Chinook, left, and Kalluk

Many people ask me, “What do you feed the bears?” and “How do you keep polar bears in San Diego?” What they don’t realize is that the answers are closely related. Polar bears in the wild rely on the sea ice to hunt their main prey, ringed seals; because of this, their hunting season lasts only six to eight months each year. It’s the fat stores they build up from eating these seals that give them energy throughout the year.
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On April 4, we celebrated Bodhi’s 2nd birthday. Bodhi is one of four red-cheeked gibbons (formerly known as Gabriella’s crested gibbons) located in Sun Bear Forest at the San Diego Zoo. Bodhi, mom CJ, dad Max, and Aunt Gaby all had a great time at the party! There were boxes filled with hay and other goodies, which were Max’s favorites, along with a three-layer hanging cake.
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Twenty years ago, the California Condor Recovery Program began a new era when condors known as AC-4 and UN-1 produced the first egg to be laid and hatched in a managed setting. The resulting chick, Molloko, turns 20 years old on April 29, 2008..

Hace 20 años, los cóndores californianos conocidos como AC-4 y UN-1 ayudaron a avanzar el California Condor Recovery Program con el primer huevo puesto y empollado en un zoológico. El polluelo, Molloko, cumple 20 años el 29 de abril del 2008.

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April 17 was an exciting day for the San Diego Zoo’s Bear Canyon staff as we welcomed back an old friend. This friend, a Manchurian brown bear named Blackie, lived at the Zoo from 1986 through 1997 and has spent the last 11 years on loan at another facility. Now he has returned to us and we are so excited to have him!
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Things sure have changed for the keepers at Lion Camp at the Wild Animal Park over the past few months. With a pride of 10 lions, we certainly have our hands full! The cubs are now 5½ months old and all 7 are growing quickly and are demonstrating that they are all individuals with their own likes and dislikes.
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If any of you have visited the San Diego Zoo this past month, you may have noticed that our Cape clawless otter pool in Bear Canyon is drained. Why? Because on March 8, 2008, we were thrilled to discover that our female, Sweet Otter, had given birth!
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The Spring Break crowds are pretty much behind us, and we’re settling into “field trip season” here at the San Diego Zoo. Everyone’s anxious to visit the pandas and see The Baby, but Zhen Zhen’s not always cooperating. Curling up in the gray-green hammock, even at 31 pounds (14 kilograms) she’s not yet large enough to be seen well over the hammock’s edge. That makes the hammock one of my least favorite of ZZ’s favorite napping spots.
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The California Condor Recovery Program’s breeding efforts began with approximately 20 birds. Genetic diversity was immediately a concern. A reader recently asked:

Since the current population of 300 birds has, over a period of about twenty years, grown from a collection of approximately twenty individuals, how is the resultant lack of genetic diversity going to affect this new population? And, are the birds that have been introduced to the wild reproducing at a population-sustainable rate.
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Many of you have waited to hear news of adult lions M’Bari and Etosha at the Wild Animal Park. These two lions do not live in Lion Camp, but in an off-exhibit area. On December 6, 2007, after a long, hard labor, Etosha delivered three cubs: the first was small but strong; sadly, the next two were stillborn.
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Thanks to the efforts of many people, eight California condors were transported, by truck, back across the border to the Sierra San Pedro Martir release site on Tuesday, March 11, 2008. This was the first time we transported condors across the border by land and not by air. As complicated as flying the birds to the site is, the ground route proved even more troublesome. Even with the best advanced preparation for this trip, we ended up delayed at the border for several hours more than expected, which convinced me that in the future we’ll be flying the birds to Mexico whenever we can.
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