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Panda Updates – Friday, October 20
The giant pandas spending more time in their outdoor habitats presents many more opportunities than just the pandas getting to spend time outside. Their outdoor habitats have fun places to hide enrichment, scatter their leafeater biscuits, and they can enjoy the crisp fall air. For keepers, it means we can do more cleaning projects inside … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Friday, October 20"
The bacterial world of animals
Zoo Atlanta is not just about animals. Indeed, people are not just about people. Recent advances in analyzing genetic samples have broken down the former wall that prevented scientists from really describing the bacterial fauna (“microbiome”) that lives on, in, and in association with all forms of life. We now can calculate the number and … Continue reading "The bacterial world of animals"
Panda Updates – Wednesday, October 18
Cooler weather means more outside time for the giant pandas! Going outside almost daily this past week has resulted in the cubs being much more comfortable in the outdoor space. Yesterday we saw them wrestling and playing outside! Mom still isn’t crazy about spending more than a couple of hours outside, so if you want … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Wednesday, October 18"
Report from Orangutan SSP Husbandry Workshop
Hey reader, I recently had the opportunity to attend the 2017 Orangutan Species Survival Plan® (SSP) Husbandry Workshop. And let me start off by saying I had a wonderful time. The workshop was hosted by the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans. Zookeepers, veterinarians, researchers and other orangutan fans from all over the world gathered … Continue reading "Report from Orangutan SSP Husbandry Workshop"
Panda Updates – Monday, October 16
We are all excited about the autumn weather finally arriving to Atlanta. Well, almost arriving. It’s not 80 degrees anymore! We have been taking advantage of these cooler mornings by getting the pandas into the outdoor habitats as early as possible. Due to their incredibly thick fur, the bears are not very tolerant of hot … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Monday, October 16"
Panda Updates – Friday, October 13
I think we’re going to have to pull out some of the tricks we have up our sleeves to entice the twins to eat sweet potato. Sometimes, simply always offering a piece of sweet potato will eventually lead a cub to further investigate the new orange item and then eventually develop a liking for it. … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Friday, October 13"
Trim your toes!
If you have a pet, you may have had the (dis)pleasure of doing a nail trim. Just like our nails, dogs, cats and birds have nails that grow. Wolves, bobcats and wild birds keep their nails trimmed naturally through daily use. Animals in our homes and in the Zoo need a different solution. Since nail … Continue reading "Trim your toes!"
Getting to know Shirley and Eleanor
If you tuned in to Swing Keeper Sarah’s #TakeoverTuesday a few weeks ago, you know that the Hoofstock Team recently took over the care of warthogs Eleanor and Shirley! We’re currently getting to know our new charges, and it’s a been a fun experience so far! We’ve spent the last few weeks learning their routine … Continue reading "Getting to know Shirley and Eleanor"
Panda Updates – Monday, October 9
I think it’s safe to say that giant pandas are very much creatures of habit. This is why it is so important that we introduce the cubs to important parts of their adult diets while they are young. We started introducing the girls to leafeater biscuits when they were much younger, and they have turned … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Monday, October 9"
Panda Updates – Friday, October 6
Most of the animals in our care are trained for a number of behaviors depending on needs of the animal. At the Zoo we follow the principles of positive reinforcement, by which the individual being trained is reinforced for the behaviors that the trainer has asked for. The giant panda cubs have begun learning some … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Friday, October 6"