Please enjoy this letter from the President of the Jane Goodall Institue in Italy about our Behavioral Enrichment Manager, Hilda Tresz.

Dear reader,
I wish to tell you about the work done to improve the living conditions of ten chimpanzees hosted in the Egyptian zoos of Giza (Cairo), Alexandria and Fayoum. Fruitful and promising cooperative work has led to integrating three isolated chimps and grouping another seven. The integration/grouping operation was successfully conducted by Hilda Tresz in collaboration with the zoo staff. The cooperation and support of the Governmental Veterinary Authorities and of Giza/Central zoo management have been fundamental.

Most of you have heard of Hilda Tresz, Phoenix zoo and Jane Goodall Institute behavioural specialist who has been traveling during the last months between north and south America, the Middle East and North Africa; she gives her professional contribution to the work being carried out to integrate isolated chimps and create new groups in order to enrich their physical and behavioural life, sometimes this is ex-novo giving the chimps the possibility to have an intra-specific social life. The chimpanzee Meshmesh had not seen another chimp for more than 15 years. The work Hilda has done is a challenge to all of us, and you can imagine how proud we are for having contributed to the fulfilment of this goal. Personally, and on behalf of the Jane Goodall Institute of Italy, I also wish to thank Dina Zulficar for the excellent coordination work carried out during the many months of communication and preparation prior to integration, she never gave up despite difficulties but always encouraged the creation of new possibilities and ways to make this happen.

At this point I would love to go into philosophy (and the comical side too)… but it would be a bit long and Italianized, and you do not want to listen to my digressions on how cooperation can lead us all to a better world and how human dignity shows has its best expression in improving the lives of other living beings when they cannot manage it by themselves. Just please let me draw your attention to the fact that many people of different nationalities have contributed, as well as followed, to the achievement of this joint endeavour.

Thanks to all,
Daniela De Donno Mannini
Presidente
The Jane Goodall Institute Italia onlus

www.janegoodall-italia.org

Hilda Tresz with Dr. Osama Salim, Military General of Egypt

Camp Zoo 2011 was a HUGE success!

• More campers in 2011 than any of the last 5 years of Camp Zoo! Last summer we had 681 campers (it was a good summer!), and this summer we had 828 campers. That’s an 18% increase!
• An entire week of 7th/8th grade camp was filled by campers from Dateland, AZ who received Camp Zoo scholarships. They came as a school group and teachers had created a week long leadership camp based around the kids attending Camp Zoo.
• Dozens of up-close animal encounters and cool behind-the-scenes experiences (including new kinds of experiences – ex. orangutan, sting ray bay) and made possible by the wonderful folks in our Living Collections department.
• First summer with an online training component for camp instructors and specific training for working with children who have special needs (presented by an expert in the field with support from a local organization).
• First year in partnership with Banfield Pet Hospital – each week we had a veterinarian visit and present to a camp group along with a therapy dog that campers were able to interact with. This meant a fun guest speaker and give-aways for the campers and $$$ for the Zoo (because Banfield was a camp sponsor).
• Two pilot program camps for children with special needs … Sense of Wonder Camp for children with visual impairments and Wild Hearts Camp for children with orthopedic impairments. Both were extremely successful, enjoyed by campers, appreciated beyond our expectations by parents, and will hopefully be continued and expanded in summers to come.

Overall, the camp instructors and camp supervisor, Dean W, along with many others from around the zoo, made Camp Zoo 2011 our most successful year yet!

And a few more notes on our Sense of Wonder and Wild Hearts camps…. We learned so much in offering these camps for the first time as part of Camp Zoo. We strongly believe everything we learned will help us grow these programs into a successful camp program offering in future years.

No, we’re not breaking protocol by ignoring the “loose” animal … it’s just a realistic bronze statue!

Special thanks to Bert Castro (our CEO) for loaning out the bronze desert tortoise replica that has taken up temporary residence on his desk.

Along with stuffed animals and other biofacts it was great to watch campers with visual impairments explore all of the tortoise statue with their hands in order to create their own image of the whole animal before getting to touch the real tortoise on the shell. This picture made us all laugh because it looks like the metal tortoise is feeling a bit abandoned and left out of the party once we had moved onto touching the real deal, Flippy, the desert tortoise.

We were prepared to offer an amazing experience to campers – one that would be equally rewarding in that “feel good” way for instructors facilitating the program.

Sense of Wonder Camp participants and instructors having a fun day at camp!

However, we were still ridiculously surprised at how awesome of anexperience this was for us as zoo staff and as a way for us to act as a resource for the community. The outpouring of thanks and smiles was a true tear-jerker. In fact, we couldn’t have asked for a better end to the two camps than this … Every day during the summer we ended our days with a camp rally – a time to get everyone together and celebrate the fun things we did and learned that day. This was the same for Sense of Wonder and Wild Hearts Camps and the last person to share their favorite thing about camp on our very last day of camp was Payson’s mom (they are pictured below). She said, “I got to spend the day with a group of people who obviously care deeply about our children and who worked hard to give them a very special experience that I know both my son and I will never forget.”

Payson and his mom are all smiles after meeting Makope and Miguu and watching them walk out of the barn into the exhibit

All the work, all the challenges, all the sweat, all the difficult situations that naturally arise during camp … ALL worth it just to hear that. We are so proud of what became of Camp Zoo 2011, now we’re taking that momentum and preparing for Winter Camp 2011and Camp Zoo 2012! See you here!

Instructor Tiffany R helps Kelsey feel a skull replica. Campers with visual impairments learned about animals by exploring biofacts using their sense of touch, smell, hearing, and, of course, their sense of wonder!

Elephant manager, Heather W, helps Malia, who is blind, use her hands to feel the toenails on Sheena’s foot

It’s a year’s pass to a fun place with the family AND –

It’s our family holiday tradition of Zoo Lights AND -

It’s admission to a water park, special member previews, and exciting events AND –

It’s discounts on the Safari Train, Stingray Bay, the carousel, and even discounted or free admission to over 160 other zoos and aquariums worldwide, AND –

It’s the place our sons came to for school dioramas and science fair inspiration, AND –

It’s the Early Childhood Breakfasts that engaged my grandson’s imagination and connected the two of us with mutual amazement at the abilities of animals, BUT –

Our membership to the Phoenix Zoo extends well beyond our single family and so far beyond the valley.

Funny how I skimmed past the Zoo’s vision and mission statements in the 90’s “Arizoo” magazine and the current member magazine “Wild Times” until I started volunteering to write feature articles for the Zoo e-news in 2005. Well, maybe not so funny, because there are so many interesting articles that catch my attention. But as Zoo members, it was our vision and mission, too, though we never realized how hard or in how many places our membership monies were working while we were having fun at the Zoo.

Now I know we’re part of a community dedicated to improving people’s lives through interaction with nature and excelling in conservation, education, exhibition and recreation. We help provide a healthy, safe, stimulating and respect-filled home to over a thousand individual animals. We supply classroom resources to educators http://edventures.phoenixzoo.org/teachers.html , send animal experts and animals all over the state to classrooms, clubs, senior centers and community organizations, teach tens of thousands of children who come to the Zoo for family programs, school field trips, guided tours, workshops, and exciting home-schooling adventures, and even provide homework help at http://edventures.phoenixzoo.org/pHomeworkHelp.html

My membership dollars are at work ensuring healthy and satisfying lives for the individual animals in the Zoo’s collection, but they’re also busy in Arizona and around the world funding and helping research and conservation efforts, too, around the globe. “As zoos struggle to define what they are supposed to be and do, they’re finding an ever-greater role in saving animals in the wild,” says Michael Hutchins, director for conservation and science at the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. “Zoos are becoming protectors rather than collectors of wildlife.”

http://www.phoenixzoo.org/learn/conservation_efforts.aspx

http://www.phoenixzoo.org/learn/conservation_efforts_detail.aspx?ARTICLE_ID=100637

And as Zoo members, that’s what we all are, too! My heart as a mom and grandma, my passion as someone who cares about the world, and my thanks go to the Phoenix Zoo for making us part of something so much greater than we could ever do on our own.

About the author ~ Rose is a Program Assistant for the School and Family Programs at the Phoenix Zoo

As a father, and an employee of the Phoenix Zoo, I’m excited the Zoo is doing so much for Father’s Day this year.  My son, Jarem, is three years old and since his first visit (at 2 weeks old) he’s loved coming to the Zoo.  I knew this was a special place when a year or so ago, we were walking down the hill to the old orangutan exhibit and he asked, “Are monkeys here?” We hadn’t even seen the exhibit yet (and Orangutans are apes, not monkeys), but he knew we were on our way.  By the way, watching him go nose to nose with Duchess the orangutan in the new exhibit this Spring, Orang-Hutan: “People of the Forest”, blew my mind!  We have created so many memories there, it’s become a huge part of his childhood, just like the Zoo was when I was growing up.

As a parent, I’m passionate about my family, and I’m proud to work for an organization that respects and helps build the magic that helps families flourish.  Spending quality time together outdoors is something that we’re missing so much in this day and age.  The Zoo provides an opportunity for this amazing quality time, while offering experiences that you cant get anywhere else.  I remember being so excited for my son to turn two years old because it meant that he was finally old enough to ride a camel.  When my wife and I hopped on the camel behind Jarem, we realized that it was also the first time riding a camel for both of us.  That memory is something that we’ll never forget.

Every day there is more and more research about how important fathers are in childhood and family development.  I’m so thankful that I, as a father, have a place like the Zoo to goto to spend time with my family.  You know, people always ask me, “How can you work all week and then go back on your days off?”  Let me tell you, it’s not difficult when you work at the Zoo!

This year, for Father’s Day, the zoo is doing all sorts of fun stuff.  Last week, we launched a Facebook photo contest where our fans have been submitting photos of dads at the zoo.  The winner of that contest will receive either a one year membership or a four pack of our popular WILD ticket admissions.  From the photos that have already been uploaded, we created a fun little video on YouTube.

Yesterday, we launched a Twitter contest which will give away a family four pack of tickets.  All of this comes together for our big deal for Father’s Day.  This coming Sunday, 6/19/11 every father will come in at the child’s price which is a savings of $9!  Even if you bring Grandpa, he’ll get in for the kids price as well!

What’s your favorite memory at the Zoo? Let us know in the comments.