Get Fit at the Zoo!

Marisa Hicks, Marketing Coordinator

As a new Mom with a 9 month old baby, I appreciate the opportunity to exercise with my son by my side as it seems time isn’t available to workout otherwise. I'm excited that the Zoo has partnered with the coaches at Midtown Strength and Conditioning to bring you Workout Wednesdays!

For ten weeks every Wednesday, May 23rd to July 25th at 9:10 am, you can work out with a signed waiver and general Zoo admission or a Zoo membership. Each week will be a different one-hour workout with jump ropes, kettle bells, dumbbells, sandbags and other movements using your body weight that will give you a total body workout. I’ll be out there getting sweaty with you!

We’ll be on the Reptile House Lawn, in the fresh-air with sounds of flamingos in the background. Not to mention you can bring your little one in a stroller and go for a nice walk after class to let them run around and see the animals.

The coaches from Midtown Strength and Conditioning are really great at what they do. The workouts are challenging and different every week. The easy part is that the coaches from MTSC write the workout for you. You just have to do the work! Coach Tara, Co-Owner of MTSC, says “If it was easy, everyone would do it.” But don’t be discouraged, the workouts are tailored for all levels. When I was pregnant, I worked out with them and they gave me my own workout to do alongside the class.

You can call (916) 808-5888 to register for one or all of the classes. Visit the Workout Wednesdays webpage for FAQs and more information. 

Take a Photo, Help Save Orangs

Leslie Field, Supervisor of Mammals

The Sacramento Zoo is currently supporting the work done by the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program (SOCP) and we need your help!

The SOCP and a coalition of other NGO’s are currently fighting a last ditch battle to save the remaining Sumatran orangutans and forests of the Tripa peat swamps, on the West coast of Aceh Province, Indonesia. These forests probably contained up to as many as 3,000 orangutans in 1990, but today only around 200 are thought to remain. It is also considered that as many as 100 perished in the 12 months prior to April 2012, due to rapid forest clearance and fires, especially in March this year.

Tripa’s forests are being converted by just a handful of companies, owned by a relatively few extremely wealthy people, for large-scale oil palm plantations. The legality of the concession of one of the companies, PT Kallista Alam, is being contested in a high profile legal case since it contravenes National Spatial Planning Laws. This company and the others in Tripa are also being challenged for illegal clearance and illegal burning within their concessions, which continues even now, and for the illegal establishment of huge drainage canals that drain this unique wetland ecosystem of its principal life force.

To stop these crimes, the SOCP and its partners have been working hard on media campaigns and publicity to push the authorities to enforce Indonesia’s National Laws. Thanks to the support of thousands of people around the world, we are now at last starting to see real progress, but there is a still a long way to go.

What can you do?
Join our International Day of Action which calls on the Indonesian President SBY to enforce the law and save the Sumatran orangutans and protect the unique ecosystem, the Tripa Peat Forests.

On Thurday, April 26 TAKE A PHOTO by noon of you and your friends in front of a local landmark holding a sign with a message to President SBY calling on him to enforce the law and save the orangs and the peat forest. Email the photo to endoftheicons@gmail.com with info about where the picture was taken and all images and info worldwide will be combined into a global press release. This global action will be given to SOCP partners, Indonesian government officials and stakeholders.

For more information visit SOCP at www.sumatranorangutan.org or End of the Icons at http://endoftheicons.wordpress.com/

Quarters for Conservation Program

By Tonja Swank, Public Relations Coordinator

Earth Day is a time to reflect on ways to make a positive impact through everyday decisions. At the Sacramento Zoo, visitors make a difference every time they visit by participating in the Quarters for Conservation Program. Through the collection of quarters, the Zoo provides funding for local and global wildlife conservation projects. The Quarters for Conservation program is replicated at other zoos throughout the U.S.

As guests enter the Zoo, they receive a token representing their contribution to conservation. The token enables visitors to vote for one of three conservation projects at the wishing well in the Zoo’s Entry Plaza. Votes determine how much funding each project receives; every vote makes a difference. Each project is guaranteed $5,000 annually with additional funding based on the number of votes received.

The three conservation projects, selected by the Zoo’s Conservation Committee, are the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program, the Mabula Ground Hornbill Conservation Project and, locally, the Burrowing Owl Conservation Society. The funds raised for the three organizations will help protect the endangered species and their natural habitats in the wild.

As you consider how you can make a difference this Earth Day, remember that every time you visit the Zoo you do make a difference. Learn more by visiting the Quarters for Conservation webpage or the Conservation Action webpage.

An Empty Lake?

By Leslie Field, Supervisor of Mammals

Have you seen our lakes while empty? Well, that's because our two lake exhibits are periodically drained and cleaned. Although the system has a lake filter, it does require us to drain it from time to time for liner maintenance, to ensure that the sewer lines are running freely and to get better access to plants we want removed.
It’s quite the production as the maintenance department, zoo keepers and sometimes volunteer groups like Americorps get involved to help get the job done. Not only do we have 13 species of birds living on the two lakes but we also have a population of Western Pacific Pond turtles living there as well. While we cleaning, any turtles found are weighed and measured, their IDs are recorded and back into the lake they go.

As you wander around the lake exhibits make sure you check out the native wildlife that come in to enjoy the insects, worms, frogs, snails, etc! Various species come and go all year long, so if you are a birder, check out our visitors!

Baby Lemurs!

The Sacramento Zoo is welcoming its newest residents: a baby Coquerel’s Sifaka (CAHK-ker-rells she-FAHK) born on February 4th weighing 115 grams, and a baby Mongoose Lemur that was discovered the morning of Friday March 30th.

There are only eight AZA-accredited facilities that house the fewer than 60 endangered Coquerel’s Sifaka, while 17 AZA-accredited facilities house the fewer than 60 endangered Mongoose Lemurs in the U.S. To help preserve these vanishing species, the Sacramento Zoo takes part in Species Survival Plans® (SSP) initiated by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), to cooperatively manage specific, and typically threatened or endangered species, populations in accredited institutions.

“Both births are significant at the Sacramento Zoo and to lemur populations” said Harrison Edell, General Curator. There are between 1,000 and 10,000 Mongoose Lemurs left and potentially less than 10,000 Coquerel’s Sifaka living in the wild.

Mongoose Lemur & Baby (Baby in bottom right corner)

Knowing that both lemurs were going to be first time moms and that their due dates were nearing, staff had been keeping an eye out for any significant changes in the mothers’ behavior. The sifaka mother and baby are bonding in their habitat across from the Conservation Carousel and the Mongoose Lemur baby can be seen on exhibit with its mother and father.

Both Coquerel’s Sifaka and Mongoose Lemurs are native only to the island of Madagascar off the southeastern coast of Africa, although the Mongoose Lemur was introduced to the Comoro Islands of Moheli and Anjouan roughly 200 years ago.

Newborn sifaka ride on their mother’s belly for the first month, then graduate to riding on her back. By two months of age, they have learned the basics of leaping. By about six months of age, they claim the treetops as their own. Young reach adult size at one year. Coquerel’s Sifaka are among the most endangered of the sifaka species – habitat loss due to deforestation is the leading threat. They have a unique brown and white coloration, and are distinguished from other lemurs by the way they move. They maintain a very upright posture. Using only their back legs, they leap through the treetops, easily leaping more than 20 feet in a single bound. On the ground they spring sideways off their back feet to cover distance.

All Mongoose Lemur infants are born with female coloration and; males, change coloration within six to eight months. The infant is carried around the mother’s waist and is weaned between five and seven months. Mongoose Lemurs tend to live in small groups of three to four consisting of a mature pair and their immature offspring. The Ankarafantsika Reserve is the only protected area in Madagascar for the Mongoose Lemur. It is under heavy pressure due to forest clearance for pasture, charcoal production and croplands.

Pelicans find a Home at the Sacramento Zoo

By Tonja Swank, Public Relations Coordinator

A pelican, discovered alone along the mudflats at the Nevada Creek Reservoir, has found a new home at the Sacramento Zoo. After being found stranded and without his right wing (likely due to tangling in abandoned monofilament fishing line), the bird underwent health exams, made a complicated journey, and has landed in Sacramento along with a second pelican that was also injured in the wild. These two American White Pelicans made their debut at the Zoo March 11th.

Both pelicans were found at separate locations in the wild and unable to care for themselves. They were rescued and placed in a Montana rescue facility, but that was not the end of their story. The pair still had to undergo exams, receive clearance from California and Montana Departments of Fish and Game, go on a car ride from Montana to the Hogle Zoo in Utah (where they spent a night), then find an aircraft that had room for two large crates – all before they could reach their new home.

American White Pelicans have not been housed at Sacramento Zoo since 1983. Although the Zoo often receives animals from other zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums based on recommendations from Species Survival Plans, special cases such as this one allow the Zoo to take in animals from rescue facilities that are considered non-releasable, or unable to care for themselves in the wild.

When you visit the Zoo keep an eye out for the new pelicans! They are on the lake and are usually close to the flamingo area.

Pat Walsh and the ZooMobile

By Tonja Swank, Public Relations Coordinator

Students at Charles Mack had been working very hard to earn top reading scores and surpass reading requirements so the teachers wanted to give them a reward. 40 fifth and sixth grade students received a surprise visit from the ZooMobile and local celebrity Pat Walsh, sports reporter for News Talk KFBK 1530 AM, who went to Charles Mack Elementary as a student.

Pat began the presentation by telling the students about his time at Charles Mack and congratulating them for working so hard. He explained that if they continued to make good decisions, like going to school, reading and being conscious of those around them, then they could be anything they wanted!

Lara and Brooke, who you may recognize from the stage shows and other education programs at the Zoo, followed Pat’s discussion with the real stars of the day, the animal ambassadors. The animal ambassadors helped Lara and Brooke teach the students about the animals’ native habitats and the what the students could do to help the same animals out in the wild.

For more information about the ZooMobile program, how you can bring it to your school or sponsoring a ZooMobile visit the ZooMobile page.