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The Little Rock Zoo in Arkansas has an impressive Birds of Prey show, and they want to share a behind-the-scenes look with you. Click on “videos” and choose “Wings of Wonder” to check out all the care and training that goes into these birds. See some impressive behaviors, too, such as a bird “killing” a plastic snake.
Just as in Zoobooks, the goal at Little Rock Zoo is to stimulate interest and encourage learning. The show manager explains her own journey from a person who did not see birds as anything to be taken seriously, to a person who now has an abiding respect for these animals. These descendants of dinosaurs have a great potential to thrill and impress us, and seeing them close-up, whether in video or in person, can only underline that.
Children can spread the word, too, using Little Rock’s ecards, another way to encourage and continue the fun. And for those who are interested, there is a newsletter, too. It’s a great start to conservation, and it’s the perfect complement to this month’s Zoobooks Birds of Prey issue.
San Diego might seem a strange place for polar bears, but the three polar bears who live at the San Diego Zoo are actually a very contented bunch. Their enclosure is a state-of-the-art architectural delight that allows up-close viewing both above and below the water. Check it out for yourself! The zoo’s polar bear cam keeps an eye on these critters whether they’re lounging, swimming, or playing with their toys. Plus the SDZ website offers each bear’s biography, and a slideshow gallery of the bears’ best moments.
Normally, of course, polar bears stick to the North Pole regions rather than Southern California. When they can, they travel by ice floe to pursue seals, which is their primary prey. Global warming is a real danger for these bears, because it diminishes the ice. It has been suggested that wild polar bears now weigh less than they used to, probably because of the greater difficulty in moving between hunting grounds, which means there is less available prey. The population is now classified as vulnerable, with only 20-25,000 bears still roaming free.
In San Diego, however, the lack of ice will never be a problem. These three bears will always be safe and secure, and you can judge for yourself whether they are content. Let us know what you think!
The orangutan! Gorillas stop climbing trees once they get too large and heavy, but all their lives, orangutans spend most of their time in the canopy. Their arms are much larger and stronger than their legs, and their short-thumbed hands are perfectly adapted to brachiation. Walking on the ground is just too inefficient!
The largest collection of orangutans in North America can be found at the Atlanta Zoo, and we highly recommend their website for fascinating videos, charming photos, and lots of orang information. But we also want to highlight the Atlanta Zoo’s efforts in helping rescued orangutans in the wild. They have financially supported the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rehabilitation Center, purchasing medical supplies for orangutans saved from both the pet trade and from palm oil plantations. It is efforts like this that will ensure orangutans are still able to swing from the treetops for decades to come.
Your latest Zoobooks issue, Gorillas, is just going in the mail now, and should be reaching you in about a week. To whet your appetite for these gentle giants, we would like to introduce you to the Zoobooks “Zoo of the Month”–the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston, Massachusetts. This zoo is a leader in gorilla conservation and education, and we are particularly intrigued by their efforts to involve both children and adults in making gorillas a personal priority.
What better way to get personal than to meet the gorillas? The Franklin Park website not only offers personal introductions to all the individual gorillas in their collection, but gives users the opportunity to see which gorilla personality most closely matches their own. Have you ever had to tell the kids to quit monkeying around at the dinner table? This will give that statement a whole new meaning! (Even though gorillas are apes, not monkeys, right?)
Kids can even print out trading cards representing their different gorilla friends, which can help spread the word even further that gorillas need our help. Maybe the cards can even be used as a bookmark when your Gorillas issue arrives!
Our current Zootles issue on Ants is the perfect complement to the Oakland Zoo’s exhibit featuring a tiny world run by leaf-cutter ants. Visitors can follow one ant as it works, or take in the activity of the whole colony. And a colony is a busy place! Not only is there a queen’s chamber, where ants feed and care for the queen as she lays her eggs, but there is a nursery for the larvae, food storage areas, and even a garbage dump. Ants stop off in side tunnels to rest, too–something you might not guess. And always, the work of creating and repairing tunnels goes on at a relentless pace.
If you don’t live near enough to Oakland to see the colony for yourself, we encourage you to visit the Oakland Zoo’s website and click on the “slideshow” to see ants in action. The ant education can continue if the children in your house decide to maintain a traditional toy ant farm, or conduct ant experiments in the backyard. What foods do ants swarm or avoid? How long does it take for them to devour something they find tasty? Children can even emulate ant scientist Deborah Gordon, whose work is discussed in Zootles, by seeing how ants deal with sudden obstacles in their path. Just make sure that when children are exploring, they are careful not to get so close that the ants explore them.
