Search Results for: ju

About a month ago, the Herpetology Team participated in our annual diamondback terrapin swap with the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island. As part of the Zoo’s support of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center’s Jekyll Island Causeway Conservation Program, we returned 25 individuals back to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center after about a year … Continue reading "A rewarding opportunity with terrapins"

In 2008, my close colleagues, herpetologists David Wake and Vance Vredenburg, used the amphibian crisis to support their invocation of the term the Sixth Mass Extinction. Immediately, I was worried that my friends would be seen as exaggerating, even if I agreed with their argument entirely. Quite the opposite, their phrase was adopted into the … Continue reading "Contemporary mass extinctions?"

Can you believe it’s October? The leaves will soon start falling, the school semester is well underway, and the air is crisp! Well … two out of three of those things are true, at least! It has been pretty sweltering here in Atlanta, but despite the heat, Halloween is just around the corner! Zoo Atlanta … Continue reading "Planning Halloween animal enrichment"

Hi everyone! My name is Hope and I am a seasonal bird keeper here at Zoo Atlanta. Before I became a bird keeper, I interned with the Zoo’s Gorilla Care Team. Although birds and gorillas might seem like completely different worlds, one of the most common questions I have been asked in both animal areas … Continue reading "Going “all-in” with animals"

A huge benefit of being a zoo accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) is that we can look to other AZA-accredited organizations and learn from them. We have our own set of practices and enrichment items in place here at Zoo Atlanta for the giant pandas, but there is always room to … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Monday, September 30"

If you are regular guests of Zoo Atlanta, you are probably familiar with our geriatric gorillas, Ozzie and Choomba, who are 58 and 56 years old, respectively. Ozzie and Choomba live in Habitat 2 and have been together for over 15 years. Ozzie is the oldest male gorilla on record and is frequently seen napping … Continue reading "Ozzie and the “Golden Girls”"

As we continue in our series on myths about giant pandas, what about the statement “Zoo pandas are lazy?” This is far from accurate, and is typically expressed when people are watching the giant pandas eat. Giant pandas spend most of the day consuming large quantities of bamboo, but this comes after they have spent … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Monday, September 22 "

There are a lot of misconceptions about giant pandas out in the world. As giant panda care specialists, we hear them daily, even from fellow animal caretakers! So, we are taking some time here to dispel some of those myths and put the truth about giants pandas out there. Many of these myths come from … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Friday, September 20"

Have you ever heard of Earth Overshoot Day? It’s not an official day, more of a measurement of how our demand for ecological resources compares to Earth’s ability to regenerate and supply those resources over a year’s time. In other words, it’s a measurement of how much of Earth’s resources we would need to continue … Continue reading "Earth Overshoot Day"

September 24 will also be the naming day for the youngest member of the Zoo’s gorilla population. WHAT: Zoo Atlanta joins a global awareness event in observing the third-annual World Gorilla Day on Tuesday, September 24, 2019. As an added cause for celebration, the event will also mark the naming day of the infant gorilla … Continue reading "World Gorilla Day"