The California condor breeding season is winding down, and thus far nine eggs have been laid by condor hens at the Wild Animal Park. Two of those eggs were infertile, and one was transferred to the nest of a wild pair. That leaves the condor staff with six eggs to be reared, either by hand-rearing methods or by the condors themselves. Currently three hens–Molloko, Almiyi, and Sulu–are incubating ” dummy” eggs that will be swapped with real eggs once they are ready to hatch. These birds, along with their mates, will parent-rear a youngster over the next several months.
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A major reforestation/browse project was completed this week at the San Diego Zoo, replacing a decades-old eucalyptus-forested hillside (located south of the migratory duck pond). In its place, many new browse plants and trees will grow up and produce food and enrichment for our animals. A major reason for the successful breeding practices we’ve had here is our ability to grow and provide plants that these animals would eat and play with in their native habitats.
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This month saw the first-ever Wildlife Identification and Conservation Education Workshop for hunters from villages surrounding the Ebo forest in Cameroon. We invited 14 of the 28 hunters from Locndeng village, at the northern edge of the Ebo, to travel to the coastal town of Limbe for a 2-day workshop covering topics such as wildlife species identification, levels of legal protection for different species, and the reasons for and importance of conserving the wildlife of the Ebo forest. Limbe is home to the Limbe Wildlife Centre, a sanctuary for orphans of the bushmeat trade run by the Pandrillus Foundation.
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The Zoo’s Girls In Science groups spent their last day of the season together at sea! We generally take a field trip each spring and have visited the Wild Animal Park, SeaWorld, and the La Brea Tar Pits, but this is the first time we’ve gone whale watching!
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Installment #2
(Read Installment #1 here)
Kinah was placed inside an isolette incubator to keep her warm and comfortably supported during treatment. A small plastic tube was inserted into the isolette to provide oxygen to help Kinah breathe easier. Veterinarians prescribed antibiotics for her pneumonia and topical medications to aid in the healing of her many wounds. For several days, removing Kinah from her oxygen-rich environment and the effort needed to suckle her formula took a lot out of her. After a feeding and administration of treatments she was exhausted and breathing with great difficulty. Even so, we were pleased that Kinah was giving each feeding her best effort and showing more enthusiasm for meals than could be expected.
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Over the years, I have been one of the fortunate few who work with okapis on a daily basis. Each has had individual personalities, but there have been a few standouts (read Marcia’s blog, Okapi Calf Explores Exhibit).
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You are probably wondering how our little Su Lin is doing on her own. At first it was a bit of a struggle, but she is now settling in, getting used to new trees, grass, pond, and watching her big brother next door. She now has her own bedroom and garden room with her own sunroom, in the building next to the viewing exhibits. A few days ago, she climbed her new tree to discover another panda staring at her from the tree next door. She started bleating at this strange new bear. Mei Sheng bleated back to her and the conversation went on for several minutes as Su Lin met her big brother. What fun it was just to watch her responding to her brother in his tree. I’m sure they will chat often and even look for each other from tree to tree.
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As mentioned earlier, Pombe is one of the cheetah cubs that has taken very well to training (see Kelly’s previous blog, Cheetah Girls). With her mellow and accepting nature, crate training has gone very well. Due to this, we put her on the fast track of transporting.
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The San Diego Zoo’s Girls In Science (GIS) students were given the opportunity of a lifetime this week when we made our way out to the Zoo’s Avian Propagation Center (APC) and got to meet a very charming young fellow named Julio. Well, Julio’s not really his name, and we don’t even know for sure yet if he’s a “he’ (DNA tests are pending). But the three-month-old harpy eagle being hand raised by keeper Angie Steffen is spectacular and the girls decided he was worthy of a name.
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Installment #1: Marbelina and her baby

The endangered Allen’s swamp monkey inhabits northeastern Congo and northwestern Zaire. The San Diego Zoo houses several groups of these beautiful and intelligent animals. In 2005, we received a female named Marbelina who arrived from the Metro Zoo in Richmond, Virginia. Marbelina was minus her right rear leg, a result of an accident when she was just a baby.
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