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If you’re an avid birder, like me, or even just a general bird enthusiast, you have probably heard of the California condor. As the largest living North American land bird, it is the only surviving member of the Gymnogyps genus of New World Vultures. While we do not have California condors here at the Zoo, … Continue reading "Parthenogenesis in California condors"

Fall is always a fun time for the Carnivore Department. It means cooler weather, lots of leaf piles, and best of all, PUMPKINS! Recently all of the carnivores here at the Zoo received pumpkins for enrichment. For the sun bears, pumpkins make a great feeder toy to hide a delicious snack in … as well as … Continue reading "Happy fall from the meat-eaters!"

Installation is well underway on the more than 80 lanterns that will be part of the all-new IllumiNights at the Zoo: A Chinese Lantern Festival, opening to the public on Monday, November 22, 2021. Zoo Atlanta has partnered with Hanart Culture to bring this new experience to Atlanta. After dark, guests will explore the Zoo, … Continue reading "Wildlife will soon light the night at IllumiNights"

Hey, Zoo Atlanta fans! My name is Samantha, and I have been a Seasonal Primate Keeper here for over a month. For the majority of that time I have been helping the Orangutan Care Team with feeding, cleaning, diets, and enrichment. One of my favorite things so far has been creating enrichment for the orangutan … Continue reading "Orangutan enrichment: pinecones, smear boards and more!"

As animal care professionals, it’s our job to make sure the animals we care for are in good health. One of the many ways we accomplish this is to obtain animal weights on a regular basis.  A challenge comes with ensuring we get consistent weights on our arboreal red panda, Jackie. Since red pandas spend most of their time up in … Continue reading "PANDA UPDATES – MONDAY, NOVEMBER 8"

We scientists don’t have much patience for myths, science fiction, or pseudo-science. Legends of Bigfoot irritate our rational sensibilities. But sometimes it is really fun to dive into myths and tall tales and try to discover a factual basis for these wild ideas. Let’s consider my favorite one: the mighty, some would say creepy, jackalope! … Continue reading "Are jackalopes real?"

If you’ve visited Zoo Atlanta or watched PandaCam, you’ve likely noticed that the Zoo’s giant panda habitats have several structures in them – what we call “furniture” for the animals around the Zoo. The outdoor giant panda habitats feature a lot of rocks in various conformations and wooden climbing structures. The variety of “furniture” offers the giant pandas choice in how … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Friday, November 5"

Hello, I’m Alexis and I am a Swing Keeper in the Ambassador Animals Department. Here at the Zoo, I work with a variety of animals. This includes reptiles, small mammals, alpacas, Kunekune pigs, sheep and my favorite … goats. In the petting zoo, guests are always asking, “Is that a Billy goat?” or “Is that … Continue reading "Goat myths and facts!"

While on the surface it may seem like biology would be the only background you need to work at a zoo, you may be surprised to learn that diverse careers across multiple disciplines are represented. When it comes to STEM, or Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, Zoo Atlanta has it all, and in some very … Continue reading "STEM Careers at Zoo Atlanta"

*Achoo!* We have all been there, sitting on a bus, in a classroom, office, or at the grocery store and someone nearby sneezes or coughs and doesn’t cover their mouth and nose. In the past we might’ve thought “Oh no, gross.” During COVID it’s a much more intense feeling of “I hope I don’t get … Continue reading "One Health, One World"