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Hi Zoo Atlanta fans! It’s Ella here from the Primate Team, and I’d like to tell you guys a little bit about what humans and gorillas have in common. As you might know, we’re both primates, and there is only about a 1.6% difference between a human’s and gorilla’s DNA! So, what are some of … Continue reading "Gorillas and humans: What do we have in common?"

Things have been pretty “status quo” in PandaLand. The pandas certainly keep us busy throughout the day as we are frequently refreshing their bamboo, cleaning their habitats, setting up enrichment, doing training sessions, or working on other tasks to ensure we are constantly doing the best jobs that we can for them. However, as the … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Friday, July 16"

Recently I completed a complete draft of a manuscript that, essentially, I had been working on since 1989. It’s a few hundred pages long and reviews everything that is known about the toads (Family Bufonidae) of the amazing nation of Mexico. eventually it will be a component chapter of a broader effort entitled The Amphibians … Continue reading "The toads of Mexico"

The birds of Zoo Atlanta have some new neighbors! We recently welcomed a new but familiar species to the Bird Department. This species is known as the violaceous turaco. One male and one female have joined our population and currently reside across from our Indian peafowl habitat. I wanted to take just a minute to … Continue reading "Say hello (again!) to violaceous turacos!"

Although giant pandas and red pandas are not closely related, they actually share some cool similarities. The word panda in Nepalese means “bamboo eater.” This is fitting for both species because they exist on a diet of primarily bamboo, so they are both legitimately pandas. They also both have pseudothumbs, an extension of the wrist … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Monday, July 12"

As most of you know, we do a lot of positive reinforcement training here with the animals at the Zoo. Reptiles are no exception! I have been working with the giant Aldabra tortoises on target training for several years now, but they had also already trained with previous care team members So, a little bit about … Continue reading "Training with Shuffles"

July 3 was World Meerkat Day, one of the best days of the year! In celebration, Zoo Atlanta’s Social Media Team gave a platform for Kingsley, our Zoo’s alpha meerkat male, to give his first-ever “MeerKlass” discussing “Meerkatology”. I highly recommend those who missed it to go back into the Zoo’s Facebook and Instagram to … Continue reading "MeerKlass: A Review"

Hey everyone! The news around here at pandas is that we are trying out a new/old bamboo species! While there are about 200 species of bamboo here in Georgia, Zoo Atlanta’s giant pandas typically only eat about six or seven of them, due to availability. The “new” species they’ve been enjoying is called black bamboo, … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Friday, July 2"

Hopefully this summer has been a much deserved, relaxing break! With back to school around the corner, you may be beginning to think about lesson planning and curriculum for the fall semester. Did you know that Zoo Atlanta has a variety of free activities and resources for students and teachers, available on our Learn page? From videos … Continue reading "Back to school is just around the corner! "

Scroll, scroll, like…scroll, comment…scroll, scroll, share. Even without a description, many people know what activity is being referred to.  Social media has become a prevalent part of our society. Almost everyone in the United States has at least one account with the various social media platforms. As of 2016, Facebook has over 1.8 billion active users worldwide. With such a wide reach, it is important to know how … Continue reading "The power of sharing (on social media)"