Cinta and young Karim-Alam

Going back to March 5, 2004, little Sumatran orangutan Cinta was born to 22-year-old Indah. Until then, all was cooperative between the siamang family and Indah. (Orangutans and siamangs share exhibit space at Absolutely Apes at the San Diego Zoo.) Siamang Unkie, our breeding male, became persistently aggressive toward Cinta from the day he was born. Although we tried reintroducing Cinta and Indah back to the siamang family group several times over the last four years, all resulted in altercations and were unsuccessful.
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Help your students learn more about California condors through these fun and interesting activities.

California Condor and their Community Connections – A Shared Place

Litter Scavenger Hunt

RESOURCES

Condors Come Home to Baja (download PDF to print. This is a large file and may take several minutes to complete.)

This informative booklet gives an overview of the natural history of California condors and discusses the recovery efforts of the program in Baja California, Mexico. It is written in English and Spanish.

Thanks, everyone, for your questions regarding Transvaal lionesses Tango and Mweezi (see Hali’s blog, Golden Girls in Their Golden Years). Hopefully, I will address all of them in this blog. First of all, our girls are Transvaal lions Panthera leo krugeri. All lions are Panthera leo, but depending on where they are found, they have a subspecies name. The Transvaal lion’s range is in South Africa. Depending on the source, it is noted that there are between 5 and 12 subspecies of lions; all but one, the Asian lion Panthera leo persica, are located in Africa and listed as vulnerable. Subspecies persica is located in Asia and is listed as endangered.
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It was like every other evening at dinner when I was asked, “How was your day today?” My answer, “It was okay; the usual.” That’s when I had to put on the mental brakes. I realized that my “usual” really isn’t most people’s “usual.” Especially last week, when we had a lioness in one room, a fossa in another, and a koala, flamingo, and a Gaboon viper (pictured) in another. That’s not even counting the other patients that were waiting patiently in the hallway!
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More than a dozen eggs have been laid by wild California condors and condors at the breeding centers. More eggs are expected this season.

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Our sun bear cub, Bulan, is nearing 18 months of age, and soon she will be weaned from her mother (see Suzanne’s blog, Baby in a Bag). Already short periods of separation have been built into her day. She and Marcella are apart for about two hours early in the morning and reunited when they go on exhibit in Sun Bear Forest at the San Diego Zoo for the day.
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Some of you may have been wondering how the San Diego Zoo’s grizzly cubs, Scout and Montana, are doing these days (see Hali’s blog, Brown Bear Boys). Very well, I must say, and just as adorable as ever! Recently, a rotation of different kinds of fish (smelt, mackerel, herring, and trout) became a part of their daily diet, much to their great delight!
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The sky is full of vibrant pinks and deep reds on the early morning of February 12; it looks to be another beautiful Southern California day. We begin this day by filling our packs with rebar, carabineers, webbing, and climbing rope. In addition to the nest observations, we have planned a series of nest entries as a part of health checks on nests that began in 2007.
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Put on your hardhats! Monday, the Santa Barbara Zoo started construction on the new California condor exhibit. We’ve been delayed by permitting issues, now resolved, since our expected start date in October 2007.

I arranged a photo opportunity dedication back then, with members of the Chumash Nation. It was a gloriously sunny day and all the local media turned out to see tribal elder and spiritual leader Adelina Alva-Padilla bless the site by burning sage and waving it heavenward with an eagle wing. “Eagle takes messages from the people up to Condor who takes them up to god,” she said.
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It was not until Friday, February 8, at 4:10 pm, that Molloko (condor No. 45) finally kicked off the breeding season for the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park and laid our first long awaited egg of the year. When the egg was candled on February 10, we were already able to see a little shadow of hope sitting on top of the yolk. Two days later we were able to happily confirm that Xol-Xol (condor No. 25) and Molloko’s egg was in fact fertile.
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