I began working for the Wild Animal Park four weeks ago. Although I will spend most of the summer assisting with children and family programs, my first task has been to work in the butterfly exhibit at the Hidden Jungle exhibit during the Park’s Butterflies & Orchids event. My primary duties are to inspect its three vestibules for ” escaped” butterflies, make sure visitors are behaving themselves with the butterflies, and answer any questions visitors may have.
|inline

It’s that time of year again! The flowers are blooming, the bees are buzzing, and the birds are…well, the birds are busy making BABIES!!! On the afternoon of April 20, 2006, the Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program celebrated the hatching of its 200th puaiohi (pu-ai-o-he), pictured here.
(more…)

Hi, my name is Piper and I’d like to be your guide at the World-Famous San Diego Zoo. Today I am going to work with my mom, Lisa. To get to work on time, I had to get up really early. We had so much to do before the Zoo opened. First thing, we took Agra, the Indian crested porcupine, for a walk. I got to feed her yams and corn pieces. The Zoo is so quiet before 9 a.m.!
|inline

Many of you have expressed concern about Cairo, the Italian mastiff puppy, and how her life has changed since losing her buddy, Koza the lion cub. I am pleased to report that she is happy and thriving in her new home with one of our animal care managers. She has one half of an acre to play in, with oak trees, grass, and rocks to climb on.
|inline

At last! We arrived in Wolong, China, looking forward with considerable excitement to actually playing with the giant panda cubs born in the Wolong Breeding Center in 2005. The 16 cubs are part of the “kindergarten,” a special place of enrichment and socialization for the large number of successful births and survivals that is the result of years of collaboration between Wolong staff and our own San Diego Zoo. Our San Diego Zoo panda tour group members are wild about pandas (passionate is a better description), and we traveled halfway around the world to take advantage of this unique opportunity to meet Chinese scientists and spend time with our growing new black-and-white friends.
(more…)

The majority of apes and other primates at the San Diego Zoo are involved in some sort of training or conditioning program, making medical procedures and everyday husbandry a little easier for all involved. The orangutans go through various behavioral exercises every morning and are conditioned to present different body parts in case a medical procedure is scheduled or they are sick and we’d like to get a closer look. |inline

Jiuzhaigou is a national park in the northern part of China’s Sichuan Province. It has been a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site since 1992 and was truly worth the visit. You used to have to drive through the mountains to get there, but now they have an airport (at about 13,000 feet or 3,900 meters!); from there, we rode a bus down the hill to our hotel (around 5,000 feet or 1,500 meters).
(more…)

See Mary’s previous Weblog about her Visit-A-Job at the Giant Panda Research Station.

After meeting Su Lin, it was tough to keep my mind on the task at hand, but the work day had just begun. We needed to get the panda boys on exhibit and we had other animals to attend to before the San Diego Zoo opened.
|inline

A warm hello to everyone!! Don’t you love daylight savings time?! Happy Spring, everyone.

One of the things I really like about the Children’s Zoo is the variety of jobs or programs that fall under our domain. One of them is Zoo Express, an outreach program designed to bring a bit of the Zoo to those in the community who cannot come to us. We primarily visit nursing homes and Children’s Hospital. Every week, two keepers are assigned to do Zoo Express, either on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or sometimes a Thursday. We typically select three animals per person, crate them, and bring along food/treats, water, towels, hand gel, recycled newspaper (because feces happens), and whatever else we may need to make the trip more pleasant and comfortable for the little critters. We pack our crates in a Zoo van and off we go!
|inline

The rapidly changing landscape and effects of massive reform efforts are evident everywhere to the members of the 2006 San Diego Zoo’s WorldWild Tours tour group to China.

In addition to the main objective–to visit and play with giant panda cubs!–one of the places I especially looked forward to visiting was the Chinese-style Buddhist lamesary in Beijing. Once the home of a prince who became the emperor, it is a lamasery of the “yellow-hat” Buddhist sect, established centuries ago and still an active and important Buddhist place of reverence. The seven halls and carefully landscaped grounds are open to visitors who may view ancient sacred objects, light incense as an offering, pray or meditate, spin a prayer wheel, and learn more about the rich and ancient history of Buddhism in China.
(more…)