Cpzoo’s Blog

Well, after a week of misery and constant news about flooding, the sun is

Male Ringtail Lemur

 shining and hopefully everyone is drying out. With the warmer weather, many of our critters have moved to their outdoor enclosures for the summer, including the Ringtail Lemurs! It will take a little longer for the Red Ruffed Lemurs to return to their island home as we want to be sure that everything is safe and strong after the flooding, but expect to see them outdoors soon.

Enjoy a beautiful spring Sunday!

Lino, Zoo Operations

Rob, Zoo Operations Manager

Hello to everyone…

With all the news about flooding in Southeastern New England, I thought it was time to get up a post about how we fared. The answer is…so-so. Rest assured that all our animals are safe and dry (except the otter who choose to be wet). None of them were injured or were ever in any danger. We are grateful for that.

Exhibit-wise, there were a few problems. You see, the zoo’s pond is essentially the watershed for the zoo and Sweet Forest, which abuts the zoo along the north. The rain turned the forest into a swamp, and the water began to runoff into the pond. At its highest point, the pond breached its banks, nearly completely covered the round island and began to cover the square one. There were no animals on the islands at the time, but damage was done, mostly to the electrical system and landscaping – both of which can be fixed.

At one point, the dry well near the Kangaroo/Emu exhibit filled and began to spill over, which led to about 18 inches of water in the lowest points of the exhibit. We kept the ‘Roos inside, but the Emus actually had a great time playing in the puddles. Both species are fine and are enjoying being out in the yard today.

By far the most damage done was to storage areas of the zoo. A great deal of gift shop inventory was ruined, as were many supplies. Some special event materials were also wrecked by water, despite being carefully stored.

Luckily, we here at the zoo have a first class operations team. This team is composed of only two men who manage to keep the entire zoo clean, looking nice and well stocked. They plan and build new exhibits as well as maintain existing ones. They are charged with caring for old buildings that constantly need a great deal of TLC. It was these two men who planned and constructed the Splashpad Playspace last spring. Their names are Rob and Lino, and the zoo is VERY lucky to have them. During the worst of the storm, they spent the day soaking wet trying to save whatever they could. They spent the night checking on all the pumps that had to be watched round the clock. It is because of their tireless efforts that we did not suffer worse damage.

I would also like to mention that other departments in the city were incredibly helpful. Park and Forestry, Recreation, Highway, Water and Wastewater dropped everything to send us additional pumps and even personnel to help when things were at the worst. Thank goodness for their support.

All-in-all, things are ok here, and getting back to normal. Luckily a good stretch of warm, DRY weather is predicted, and as I said, thanks to Rob and Lino’s efforts, the zoo STILL looks good! During this long, Easter weekend, take a moment to swing by the zoo…and if you happen to see Lino or Rob, let them know how you appreciate their hard work!

Have a great weekend!

Melanie S, Curator of Education

So…is it love? Will our two Pygmy Lorises get together in a match made in heaven? Maybe – we have no way of telling right now. Some may call it voyeuristic, but we do watch them closely, and as of right now, no mating action has been observed. That does not mean that all hope is lost – Pygmy Lorises are very private about mating, so there’s a good chance that we would not see mating occurring. Even though they are housed in a building with a reverse light cycle, true night when people aren’t around is more likely to be when that magic moment happens. We’ll just have to keep an eye on our little female and see if she grows larger!

Speaking of love, a visit to the zoo this time of year will give you the chance to see a couple of our male kangaroos boxing. Why do they box? For mating rights or course. Unfortunately, our two boxers are both ‘fixed’, so it really doesn’t matter who wins, neither of them can mate. We do have an intact male – he is the really red little one in the mob – but he is still too young to be interested in mating.  But who knows what the future holds?

Melanie S – Curator of Education

Spring is in the air, even if the temperature is in the tank, and never more so than in the mind or a young male Pygmy Loris named Mon. He recently moved into his new bachelor pad in the Nocturnal Building, right next door to the girl of his dreams, Cammie.

For the first week or so, they were nodding acquaintances – smelling each other through the window, hearing each other conversations – you know the kind of thing. They were polite and cordial neighbors – never bothering each other or causing problems. And then it happened…that momentary spark that turn a young male loris’ head. They gazed at one another through the window and felt a connection.

Keepers were soon convinced to give Mon visiting privileges with Cammie, and they hit it off. They started hanging out together (literally), grooming each other, scent marking one another’s branches, all those things that spell L-O-V-E to loris of either sex. Now, as mating season get closer and closer, Mon can hardly tear himself away from the nearly irresistible Cammie…

…Tune in next week for updates on this budding relationship…

One of the marmosets in the Rainforest

2010 is well started now, and we are in the depths of winter. As I’ve mentioned before, it is a quiet time at the zoo and outside, not much is happening. But inside, things are definitely moving ahead full speed.

Right now we are in the middle of some very important introductions. We are bringing together a small group of marmosets for our rainforest exhibit.

Now – the Rainforest has had marmosets in it for several years, but last summer we were down to 1 animal. Like most primates, marmosets prefer to live in groups, so we set about finding more animals to rebuild our little troop. We were very lucky and did find a couple. The problem is that primate troops have a very strict dominance structure, and disruption of that structure can causing serious injury to new troop members. Knowing this, zoo staff decided things would need to move very slowly, and a plan put into place.

First, we gave the new female a birth control implant. Marmoset troops are matriarchal and male dominance is based on mating. By eliminating the potential for mating, it would hopefully prevent fighting between the males.

Next we took the lowest ranked male and introduced him to the female. It was our hope that by allowing the female and low ranked male to establish a strong bond there would be less fighting and hopefully fewer injuries when full contact introductions began.

Once the bond was well established, the pair moved into the rainforest into what we like to call a ‘howdy’ cage. In this way, the marmosets can get to know each other without being able to cause each other injury.

Recently we decided it was time to give them unprotected access to one another. We moved the group into a howdy cage set up in the animal treatment facility to start the intros. For three days we had volunteers monitoring the marmosets’ interactions, ready to step in and separate the animals if it became necessary, but all our worries were for naught. The group is now interacting well, and we hope to move them back into the rainforest soon.

Melanie S – Curator of Education

When the weather gets nasty and we can watch the mercury in the thermometer rattle around single digit temperatures, what happens at the zoo?

Well, just like anyone else, we try to stay warm – but that means keeping animals warm too. On a day like today NO ONE goes out – even the Snow Leopards, who generally enjoy cold weather, stay inside. Keepers give out extra enrichment, but for the most part, the animals are content to stay in and stay cozy when the wind blows.

High winds like the ones shaking the window in my office present problems of their own. Like most homeowners, we too look anxiously at the trees on zoos grounds and hope that none of the enormous limbs decide to come down on a building. That’s another reason to look animals inside. The zoo’s buildings are old, but pretty solid. The outdoor exhibit enclosure are another story. Built of mesh and wood or mesh and metal, they could be more easily crushed by a falling limb – which could either hurt an animal or worse, allow it to escape.

Zoo staff also tries to stay indoors if at all possible. Certainly there is some outdoor exhibit cleaning to do, but on a day like today, animal care staff focus on projects inside the buildings. The same goes for operations staff. The only thing moving outside is the occasional brave visitor and squirrels.

Melanie S – Curator of Education

Now that the Christmas brou-ha-ha is over, it is time to look forward to the New Year. But before then, we are offering an OPEN HOUSE opportunity on December 29 for teens interested in becoming Zoo Crew.

Zoo Crew teens do many things around the zoo – from interpreting exhibits for visitors to grounds and maintenance. We rely on these remarkable young people to assist with programming and so much more. Without there help, it would be much more difficult to accomplish some of our summer goals.

Believe it or not, a ‘passion for animals’ is not the number one thing we look for in teens interested in applying. Rather, we look for people who have public speaking skills and/or are ready to develop these skills. We look for young men and women who would like to educate people abotu animals and conservation. Certainly we hope that anyone who applies is interested in working with/around animals and the zoo, but as I said, it is not as important as other factors.

First year zoo crew actually have no direct interaction with animals. Instead, we focus on helping them to develop public speaking skills and teach them about customer service. Using biofacts like skulls and skins, they spend the summer working with the public and our summer program participants. Returning crew have the option of working with animals.

If you are interested in becoming a zoo crew member, visit the volunteer page of the zoo’s website for more information and an application. I also recommend looking through the Zoo Crew blog to read about some first hand zoo crew experiences!

If you want to attend to the OPEN HOUSE, please contact the Education Department to register: cpzstoehrer@yahoo.com.

Melanie S – Curator of Education

I thought today would be a good day to mention some really special people at the zoo…our docents. This group of 24 adults works tirelessly to help make the zoo a success and a pleasant place to visit.

Docents, as I mentioned are our adult volunteers. The go through a 6 weekend training course to learn all bout the zoo, how to talk to the public, what goes on behind the scenes, and much more. They give their time and energy to promote events, assist with major projects, plan programs and activities, and so much more. Without them it would be much harder to do many of things we do.

Interested in joining this bunch of dedicated adults? Check out the volunteer page on the zoo’s website and learn more about the program. The next training session will be this spring, so check back to find out about docent open houses and training dates!

Melanie S – Curator of Education

Yesterday evening the Zoo’s female Southern Screamer died of unknown causes. One minute she was fine, the next moment she was ‘crashing’. The zoo’s vet and animal care staff worked feverishly to save her, but it was in vain. Today we are all a little down.

The sad truth about working in a zoo – or any animal facility whether it be exotic, marine or domestic – is that there is a 100% mortality rate. Every animal in the zoo is going to die someday. Since most of them have shorter lifespans than humans, we as staff are often witness to these deaths – and each and every one is heartbreaking.

Yes – the animals in the zoo are NOT pets – the are captive wild animals with all the accompanying instincts and triggers. But I defy ANYONE to work with an animal  – one you may have seen born or arrive at the zoo, an animal you cared for during illness, one you trained and/or played with, an animal that recognized you and was excited to see you every morning, an animal you nursed and in some cases comforted as the end drew near or in the vet’s case, had to put down – and be unmoved. We don’t show it – we can’t. Not with 150 other individuals counting on us to care for them, but a part of us hurts and mourns each and every loss.

This particular death creates even further sadness as the female leaves behind her brother. The two have been together since hatching and were bonded to one another – not in the sense of a monogamous mating pair, but the way siblings would be until going off to find their own mates. We will spend time  for the next several days  just watching the male to be sure he is okay.

The male screamer will recover – in a couple of days, maybe a week or so at most, he will forget her – but zoo staff won’t. In fact, we won’t ever forget her – it’s human nature and memory that will ensure that. But today we will mourn her – each of us in our own way, as we go about the business of caring for the rest of ‘our’ animals.

Melanie S – Curator of Education

Hello all you zoo-goers!

It’s been a year and FINALLY I am up and running a new Capron Park Zoo blog. We hope to use this forum as place to keep our visitors updated on what happening at the zoo.

Winter is always a quiet time at the zoo. Not many people choose to enjoy the solitude and peace. It really is a wonderful time to visit and see some of the animals that love the cool weather best.

The zoo is quiet – but still busy. Zoo staff uses the winter for projects – exhibit renovations (for indoor spaces), ideas for new programs and events, even how best to exhibit our existing collection. For example, right now, the Pygmy Loris is off exhibit because our Operations team is modifying the space. Our female is going to have a boyfriend! Because Lorises really only enjoy each other’s company during mating season, we have to create a way to separate the two so we don’t have any fighting. Luckily, we have a creative and innovative operations team that is even now hard at work on those modifications.

Other projects like animal introductions occur when its quiet. Although our animals are used to being viewed by the public, and for the most part aren’t bothered by people, introducing conspecifics (animals of the same species) can be a tricky business. Right now our Marmosets are in ‘howdy’ time getting to know one another. When zoo staff are comfortable that they will all coexist without problems, they will be moved back to their rainforest home. But for now, they are enjoying a stay in the ‘get-to-know-you’ suite on zoo grounds.

Melanie S – Curator of Education