Annual Flamingo Round-up

By Tonja Swank, Public Relations Coordinator

Every year on a cold January morning the flamingos at the Sacramento Zoo receive an annual exam. A lot of preparation goes into making sure that each of the 40 flamingos are safely gathered together and then examined one by one.

Keepers, Zoo Veterinarians and veterinary students from UC Davis meet early in the morning, next to Lake Victoria, to begin the round-up.

First the flamingos are gathered together through a carefully orchestrated operation that involves corralling the flamingos into a holding pen, while putting the least amount of stress possible on the birds.

Then each individual bird is identified so that it can be weighed and its personal medical records can be reviewed.

Next they are thoroughly examined, inoculated against West Nile Virus and have blood work done.

After a receiving a clean bill of health each flamingo is carefully released back into the water.

Happy Birthday Makan!

By Jaime Wilson, Zoo Blog Keeper

Zoo keepers work hard to make animal enrichments a part of their every day routine, but when a zoo animal has a birthday they go above and beyond to make them even more festive!

Makan the Sumatran Orangutan turned 9 years old last week and came out on exhibit to find cupcakes (made from primate biscuits, yam "icing" and fruit), streamers and a large present that included a paper party hat.

As part of our 85th birthday celebration, we'll be sharing birthday stories and zoo memories throughout the year. Share your Sacramento Zoo memories by visiting our website and submitting old photos, stories or videos. And make new memories with the Zoo in 2012!

Green Acres Volunteer Gardening

By Jaime Wilson, Zoo Blog Keeper

The Sacramento Zoo is very grateful to Green Acres Nursery and Supply for making the Zoo’s Backyard beautiful!

Green Acres generously allowed 10 employees to volunteer their time over two days to rake, clean, weed, prune, fertilize, plant and revitalize the area! Their hard working staff spent hours gardening and amending the soil in preparation for a truck load of California native plants that they also donated!

Thank you to Green Acres and their wonderful staff for being strong community supporters and promoting a healthier and greener environment.

Visit the Green Acres website to see all that they offer!

New Roadrunner

By Brenda Gonzalez, Membership Coordinator

Many people associate Roadrunners with the famous tall, blue cartoon character that is always running from a coyote. Now you can see what a real Roadrunner looks like at the Sacramento Zoo!

The new male Roadrunner is much smaller than the bird depicted in cartoons. Roadrunners are native to the American Southwest, average 7-12 inches in height and are brown and white with piercing bright yellow eyes and a stiff long tail. Roadrunners are well named; they are weak flyers, often relying upon their strong, scaly legs to carry them away from danger and toward food.

The Roadrunner will be temporarily housed next to the White-faced Owl exhibit before moving to his permanent home with the Thick-billed Parrots. Be sure to stop by and check him out on your next visit!

Lion versus the Grinch

By Jaime Wilson, Zoo Blog Keeper

For our Holiday Magic event in December, our wonderful Zoo Teens fabricated a cardboard and paper mache Grinch in his sleigh! It was placed in the Lion exhibit and here is what happened.

AmeriCorps at the Zoo

By Maxwell Gruber, AmeriCorp Volunteer

Team Gold 2 of AmeriCorps NCCC served at the Sacramento Zoo this November, where we had the pleasure of working closely with the Zoo maintenance crew and Zoo keepers. The majority of our service was managed by the valiant maintenance team, with whom we worked each and every day in the trenches (sometimes literally). We assisted in the maintenance and improvement of the Zoo's beautiful grounds and exhibits.

Our first project was to beautify Lake Victoria/Lake Maracaibo and prevent invasive animals from burrowing below the perimeter fence; we accomplished this by laying stones along the entire perimeter of the fence. We also helped improve the Chimpanzee exhibit by hanging new rope from the caged dome and planting dozens of new bamboo plants within the exhibit. A third project was the beautification of the thick-billed parrot exhibit where we replaced dead trees/bushes with new plants better suited for the birds.

Each member of our team was given at least one opportunity to shadow a zoo keeper for the day. We assisted in every aspect of tending to the needs of the exotic animals. Our zoo keeping duties included feeding and stall clean-up, as well as all of the glamorous daily chores that come along with caring for animals. It was incredible to see the Zoo from the other side of the fence, and to work side by side with the zookeepers.

We of Gold 2 appreciate the opportunity we were given to work at the Sacramento Zoo. It was truly a unique experience to work closely with such beautiful animals on a daily basis. We have an incredible amount of respect for the work that is completed every day at the Zoo by the entire Zoo staff. A lot goes into it all. A special thanks to our project sponsor, Valorie Schneider for taking care of us during our stay. We would also like to thank Jason, Micheale, Scott, Nate, Tony, Tom, Amanda, Mandy and all others for working closely with us and creating a fun work atmosphere.

AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) is a 10 month program for individuals between the ages of 18-24. NCCC strengthens communities and develops leaders through team based national and community service. To learn more about AmeriCorps NCCC, check out our website at www.AmeriCorps.gov/NCCC. Be sure to follow Gold 2 during our 10 months of service: http://www.facebook.com/AmeriCorpsNCCCgold2.

Long Time Member

By Jaime Wilson, Zoo Blog Keeper


Zoo Members are at the heart of our organization and many have been supporters for years! Earlier this year at the members’ preview of the new river otter exhibit, Angelina Singer and her five children (Christa, Carmen, Carina, Carissa and Jason) made otter puppets and had a wonderful time. Thank you Angelina and family for supporting us since 1978!