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It’s been a little while since we discussed the Zoo’s baby binturongs, or bintlets if you prefer. A lot has happened with these guys over the past few weeks, but I guess I will start at the beginning to make sure everyone is on the same page. Starting in early 2023, we started to see breeding … Continue reading "A Tale of Three Bintlets"

Inspired by a true story. Bart awoke engulfed in a pile of his slumbering friends and family. While he enjoyed the warmth permeating off his siblings, it was time to wake up! He wriggled free and gave a big mole-rat stretch, took a few steps, and let out a yawn. Today was going to be … Continue reading "Bart the Naked Mole Rat"

Hark, O readers of the Keeper Stories! I—Daniel!—have returned! And this time we’re going to talk about boxer crabs. Why boxer crabs? While we don’t have this species at Zoo Atlanta, I happen to be particularly especially very much interested in crabs, and thought this could be a nice deviation from the normal scaly or … Continue reading "The fascinating subfamily Polydectinae"

Reptiles just don’t get an even break in the public’s consciousness sometimes. For centuries, the public, and many biologists have dismissed them as cognitive and behavioral simpletons that simply are incapable of showing any interesting behaviors compared to the birds and mammals. Well, I hope that our wonderful readers of this column will immediately know … Continue reading "Cognition in Reptiles"

It is never lost on me what a privilege it is to be able to work with the giant pandas. I was recently reminded of this fact when I watched Yang Yang’s wakeup routine. Something unique to Yang Yang is that when he first wakes up, it tends to be a very slow yawning and stretching … Continue reading "Panda Updates- Monday, February 20"

Ah, Valentine’s Day. A whole day of the year dedicated to love. Most of the humans I have encountered have some strong opinions about Valentine’s Day. Some enjoy the idea of buying expensive gifts or dressing up and going out to celebrate with a fancy meal, maybe throw in a little karaoke and dancing too! Others … Continue reading "Be my Valentine: animal kingdom style"

I like to think enrichment is limited mostly by a keeper’s imagination. We try to come up with new ideas as much as possible. A recent enrichment goal was “play,” so we gave Ya Lun and Xi Lun a pool with a bubble bath and a toy floating inside. We never quite know how the pandas will … Continue reading "Panda Updates- Monday, December 26"

Hey everyone!  This is Ash from the Herpetology Department back to tell you about a recent professional development opportunity that I got to go to through Zoo Atlanta called the Venomous Herpetology Symposium. This conference took place in San Antonio, TX and was sponsored by conservation groups: The Rattlesnake Conservancy and Save the Snakes.  I … Continue reading "Sharing a passion for venomous snakes"

It’s hard to believe, but September is already here! September is a busy month here on panda routine. You may have seen recently that Lun Lun celebrated her 25th birthday on August 25. This leads us into quite the whirlwind next few weeks. On September 3, Ya Lun and Xi Lun turn 6 years old. September 3 … Continue reading "Panda Updates- Wednesday, August 31"

Zoo Atlanta is very proud to have partnered with doctoral student Andrew Schulz of the Georgia Institute of Technology on this groundbreaking study exploring the amazing mechanics of the elephant trunk.  Additionally, Zoo Atlanta’s Director of Research, Dr. Joe Mendelson, served on Andrew’s doctoral committee. Check out the article below from Jason Maderer of Georgia Tech … Continue reading "Skin: An Additional Tool for the Versatile Elephant Trunk"