Have you seen the piglets in the San Diego Zoo’s Monkey Trails and Forest Tales habitat recently? A few months ago, our resident male pigs were sent to another zoo to be with females and we moved a family group of Visayan warty pigs from their home on Elephant Mesa. We were very excited to receive our new residents, as they came complete with piglets!
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Fern Canyon is a hidden jewel in the San Diego Zoo. The top entrance to it slowly drops off into this quiet place of beauty. The sounds and smells of a semi-tropical rain forest are wonderfully refreshing. Water spills downward from pool to pool, adding to the sense of having just stepped into another world. The walk can take as little as 90 seconds or become an hour of sitting and relaxing. I often feel a warning sign should be posted at the top and bottom entrances reading ” Warning; you are about to enter the canopy zone — enjoy!”
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On July 7, our six-week-old lion cubs, Bakari & Abena, had their very first veterinary exam. They both received the first in a series of vaccinations, some wormer paste, and a brief physical exam. Both were pronounced strong & healthy.
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The stork has arrived, and it’s a baby…. stork! A few months ago, nestled deep inside the Marsh Aviary in the San Diego Zoo’s Tiger River, a milky stork hatched and began to grow. Since he was tucked away in a nest at the very top of a tree not visible from the public walkway, he’s been keeping himself a secret from our guests, but not for much longer! Lately, keepers have seen him out of the nest and exploring his surroundings. And it’s about time! Although his feathers are gray instead of white, the color they will become when he is an adult, he’s already as big as his parents!
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The day started like many June mornings in San Diego: foggy, calm, and mild. The Galapagos tortoises, some twice as old as me, slowly ate their breakfast. The Komodo dragons slept in their warm enclosure. All was status quo on Reptile Mesa at the San Diego Zoo; all were unaware of the impending new additions that would soon join them.
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Many of you have been commenting lately on the improvement in the quality of the Panda Cam work. I thought I would let you know that this improvement is directly related to our increase in blog readers, and the many comments you have left over time. Although my Friday shifts at the helm of the camera are no more, others have taken over the responsibility of putting good images out over the Web.
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There is a family of three siamangs living in the Absolutely Apes exhibit at the San Diego Zoo. They are Unkie, the adult male, his mate, Eloise, and their two-year-old daughter, Hitam Lucu (pictured left to right). They share the exhibit and bedroom area with the orangutan group. Since we’ve already met the orangutans and have seen how they spend their morning (see my previous blog, Clyde the Orangutan Comes Out), we’ll now get to know the siamangs a little better.
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