or so.

Baby Zhen Zhen is also in a more active stage. We’re seeing a lot more play instigation, bamboo eating, and “Bai Yun-bugging,” especially when Mom tries to nap. Interestingly, in contrast to her siblings, ZZ doesn’t appear to bother Bai much while she’s eating, and this smart little bear has learned to grab and climb, taking pieces of bamboo up into the trees or climbing structures out of Mom’s way—and line of sight!

With all the gals out in the viewing areas, it promises to be an exciting summer here at the Giant Panda Research Station. And “bear” in mind that we’ll be starting our longer Nighttime Zoo hours on June 28, which will mean longer daily hours for loyal panda-watchers to visit and enjoy the growing girls and their beautiful mother.

Ellie Rosenbaum is a panda narrator at the San Diego Zoo.

Bruce started working at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park before it opened in 1972. Within a couple of years, he transferred to the Zoo. Although many of our original “hort” staff started out in other departments, Bruce was actually hired by horticulture and has stayed for 35 years! He says he has always enjoyed working at the Zoo, but he likes it even more these days. He says the crew has become more professional over the years and Bruce notes that the people working in horticulture really want to be here.

Hawaiian Garden

Some of Bruce’s favorite things about the job are working with both the people and the plants. The people are “earthy” and the plants “pretty.” He loves the satisfaction of seeing the finished garden after having put so much work into it. He especially enjoys the section of the Zoo that runs from the Terrace Lagoon to koalas. This strip begins with the Oriental Garden, and then the path meanders through our New World cycads, African cycads, the first of three Hawaiian Gardens, and below that the Australian cycads. He loves to see some of the rare plants we have growing there “going bananas.” Some of the interesting things we have been able to participate in recently include assisting a local cycad expert hand pollinate one of our more rare cycads, Encephalartos munchii. Bruce likes seeing a stark and cold building or enclosure transformed into a beautiful, natural habitat by adding the right plants.

Cycad Encephalartos pterogonus

Bruce notes several changes over the years: The Zoo has gone from using mostly synthetic fertilizers to almost entirely natural ones. We have learned a lot about working with nature and soil to create landscape designs that are healthy for people and sustainable without using chemicals. We have gone from grid maps to GIS mapping. Irrigation has shifted from manual valves to state-of-the-art centralized computer controlled clocks (in process now). We are, according to Bruce, gardening smarter. He enjoys being on what he describes as the cutting edge of horticultural practices.

Working a physical job for 35 years could take its toll on the body. Bruce has some suggestions for longevity in a gardening career. Although many people would think that as a gardener one would get exercise enough, there are other kinds of exercise needed to keep in shape. Bruce goes home most days and does some stretching and cardio training. Keeping oneself limber and strong prevents a lot of injuries at work. Bruce must be doing something right. He’s been at it for three and a half decades and still keeps up with the younger workers. We are lucky to have Bruce around!

Mychael McNeeley is a lead gardener at the San Diego Zoo.

So this morning as I was watching them I saw poor little Seronga being chewed on and attacked by Kasane and some of the juveniles. She looked pretty bad and was curled up into a ball. Kasane didn’t look so hot either. She had probably been fighting with Ngami, who usually gets more aggressive as she gets closer to giving birth.

So along with taking the pups to the hospital for their first exams, final vaccinations, and tattoos for identification, we also took Kasane and Seronga to have their wounds checked out. Both of them will be on antibiotics for their bite wounds, which they take very well. The decision was made to take Kasane out of the group for now. Of course, usually this would be a permanent move since you really cannot reintroduce meerkats back once they have left. Kasane has always been the troublemaker and we didn’t want to risk her pups being attacked by Ngami or others in the mob.

Along with the saga of the adult females was catching up the juveniles for their vaccinations. They are all basically full-grown with full-grown teeth! When catching them, I use the “gauntlet” gloves. These are thick leather gloves that reach all the way to my elbows for protection. The meerkats were very squirmy and “bitey,” and I was glad to have those gloves protecting my skin!

It was an eventful day in our meerkat manor. It is always difficult when you have to separate animals, but it is for their own good in this case. Kasane will, I hope, have her pups in peace and be able to raise them. At some point we will probably make another group with her so she will have some company. One thing I can say about working with meerkats—it is never, ever boring!

Laura Weiner is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

We were very excited about this pilot program and we wanted to get people excited about conservation. To get their attention, we decorated an elaborate booth filled with cute orangutan photos and canvas art pieces made by our resident Bornean orangutan, Janey. People were naturally drawn to our booth. Once they approached, we talked about the palm oil industry and its direct effect on the ecology of many animals in Indonesia, specifically Bornean and Sumatran orangutans.

The large corporate logging industries are destroying the forests in Indonesia at a fast rate. According to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) reports, between the years 2000 and 2005, Indonesia had the second-most cleared tropical rain forest in the world. This diverse ecosystem is home to the only great ape that occurs outside of Africa, the orangutan. Other species include the Sumatran tiger, pygmy rhino, clouded leopards, and pygmy forest elephants.

Unfortunately, Indonesian rain forest is prime land for the world’s second-most produced crop oil in the world. The African oil palm Elaeis guineensis was introduced to Southeast Asia in the early 1600s. Roughly 90 percent of the palm oil produced comes from the Indonesian region. The problem comes into focus once we begin to see how unaware consumers contribute to this issue. Most Americans have no idea how many products in their home actually contain palm oil and palm-based products: detergents, soaps, cosmetics, and household products contain palm oil. One out of every five food items we buy at the grocery store, especially baked goods, contain palm oil. Other wording that is used in conjunction with palm oil is palmate, palm kernel, and even vegetable oil. There is little accountability from the large companies on where their palm oil is coming from. It’s cheap to produce, has a favorable taste for food items, and it’s a great preservative in many products.

Secondarily, the boom in biofuel as an alternative source of energy is using palm oil to run its machines. This low emission alternative comes with a high price as forests around the world are being destroyed at an alarming rate.

By becoming conscious consumers, we can have a huge positive impact on what goes on halfway around the world. Raising awareness and being able to pass this on was the message to the hundreds of people that came by our conservation booth. It was exhilarating and exhausting, but I enjoyed every second! On behalf of Orangutan Outreach, we collected over $2,000 in cash donations and another $2,000 in online adoptions. One hundred percent of the contributions went directly to benefit over 650 orphaned orangutans that lost their mothers due to the palm oil industry in Borneo.

Juan Fernandez is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

Watch our orangutans and siamangs daily on Ape Cam…