Archive for the ‘Animal Fun Facts’ Category

Mar
08

Birds of Panama, part 4: Darien Lowlands

Posted by Leigh in Animal Fun Facts, Animal Information, Featured

This is the hut in the Embera village where we stayed during our Harpy Eagle adventure

This is the hut in the Embera village where we stayed during our Harpy Eagle adventure

In Chiriqui, Jose said “Quetzals and Harpy Eagles, two birds that cancel flights and change iteneraries.”  I thought he was just referring to our plan change for the quetzal, but I was wrong.

After we flew back to Panama City, we were supposed to fly into the Darien region, take a boat up a river, and stay at a lodge in the jungle.  But on the trip in January, they did not see Harpy Eagle, so Jose made some changes to give us a better shot.  (Again, no guarantees, but he seemed pretty confident.)  So to get our goal for Darien, we had quite an adventure.

Before heading into the Darien, Jeremy and I took one precaution for hte sake of wildlife: we disinfected our shoes.  Darien is one of the last places on the planet without chytrid, a fungus that is killing off frogs and other amphibians.  While it hasn’t been proven conclusively, people carrying it in on their shoes is strongly suspected as one of the main ways the fungus is spread.  So we disinfected our shoes before we went.

Instead of a plane, we took the van to Darien.  This was a 4 hour drive, which included 5 National Police checkpoints.  We stayed in a town called Meteti, at a hotel that had air conditioning (and only cold water in the shower – woohoo, refreshing!).  Then we took a boat (which was part of the plan already) up a small river that is only navigable at high tide.  Our destination: the Embera village of Mogue, where we stayed with the tribe in an elevated hut for two days.  It was definitely an adventure, which reminded me more than a little of reality TV.  During this trek, including the drive, we stopped and looked for birds (of course), getting several Darien specialties, including a Golden-green Woodpecker which Jose had only seen once before.

The juvenile Harpy Eagle on the edge of the nest, taken at a distance

The juvenile Harpy Eagle on the edge of the nest, taken at a distance

On our only full day in Mogue, we went on the Harpy Eagle hike.  This was a 2.5 hour hike through hot, humid jungle to the nesting site of a Harpy Eagle.  We started early, so the hike in was not too bad, and despite Jose’s warnings that the chick might not be there, we saw the eagle.  A large juvenile bird, standing at the edge of the nest.  We got close enough to see it through spotting scope and binoculars, but not close enough to scare it. 

The nest was in the top of a Cuipo tree, the huge, deciduous emergents of Panama.  The tree that held this nest would have taken three people to hug at the base, and the top stuck out above the canopy.  The trees lose their leaves in the dry season, to conserve water, which made it a lot easier for us to see the nest.

This is where the patience part comes in: once we were at the nest, we waited to see if an adult would return.  Waited, and waited, for over 2 hours.  Of course, the chick was big enough that the adults didn;t have to come back while we were there – and they didn’t – but it did mean that we got lots of time to watch the chick.  And time to rest – we got to hike back out during the heat of the day, which was very exhausting, and I was glad that I had been able to sit for a while before that part of the adventure.

Tour Travel Tip #4: Be flexible and accepting.
Without a change in plans, we wouldn’t have seen the Harpy, by far the best bird of our trip.

I am an admitted lister, focusing on getting the new bird, the species that I haven’t seen before.  But I did learn one important thing on this trip: the most memorable birds are the ones that show you a bit about themselves.  We saw a Black Oropendola calling (which involves leaning so far forward it looks like it will fall off the branch), a Golden-capped Manikin dancing (including his moonwalk impression), and we heard Keel-billed Toucans croaking like frogs.  So yes, we saw 374 bird species and I added 291 birds to my life list.  But I also got to learn more about the animals and habitats of a very cool part of the world.

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Mar
06

Birds of Panama, part 3: Chiriqui Highlands

Posted by Leigh in Animal Fun Facts, Animal Information, Featured

This huge hummingbird, a Violet Sabrewing, is only found in the highlands

This huge hummingbird, a Violet Sabrewing, is only found in the highlands

 Finished with the Canal Zone, we flew into David, in western Panama.  Once we drove up out of David and into the highlands, I noticed several things that were very different from the canal zone.  Forget that we were there in the dry season; there was mist every day and even some rain.  This is where we got into some serious cloud forest.  There were some exciting birds, but up away from the rainforest, there were fewer species, and we had to work harder to see them.  We stayed in Volcan, near Volcan Baru National Park (it’s a dormant volcano), and our big goal for Chiriqui was the Resplendant Quetzal. (I also told Jose I wanted to see a Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher, to which he responded, “We’ll see many.”  This means about the same as “We’ll see more,” so I wasn’t worried.)

There are some impressive birds in the Chiriqui highlands, including giant hummingbirds and day-glo tanagers.  We also saw a Tropical Screech Owl near our hotel, and the stars at night were just amazing!  We did see several Long-tailed Silky-Flycatchers (always flying away before I could get a picture), but the Quetzal was a more difficult story.

In the dry season, especially from January to March, quetzal is a difficult but consistent bird.  Consistent, because they feed on wild avocados – find a tree where they feed, and you are almost guaranteed to see one.  The difficult part comes in getting to them, because they live at high elevations and spend their time up in the canopy.  So they are a hike-up-a-hill, strain-your-neck kind of bird.  But even if most guides don’t guarantee quetzal, they at least expect to see them.  So quetzal should have been on the list the first day of Chiriqui, right?

Wrong.  Last year’s rainy season was especially wet and windy, and the avocados fruited late.  Typically the fruits are ripe enough for eating by January.  This year, even by our trip in February, most of the trees were still unripe.  Meaning the easy way to see quetzal was not an option.  We hiked up a mountain the first day, hoping to see it, but no luck.  (We did add 40 birds to the trip list by the end of the day, including some very cool woodpeckers, but no quetzal.)  So Jose, our fabulous guide, contacted a local guide he knew, and we tried again on the second day.  After hiking up the other side of the same mountain (the dormant volcano, in fact), guess who spotted a male quetzal high in a tree, pretending to be a branch.  Yup, it was me!  Every trip we go on, I get one awesome spot, where I find a bird and everyone says “how did you see that?” and this trip, I got quetzal.  And I was really glad, too, because I was tired of hiking up the mountain (and honestly, that may have been my driving factor for detailed searching). 

Tour Travel Tip #3:  Be prepared to be patient.
You may have to look a while for a specific bird.  You are birding with people of different skills, so you may have to wait while others find the bird.  And you may have to sit and wait for a bird to show up, which we discovered in our final area, Darien.

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Mar
04

Birds of Panama, part 2: Canal Zone

Posted by Leigh in Animal Fun Facts, Animal Information, Featured

A blue-crowned motmot in Gamboa

A Blue-crowned Motmot in Gamboa

The first part of our trip was based mainly in the Canal Zone, split between the Panama City area on the Pacific side and Gamboa, about halfway to the Caribbean side.  The isthmus of Panama is only about 50 miles across at the point of the canal, so it was relatively easy travel between these two areas.  Our goal for the canal zone: 100 new life list birds, and a sunbittern if we could get it.

Thanks to the canal, there are several large national parks in the area.  These are areas that were left undeveloped as a military buffer zone, which have now been converted into an ecological corridor.  The parks are home to some amazing animals; we saw a tamandua and a coati, as well as hummingbirds, toucans, and many other impressive birds.  The coolest bird of our first full day: the common potoo, which we saw holding perfectly still pretending to be a broken branch, with a fuzzy baby imitating the adult perfectly.  In Gamboa we saw bright birds called motmots; if you want to see one in person, we have a few in the Tropical Bird House rainforest here at the zoo.  Motmots nest underground, excavating burrows into dirt slopes.  We saw a rufous motmot near a nest – in fact, a few of the people on our trip missed seeing the bird because it flew into its hole.  (It came back out a little later, so everyone eventually saw it.) 

A Coati in Gamboa

A Coati in Gamboa

We got to spend a day in the foothills near Panama City, at a place called Cerro Azul.  I learned two important lessons here, which are listed in the travel tip at the end.  Let me set the scene.  We were walking through the rainforest; it was warm and humid, although cooler than it had been in the lowlands.  There was no breeze, and we were all sweating.  All around we could hear the high pitched whine of the cicadas, a sound very similar to a circular saw being used in the distance.  We were descending a hill, slipping a little in the damp leaves and dirt.  Jose was playing a bird call through a tiny speaker attached to his mp3 player.  When the bird called back, he held up his hand, gathered us all together, and told us to stay close, move quick, and be quiet.  We got very close to where the bird was calling, and my husbband and I were rewarded with a quick glimpse of a dark, fast bird.  That was all we saw of the Black-crowned Antpitta, although we heard it call again in the distance later. 

The two lessons from our Antpitta Experience?  That’s Tour Travel Tip #2: Trust your guide, and stick close. 
When Jose told us “Don’t worry, we’ll see more” what I learned he meant was “this bird we are working on is way cooler than that very common bird, so don’t get distracted.”  And the closer I was to our guide, the better my chance of seeing the cool bird that might drop back out of sight any moment.

If you were wondering about our goal, we most definitely got it: we saw the sunbittern (briefly, as it flew) and by the third day of the trip, I had added 108 new birds to my list.  Finished with the Canal Zone, we flew west, toward Costa Rica and the Chiriqui Highlands.

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Mar
02

Birds of Panama, part 1

Posted by Leigh in Animal Fun Facts, Animal Information, Featured

One of the many scenic views we enjoyed in Panama.

One of the many scenic views we enjoyed in Panama.

My husband and I just returned from a two-week guided birding tour to Panama.  We went with a tour company based in Panama called Birding Panama, and we were lucky enough to have one of the owners, Jose, as our guide.  Including us, there were 5 people on the tour, plus Jose.  We traveled to three different regions of the country, spent every day birding, and saw mammals, reptiles, insects, and of course, LOTS of birds. 

The Houston Zoo has a relationship with the Summit Nature Park in Panama, and we are actively involved in conservation projects in the region.  With this series of blogs, I hope to share with you a little bit about the country, the ecology, and the animals of Panama.

Tour Travel Tip #1: Bring an alarm clock. 
Traveling with a group is time-dependent, and some of the places you may be staying may not have a clock, or even a phone, in the room.

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Nov
27

I Love Baby Sea Turtles!

Posted by Tammy in Animal Fun Facts, Animal Information, Featured

So onto Grand Cayman our boat sailed.  I was amazed at how beautiful this island is.  The first thing I noticed as I got off the boat is how clean everything is.  The roads, the beaches, the water, everything.  The man who drove our taxi to the beach said that much of the income for the island is from tourism, and with 4 or 5 cruise ships a day, that’s a lot of income.  This is how Grand Cayman can maintain such pristine conditions.  But before I get excited and get a head of myself, let’s talk first about the islands.

The Cayman Islands are a small chain of islands made up of Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac.  These islands are just west of Jamaica and south of Cuba, and are known worldwide for their unbeatable scuba and snorkeling sites. Grand Cayman island is famous for its sea turtle hatchery and Stingray City, where tourists can snorkel or wade into shallow water and meet stingrays up close.  That includes feeding and touching them!  It is also the only place in the world you can find the critically endangered Blue Iguana.  These animals are bred at certain facilities and then hopefully, eventually, they are released into the wild.  Like many elusive and endangered animals, I didn’t get to see any of these animals while visiting Grand Cayman.  I can show you a place I did visit though:

Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman, British West Indies

Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman, British West Indies

This is Seven Mile Beach.  While it’s not quite seven miles long, this famous stretch of beach on the west side of Grand Cayman Island is home to many condominiums, hotels, resorts, bars, and presumably, some sea turtles.  Follow Seven Mile Beach all the way north to the point near West Bay, and you will find the famous Cayman Turtle Farm at Boatswains Beach.  Now at first, when you hear the term “farm” you think of raising animals for human consumption.  And you would be partially right.  Historically, sea turtles were an important source of meat in Grand Cayman.  Sailors would even stop over and load up on tutles that they could keep on their ship as a source of food.  Even today, people in Grand Cayman do still consume turtle meat, but this turtle farm has another purpose.

The Cayman Turtle Farm is doing its part to breed sea turtles and to educate people about their current crisis.  Turtles are bred at the facility and then headstarted, which means that they aren’t released right away but rather raised for a period of time until they are ready to be independent.  Visitors to the farm can see turtles up close, touch the turtles, and some lucky ones even get to release them into the ocean with their own hands.  Jealous!!

Baby Sea Turtle, Cayman Turtle Farm

Baby Sea Turtle, Cayman Turtle Farm

But before you get too jealous too, remember that we have sea turtles right here in Texas.  They swim in the Gulf of Mexico and females will nest on beaches along the Gulf Coast including Galveston, Corpus Christi, and Padre Island.  The most amazing part about nesting turtles is that females return to the very same beach where they hatched.  They could have traveled thousands of miles before they are ready to nest and they know exactly where to return to.  Scientists are still trying to understand how they know where to go. 
 
We also ask for your help in protecting sea turtles.  It is a federal offense to so much as touch a sea turtle if you see one on the beach, so it’s best not to.  But, if you happen to see a sea turtle nesting (typically at nighttime), you find a nest (which are usually pretty well hidden, but sometimes you get lucky), or you come across turtle tracks, call 1-866-TURTLE-5.  This is sort of like a sea turtle 911.  A team of scientists will rush to your location and they will provide assistance to injured or sick tutles, remove eggs for incubation, or just make sure everyting is alright.
 
If you want to see turtle conservation in action, just visit the Houston Zoo!  We usually have a rescued sea turtle in the Kipp Aquarium.  These turtles often come from Galveston area and are injured and need to be rehabilitated before they can be re-released.  Our vet and aquarium staff fix them up and give them good care before they go back out.
 
So, although I wasn’t able to visit the turtle farm in Grand Cayman, I did enjoy my visit.  After all, how could I not love a place that celebrates Pirates Week?  I missed this event by just a few days, so I hope that some day I can return and join in the festivities.  Plus, I’d like to go back and volunteer with the blue iguana recovery project.  And lastly, you have to give respect a place that has a pirate sea turtle as its Port Authority symbol.  Rock on Grand Cayman.
Port Authority, photo from www.kentwarman.com

Port Authority, photo from www.kentwarman.com

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Nov
21

Who Doesn’t Love Baby Sea Turtles?

Posted by Tammy in Animal Fun Facts, Animal Information, Featured

So I recently returned from a 5 day Caribbean cruise (it’s okay, you can totally be jealous), and while visiting the beach, shopping, and my friend’s wedding were all at the top of my to-do list, so was scouting out some local wildlife.  

Out first stop was Ocho Rios, Jamaica, where unfortunately, I didn’t get too much time to explore the island due to the wedding.  But I was in Jamiaca and not at work, so I didn’t mind a whole lot.  :)   Anyway, my friend got married at Shaw Park Gardens, where I saw many examples of the national bird, the Doctor Bird, and a large group of birds of prey.  The birds of prey were a little bit too far away to see, but let’s just say that there were lots of them having a party somewhere near the shore.  I think it actually might have been this familiar face. 

Doctor Bird (Trochilus polytmus)

Doctor Bird (Trochilus polytmus)

I did however, catch some pretty awesome glimpses of the doctor bird.  I even yelled out like a kid on Christmas.  My wedding-guest mates thought I was a little off; apparently I was supposed to be watching the bride and groom drink champagne, not the local fauna.  This species of hummingbird is endemic to Jamaica (which means that’s the ONLY place it’s found), and with it’s amazing colors and unique tail, it is truly a beautiful animal.  And before you even ask, no I didn’t get any good pictures.  In typical hummingbird fashion, they moved too darn fast to get a good shot.  The picture above is from my friend Wikipedia.

Shaw Park Gardens, Ocho Rios, Jamaica

Shaw Park Gardens, Ocho Rios, Jamaica

Another animal I was hoping against hope to see was the Jamaican Boa (epicrates subflavus).  Yes, I wanted to see a snake!  I am the Education Adviser for the Snake TAG  through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and the TAG chair that I work with is the PMP coordinator for the Jamaican Boa.  Did I just completely confuse you?  Basically, a PMP is a population management plan that facilities have to breed endangered or threatened animals.  The Jamaican Boa is indeed just that, threatened.  However, I was told by a local that I wouldn’t see any Jamaican Boas, because for one, they are low in numbers, and two, they live in the Blue Mountains area, which was not terribly close to where I was.  So although I was bummed out mon, I did learn that if you enjoy coffee…the Jamaican Blue Mountains are famous for it.

So, feeling content that I saw at least a small representation of the beauty of Jamaica, it was back on the boat and on to Grand Cayman, where I…

Aug
28

Ten Fun Facts by the Numbers

Posted by Leigh in Animal Fun Facts

Liberty, our Bald Eagle

Liberty, our Bald Eagle

10
A wild piranha can get as long as 10 inches, although they are sometimes bigger in captivity.

9
A young orangutan will stay with its mother up to 9 years to learn how to survive before going off on its own.

8
A Komodo dragon’s egg takes 8 months to hatch.

7
All mammals, from the tiniest bat to the tallest giraffe, have 7 vertebrae in their neck.

6
An American alligator will make a nest of plant material that can be up to 6 feet across.

5
A bald eagle does not get its distinctive white head and tail until it reaches 5 years of age.

4
A female cassowary lays 4 eggs in a nest, but the male cassowary sits on the eggs and raises the babies.

3
A tapir has 3 toes per foot, which makes it a relative of the horse and the rhino.

2
There are only 2 groups of animals that maintain a constant internal body temperature: birds and mammals.

1
All big cats except the lion are solitary, so the most common group size is 1.

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Jul
09

My, What Big Teeth You Have!

Posted by Tammy in Animal Fun Facts, Animal Information, Uncategorized

So what happens when the bear has a toothache?  Or the tiger needs to get her teeth cleaned?  We call in the dentist of course.  That’s right, a zoo dentist.  These brave souls work with our vet staff to make sure that our animals have top-quality teeth. 

In the wild, many animals can starve to death when they lose their teeth or they are unable to chew due to tooth or gum damage.  Here at the zoo, we can avoid these situations by making sure that our animals get the care they need as soon as they need it.  We may be alerted to any mouth problems by an animal that won’t eat or seems to be more irritable than usual, which could mean that he or she is in pain. 

Bailey the Grizzly Bear

Bailey the Grizzly Bear

Here are some fun animal teeth facts to ‘brush up’ on:

  • Elephants only have four teeth at one time.  They have two on the top and two on the bottom.  Throughout their life they go through 6 sets of teeth (that’s 24 total), and when all of their teeth fall out they can starve to death.  Both male and female African elephants have tusks (modified teeth), while only male Asian elephants have long tusks.  Female Asian elephants have shorter, tusk-like teeth called tushes. 
  • The clouded leopard has the longest canine teeth of any cat species, in proportion to the rest of its body.
  • Some whales, including the blue whale, don’t have teeth but instead something called baleen.  Baleen is made up of keratin (just like hair and nails) and acts as a filter. It looks like a fine toothed comb and allows the whale to take in water (along with fish) and then filter out the water.
  • Birds don’t have any teeth, so how do they chew?  Many birds have beaks designed for cutting and tearing so they are able to tear off small pieces (like meat) and swallow them.  Others use their mouth for grinding or mashing which makes their food (such as seeds, fruit, or plants) easier to swallow also.  What happens after that?  Lots of birds utilize stones in their stomach to assist with digestion and breaking up larger pieces of food.
  • Rodents, (such as mice, rats, squirrels, prairie dogs, porcupines, and chipmunks), have front incisors that continually grow throughout their life.  That’s why they’re always gnawing on things; this helps to wear those teeth down so they don’t get too long. 
  • Sharks are considered polyphyodont, which means that they grown new teeth every few weeks.  This replaces any worn out or lost teeth.  All the better to eat small animals with! 

So get to flossing and polishing your own pearly whites!

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Jun
19

Keeper Camp

Posted by admin in Animal Fun Facts, Camp, Fun on grounds

Our 10-12 year old camp, Keeper Camp, put together their very own Keeper Talk.  This is something that our own keepers do.

Jun
08

Hello, Handsome!

Posted by Tammy in Animal Fun Facts, Featured, Fun on grounds

Hansel and Lemurbot

Hansel and Lemurbot

Hansel, our resident fossa (pronounced foo-sa), has to be one of the neatest animals you’ll encounter at the zoo.  He is quite beautiful and has some amazing adaptations, which is why I refer to him as Handsome. 

As a fossa, his habitat in the wild would be the island of Madagascar.  (You may also recall the dreaded fossa from the movie of the same name.)  Fossa tend to live in dry forests on the island, and they are the largest mammalian (animal with fur) carnivore to inhabit Madagascar. 

What do they eat, you ask?  Researchers estimate that up to 50% of their diet consists of lemurs.  Lemurs!! And in order to catch those lemurs, the fossa have to be extremely skilled at climing, jumping, running, and catching their prey.  Their sharp claws allow them to grasp onto tree branches and hang upside down, or walk down a tree trunk head first.  They also have sharp teeth that are perfect for tearing and cutting meat.     

At the zoo, we give our animals enrichment to keep them mentally and physically stimulated.  Sometimes it’s a real treat and we create a lifelike animal for them to tear apart.  Awhile back Hansel was presented with an oversized lemur dubbed Lemurbot by staff.  Check out the picture of Hansel with his larger-than-life lemur decorated with meat chunks. 

For more information on lemurs, take a look at the Duke University Lemur Center, or to get interesting fossa facts, visit the San Diego Zoo’s Animal Bytes.

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