Volunteer Coordinator s Corner

Transcription

1 For more information visit October 5, 2009 Volunteer Coordinator s Corner Annie Langenfeld We will start with the sad news first. Chuck the Western Chuckwalla passed away in early September. Many of us who worked with him will truly miss him. He was great to take to schools and rove with on the grounds. We also lost Raja, the beautiful and elegant Malayan Tiger. Visitors were awed with him and that exhibit will look very empty. We all hope that we will obtain another tiger. Our latest training class will end with graduation on October 3. We broke in most of the trainees at the Elephant Festival weekend. The festival was the best and most colorful we have had in years. Good crowds, many interesting and fun things for the visitors to do and great help from all you volunteers made it a super weekend. Many thanks and kudos to Antonia, our Education Specialist, for putting together the plans and fitting all the pieces of the puzzle to make it such a wonderful event. And thanks to Marlene for doing such a fantastic job on scheduling all of you for the event. Story time at the Zoo Did you know that our education team is working on offering more story times at the zoo? We have this new sign in the works too. If you would like to help contact any Education Specialist. Training Update Now on to Boo at the Zoo. It is to be 2 days this year. The Saturday and Sunday the weekend before Halloween.I just know all of you who worked the festival will want to be a part of this event. Tons of candy given out, lots of games, music, things for children and much more. You even can wear a costume, just not a mask. We don t want to scare the children! Nancy Bain will be in front of the wolf exhibit in her Little Red Riding Hood outfit. Last year Tom Marsden came as a Cave Man. So start thinking what you want to do and then call us to sign you up for the occasion. It is not too early to do so. Continued on page 3 Animal Handling Training starts on October 10. For more information contact the Volunteer Office. For more information on Interpretive Aide training contact the Education Curator at

2 Keepers had hoped that the mass would be removable so that Raja could recover. "The zoo keepers who work with Raja every day are suffering a terrible loss" said Animal Curator John Kiseda. Over the years they developed an intense bond and this event really is traumatic. A full post mortem examination will be conducted on the tiger before cremation. Farewell to "Raja" the El Paso Zoo s Malayan Tiger El Paso, Texas September 22 "Most days at the Zoo are a celebration of life and its astonishing diversity, but today the zoo has lost a valuable and beloved member of our family, reports Zoo Director Steve Marshall. Raja the El Paso Zoo s 16-yearold male Malayan tiger was euthanized this morning. Keepers noticed Raja the tiger s appetite has been irregular for the last couple of weeks, and a few days ago noticed some swelling of his belly. Zoo veterinarian Dr. Victoria Milne and her staff were examining the tiger under anesthesia yesterday and confirmed that there was a large mass in his abdomen, most likely intestinal in origin. A surgery was planned for today to attempt to remove the mass. Unfortunately, the surgery confirmed that the cancerous mass could not be removed, and was beginning to spread to other surfaces in his abdomen. Dr. Milne, Zoo Veterinarian, said We had to make the right decision for Raja. It was obvious that this process was not going to resolve with surgery and was only going to progress and make him feel very ill very quickly. At least we were able to cut that suffering short. Raja was 16-years old, which is geriatric for tigers. Problems like kidney failure, arthritis, and cancer do tend to increase in frequency with old age in cats, as in people and other animals. Raja s Bio Raja was born at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens on June 22, He arrived at El Paso Zoo on Aug He was a good natured cat, playful, with a good spirit. He was well loved and was one of the first 'major' animals to arrive for the Zoo's 'new' Asian animal section. He was recently reintroduced to Melor, who was also from Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens. Melor has been at the El Paso Zoo since February 4, Malayan Tiger Facts Panthera tigris jacksoni (Malayan Tiger) discovered in 2004 as the 9th subspecies of the tiger. Description : Morphologically similar to the Indo-Chinese tiger, but the size is closer to the Sumatran tigers with average weight of 120 kg for adult males and 100 kg for females. Distribution: The Malayan tiger is found only in the Malay Peninsula, southern tip of Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia. Tigers are not found in East Malaysia ( Borneo ). In Malaysian, they are sparsely distributed from the northern transboundary forests contiguous to Thailand to the most southern tip of continental Asia. Status in the wild : Since the late 1980s, at least 500 tigers are thought to remain in Malaysia, which has carrying capacity of 493 to1480 tigers based on available habitat with known presence of tigers.

3 Why Tigers Matter Human welfare and economic development in Asia depends on the same clean water, clean air, natural flood controls and other forest resources that tigers need. Because tigers are poised at the top of the food chain, if we can maintain healthy tiger populations in Asia s wild lands, we can ensure that there are healthy habitats and prey populations present to support them. Tigers need extensive, intact landscapes and act as an umbrella species by saving tigers you save other plants and animals that share their range. Renowned ecologist E.O. Wilson eloquently captures the flip side of this coin: Tigers are predestined by their perch at the top of the food web to be big in size and sparse in numbers. They live on such a small portion of life s available energy as always to skirt the edge of extinction, and they are the first to suffer when the ecosystem around them starts to erode. Volunteer Coordinator Continued from page 1 (Source: Save the Tiger Fund) PUMPKIN GHOST AND GHOULIE BIRTHDAY WISHES TO THE FOLLOWING: 19, Renee Rojas----Renee you have the whole month to yourself. Elaine Prensky and Diann Kaerwer received their 5 year pin for belonging to the RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program) at the annual banquet. If you are 55 years or older you can become a part of this program. Your hours as a volunteer at the zoo are added in with several thousand other El Paso Volunteers to send into the State and Federal Government. It doesn t cost you anything, you are insured for the travel between your home and place of volunteering and back each time and they have this fabulous banquet every year for you.. So congratulations to Elaine and Diann. Acosta has about finished the mural painting in the South American Pavilion. I understand that we are getting the Meerkats soon. Yippee. I hope we hear soon if we are getting Alpacas. Then we get to walk them every day. Daria Brown has been flitting around again. But October should find her here more at the zoo. I think most of the vacation travel is over. When you see any of our Ambassador volunteers be sure to introduce yourself and welcome them to our group. And remember, put on your calendar the date December 5, That is the night of our Pot Luck Holiday party. The Society will provide the meat and drink and we all will bring fabulous food. Last year we had many tables full of fantastic dishes, salads, veggies, veggie plates, appetizers and desserts that boggled the mind. No one went away hungry. There were prizes and most of all, the chance to meet other volunteers and their families. So save that night. There will be animal handling classes in October so if you want to take those classes give Marlene or me your name to add to the list. This includes any of the new volunteers who might be interested. If any one is interested in working in the commissary or on the grounds or helping make enrichments items for our zoo critters let us know. And some of the collection areas still can use volunteers. The dates for the training are: Saturday, October 10, Saturday, October17th and Saturday, October 31. The classes will be from 9 to 4 pm. As I said above, call Marlene or I to sign up. They are taking only so many so be sure to get your name on the list. The next volunteer meeting is on Monday, October 12 at 3:30 pm in the EPWU Discovery Center. All volunteers are always invited to come----once again, great work and many thanks. Derrill has been in Seattle for the AZAK convention. (zookeepers). He will be back for 2 days and then off to the Palo Duro Canyon for a pageant. Then on to Houston for another convention. Boy does he every get around. Alan

4 New Volume Collects Essays on Conservation as a Path to Improved Human Well-Being Sep 17, th Annual Elephant Festival Over 4,400 people attended this year s 8th Annual Elephant Festival. Zoo staff and volunteers put together one of the best education events in recent memory and the weather was perfect. Hundreds of people participated in three different Elephant Festival Parades which included the Education team s golf cart decorated like an Asian elephant complete with regal robes reminiscent of elephant festivals in Asia. Volunteers also created a walking baby elephant with one person operating the head and front legs and another person operating the rear. In addition to watching the parade, hearing elephant stories and learning about how to help elephants in the wild, visitors were able to enjoy five elephant presentations each day including a special Breakfast with the Elephants program, a new elephant footwork demonstration, the noon elephant training program and two produce hunts. Live bands, dancers, jugglers, magicians, belly dancers plus special festival food and gifts added to the colorful day at the Zoo. On Friday a special parade for visiting school groups included students from Zavalla Elementary hosted by the El Paso Zoological Society. The Society received a $5000 Grant from Prices Dairy this year to help underprivileged children visit the Zoo. Grant money was used to transport the children to the Zoo, provide them with lunch plus involve the entire class in a Produce Hunt which gave them an opportunity to visit both the behind the scenes and exhibit areas of our elephant exhibit. Earlier in the month this grant money also helped the Zoo to host 10 mothers with their children from the Salvation Army on our popular Toddler Trek. LONDON, UK--Most experts wholeheartedly embrace the idea that nature must be protected in order to advance human well-being; but, the debate on how development goals and biodiversity conservation should be linked in practice is far from settled. So reveals a volume published by leading UK publisher Earthscan and co-edited by AWF expert Joanna Elliott. The Earthscan Reader in Poverty and Biodiversity Conservation is an edited compilation of the most important essays and articles on the linkages between poverty reduction strategies and conservation with a guide to and commentary on the key themes that are shaping policy discussions. The book will help readers, including both students and professionals, mark a path from today s polarizing debates to tomorrow s lasting solutions. The book supports AWF s Sustaining Economic Resources for Africa (SERA) Initiative, under which AWF adheres to 12 policy priorities, using them to guide work in each of our Heartlands and to shape AWF s recommendations to public and private stakeholders. Conservation is more than a tool for maintaining diversity and managing climate change; it is a means to alleviate poverty and manage the tradeoffs between ecological vitality and human development, says Joanna Elliott, Vice President for Program Design and Knowledge Management at AWF and co-editor of the book. AWF is pleased to have contributed to this critical volume, which collects the latest thinking on conservation as a path to improved human well-being. To learn more and purchase the new volume click here. To learn more about AWF's SERA Initiative, click here.

5 Zoo Wish List Call for more information 1. Newspapers, without all the colored ad inserts 2. Pesticide free closed pinecones (birds love to pull them open for the seeds) 3. Towels, hand towels, wash cloths, sheets, pillow cases 4. Vegetable dyed wooden toys for the birds, also old phone books 5. Carry cages in good condition 6. Empty soda boxes or small cardboard boxes that candy or other smaller items come in. Little animals like to use them for hiding and the big birds like to tear the bigger ones apart. Remember to put your newspapers, etc in the grey container behind the bamboo fence on the side of the Ad/Min Bldg. Please put your newspapers in a paper sack. It is much easier to pick them out of the deep container. DO NOT LEAVE NEWSPAPERS, ETC. OUT BY THE TICKET OFFICE. FOR THE TIME BEING THEY NEED TO BE PUT IN THE GREY CONTAINER. BEFORE BRINGING ON GROUNDS PLEASE PUT IN PLASTIC OR PAPER BAGS. 8. FOR THE COLLECTIONS SECTION--- Binoculars and Pressure Washers Join us for a Special Animal Encounter October 4-10, 2009 Presentations are subject to cancellation without notice. Presentations minutes in length. Daily 11:00- Sea Lion Training and Meet the Keeper 12:00- Elephant Encounter at Elephant Demo Yard 3:00- Sea Lion Training and Meet the Keeper Sunday, October 4 1:15- Sun Bear Encounter at the exhibit Monday, October 5 11:30- Exotic Animals as Pets Encounter Program at the Water Utilities Discovery Center 1:40- Why Save the Tiger? Meet at Exhibit 2:00- Animals of Africa at the EWPU Discovery Center Tuesday, October 6 11:30- Exotic Animals as Pets Encounter Program at the Water Utilities Discovery Center 12:30- Ocelot Encounter at Exhibit 1:40- Why Save the Tiger? Meet at Exhibit 2:00- Animals of Africa - EWPU Discovery Center 2:00- Meet our Elephants at the Main Exhibit 2:15- Guanaco Encounter near south side of Americas Lands Wednesday, October 7 11:30- Exotic Animals as Pets Encounter Program at the Water Utilities Discovery Center 12:30- Spider Monkey Encounter at Exhibit 1:40- Why Save the Tiger? Meet at Exhibit 2:00- The Redlist Endangered Species at the EWPU Discovery Center 2:00- Meet our Elephants at the Main Exhibit 3:30- Mexican Burro Encounter near north side of Americas Lands Thursday, October 8-2:00- Animals of Africa at the EWPU Discovery Center Friday, October 9 12:30- Spider Monkey Encounter at Exhibit New Map Insert Our Education Team is offering a new selection of programs at the Zoo promoted in a weekly zoo map insert. Here is what we have planned over the next few days. Feel free to join and learn about any program. Saturday, October 10 11:30-12 Educational Animal Encounter in the Asia Discovery Center 3:00-4:00 Educational Animal Encounter in the Paraje

6 Meet Your Neighbors October 8, 15, 22, 29 Animals and Plants of the Chihuahuan Desert Lecture Series 7pm to 8pm. Meeting Place: El Paso Zoo in the El Paso Water Utilities Discovery Center, Meet at the Front Gate at 6:45 pm. Leader(s) name(s): Rick LoBello, Education Curator , This four part free lecture series is designed to introduce teens on up to the animals and plants of the Chihuahuan Desert with a focus on those species found within City limits and in local State Parks and wildlife refuges. Session 1 on Thursday October 8 will include an overview of the Chihuahuan Desert and places to explore the desert here in El Paso and the surrounding region. Session 2 on Thursday October 15 will focus on the plant life of the Chihuahuan Desert. Session 3 on Thursday, October 22 will focus on the invertebrates and reptiles and amphibians of the Chihuahuan Desert. Session 4 on October 29 will focus on the birds and mammals of the Chihuahuan Desert. October 24, 25 BOO at the ZOO It's merry not scary - kooky not spooky! It s the largest outdoor, safe trick or treat event in El Paso! Pumpkin Bowling, Kiddie Mazes, Costumes Galore, Candy at Treat Stations sponsored by local businesses. We invite you to bring the kids to our fun, candy-filled zoo! Watch different animals eat, smoosh or play with pumpkins! Your kids will go away with a full bag of treats and a smile on their faces you ll leave with great photos and warm memories of your adorable little ones. (Call for event & booth sponsor info). October TecH2O Water Festival Schools Only: TecH2O Water Festival. Time: 9:00 a.m 11:00 a.m. or 12:00-2:00 p.m. Location: Carlos M. Ramirez Tech2o Learning Center, Montana, El Paso, TX Cost: No charge. Information: Water Festival is a fun hands-on event to promote water awareness and education that will lead to understanding of the regional water resources and to help protect it through conservation and pollution prevention, by inspiring thoughtful and proactive stewardship throughout the community. October 31 TecH2O Water Festival Public: TecH2O Water Festival. Time: 10:00 a.m 2:00 p.m. Location: Carlos M. Ramirez Tech2o Learning Center, Montana, El Paso, TX Cost: No charge. Information: Water Festival is a fun hands-on event to promote water awareness and education that will lead to understanding of the regional water resources and to help protect it through conservation and pollution prevention, by inspiring thoughtful and proactive stewardship throughout the community. Children wearing Halloween costumes will receive a prize.