Onyx

Tuesday, May 12

One bird who has really taken to showing off his adaptations is Onyx, our African pied crow. Onyx has been a staple of the Wildlife Theater show for nine years. He loves being challenged to learn new behaviors for each of our shows. He’s learned how to paint, recycle, fly from trainer to trainer, talk, and even put himself into a kennel and shut the door behind him. Now, he’s bringing his act to Zoo guests – literally! During the new show, audience members will be given the opportunity to have Onyx fly out to them and retrieve a treat!

Crows are incredibly smart birds. It has been found that crows are even capable of making tools, which was a trait previously thought to only belong to primates. Crows can fit into almost any niche because they are able to use their brains and dexterous beaks to get into just about anything. 

Come see Onyx up-close-and-personal in A Niche in Time, starting Memorial Day weekend. Beginning Memorial Day, shows will run at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday at the Wildlife Theater. See you there!

Shelley Raynor
Keeper II, Program Animals  

Thursday, May 7

Today was the “official” start of Zoo Atlanta’s 2009 golden lion tamarin (GLT) free-ranging season! After wintering in their climate-controlled indoor habitat since October, the family of three – father Bençao, mother Spree and number one son Theo – hit the trees without missing a beat. Within seconds of the opening of the door, Bençao sprang out onto the rope bridge and into the lush foliage. Just inside the doorway, Spree and Theo waited for Bençao, who inspected the territory to ensure it was safe for his family, to give the “all-clear” before venturing out.

The family was very vocal for much of the day. From the outer edges of the island, Spree and Bençao performed long-calls and engaged in arch-walking, both of which are used as territorial markers. Never in one place for very long, Theo used his time to explore the highest parts of every tree on the island.

Golden lion tamarins are an endangered species of monkey endemic to the coastal rainforests of Brazil, located just south of Rio de Janeiro. A comprehensive conservation program has been in place since the early 1970s, when it was determined that fewer than 200 individuals were alive in the wild. The efforts of the conservation group Associação Mico-Leão-Dourado, which included habitat protection, public education, government involvement and the reintroduction of captive animals, have resulted in a current population estimate of over 1,600 wild individuals.

Join the golden family any Thursday through Sunday (weather permitting) as they enjoy the great outdoors!

Debbie Forde
Coordinator, Golden Lion Tamarin Conservation Program

Tuesday, May 5

Well, they’ve done it at last! A pair of white-crested laughing thrushes raised their chick all the way to independence without needing any assistance from keepers. Until now, the parents would always abandon their chicks once they left the nest, even though the chicks are still totally dependent on the parents for food. So our keepers have had to step in and take over to keep the chicks from starving to death.

Last fall, we brought in an elderly male laughing thrush from the Knoxville Zoo to join Ruby, one of our females. “Knoxville” was parent-raised in 1993 and proved that he still had his stuff! This spring, Ruby laid fertile eggs. Two chicks hatched and left the nest, and Knoxville proved to be a perfect parent. Ruby refused to feed the chicks once they left the nest, but Knoxville knew what he was doing and fed the chicks perfectly. Sadly, we lost one of the chicks to unknown causes, but the other chick has thrived and we have our very first parent-reared laughing thrush. A huge thank you to Ruby for her early work, but especially to Knoxville for making sure the chick made it all the way.

We are thrilled with our new kid, and as of today, May 5, the parents are incubating a new clutch of eggs. We fully expect the youngster to join in helping the parents raise clutch number two. Come see these birds in their habitat right behind the rock-climbing wall in KIDZone, and look for the nest box hanging on the wire about mid-height of the back wall. That’s where the action is taking place!

James Ballance
Curator of Birds

Thursday, April 30

I’m sure you are aware that we provide enrichment to the animals here at the Zoo. Providing animals with enrichment can have several benefits, because it can increase physical activity, improve mental stimulation and promote species-typical behaviors. In the Carnivore Department, we work with a variety of carnivores, from big to small, meat-eating and non-meat-eating. This makes it especially fun to enrich the animals, but it’s also somewhat challenging; what enriches an otter is not necessary what enriches a big cat. For example, what kind of items can we give Kamau, one of our male lions who weighs over 430 pounds? The answer is something very sturdy!  Large, strong tubs, balls and barrels can withstand the vigorous play of a lion and can also stimulate their prey drive. 

In fact, thanks to some generous donations, we recently acquired some new items for the carnivores. Chelsea the Sumatran tiger thoroughly enjoyed a new ball that she received the other day. After encountering the ball, she quickly realized that it was fairly light. She was able to get her paw under the ball and throw it around the yard and chased after it. What fun!  Sometimes we know that the things we give the big cats won’t “survive.”  Phone books and empty grain bags stuffed with hay or sprayed with scent are meant to be destroyed. These leave quite a mess once the cats interact with them, but it’s well worth it to know that the cats were mentally and physically stimulated by the enrichment.     

Megan Wilson, Ph.D.
Assistant Curator of Carnivores

Tuesday, April 28

Did you know a baby warthog can be called a piglet or a warthoglet, and that the Large Mammal Department has four of them running around? On April 15, Shirley the warthog gave birth to her second litter, and on her 3rd birthday, no less!

Two male warthoglets are with their mom. Shirley is doing well her second time around! She seems more comfortable and has settled into nursing the boys almost every two to three hours during the day and night. She’s even started taking the boys on field trips outside of the nest box in the afternoons. These field trips consist of exploring the two stalls in the Hoofstock Barn that the trio has access to during the day, rooting through the various hay piles and bedding, and even venturing to the food bowl. One boy has already been seen mouthing a piece of grain and the other was seen chewing on hay! Although the boys are playing around with the solid food, it’ll actually be several weeks before they are consuming it regularly. Each of these two boys weighs right around 3 pounds at this point. Vern (their dad) and Georgia P (their older, more obnoxious sister) are separated from the group for now but can see Shirley and the piglets in the evenings through a howdy door. We hope to reunite the group in another week or so once the warthoglets are a little bigger.

The Large Mammal Department and the Veterinary Team are hand-rearing two other warthoglets: one boy and one girl. These two little ones were showing signs of distress the day after their birth, so the difficult decision was made to pull them. Both were nursed through the weekend last week, and on Monday, April 20, the girl was doing so well that she was placed back with Shirley and the boys. Shirley accepted the warthoglet without any reservation (other than licking off that yucky funny goat milk smell!) and the piglet’s instinct to nurse took over right away. Unfortunately, on Wednesday, April 22, it was evident that the girl was losing weight and not getting enough milk from mom (even despite some attempts to give her supplemental feedings from the keepers) so she has since been reintroduced to her brother at the veterinary clinic. This little boy had a rough start but is now in stable condition. The two are housed in the hospital area of the clinic, fed goat’s milk every two to three hours, and given playtime in a special play area. Why goat’s milk? It’s a readily available supplement, has a higher nutrient content than cow’s milk, and has been used successfully at other institutions that have hand-reared warthogs. To make the piglets as comfortable as possible, we have also given them a few large stuffed animals to cuddle with – their favorite is a large stuffed zebra slipper! Due to the difficulties that these two had in their first week, they are a little smaller than their brothers. The boy weighs just less than 2 pounds, and the girl is closer to 2.5 pounds! Once the warthoglets are on solid food we may see if it’s possible to reintroduce the piglets to the bigger group, but that is several weeks/months down the road.

Stay tuned for news on when Members and guests will get to meet our new arrivals!

Lisa Smith
Curator of Large Mammals

Tuesday, April 21

Spring has definitely, well, sprung. If everyone around you sneezing and sniffling with allergies wasn't a big indicator, all of the beautiful greenery throughout the Zoo is in full bloom. There are trees and plants with flowers all over the grounds, and as you walk through the Zoo you are showered with petals and wonderful scents (ok, don't walk by elephants and expect them to smell like roses). I LOVE working outside at this time of year, although I suppose that’s mostly because I don’t suffer from allergies. But I digress …

Spring is a wonderful time of the year for our department, though it is also very busy. Our team is developing two potential new shows for our visitors this season, so we're writing scripts, training animals and interns, and trying to convince the animals (and interns, I suppose) that no, we're actually not crazy, and they really can do this new behaviour. We're having a massive spring cleaning day to freshen up both the Wildlife Theater and Amy's Tree, and our wonderful Horticulture crew has spruced up the stages with fresh plants. Everything is going to be in place, so now all we need is you!

Starting Memorial Day weekend, we will expand our show schedules from the current Saturday/Sunday schedule to six days a week (Monday is the animals' day to rest and recover, so there are no shows on Mondays). The main presentations will still be at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at the Wildlife Theater next to the elephants, with the 2:30 p.m. show being up at Amy's Tree. We are also trying to fit more encounters and animal presentations into our schedule, so keep an eye on the daily event list for extra chances to visit with our team!

Jay Pratte
Lead Keeper, Program Animals

Thursday, April 16

Last Saturday we did our annual Easter egg hunt with the gorilla groups, and it’s always a lot of fun. The gorillas come inside into their night quarters while the keepers hide Jell-O eggs throughout the habitat. Then the gorillas come back out and race down to locate the treats they saw the keepers taking into the yard. It’s normal for gorillas to forage and search for food, but when they know something special awaits them, they get pretty jazzed about it.

Jasiri

Across from the gorillas in the small primate yard, you can now also see Jasiri and Jill, our new Schmidt’s guenon pair. Jill and Jasiri are part of a mixed-species habitat with a mona guenon and drills. We introduced Jill to Jasiri last week and gave them a few days on their own in the outdoor habitat while Jill learned her way around. They share the yard with our 26-year-old mona guenon Mogwai. Although Mogwai is a different species, she socializes and grooms with the Schmidt’s guenons. We’re really glad that worked out, since Mogwai is the only one of her species here at the Zoo, and companionship and socialization is a must for primates.

Charles Horton
Curator of Primates

	“Larry Bird”

Tuesday, April 14

Can an old bird learn new tricks?

It’s been said that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but how about a bird? Larry is our 18- year-old African grey parrot. He’s one of our Time for Training bird show superstars, and he has taught us that yes, you can teach an old bird new tricks. “Larry Bird” (as the joke goes during our free-flight bird show) has been a resident here at Zoo Atlanta since 1995!  Larry found his home at the Zoo when he was donated by a private owner. 

African grey parrots are known for their amazing mimicking abilities. They have been known to have a vocabulary of over 1,000 words. Not only can they maintain a large vocabulary, but they also mimic the exact tone of either the word or the sound they are repeating. It’s amazing!  Larry is definitely not an exception to this rule. Because Larry has both male and female keepers, he mimics a “Hello” in a male voice and a “Good Morning” in a female voice. He also has a great imitation that sounds exactly like dripping water. Throughout his time here at the Zoo, he has developed a large repertoire of vocals that consistently amazes Zoo guests during his bird show performances. But the vocals don’t stop there!  Both Larry and his keepers have been working very hard this year on developing new behaviors to add to his already amazing list. To the keepers’ delight, he has proven that he is not yet ready to stop learning. 

Using positive reinforcement, keepers have been able to train two new exciting vocals for the upcoming 2009 show season. Larry was able to catch on quickly to his first new behavior, mimicking “Good Morning.” He was able to learn it in only about two months. His second behavior, mimicking a rallying cry, took a little bit longer (roughly about a year and a half).  Patience is a large part of training and it has proven to pay off as “Larry Bird” performed his rally cry for the first time (on cue) on stage this week. Larry is not quite considered an old bird, as African greys can live well into their 40s. He has proven that with lots of patience and positive training, no matter what the age, you can still learn new tricks.

To meet and learn more about “Larry Bird” and positive reinforcement training, come see our free-flight bird show at the Wildlife Theater, with presentations on Saturdays and Sundays at 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

Georgette Richards
Keeper II, Program Animals

Thursday, April 9

Well, the crazy spring weather is driving us nuts! We put a few tortoises outside last week, and one female radiated tortoise dug a nest and laid eggs immediately. A pair of impressed tortoises also launched into mating behaviors right away. This is all great news, but we are itching to get all of our outdoor-bound turtles and lizards outside! But there's plenty going on indoors as well. Our snazzy new green anaconda exhibit is almost finished. This new snake is sure to become a hit with guests, and our keeper David Brothers has done a fine job in recreating a South American swampland. So come soon, and meet our newest addition—we can't wait to see you at the Zoo!

Joe Mendelson, PhD
Curator of Herpetology