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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"

As expected, the giant pandas accepted that bamboo shoot season was over and settled down and became satisfied with “regular bamboo.” The twins took the longest to start liking regular bamboo, but now everyone is finally content. Whew! We knew bamboo shoot season would end, of course, because it’s only one short season a year. … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Monday, June 18"

Giant pandas and red pandas are both classified as carnivores; however, most people do not think of them as such since they primarily eat bamboo. In the wild, giant pandas will eat carrion and occasionally catch small animals and consume them. Wild red pandas, especially pregnant females, also supplement their diet with small reptiles, insects, … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Friday, June 15"

Hi, my name is Kyle and I’m a Keeper II in the Herpetology Department at Zoo Atlanta. Herpetology is the study of reptiles and amphibians. So for this week’s keeper story, I’d like to talk to you about some amazing iguanas I have the pleasure of taking care of. Jamaican iguanas are a large, colorful … Continue reading "An endangered species making a comeback"