Posts Tagged ‘Yellowstone National Park’

Nov
03

Wolves and Bears of Yellowstone

Posted by in Carnivores,Conservation,Travel,Uncategorized

And the last time you visited Yellowstone National Park was, when exactly??? Never?

You do know it is just a short flight from Houston? That’s right, Bears, Moose, Wolves, Elk, Bison, Pronghorn, Fox, and a landscape of geothermal wonders and vibrant colors can be reached in only a few hours. It takes you two hours in traffic to drive back and forth to work everyday and you are not willing to fly about 5 hours to see America’s first National Park? Boulderdash! There is also that Old Faithful thing you may have heard about.

We know this because we go twice a year on our Wolves and Bear Expeditions to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons and you can travel with us May 22-26, 2012 or September 16-20, 2012.  This is our most popular travel destination and we can only accomodate up to 14 travellers on each date. Link here for travel information and itinerary:http://www.houstonzoo.org/yellowstone/

Have questions? Our travel partners from the Grand Teton Science School’s Wildlife Expedition will be on hand here at the Houston Zoo on both November 11th for our Wine and Wolves event and November 12th at our Call of the Wild Speaker Series event with Dr. Douglas Smith, Yellowstone Wolf Recovery Program http://www.houstonzoo.org/lectureseries/

Tags: , , , , ,
Oct
31

Call of the Wild Speaker Series: Coexisting with Wolves

Posted by in Coexisting with Wolves,Conservation,Field Research,Travel

For those who are lucky enough to go to Yellowstone National Park to see wolves know the thrill of seeing them in their natural environment. I felt honored to watch an Alpha male and a pup dance with a bison on a hillside with a researcher in Yellowstone 10 years ago. We watched as the male with a pup in tow circled around behind the large male bison over and over again. The bison was much too large for the two of them to take, but the researcher suspected the pup was getting a lesson from the adult male. We watched this amazing display for 20 minutes through a spotting scope — it is one of my most cherished wildlife experiences.

 There is something magical about seeing and being in the presence of a wolf, which is probably why the wolf has been such a major character in stories for centuries.  It is amazing to see such a diverse standpoint in story telling over one animal.  Even though some cultures held the wolf in high regard and wrote epics about how brave and loyal a wolf was, unfortunately more often than not the species played the “bad guy”.  As a result of these sinister portrayals conservationists find they need to spend a great deal of time dispelling myths about this social carnivore.

This is the first installment for what will be a blog series, written to celebrate our fantastic upcoming  Call of the Wild Speaker Series  events about wolves , coming up on November 11 and 12, with renowned wolf expert Dr. Douglas Smith. In the series, we will spotlight some of the efforts going on in this country to ensure that this beautiful carnivore will continue share our landscape.

November 11th at 7:00 pm come to our Wolves and Wine event, sip wine, listen to stories from wolf  researcher Dr. Douglas Smith and listen to the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra as they perform Peter and the Wolf.

November 12th at 4:00 pm Come for a presentation by Dr. Douglas Smith on the Wolves of Yellowstone. 

To purchase tickets and for more information about these events click here .

Come back for more in this exciting “Coexisting with Wolves” blog series.

Tags: , , , , ,
Feb
17

Houston Zoo Wildlife Conservation is on Facebook!

Posted by in Africa,amphibians,Attwater's Prairie Chicken,Black bears,Borneo,Carnivores,Chimpanzee,community-based conservation,Conservation,Elephant,Endangered Species,Field Research,Galapagos,Going Green,Gorilla,orangutan,Painted Dog,Panama,Rhino,Travel

 

Booming chickens on prairies and adventures to find bear hair in the Big Thicket. Leech infested forests? Monsoons? Leg swallowing mud and Sea Gull poo? Wild Orangutans that use bridges and toads with implants.  Confused? Don’t be. Join us and interact with local and global conservation on our new Houston Zoo Conservation Facebook page. Keep up with the conservation department and our partners in the field, and don’t forget to comment along the way!

Link here and follow along: http://www.facebook.com/#!/houstonzooconservation

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Jan
13

Announcing 17 free entrance days to National parks

Posted by in Texas,Travel

Yellowstone is America's first national park

This week the National Park Service announced 17 free entrance days for 2011. These days are:

  • January 15-17 Martin Luther King Jr. birthday weekend
  • April 16-24 National Park Week
  • June 21 First day of Summer
  • September 24 Public Lands Day
  • November 11-13 Veterans Day weekend.

There are over 390 national parks across the country, and most of them do not charge entrance fees, you can go to the NPS website to see what parks are closest to you.

Tags: ,
Nov
04

Yellowstone Calling: New Tour Dates

Posted by in Travel

The Houston Zoo’s initial tour dates for Yellowstone National Park May 17-21, 2011 has sold out so we just added a second set of dates. Join us May 12-16. Participants travel to the best sites in Yellowstone to view grizzly and black bear behavior as they emerge from months of hibernation, and the interaction of wolves and their prey. You’ll enjoy spying bison and elk calves, the magnificent green-up of North America’s “Little Serengeti,” and famed scenic highlights of the world’s first national park. Contact conservation@houstonzoo.org for more information or link to http://www.houstonzoo.org/yellowstone/ for an itinerary.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Oct
13

Return from Yellowstone

Posted by in Animal Origins & Fun Facts,Conservation,Featured,Travel,What You Can Do

We just returned from a early Fall trip to Yellowstone and the weather, wildlife and scenery could not have been better.

Black Bear, Elk, Coyote, Pronghorn, Bison, Otter, Mule Deer, Eagles, Ducks, geysers, thermal hot springs, swans, and Moose – when was the last time you sat for an hour with a Moose? Well that is too long – it really is time for you get to Yellowstone. Ok, maybe I sat for 2 hours with a Moose, you only need to sit for one hour though.

Yellowstone is our nations first National Park. It is one of the few places in the lower 48 states where wildlife is concentrated and accessible for viewing. When there is not wildlife, the views are simply stunning. Geysers, thermal springs, mountain peaks, valleys full of Pines, Aspen groves, rivers and basins. Yellowstone is simply a wonderland.

Low stress travelling: Yellowstone if gited with pullouts along the roads – what that means is that you do not need to hike to have excellent views of eveverything. But if you would like to hike 3,5,7, or 10 miles – trails are well marked and easy to follow.

We also decided to spend an extra day exploring the Grand Teton National Park which sits just below Yellowstone and found equal amounts of wildlife and views along the simple to follow trails and road system. I will warn you – summer vacation is not the time to go to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. The rest of the world visits then, you need to visit in May or late September and October when the park is relatively quiet and the weather is near perfect (from a Houston perspective – anything between 40f and 80f is near perfect).

The Houston Zoo will be leading our next trip into Yellowstone May 17-21 -  for more information: http://www.houstonzoo.org/yellowstone/

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Aug
25

Yellowstone Travel Program Now Open!

Posted by in Travel

Travel with the Houston Zoo May 17-21, 2011 to Yellowstone National Park for our Yellowstone Bears and Wolves Discovery Tour.

This trip offers premiere wolf and bear viewing opportunities in the country. This program is a must if you are a bear or wolf enthusiast, or are just curious about large predators. Participants travel to the best sites in Yellowstone to view grizzly and black bear behavior as they emerge from months of hibernation, and the interaction of wolves and their prey. You’ll enjoy spying bison and elk calves, the magnificent green-up of North America’s “Little Serengeti,” and famed scenic highlights of the world’s first national park.

There are few places America you can see 4 or 5 different species of hooved animal mingling together, along with top predators, coyotes, foxes, song birds, multiple  species of  birds of prey, and chirping ground squirrels.

Click the highlighted link above or email conservation@houstonzoo.org for more information. This trip is limited to 12 participants and sold out in 2010.

Bear family. Photo USGS

Tags: , , , , , ,