The most intriguing fact about the flamingos is that the pigment of their feathers is directly correlated with their diet of pink crustaceans. This unique phenomenon is a breeding ground for investigation as to how the process actually works.

On our last adventure, we met with the panda researcher extraordinaire, Megan Owen! She has observed pandas for over 10 years, since her children were toddlers. She and her family even lived in China for a time to learn more about these endangered bears.

With the keepers we made scientific observations of the panda Zhen Zhen at the Zoo. Intern William is pictured here taking studious observations of Gao Gao.

Our observations showed this individual panda at the Zoo tends to wander around her exhibit at this time of the day.

As a final farewell, we took a group picture in the hollow tree, a replica of a birthing den for a wild panda. We can all truthfully say that these past seven weeks were beyond our expectations. We never imagined that we would learn so much, and the experiences we had were once-in-a-lifetime.

Callie, the photo team!

Here interns strip leaves from acacia branches to use as browse for giraffes in the field enclosures at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park. Interns Liz and Sara diligently peel the leaves into our handy dandy feeding bucket.

The giraffes adored the browse. They acted like little children reaching into a cookie jar. Intern Caitlin had difficulty controlling the amount of browse that the giraffes stuffed in their mouths! The task was made more difficult with their 18-inch tongues.

The rhinos were a bit more hesitant approaching our truck. While throwing an apple as bait to the closest pair of rhinos, Keeper Torrey Pillsbury laughed, “bowling for rhinos!”

All of the interns quickly learned that the rhinos have no catching skills. Half the time we threw them an apple into their mouths, the rhinos would fumble and let the apple drop to the ground. Here Intern Sara threw the apple right into the rhino’s mouth!

We observed the early stages of the new Condor Flightline attraction at the Wild Animal Park. This zipline will be the second longest in all of North America. Plus, it will go right over the Asian Plains and tiger enclosures!

During our excursion, we caught a glimpse of the Wild Animal Park’s cloned animal. This banteng was created from ear cells of a genetically valuable male that had died years earlier and had been stored in the Frozen Zoo.

We met with Heidi Davis to learn about the genetics lab at the San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research.

In the lab, we tried our hands at running a gel electrophoresis procedure. Intern Alicia uses a pipette to load DNA into the gel.

Ms. Davis ran an electric current through the gel to separate the different strands of DNA by size.

At the end of the day, we toured the lab. Ms. Davis detailed the dangers of working in a laboratory and the precautions she must take daily.

Animal Care Supervisor, Bob Cisneros, explaining to us the many beneficial uses of a bridge when training an animal. A small clicker with a loud popping sound, the bridge, is often used when more than one trainer will be working with an animal, so that the animals can associate the bridge, and not a certain person’s voice, with a job well done.

Elmo, a miniature horse, posing for the camera with his special horsey-grin that he is trained to give on command.

Mr. Cisneros displaying how one would train a goat to “target”, or touch an object with its nose. He was making excellent progress with the all-too-willing goat until another goat pushed him out of the way, so he could get a chance to earn the treats.

Mr. Cisneros showing-off the very strong prehensile tail of Baba, a pangolin from equatorial Africa. Pangolins are arboreal, or live in trees, and the tails came in handy when traveling from branch to branch.

Intern William taking notes while Mr. Cisneros explains the fingernail-like scales that are a trademark of pangolins. Both William and the pangolin are mammals.

Clara, the photo team

Keeper Hali Anderson reaches for a fish to feed to a Manchurian brown bear, which the keepers call Blackie. Keeper Anderson explained how keepers use positive reinforcement, in this case a yummy fish (Blackie’s favorite), to shape behaviors that help the keeper care for the animals. Here, Blackie had come into the back bedroom from the exhibit when Keeper Hali called him.

The Interns explore the enclosure in which Blackie spends a majority of his time. Over the years, the enclosure has had many makeovers as more information has been researched about what animals need to keep stimulated and healthy.

We wanted to see what we looked like from the other side of the moat in the brown bear enclosure.

Intern Liz showing off her superior hosing abilities, while helping Keeper Hali clean up Blackie’s Enclosure.

Intern Caitlin poses with the bucket used for organizing food for Blackie. Every day Keeper Hali Anderson hides the food around his enclosure to help keep him active and healthy. On this day she gave us fish, omnivore pellets (in Caitlin’s hand), grapes, yams and Blackie’s least favorite, spinach.

Clara, the photo team

Jean-Pierre Montagne, Senior Research Technician with the Applied Animal Ecology division, researches the biodiversity of the undeveloped area of the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park.

Several traps are set up throughout the preserve space to capture lizards, snakes, mice, and other small animals. The traps contain pipes for the cold-blooded animals to hide and cotton to keep the warm-blooded animals warm.

We found three lizards lounging in the traps: two side-blotched lizards and one orange-throated whiptail.

Intern Sara is pictured here examining the blue/black spot that distinguishes a side-blotched lizard.

 

Senior Herpetology Keeper, Todd Schmidt, holds out a legless lizard to explain the many differences between a legless lizard and a snake. They look very similar, to the un-snake-trained eye. However, legless lizards have eyelids and ears, neither of which a snake has, and they also have two lungs compared to a snake’s single, and very long, lung.

Interns Sara and Heidi get an up-close view of a recently shed snake skin. Unlike humans, a snake’s skin doesn’t grow along with them and, as a result, they must shed their smaller skin. This actually sounds like a pretty good idea, especially after you’ve gotten a good sunburn.

Interns Sara and Heidi wearing proper protective gear in front of a particularly defensive snake. They did not open the door but this was a great lesson in the different safety gear used when the keepers handle snakes.

Keeper Schmidt holding a vibrant green gecko, known for their extremely special feet, which are now known to have the ability to bind with almost any surface.

 After the Reptile House, Keeper Schmidt took us to a temperature controlled breeding facility for the rare tuatara. These somewhat shy creatures are native only to the small islands of New Zealand.  They thrive on these chilly islands, despite being cold-blooded themselves, yet their populations have been negatively affected by human causes such as the introduction rats and cats on the islands.

~Clara, the photo team!

Dr. Jenny Waldoch shows us the surgical room in state-of-the-art Paul Harter Veterinary Medical Center at the Wild Animal Park. To me, the most fascinating aspect of the hospital is the track along the ceiling that can transport heavy objects such as the x-ray machine or a very large animal!

The Hospital lab contains four extremely cold fridges that hold serum from all animals that have been tested. Some of those blood samples date back to the 1980s!

The veterinarians must shoot anesthetic-filled darts at animals in need of treatment or surgery. Clara practices her aim as she shoots a dart at a nearby hoofstock decoy.

There are a series of outdoor stalls at the hospital used for recovering patients, on our visit one was occupied by a zebra calf and its mother. The veterinarians try to keep the babies with their mothers as much as possible, so when this little zebra needed medical attention, its mother was brought in as well.

At the Wild Animal Park on Tuesday, we caught up with Christa Horn, the Research Technician, Katie Merrill, the Intern, and Bryan Andress (pictured), the Division Head of Applied Plant Ecology, to learn about their cactus project.

The cacti these researchers are studying provide protection for the Punona California Catchers. These birds will not nest in the cacti unless they are at least three feet tall. Unfortunately, a great many of the cacti were destroyed in the recent fires that swept through southern California.

These researchers have devised an experiment to test if cacti that are hand-raised will grow faster than cacti that are left to fend for themselves. At the same time, they are testing if cacti that are planted straight up and down will grow faster than cacti that are planted horizontally.

There are two areas of cacti: the hand-raised set is potted and located near their offices, the other set is found out on an unused area of the Park. Eventually, the potted cacti will also have homes next to the other set of cacti.

We were able to help them with their research by recording the health of some of the cacti. Heidi and Caitlin are pictured examining the health, roots, and new pads of the cacti.