Phoenix Zoo Blog

By: Paige McNickle

The Hoof stock trail had been waiting for our littlest charge, Gidget the Kirk’s dik dik to deliver her first offspring for a couple of months.  We always worry a little more when it’s a first time mom.  Will she know what to do? Will the delivery go okay? Will Gidget be a good mother?

Well, on Thursday September 10, the wait was over! Gidget gave birth sometime that morning between 6 and 10 a.m. I was not working that morning but knew something exciting had happened as my phone started ringing off the hook with a fellow keep of mine announcing that Gidget had given birth and mother and calf looked well. At the Phoenix Zoo we let mother and calf bond for the first day before giving the calf a well baby exam. Yes, even animal neonates get well baby exams. We periodically check on mom and baby through out the day, but we don’t intervene unless there is a problem. We verify the calf is nursing and the mother is being attentive. As the primary zookeeper and the population manager of the North American population of Kirk’s and Guenther’s dik-dik, I was able to come in on my day off to assist with the neonate exam. The veterinarian arrived at the exhibit and we were off to collect the little bundle of joy.  When I open the door to our dik-dik holding yard it did not occur to me how small a little newborn really was. She was too cute for words and made me smile from ear to ear.  She was so tiny sitting there in the corner, about the size of a baby cottontail rabbit with longer legs and bigger ears.

I let Gidget know we would bring her baby back soon and I picked up 621 grams of ear, legs and adorable, and walked her to the veterinarian hospital that we have on zoo grounds. She was a healthy baby girl! We do neonate exams as fast as possible to create the least amount of stress possible.  She was so small I was afraid of breaking her – but she was comfortable and charmed me with her little nose, wiggling and smelling my scent. 

As soon as the veterinarian was done with the exam we immediately reunited mother and daughter back at the holding yard of the exhibit. The well baby exam is the only time we hold infants- we don’t bottle feed unless the mother isn’t taking care of a healthy baby, we don’t pick them up.  This policy helps any baby grow up, behave like a dik-dik and someday raise his or her own offspring with help.  If you pick up and handle the offspring the parents can become stressed and may stop taking care of their calf. 

Gidget was happy to see her new little bundle of joy and has been  a great mother so far, and takes great care of her daughter by showing her the ropes. In the three weeks since our little bundle was born, she has grown very fast. The staff and I wanted to eventually to introduce her to the rest of her exhibit mates, the Sulcatta tortoise, Kori bustards and Mhorr gazelle, but wanted to make sure it was the right time, for she is still delicate, and we wanted to ensure her safety. She made an easy transition to her new home on exhibit, and if you look carefully you will be able to spot the new baby, who is named Moon and her mom Gidget next time you visit the Zoo.

PHOENIX- After 3 long months, zookeeper Denise Wagner reunites with the next closest thing to family, the four Bornean orangutans at the Phoenix Zoo.

Denise Wagner, senior keeper of primates, has long suffered with a congenital hip issue, which resulted in taking a 3 month leave from her job following surgery. Wagner muses, “One of the most difficult decisions in deciding to have surgery was my time away from the orangutans and how it would impact not only me but them as well since it would appear that I had just left them. Consistency plays a big part in their lives. Thankfully I have great co-workers who stepped in to ensure that consistency with them was maintained. I was able to visit periodically following surgery but always from the front of the exhibit where the public stands. Initially they didn’t want to make eye contact with me. I’d seen this before when I’d gone on vacation but this was more intense as this was the longest I’d been gone from them in the 5 years I’ve worked with them and I wasn’t in a keeper area. I’m sure they were puzzled by that. There were times during my leave that I would get discouraged with my progress because initially I had not expected to be gone 3 months but maybe at most 6-8 weeks. That was difficult but whenever I would get down I would just think about what going back to work with the orangutans would mean to me and that allowed to work through so many things mentally. They really helped pull me through some plateaus in rehab.”

“Being a keeper is tough sometimes but especially working with apes like the orangutans,” said Wagner. “They are so intelligent and it requires a lot of trust between them and us. And you really form a bond with them. So many people think this job is just scooping poop but it’s so much more than that and it really is a 24/7 job and for some, like myself, a passion. You call me in the middle of the night or my day off and say, hey we need you to come in, I’m going to be there because they depend on us. I don’t shut off the caregiver mode when I drive out the back gate. None of the keepers do.”

Denise began working with the Bornean orangutans 5 ½ years ago. Since then she continues to gain a strong bond and a trust with the animals to ensure proper care.

“Working with orangutans takes a lot of patience but is very rewarding and I will admit sometimes frustrating as they can really play games with you,” said Wagner. “Trust is also essential as they need to participate in their care and we are sometimes asking them to do things that aren’t always pleasant.”

For example, Denise has a routine where all the orangutans begin their day with daily supplements and medications. Each orangutan is required to take their supplements and/or medications and consume them in front of her to ensure they are actually taking them and some of the medications do taste nasty. When they do, they get rewarded with a piece of fruit. They are also being trained to insert their arms in a blood sleeve (a PVC tube with an area cut out for access to the animal’s arm). The device is used when keepers need to draw blood for medical reasons. The tube protects the keeper from being grabbed by the orangutan and anesthesia is not necessary which reduces the stress on both. All of this is done with positive reinforcement so that it is always the animal’s choice whether to participate or not and if they perform a behavior correctly they get a reward. If they don’t, nothing happens.  

“They do not get their blood drawn on a daily basis, but it’s good practice for when we do need it.”

The Phoenix Zoo is home to an entire orangutan family. In the wild, orangutans are solitary animals, but at the Zoo, mom Bess, dad Michael, daughter Kasih, and even grandma Duchess share a habitat together. Orangutans have been a part of the Phoenix Zoo since it opened in 1962, where Duchess made her public debut at the age of two.

Fast Facts About Orangutans

«     Orangutans are large apes that live in southeast Asia (on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra) and mostly live in trees (arboreal)

«     The word orangutan means “man of the forest” in the Malay language.

«     Adult males have large cheek pads called flanges (which get larger as the ape ages).

«     Orangutans are omnivores (they eat both plants and animals) but are mostly herbivorous (plants comprise most of their diet with fruit being the major component in the wild).

«     Orangutans are very intelligent. They have been known to use objects as tools; for example, they use leaves as umbrellas to keep the rain from getting them wet. They also use leaves as cups to help them drink water.

«     Each evening, orangutans construct a “nest” in the tree branches for the night in which they will curl up and sleep.

«     Orangutans live about 50 years in captivity; their life span in the wild is only 30-45 years (like most animals, they live longer in captivity).

«     Orangutan habitats are decreasing rapidly mostly due to deforestation and the harvest of palm oil and chances are they will become extinct in the wild within the next 5-10 years if we do not stem the loss of habitat.

You can find out more about how to protect orangutans by visiting www.phoenixzoo.org.

It was just Baxter, the Arizona Diamondbacks mascot! He came to visit and videotape his day at the Zoo that will be used in the pre-show for the Arizona Diamondback Field Trip Days….fun filled field trips for student in 1st-6th grade in September. The Phoenix Zoo is thrilled to partner with the D’backs for a couple of days full of fun and a little bit of education too! So watch out for his awesome video for those of you attending Field Trip Days in September!

Wow, what a morning. Today I had the privilege of witnessing a very colorful way to view our animals, LITERALLY! Go IR, Thermal Imaging Company was kind enough to drive all the way from Tucson on their weekend off, and donate their time to take some amazing pictures of our animals using thermal imaging.

Before I go any further I just want to point out that I am not a vet or a keeper, just a public relations guru, and so I apologize if my explanation is not as scientific as you might find from someone who has more insight, but thought you may find it interesting to read from my perspective!

According to Wikipedia (yes, sorry guys I had to resort to the internet) infrared imaging is a type of infrared imaging science where thermography cameras detect radiation in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum and produce images of that radiation, called thermograms. Since infrared radiation is emitted by all objects based on their temperatures, according to the black body radiation law thermography makes it possible to “see” one’s environment with or without visible illumination.

Thermal imaging helps our veterinary staff as well as our zoo keepers detect areas where injuries or inflammation occurs that we may not pick up with the naked eye. Injuries, inflammation, or even pressure points, like standing on your feet will produce heat, and the thermal imaging detects the levels of heat by color. The blues, greens and purples reflecting lower temperatures and the yellows, oranges, reds and white reflecting higher temperatures.

Today the thermographer took a look at all three of our elephants, as well as our hornbill. They checked out their legs and feet, their tails and ears, and even on their backs. It was a great way to confirm the areas of suspicion, and the areas that they thought may have been an issue, but turned out not to be.

This project would have cost the zoo thousands of dollars and we are very grateful for them to have come out to take these pictures. We hope to continue to use their donated time for future energy –audits!

Below are a few explanations of the pictures:

 First is a normal elephant foot.  The white color indicates the area of highest heat (which normally is around the cuticle of the nail) and the blue is the coolest area.

Second  is showing a hot spot that was on Indu’s hind limb.  (I’m pointing at it in the picture).  This was shot with a different color palette, but same basic principle.  We couldn’t see anything until we got very close and noticed a small superficial abrasion that was present in this spot.  The camera was sensitive enough to pick up the inflammation even though we could barely see it. 

And lastly, one of our hornbills.  You can see how the warmest area on the bird is actually it’s face and it’s casque.  This lends weight to the idea that the bill / casque is used to help dissipate heat in these species.

Behavioral Enrichment: by Devorah Young

A MasterCard Story - Our Chacoan Peccaries/Tagua are somewhat older and not very active. So we have been working with the Tagua on shift training, manipulation of toys, and overall socialization with people since they are a bit standoffish. What we realized with the temperatures raising is that sometimes the simplest enrichment is the most effective. We started giving the Tagua wallows about 2-3 weeks ago when the temps started climbing past 90 degrees. To our amazement, they all started using the wallows. They even used the wallows while we were around (a rare behavior indeed) and more importantly, their energy levels increased. What seemed a simple idea became one of the best enriching items we’ve given them. Cost of shovel: $20.00; Cost of labor: a lil’ sweat and tears to dig the wallows; watching our aging Tagua act young again: Priceless.

On Saturday May 2nd and Sunday May 3rd we will be celebrating our Andean Bears: Will and Rio during our annual bear awareness event Bear Bonanza!

Andean Bears live in the cloud forests of the Andes Mountains in South America. Although they live at some high elevations they are a tropical bear species and move to lower elevations as it gets cooler so they don’t hibernate.

Formerly called Spectacle Bears, most Andean Bears have cream-colored markings on their face, neck and chest, traditionally it was thought that these markings were primarily around the eyes making it look like the bears were wearing glasses or spectacles. But not all Andean Bears have these “glasses” so their name was changed officially to Andean Bears to reflect their home range in the Andes Mountains.

Here at the Phoenix Zoo, our bears live in an exhibit called the Forest of Uco. This innovative exhibit was completed in 1997 and is still considered one of the best bear exhibits in zoos throughout the world. What makes the Forest of Uco so special is that it was built with the behavioral needs of the bears in mind. The exhibit is almost an acre in size and has lots of places the bears can hide for an afternoon nap. Also running through their exhibit is a waterfall-fed stream that also has two pools that are just right for the bears to use as swimming holes to cool off on a hot day.

Our bears are very smart when it comes to using the weather to their advantage. On cool days they like to nap out in the sun and warm up. On hot days they love to play in the water, play with their ice treats, or rest under the shade of the bushes that grow in their exhibit. Typically on a hot day they are most active either early in the morning or late in the afternoon. I think we could all learn a thing or two from the bears about how to beat Arizona’s heat!

Andean Bears are one of 8 species of bears throughout the world. The others include American Black Bear, Asiatic Black Bear, Brown Bear, Panda, Polar Bear, Sloth Bear, and Sun Bear. Bears around the world are becoming more threatened as humans continue to destroy the bears’ habitat, kill the bears for various body parts, or human conflict with bears.

Although we don’t have Andean Bears living wild in Arizona, we do have their cousin, the American Black Bear. When you venture into the forests or mountains where black bears live remember these tips:

• Always hike in a group.
• Be respectful and give bears their space.
• Clean campsites keep bears and people safe.
• Don’t ever feed a bear.

Use an Alternative Search Engine Online and Support the Phoenix Zoo

Direct Link: goodsearch.com/?charityid=846818 

Here’s a new easy way to raise money for the Phoenix Zoo. Just start using Yahoo! powered GoodSearch.com as your search engine and they’ll donate a penny to your favorite cause every time you do a search!

In addition, do all of your shopping through their online shopping mall, GoodShop.com, where you can shop at more than 900 top online retailers and a percentage of your purchases will go to the charity or school of your choice. You pay the same price as you normally would, but a donation goes to your cause!

Make sure Phoenix Zoo is selected in the Who do you GoodSearch for box you can also just follow this direct link: www.goodsearch.com/?charityid=846818

It was an exciting day at the Phoenix Zoo as Hadiah, our new female Sumatran tiger, was debuted to the media.  Hadiah is a 2-year-old tiger from Seattle and she enjoys playing in her pond or with Jai’s (our male Sumatran tiger) favorite toy, the beer keg.

She is smaller and calmer than Jai and her markings are very different.

Although she is still getting used to her new home and new sounds, Hadiah was out front all morning for the media.  Guests can see Hadiah this weekend at the tiger exhibit along the Africa trail.

Click Here For Fast Facts on Sumatran Tigers

Do you want to adopt a Sumatran Tiger?
Become a Special Parent of the Zoo (SPOTZ) today! Click here dor details.

Nabongo and Bakari left for California today to join their bachelor herd at the San Diego Zoo. The two male Grevy’s zebras were born at the Phoenix Zoo last June and the public helped pick their names. Because the boys are reaching maturity, it is best to keep them separated from females.

Nabongo and Barkari are half brothers that share the same father, Punda. Punda had never successfully bred before coming to the Phoenix Zoo. Zebras are always bred based on recommendations from the Species Survival Plan.

Recommendations come from a committee of specialists that work to ensure a genetically diverse population of endangered species.

Grevy’s zebras are the largest zebras of zebra species. The wild population lives in Southern Ethiopia and Southeastern Kenya. The population is threatened by hunting and competition with domestic livestock.

Do you have any favorite memories of our zebras? Guests can still visit Punda, Afiya and Masika on the Africa Trail.

What does it take to ship out an animal? A lot of work! I recently helped ship out a male waterbuck, Bartleby, to the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro. The zoo decided this because our very old female had passed away and we didn’t want Bart to be by himself. The zoo had acquired Gerenuk and to make sure they had space we felt it was best to find Bart another home instead of trying to bring in more waterbuck. When you find out an animal is going to another zoo you figure out when they are going, where they are going, how they will be traveling and what as a keeper you need to do to make the entire process as stress free as possible. We knew waterbuck travel by trailer (usually a modified horse trailer). To get him onto the trailer we would need to build a transfer chute that goes from a barn stall to the trailer. We build them tall, with wood sides so if the animal panics they can’t run into anything or injure themselves. Our shipping chute is divided into 3 sections so after Bartleby walks past one door we can shut the door so he can’t go away from the trailer he has to go toward it. The plan is for the animal to walk calmly and we’ll patiently wait for them to go into the trailer.

Along with all the planning, I was asked to fill out the animal data transfer form. This form will tell Bart’s new keepers all about his likes and dislikes and favorite enrichment items. It is like an animals biography; the nutritionist filled out his diet information and the veterinarian provided us with Bartleby’s medical history.

We started conditioning “Bart” (as we keepers called him) to eat his food inside a giraffe crate in October. We wanted him used to walking into a box and eating and food is a great motivator and reward. This helped him get used to walking into a smaller area that way when he had to walk through the long chute to get on the trailer in would not be a stressful experience for him. Bart also needed a medical exam for the health certificate so he can travel across state lines. The veterinarians work with us keepers to schedule a time to anesthetize him so they can get blood and give him a full physical exam. We decided when the vets anesthetized Bart it would be a good time to move him the the barns at the bottom of the hill. The savanna barns are on top of the hill and large trailers have hard time backing up the steep hill. Bart was moved and had his check up two weeks before his departure date. Two days before his exam was his last day on the savanna, which was sad for us keepers but good because he was getting close to going to Asheboro and being with other waterbuck again. In the past, we have built a chute every time we ship an animal out. This year we were able to have a permanent shipping chute constructed.

This was very exciting. Keepers still had to construct part of it, we got to put up the wood for the sides and doors. Once the chute was constructed Bart was given sometime to explore the chute, to make the chute a good place keepers fed Bart his diet at different places in the chute. We slowly moved his food to the end of the chute. The day we shipped him out, the trailer came and we let Bart into the chute, Bart very calmly walked out and into the trailer. It took about twenty minutes. Five days later, Bartleby arrived in his new home safe and sound. After he goes through a thirty-day quarantine he will be introduced to his new herd.