Archive for the ‘Events’ Category

Sep
03

SOS: St. Vincent Amazon Parrot

Posted by in Events,Fun on grounds

One of the reasons I love my job is that I get to work with some pretty amazing people. In our SOS programs (Spotlight on Species) that happen all year round on Zoo grounds, the Education Department assists in a variety of ways. SOS programs are setup by animal sections who want to draw attention to a particular species in need. Once they have a date in mind for their event the Education Department gets to step in and help them with their messaging.

St. Vincent Amazon Parrot

 

Being a liason for an SOS event has some serious perks. First, we get to spend time with keepers that we may not know very well. This helps to create a cohesive work environment between all departments of the Zoo. Second, we get to learn in depth about an animal in our collection! For instance, I am helping out with the St. Vincent Amazon Parrot SOS on Sunday, September 4th. Before I started working with the fabulous Bird Department I had NO idea that we are the ONLY Zoo in North America to exhibit these birds…crazy!

Another perk of working on an SOS is getting to share our knowledge (from an education standpoint) with keepers. Each group benefits…who could ask for more? And last, but certainly not least, we get to help out at the event and talk to the public about an animal that needs your help!

With less than 800 of these left in the wild, we need your help!

So why not enjoy your Labor Day weekend here at the Houston Zoo? The Bird Department will host their SOS for the St. Vincent Parrot next to Stormy the Bird Bank from 11am to 3pm on Sunday, September 4th. There will be crafts to do, photos for sale, games, activities, keeper chats-you  name it! You may even leave the Zoo learning something about these parrots that you didn’t know before (but shh…we won’t tell!).

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Mar
07

A Successful Career Conference!

Posted by in Classes/Programs,Events,Featured

On Sunday, February 27, we held our first annual Teen Career Conference.  It was an amazing success!

Hollie Colahan, Curator of Primates and Carnivores, speaks to a crowded auditorium.

The event included a lot of fun stuff for teens interested in an animal-related career.  Five speakers from animal sections spoke about their jobs and how they got into them.  Dr. Joe Flanagan, Director of Veterinary Services, was the most popular speaker with a packed auditorium!   Exhibitors included colleges, universities, and conservation and animal organizations from around Houston.  Three of them also gave presentations. 

Our exhibitors had a great response from participants, and some of the booths stayed very busy!

We had a staff member available throughout the conference for teens to ask questions about resumes, applications, and interviews.  Two of our own, Erin and Patrick, spoke about volunteer opportunities here at the Zoo.  Patrick’s Zoo Crew sessions were incredibly popular!

As this was the first time we held the event, those of us who planned it were hoping for about 100 participants.  We were all surprised and pleased when we discovered we had exceeded 200!  Other than a crowded parking lot (the weather was beautiful and the Zoo was packed) it went very well and everyone I spoke to seemed pleased with it.

We’re looking forward to doing it again next year!!

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Feb
03

MD Anderson Kids Provide Hearts O’ Fun!

Posted by in Events,Fun on grounds

At the end of January of this year we had several children from MD Anderson Cancer Center visit the Houston Zoo. They brought along family members and some of their care staff to provide enrichment for our white rhinos and chimpanzees.

What is enrichment again? Oh yeah, it’s that fun stuff you give to your animals…

Well, yes. On a more technical note it is anything that keepers provide to their animals to promote natural behaviors they would exhibit in the wild. This not only keeps them physically active, but mentally and emotionally stimulated as well.

The kids from MD Anderson were gracious enough to make HUGE hearts for our rhinos and chimps that the keepers happily stuffed with goodies. For our chimpanzees the hearts were stuffed with fruit and the rhinos had alfalfa in theirs.

At the chimp exhibit the kids watched on as their nicely decorated hearts were thrown over the edge for the chimps to explore. At first our troop of chimps were confused…they didn’t know what this foreign object was and they were unsure as to who would dive in first. Not too long after the chimps had discovered there were tasty treats inside the hearts were ripped open! Willie, our youngest chimp, proceeded to tear the enrichment into pieces even after all of the fruit had been removed.

As for our rhinos, the heart was stuck in their pile of alfalfa, and then they were let out into their yard. They weren’t extremely interested at first but Annie, one of our female rhinos, discovered the heart was stuffed with alfalfa! She proceeded to get her horn stuck inside the heart as she looked for food (I think that may be a sign of shear delight). Not to worry, she quickly got her horn removed and proceeded to chow down on her newly discovered meal.

Our rhinos exploring the heart!

After all was said and done, not only were our animals happy, but the kids enjoyed themselves as well. It’s not every day that children get to make enrichment for a wild animal and observe them exploring it. It’s even more important to have these opportunities for kids who spend a lot of their day inside hospital walls!

Outside of this enrichment opportunity, the Education Department also devotes one week in the fall called “Zoo Week” to the kids at MD Anderson. Staff will go over every day throughout the week to share information about our animals, show biofacts to the kids and create art projects with them.

This partnership is a fulfilling one to say the least, and we hope to maintain it for years to come.

One of our rhinos getting its horn stuck inside the enrichment!

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Nov
23

Cheetahs, Educators, Workshops, Oh my!

Posted by in Events,Teacher Resources

Last Saturday November 20th the Brown Education Center here at the Houston Zoo opened its doors to 180 teachers for a full day of workshops, on grounds tours, special animal presentations, raffles and so much more.

Each year the Education Department hosts a full day solely for educators. Just by visiting the Zoo, attending our workshops, visiting with the animals and learning more about the world of wildlife educators earned up to 6 hours of continuing education credits.

Educators walked away with this brand new African Forest cup filled with goodies

This year we had a packed schedule. We started off by giving educators our brand new African Forest cups loaded withposters, pencils, post-its and drink coupons! After receiving their swag they moved into the auditorium where our wonderful carnivore staff did a presentation with our female Anatolian shepherd Taji, and one of our male cheetahs, Kiburi. The educators oohed and awwed over Kiburi as he politely purred into the microphone (slobbering on it a little) and showing off his good side for pictures (his behind).

After the morning presentation concluded educators could attend the workshop of their choice.  We had 3 workshops going on every 45 minutes, each geared toward a specific age range (K-3rd, 4th-8th and 9th-12th). All workshops included an activity and plenty of take home materials aligned with TEKS. Some of the topics included Keeping Texas Wild, Endangered Species and Gettin’ Your Groove (focusing on animal adaptations).

At 1pm our workshops concluded and we called out the lucky raffle winners! We had large baskets to raffle off; one included a set of 9 classroom weight scales, another had a microscope kit and a painting done by our Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches and they all had Houston Zoo flare (magnets, post-its, key chains). Needless to say the winners went home happy and we were able to donate all of the proceeds from the raffle to the Cheetah Conservation Project of Botswana.

One of our large raffle baskets!

After a short lunch break we came back together to offer 3 on-grounds tours that lasted about 45 minutes. Each teacher that attended one of these tours got some detailed animal information along with on-grounds activities to use with their students when they visit the Zoo.

As you can tell, it’s a jam-packed event and we are happy to offer opportunities for educators to enjoy the Zoo while earning education credits. Our next opportunity will be an Educator Overnight on Friday January 28th, 2011. You can sleep at the Zoo, check out the animals at night and earn even MORE credits!

If this date doesn’t fit your schedule you can also request a workshop at your school with live animals through our Educator Workshop on Wheels program. And as always, if you’re interested in keeping up with the education department you can become a fan of our Facebook page called “Houston Zoo Teacher Talk”.

So if you’re an educator, college student preparing to get an education degree, or a home educator, we invite you to participate in the wonderful opportunities here at the Houston Zoo!

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Sep
29

Animal Enrichment: Our Lions Get Bones!

Posted by in Events,Fun on grounds

On Saturday, October 2, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM the  Houston Zoo is putting on our annual Enrichment Day.  Kids and adults alike can learn while having fun – and being entertained.  Animal enrichment is something we do each day to stimulate each animal and bring out behaviors they’d natually use in the wild.  Here’s a great example:

Our Lion pride at the Houston Zoo receives bones once a week. The bones are part of the zoo’s practice of daily animal enrichment, and keep the lions teeth and gums healthy.

In this video Carnivore Keeper Kevin Hodge is tossing bones to our 3 female African lions and Jonathan, our male. In order to avoid monotony we deliver the bones in a different way each week.

The bones are enriching by themselves, but changing the delivery method is a type of enrichment as well. Some keepers like to toss the bones across the moat, as seen in this video. Some keepers like to hide the bones on exhibit, and some like to pile the bones up in a large pile to simulate an actual group feeding.

By tossing bones, we can stimulate natural behaviors like hunting, stalking, chasing, carrying, chewing, hording, burying, etc. If our animals exhibit those behaviors, then our enrichment is deemed a success.

If you would like to see more enrichment activities like this one, there will be many such demonstrations all over the zoo involving animals from every department! Please visit our web page for the schedule. 

Plus there will be games and crafts all day, and information booths around the Reflection Pool from related organizations from Houston.  So come on out this Saturday, October 2, to see the lions, learn to grab fish with a bill like a bird would and make enrichment items for your pets at home!

Written by Angie Pyle, Senior Carnivore Keeper and Trainer and Rochelle Joseph

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