Right now, it’s time to reveal the final photo in our contest!!!

Jeffery visited this public art installation originally created by the art group Ant Farm that encourages visitors to add to the art by spray painting vehicles half-buried nose-first in the ground, at an angle corresponding to that of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

Where in the world is Jeffery?

You have until Friday at 10 AM to submit your final captions!

Alright Jeffery fans, this is your second to last chance to make it to the top! Final results will be calculated soon, but I can already tell you, Tess, Melissa and Linda will be winning prizes! This photo may take a little research, and we will only give points to the correct answer, giving the correct name and state (there’s a hint for you!)

Unveiled in 2004, Jeffery visited this Stonehenge replica which matches the original Stonehenge horizontally, but is approximately 14 percent shorter in height than the original.

I may be small, but don't count me out!

Earth Day topics include some of the following:

• endangered or extinct plants and animals
• edible plants
• the rock cycle
• the water cycle
• habitat loss and how it affects animals

Not sure how the Swap Shop works?  Click here for more information.

Enjoy the other activities throughout the zoo – Earth Day Scavenger Hunt, Mother Earth Maze, Re-usable Mural and more.  And, as always, the animal Keepers here at the zoo will be sharing their knowledge with you during Meet the Keeper Talks.   You will be able to learn more about how the way we treat the planet affects our animals. 

The best part?  All of these Earth Day activities are included with your paid Zoo admission!

I prefer tasty mice, so I’m sending this to Ara, my BFF in Bolivia. He’s a Blue-throated Macaw, another critically endangered bird. Think he’ll like it?--Tess

So I thought last week’s photo was a little tough, but within 3 minutes, each of our contestants had submitted the correct answers! I’m so happy each of you ladies is excited about Jeffery and this contest!

Before I get to this week’s (the second to last!) photo, I’d like to share some wonderful news with you from the Philippine Eagle Foundation!

Our favorite eagle saviors in the Philippines just announced another first in bird conservation–the first captive breeding of the Pinsker’s Hawk Eagle! With some feathers mimicking a large spike on their heads, these eagles are the punk rock answer to the adorable Philippine Eagle! Just like the Philippine Eagle, this endemic species is threatened by loss of habitat. Guess what? Husbandry practices developed at the foundation for breeding of the Philippine Eagle helped in the breeding of the Pinsker’s! It’s not just one eagle we are trying to save; it’s an entire habitat, and everything that depends on it.

Now onto our current standings:

Tess came in third with the answer, but won the caption contest, to leave her with 102 points

Melissa has 90 points

Linda had 88 points

It’s still anybody’s game!

**Jeffery visited the largest military installation in the United States, where is he?**

There’s quite a bit of pressure on our contestants as the weeks tick away and the point totals just get closer and closer! This one may require a bit of searching, but where in the world is Jeffery?

This monument is dedicated to the lasting memory of Thomas Michael McGinn (1929 – 2007), the founder of Pistachio Tree Ranch. 

The caption contest is going to be the key to winning first place!

Did you happen to get a glimpse of Jeffery during the Houston Zoo’s Call of the Wild Speaker Series last night?

Are you on the endangered species list too?? --Linda

Hooray – I get to ride on Herbie the elephant into the jungle! --Tess

 

Elevating the Philippine Eagle Foundation Pride! --Melissa

 

One of the many eagles that will be available for adoption during our Birds of Prey Days!

Minalwang and many other Philippine Eagles will be available for adoption during our Birds of Prey Days on May 5th and 6th!  There will be games for kids and adults of all ages, prizes, meet the keeper opportunities, chances to see our birds of prey up close, and much more! 

By a very slim margin, the votes show Goeldi’s monkeys (callimico) and titi’s for our primate species and, by a wide margin, agouti on the ground. 

Goeldi's monkeys beat out emperor tamarins for our callitrichid species in the exhibit!

I am excited about all of these species.  The Houston zoo has only housed Goeldi’s monkeys once before, back when the Natural Encounters building was the old small mammal house. 

Goeldi’s monkeys have been kept with many other species, including titi monkeys, so this should be a good combination.  Titi’s generally prefer to stay higher up in a space and are much more passive.  Because these two species prefer different areas and have varying activity levels, they should be able to coexist without coming into conflict for resources in the exhibit. 

I contacted the SSP’s for Goeldi’s and titis  this week.  Follow this link if you didn’t catch the blog about managing species across zoos and what an SSP is: http://houstonzooblogs.org/zoo/2012/01/first-ever-crowd-curated-exhibit/

Sometimes things happen very quickly with SSPs, and sometimes things can move extremely slowly.  We got very lucky with Goeldi’s monkeys.  The species coordinator was in the process of finalizing the master plan for this year and we can obtain a breeding pair immediately!  The male is slated to come from Philadelphia, and the female from Saint Luis. This is doubly lucky as sometimes you have to agree to hold non-breeding animals until a breeding pair becomes available.  That can sometimes take years!

I haven’t managed to connect with the species coordinator for the titis yet, nor have I  had a chance to follow up on leads for agoutis, so I will keep you posted as things progress for those species.

The next step is to obtain what we call a “specimen report” on each animal.  A specimen report is a compilation of all the daily keeper notes as well as medical records on an individual animal.  These reports are reviewed by our animal care and veterinary staff to make sure there aren’t any “red flags” or long term issues that we need to be aware of.  If the report looks good, I then submit an “Animal Transfer Proposal” (ATP) detailing the animal’s individual identifying number, where it’s coming from, the contact person at the zoo where the animal is coming from, shipping costs and an approximate shipping date.  This form needs to be signed by the Vice President of Animal Operations, our veterinary staff, our Registrar (who maintains detailed records for every individual housed here at the zoo!) and our Director.  If everyone agrees, our veterinarians determine when there will be space in our quarantine facility and then contact the veterinarians at the other zoo to requests pre-shipment tests for our animal.  Once all of that clears I can finally book a flight and get our new little monkeys!

Iknowall of you that voted for Goeldi’s are as excited as we are and if you voted for emperor tamarins, I hope you aren’t too dissapointed and that you will be just as charmed with these unique monkeys!

Stay tuned for your chance to help us prepare the exhibit for our new arrivals!

Ever wondered what a painting by an elephant would look like? What about a clouded leopard? Now is your chance to find out. 

Started in 2004 as a grass roots effort by Houston Zoo Primate Keepers, Pongos Helping Pongos was an art show featuring paintings by our orangutans here at the zoo. The scientific genus name for orangutan is “Pongo“, and so the name for the event. Pongos Helping Pongos (or PHP for short) has become a biennial tradition carried on by the Primate Team. 

One of the messages we like to give our zoo guests is that every species is part of a web. If you affect one strand of the web, it affects the entire structure. Holding with this belief, PHP has expanded to include several other species that call the South East Asian rain forests home. You will not only find paintings by our talented orangutan artists but elephants, clouded leopard, siamangs and binturongs as well. 

And not to be left out, some very talented and generous Houston area artists have collaborated with our animals on several very unique, one-of-a-kind paintings that are well worth seeing.

This fun and worthwhile event will be held on March 10th at the G-Gallery in the Heights from 6PM – 8PM. It’s free and everyone is invited to view the art, bid on paintings and enter our raffle. We’ll have horse de’ ouvers and beverages generously donated by our sponsors so join us for an evening of animal art and conservation.

http://www.houstonzoo.org/php/