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I was quoted recently in an interview as saying, “I never realized I could have so much influence [in conservation] by putting on a suit and tie and simply talking.” The fact that my knee disability prevents me from doing real fieldwork anymore is only a subtext of the bigger story. You all certainly have … Continue reading "An ounce of prevention: second chance?"

From kori bustards on the east side of the Zoo to blue cranes on the west side, eggs/incubation on the north side to the Bird Propagation Center on the south side – Birds is one of the most spread-out animal departments in the whole Zoo. According to my phone, I average 15,000 steps per day … Continue reading "‘Tis the season"

The other day for enrichment we decided to give the giant pandas cinnamon. When the pandas receive sensory enrichment such as scents, they generally self-anoint with it. Self-anointing just means they rub the scent all over themselves. Yang Yang and Xi Lun were more interested in food so they mostly ignored the scent. Ya Lun … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Monday, June 25"

Alpacas are a domesticated, social species that live in herds. Although they originated in Peru, they have now spread worldwide in human care. Although they share similar characteristics and are often mistaken for one another, alpacas and llamas are different species! There are four South American camelids: the alpaca and the llama, both domesticated, and the vicuña and the guanaco, both wild species that diverged from a common ancestor around 2 million years ago.

How much do you know about bees? Bees are incredibly important to the planet, much more so than most people realize. By bees doing what they do best, flying around, spreading pollen and fertilizing plants, they provide 35 percent of the food we eat. So, if all the bees suddenly disappeared, we humans would experience … Continue reading "Join us for Pollinator Day!"

Hi everyone! I hope you have had the chance to stop by the Orkin Children’s Zoo to meet our newest friends, the Huacaya (pronounced wah-KI-ah) alpacas! We welcomed Tuscany, Warrior and Smurf to Zoo Atlanta in late spring, and they have settled in splendidly. The whole Zoo was ecstatic to welcome them and made sure … Continue reading "Meet Tuscany, Warrior and Smurf"

We celebrated all of the Zoo’s animal fathers here on Father’s Day this past Sunday. Yang Yang received all sorts of special enrichment, including themed boxes and “scent-cicles.” He, of course, went straight for the boxes, as he knew there were likely leafeater biscuits inside. After taking a quick bamboo break, he moved on to … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Wednesday, June 20"

As work on our new savanna habitat continues, we’ve taken advantage of the fact that the savanna animals are always accessible to us in their behind-the-scenes areas. This has meant that we have also been able to increase the amount of training we have been working on with them. The biggest accomplishment so far for … Continue reading "A new accomplishment for Abu"

Enwe will join what is now the only zoological population of drills in the U.S. Zoo Atlanta welcomes a new ambassador for an endangered species back to his birthplace. Enwe, a 15-year-old male drill, arrived in Atlanta from the Detroit Zoo and has recently begun exploring his new habitat in the Zoo’s Monkeys of Makokou … Continue reading "Welcome Enwe"

Enwe will join what is now the only zoological population of drills in the U.S. Zoo Atlanta welcomes a new ambassador for an endangered species back to his birthplace. Enwe, a 15-year-old male drill, arrived in Atlanta from the Detroit Zoo and has recently begun exploring his new habitat in the Zoo’s Monkeys of Makokou … Continue reading "Welcome Enwe"