“When I came to the Zoo, I heard stories about the animals, and where they came from,” said Kaitlin. “I was surprised to learn how many of the animals in the Zoo’s Carnivore Department came from private owners who had kept them as pets,” Kaitlin added.

“I wanted to do something to help people understand that keeping big cats as pets is not a good idea,” Kaitlin added. The result was a series of video presentations profiling the ‘rescued cats’ at the Houston Zoo and recounting their individual stories. The videos were produced using a Canon PowerShot camera and edited on the iMovie platform.

“In the future, I hope to work with an organization like the Houston Zoo, promoting conservation education or traveling to new locales, working with marine and wildlife sanctuaries,” said Kaitlin.

“When I came to the Zoo, I heard stories about the animals, and where they came from,” said Kaitlin.  “I was surprised to learn how many of the animals in the Zoo’s Carnivore Department came from private owners who had kept them as pets,” Kaitlin added.
“I wanted to do something to help people understand that keeping big cats as pets is not a good idea,” Kaitlin added.  The result was a series of video presentations profiling the ‘rescued cats’ at the Houston Zoo and recounting their individual stories.  The videos were produced using a Canon PowerShot camera and edited on the iMovie platform.

“In the future, I hope to work with an organization like the Houston Zoo, promoting conservation education or traveling to new locales, working with marine and wildlife sanctuaries,” said Kaitlin.

 

On Sunday, January 15, the Houston Zoo is proud to partner with the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra and InterActive Theater Company to present two performances of the children’s classic, Peter and the Wolf. With the intent to “cultivate musical tastes in children from the first years of school,” this beloved story delights and entertains.

At this special event, a small ensemble of River Oaks Chamber Orchestra musicians will play Prokofiev’s composition while actors from the InterActive Theatre Company narrate and act out the story.

This event is included in your regular Zoo admission, and is FREE for Zoo Members. Performances will take place in the Brown Education Center Auditorium, and seating is first come, first served. This event is sponsored by The University of Texas MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital.

Performances are at 2:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

A student at Texas A & M University at Galveston where she studies marine biology, Kaitlin McGraw interned at the Houston Zoo last summer.

Through the ExxonMobil Community Summer Jobs Program, Kaitlin spent 8 weeks working with the Zoo’s carnivore staff.

Kaitlin has a special appreciation for predator species. “Ever since I was little I’ve loved animals and a special place in my heart has always been reserved for predators,” she said.

“When I came to the Zoo, I heard stories about the animals, and where they came from,” said Kaitlin. “I was surprised to learn how many of the animals in the Zoo’s Carnivore Department came from private owners who had kept them as pets,” Kaitlin added.

“I wanted to do something to help people understand that keeping big cats as pets is not a good idea,” Kaitlin added. The result was a series of video presentations profiling the ‘rescued cats’ at the Houston Zoo and recounting their individual stories. The videos were produced using a Canon PowerShot camera and edited on the iMovie platform.

“In the future, I hope to work with an organization like the Houston Zoo, promoting conservation education or traveling to new locales, working with marine and wildlife sanctuaries,” said Kaitlin.

Below is the first installment of Kaitlin’s videos featuring Houston Zoo big cats.  Stay tuned each week as we post a new video.

Three African Wild Dogs call the Houston Zoo home.  Blaze, Aries, and Mikita have resided here since May of 2007 and are representatives of one of the most social carnivore species in the world.  African Wild Dogs, or Painted Dogs, have fascinated researchers with their ability to cooperate with both the hunt and the sharing of the kill.  Wild packs will allow the young to eat first and will even feed sick and injured dogs by regurgitating the meat.

Blaze, Aries, and Mikita share about 5 pounds of meat daily.  In addition to their normal diets, the African Wild Dogs also enjoy special treats such as goat’s milk, chicken, tuna, herring, blood pops, rats, quail, and eggs.  They are the only carnivores at the Houston Zoo that are fed together as a pack. You can learn more about the painted dogs’ social habits by reading about them in National Geographic.

Our guests may hear some interesting sounds coming from the pack during feeding times or when a new toy is introduced, but they are not necessarily the sounds of conflict.  Each dog is simply trying to assure the other that he is the most submissive/youngest and therefore more deserving of the treat or toy.  It may sound like loud fighting, but Painted Dogs have a large and expressive vocabulary – equal only to the dolphin!

Painted Dog packs, found in Africa, are highly successful with their hunts.  While lions and leopards may only catch 20-30% of what they attempt, African Wild Dogs top the charts at about an 80% success rate, largely owed to their endurance, cooperation, and communication! They prey primarily on impala and other medium-sized antelope, but can take down prey as large as Cape Buffalo if they have enough pack members.

Written by carnivore keeper, Samantha Junker

Give the Gift of Grub  for the holidays to help feed our wild dogs and the rest of the Zoo’s 6,000 animal residents!  From now until December 31, your gift could go twice as far thanks to a generous matching gift challenge by TXU Energy.  All gifts, up to $25,000 total, will be matched dollar for dollar in an effort to help the Zoo provide for its growing animal family.  Blaze Aries and Mikita thank you in advance for your support!

Houston Zoo Jaguar "Cocoy"

December Issue of National Geographic Magazine
Spotlights 8 “Cats in Crisis”

National Geographic, December 2011

Planet Earth is home to 37 species of cats. All are facing an uncertain future. Even though humans have coexisted with predators for thousands of years, the world’s cats are losing ground to habitat loss, illegal hunting and retaliatory killing when they prey on livestock. Yet conservationists see hope.

In the December issue of National Geographic Magazine, on newsstands November 29 and available now as a digital magazine, author and world-renowned field biologist George B. Schaller proposes bold action to ensure their survival.

Schaller’s essay, Politics Is Killing the Big Cats is accompanied by a 5-panel pullout poster featuring stunning photos of 8 of the world’s big cats, seven of which are cats from the Houston Zoo, captured in stunning detail by National Geographic photographer Vincent J. Musi.

“We are proud and honored that our Houston Zoo big cat ‘ambassadors’ were chosen to accompany George Schaller’s essay and grateful that National Geographic’s Big Cat Initiative is raising awareness about the conservation status of the world’s cat species,” said Houston Zoo Carnivore Curator Beth Schaefer.

Assisted by Houston Zoo carnivore keepers, Vincent J. Musi photographed the Zoo’s male African lion Jonathan and 6 other cats (clouded leopard, jaguar, cougar, leopard, cheetah, and Malayan tiger) during a week-long photo session in February. Each cat was photographed in its off exhibit ‘bedroom’ against a black backdrop. Each photo in the pullout poster is accompanied by a brief profile that includes the cat’s estimated wild population and its conservation status. The National Geographic Society is working to save big cats through its Big Cats Initiative; find out more at www.causeanuproar.org.

Houston Zoo African Lion "Jonathan"

“We are deeply appreciative of the Houston Zoo’s hospitality. It is unusual for one facility to have such a diversity of big cats, and their generousity in facilitating Vince’s photo shoot helped us to illustrate the animals’ beauty and power for our 40 million readers worldwide,” said Kathy Moran, senior photo editor in charge of the National Geographic magazine’s natural history coverage.

The December issue of National Geographic magazine is available on newsstands November 29 and as a digital magazine at the National Geographic App Store, http://nationalgeographic.com/apps. Prints of Musi’s photographs are available at http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/bigcats-purchase.

Houston Zoo Clouded Leopard "Rama"

Houston Zoo Cougar "Rocky"

Houston Zoo Leopard "Kadu"

Last Friday, we asked you to leave your best caption in the comment section. Then readers could “like” each caption comment to vote for their favorites. Their votes, combined with those of our own panel, determined the caption to appear under the picture right here on the Official Houston Zoo Blog this week. We hope you’ll come back for the fun EVERY FRIDAY.

YOUR VOTES HELP DETERMINE THE WINNERS!

Here is the picture that was posted with the top voted caption by Tricia Nicole Mulkey McClelland!

SPOT-ACULAR, and the flock cheers!

Doesn't smell like chicken...

FIRST RUNNER UP:

  Lizette Kim Gonzalez: Darn… they’ve tricked me again!! ITS PLASTIC!! GGGRRRRRRAAAH…

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SECOND RUNNER UP:

  Sara Keene-Jeter: I thought we got free range, not processed

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THIRD RUNNER UP:

  Lynne Hengst: I wonder if Jonathon flamingo flocked me !?!?

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HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Tonia White: Ugh! I can’t eat this! Its pink!

Dana Rice: Unfortunately, the hiney sniff doesn’t give me any clue as to what this creature is. To eat or not to eat?

Tammy Farnsworth: If I get a wee bit lower I can blend right in…

Erika Wehmeyer Livingston: Nope. I still don’t see why the dogs do that!

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Thanks for joining in the fun!

Last Friday, we asked you to leave your best caption in the comment section. Then readers could “like” each caption comment to vote for their favorites. Their votes, combined with those of our own panel, determined the caption to appear under the picture right here on the Official Houston Zoo Blog this week. We hope you’ll come back for the fun EVERY FRIDAY.

YOUR VOTES HELP DETERMINE THE WINNERS!

Here is the picture that was posted with the top voted caption by Tracy Thornton 

** CROWD ROAR!**

If you squint your eyes just right, they look like lunch

FIRST RUNNER UP:

 
Niki Roberts: Lester, I don’t have my glasses, are those people watching us?
No, dear, just the trees.

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A TIE FOR SECOND RUNNER UP:

Mike McDermott: Keep smiling, then I’ll take the one on the right, you cover me… 

Asa-Mari Elric: Nah. People give me gas. Let’s order pizza

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AND A TIE FOR THIRD RUNNERS UP:

Susan Cunningham: Darling, we must remember our sunglasses next time

Amy Farrugia Jones: “Just closeyour eyes, maybe they will go away!”

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HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Charlie Paul: If you squint hard enough you can imagine the Sahara over there…

Nicole Key: “Just LION around! Get it? Cause we’re lions?”
“Dammit, Jonathan, I got it! I didn’t laugh cause it’s still not funny.”

Nancy Gray Barrow: Pardon me my Queen…do we have any Grey Poupon?

AmyandVinnie Antoline: “The next Solar eclipse is when again”?

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Thanks for joining in the fun!

Clouded leopards are arboreal, meaning they spend much of their time in the trees.  Fittingly, they are one of the best climbers in the cat family.  Their long tails help them maintain balance as they maneuver through the branches, and large paws give them a bigger surface area for gripping.  Their coolest feature for climbing, however, is their back ankles.  These are shaped in such a way that the clouded leopards can rotate their back feet, allowing them to climb down a tree head first!

Even the best human climber can’t match the feats of a clouded leopard, although as a rainforest animal the cats are probably not scaling a lot of cliffs.  That doesn’t mean that you can’t come enjoy some rock climbing and help AAZK raise money to help protect and study these beautiful cats!  On November 9, 2011  they’ll be hosting Climbing for Clouded Leopards at the Texas Rock Gym from 5-10pm.  All proceeds will be donated to the Clouded Leopard Project.

Though clouded leopards are solitary, you don’t have to climb alone!  You are welcome to bring a friend and we’ll have volunteers available to belay anyone who comes without a partner.

By Leigh Spencer, Senior Education Specialist