I’ve spent this little hiatus thinking about where to go next with this blog – now, don’t get me wrong, I love writing about cheetahs and dogs but there is a lot more that goes on at the zoo. We’re thinking about expanding this blog to cover more animal-related topics – what do you think?
For example, the behind the scenes series was popular (hopefully not just because we gave away some free tickets) so we could do more of those in other areas. I’m also hoping to get some of my colleagues to pitch in with stories from other sections. I’m going to try out a few things the next few weeks and I’d love to hear from all of you on what you like and what you’d like to see.
African wild dog, one of the Africa's most endangered carnivores - want to see more about them here?
Things are just crazy busy in Carnivores these days, so much so that I barely have time to blog, which is a shame because blogging is a lot of fun. As a curator, I have many other responsibilities besides cheetahs and this month we have some exciting stuff going on with another spotted cat here at the zoo, the jaguar.
The jaguar exhibit was last renovated in 1982 and until about 4 years ago it housed snow leopards. Snow leopards are great cats but as their name suggests, the are not partcularly well adapted to Houston’s climate. Our last snow leopard is now enjoying the lovely weather at the Toronto Zoo, which I’m sure is much more to her liking.
The jaguar exhibit is closed about 8 weeks for a major rehab – the first task was to get rid of the old:
what a mess!
How do tell a jaguar from a cheetah? What about a leopard? Answers to all of your spotted cat questions are coming soon.
Zookeepers spend a LOT of time looking at poop, it’s part of our job. I just found a great website on the topic from the Minnesota Zoo thanks to AZA . There’s a poop-themed game (I got a perfect score, by the way) and be sure you have the sound turned up!
Still can’t get enough about poop? Check out this video:
