Archive for the ‘Wortham World of Primates’ Category

May
10

First Ever Crowd Curated Exhibit!

Posted by in Contest,Crowd Curated Exhibit,Mammals,Primates,Wortham World of Primates

Today we have two big announcements to make! 

First of all, I would like to congratulate Susan Draper on winning our contest posted in the last blog.  Susan will be at the zoo this Saturday to help prepare the exhibit for our new Goeldi’s monkeys, Peach and Andy.  Susan’s husband, Mickey, will be joining us as her chosen guest. We have plenty of work to keep them busy.  It’s important to change out the climbing structures in our exhibits in between previous residents moving out and new residents moving in.  We have lots of grape vine and branches that need to be put into the exhibit so Peach and Andy have plenty of arboreal pathways and can easily get in and out of their night house. Hope Susan and Mickey are ready to get dirty!

The second piece of news is that Peach and Andy were both given clean bills of health by our veterinarians and after a few days of visiting through a mesh barrier they were able to meet face to face. Everything went exactly as we had hoped and it does indeed seem to be love at first sight!  Now we just have to wait for them to clear their required quarantine period and then we can move them to their new home. Are they not the cutest couple?

 

There seems to be no question that they are going to be a great couple! Photo credit: Jennifer Stevenson

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May
08

Cheyenne Reaches a Milestone on Mother’s Day

Posted by in Conservation,Primates,Wortham World of Primates

May 13 is a special day for mothers everywhere, and orangutan Cheyenne is no exception. In addition to celebrating Mother’s Day with her latest adopted infant, Aurora, she turns 40 on the very same day. Many people express surprise that all the great apes have such a long lifespan. Cheyenne’s own mother lived to be 52 at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo  and all gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans have the capacity to live into their fifties and even their sixties.

As we honor Mother’s Day and our newest orangutan family, awareness of what wild orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra are facing is ever-present. Baby Aurora has found a loving mother here, and yet babies in the forests are routinely losing theirs, as mother orangutans all over these islands are in the midst of the biggest crisis the species has ever faced.  As consumers all over the world buy food, cosmetics and lotions containing palm oil, the forests in Indonesia and Malaysia are being cut, burned and drained to create more palm oil plantations.  Orangutans are being killed by fire, gunshots and machetes to quench the world’s infinite appetite for palm oil, and that includes mothers with tiny, clinging infants. Crying babies are pried off their deceased mothers; the luckier ones are sometimes rescued and sent to rehabilitation facilities, where they are cared for by humans in the company of hundreds of other orphaned youngsters. The unluckier ones are kept as pets, where they die of malnutrition or remain chained to a backyard post, where they languish in misery for years.

The Houston Zoo is fortunate to have an orangutan like Cheyenne, whose great role in life is to adopt and love babies not genetically her own.  But, we must be mindful of those missing orangutan mothers  in the wild, who like her, are just trying to make sure that their babies stay safe and healthy. They are fighting a war that they cannot win unless the world listens to their plight. Are we willing to sacrifice the lives of one of our closest living relatives for  …  palm oil?

 

This Mother’s Day, ponder that question, and know that all of us have a part in being responsible consumers. We can help, with “the power of the purse.” Everything we buy is like a vote, and we can vote for orangutan mothers and their babies to survive by choosing our products carefully.

 

 

 

 

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May
04

First Ever “Crowd Curated Exhibit”!

Posted by in Crowd Curated Exhibit,Mammals,Primates,Wortham World of Primates

We are very excited to tell everyone that the first residents of your exhibit have arrived!  A male Goeldi’s monkey named Andy arrived from the Philadelphia Zoo, and a few days later female, Peach, flew in from St Louis. 

Peach checking out her new guy. Photo credit: Jennifer Stevenson

They have to go through quarantine at our veterinary clinic during which time they are cared for by our awesome clinic keepers. They will undergo a sedation and exam while in quarantine and once they both receive a clean bill of health they will get to meet each other.  Right now they can see each other but not touch one another.  We’ll be moving to an introduction through a mesh barrier soon, then finally letting them in together.  So far they have been calling to one another and seem eager to meet so keep your fingers crossed for love at first sight. 

Andy looking a little shy at the prospect of his new girlfriend. Photo credit: Jennifer Stevenson

But before Andy and Peach can move into their new home, we need your help getting it ready!  If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to get an exhibit ready for new residents, now is your chance to find out.  In the comments section below, tell us why we should pick you to help us get Andy & Peach’s new home ready.

Whoever submits the winning comment will get to come out to the zoo with a friend and help us prepare the exhibit.  Be prepared to get dirty, learn some cool stuff about primates and have fun!

Contest Particulars:

  • You and your guest must be 18 years old.
  • You must be available at 2:00 on May 12th to come to the zoo.
  • If you have an aversion to physical work and getting dirty, this may not be the contest for you.
  • The prize can not be given to someone else.  If you win, you must be the participant, along with your chosen guest.
  • The primate team will choose their favorite comment as the winner, so be creative!

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Mar
09

First Ever “Crowd Curated” Exhibit!

Posted by in Crowd Curated Exhibit,Endangered,Mammals,Primates,Wortham World of Primates

First of all,   THANKS everyone for joining our crowd!  It’s so great to see everyone participating and helping curate our primate exhibit.  I’ve even received one response from a Mr H. Hewitt in our comments box here at the zoo so we’re both “virtual” and “real”!

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!

 

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Feb
27

Aurora’s Turning One!

Posted by in Babies,Birthday,Primates,Uncategorized,Wortham World of Primates

 

Join the Houston Zoo on Saturday, March 3 as we celebrate Aurora’s first birthday!

On Saturday, March 3 from 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. the Houston Zoo will be celebrating orangutan Aurora’s birthday at her home in Wortham World of Primates. Enjoy crafts and singing, watch Aurora eat her birthday cake, sign a giant birthday card just for her, and learn about orangutan conservation. You’ll also hear from those who know Aurora best – our Primate Staff will conduct special Meet the Keeper Talks every 30 minutes to share stories about Aurora and her development throughout this past year.

Schedule of Events:

9 a.m. – 2 p.m. – Crafts and conservation information available

9:30 a.m. – Aurora gets her birthday cake and meet the Keeper Talks begin, and are every 30 minutes

1:30 p.m. – Sing Happy Birthday to Aurora; last orangutan Meet the Keeper Talk of the day

 

Want to give Aurora a birthday gift? The Primate Staff have provided a list of items that Aurora and the other orangutans would love to have for enrichment.

 

Here is her birthday wishlist:

  • Fabric – sheets, pillowcases, and blankets
  • Plastic buckets
  • Basketballs, soccer balls, and beach balls
  • Spices and herbs – cinnamon, basil, parsley, and dill weed
  • Chalk (non-toxic)
  • Latex rubber tubing (available from McMaster-Carr)

*If you are bringing a present, please be sure that it is in its original wrapping.

 

You can also purchase enrichment presents from our Primate Registry.

All activities are included in the regular Zoo admission and are FREE for Zoo Members!

Come help us celebrate!

 

Feb
18

First Ever “Crowd Curated Exhibit”!

Posted by in Crowd Curated Exhibit,Mammals,Primates,Wortham World of Primates

I have been busy contacting species coordinators to see if any of our top choices for monkey species are available. The news is good! I’ve talked to the coordinators for titi monkeys, emperor tamarins and Goeldi’s monkeys (callimico). There is a high likelihood that we could obtain any of these species. Emperor tamarins and Goeldi’s monkeys can both co-exist with titi monkeys, although probably not with each other so keep that in mind.

Endearing titi monkeys

Curious Goeldi's monkey

Fascinating Emperor tamarins

For a ground dwelling species, since we unfortunately cannot obtain pudu, our two options are agouti which seem to be fairly readily available or a tortoise species.

Cute agouti at the Hogle Zoo.

Red footed tortoises from South America can have quite unique personalities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So check out the pictures, think about your final vote for animals in your exhibit and leave your votes in the comments section.  Then it will be time to start acquiring animals!

Once we know exactly what animals we’re getting we can start prepping the exhibit.  If you have been following this blog since the begining, you may remember I mentioned a contest along the way.  Stay tuned in the next week or two for a fun chance to come out to the zoo and help get your exhibit ready!

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Jan
31

First Ever “Crowd Curated” Exhibit!

Posted by in Animal Info,Crowd Curated Exhibit,Mammals,Primates,Wortham World of Primates

I wanted to give everyone a quick update on where we are with our exhibit.  I have contacted the New World Primate Taxon Advisary Group (TAG) leader to find out the availability of our most frequently mentioned choices.  I included emperor tamarins, callimico (Goeldi’s monkeys) and titi monkeys. 

Titi monkeys are known for the endearing habit of entwining their tails.

Taxon Advisary Groups work under the umbrella of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and over see an entire taxa of animals, for example I mentioned the New World primate TAG. There are also a Felid TAG, a Lizard TAG and many more. If you read my last blog you may remember what an SSP is.  TAGs oversee SSPs.  Have you picked up on the fact that the zoo world has a LOT of acronyms?  The AZA website even has a list you can refer to because there are so many!  For now I think if we can keep AZA, TAG and SSP straight we should be good.

I will keep you posted on what the TAG says about our choices.  I also asked if there were any species that particularly needed space. It’s always good to play nice so if we need to place an animal in the future the TAGs and SSPs will remember that we were willing to help out.

For all the rodent fans out there, there are agoutis available, although we’re not sure how far down the cement around the bottom of our exhibit reaches.  We’re going to look into that to see if there is enough of a dig barrier to contain a rodent species.

Another option comes from reader MC. MC suggested a South American opossum species.  Any ideas of what species might work?  Post your ideas to the comments!

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Jan
13

First Ever “Crowd Curated” Exhibit!

Posted by in Crowd Curated Exhibit,Mammals,Primates,Wortham World of Primates

Hi All.  Hope everyone enjoyed the holidays!

On our exhibit front, bad news on pudu. Currently there are none available, and it doesn’t look like there will be any time soon. Many species in North American zoos have what is called a Species Survival Plan(SSP). This is a management group that is under the umbrella of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums(AZA). The SSP committee keeps track of genetics of all the animals in accredited zoos in North America and makes breeding recomendations in order to preserve genetic diversity in captive populations.  The pudu population in North America is very small and there are no available animals at the moment.  Dissapointing, especially since the husbandry manual indicates they are very tolerant of both humidity and temperatures below freezing so they would be perfect in Houston’s climate.  Any other ideas?

On the primate side, tamarins still seem to be the popular vote, especially Emperor tamarins. I will start checking to see if Emperor tamarins are available, and if not then what other species may be.

Gotta love those moustaches! Photo credit: Aspex Design

All of you should think about what other species we may want to investigate in lieu of pudu. 

Let me know what you come up with!

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Dec
23

First Ever Zoo “Crowd Curated” Exhibit!

Posted by in Crowd Curated Exhibit,Mammals,Primates,Wortham World of Primates

So many good thoughts this week!  Several of you  brought up good points that must be considered when curating an exhibit.

I think you’re right Trowaman when you say capybaras might be better off in a large area like our South America yard but pudu might do well in a space the size of our exhibit.   As Laci Bertrand pointed out, pudu live in dense forest habitats so we’d need more plantings to provide hiding places for them to feel safe, but that’s easy enough to accomplish.
MP, you bring up a very good point.  Sometimes even if we want a species to exhibit in our zoo, they just aren’t available.  Trowaman‘s comment about never having seen a uacari in a zoo is probably a good clue that they aren’t easy to obtain.

 Pudu Baby. Pretty cute! Photo credit: Belfast ZooBaby pudu.  Pretty Cute! Photo Credit: Belfast Zoo

Spider monkeys are a popular option so I looked up space requirements for spider monkeys. As a zoo that exhibits animals for the public, we are subject to standards that are regulated by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) branch of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)  There are many standards to which we must adhere and we can be inspected without warning at any time. We work diligently to remain USDA compliant at all times. Space requirements are part of these standards. Technically our exhibit is big enough for several spider monkeys, but unfortunately our holding area is not.

So from the comments, it looks like pudu might be a good choice for the ground so I’ll start talking to other zoos to see if any are available. We still need more consensus on a primate species though.  Again going by comments and the space we have available, emperor tamarins, golden headed lion tamarins, Goeldi’s monkeys and titi monkeys could all work.  Over the Christmas weekend, think about which of these species we should look into and hopefully by New Year’s weekend we’ll at least know what we’d like to explore as far as primate species.

Enjoy whichever holiday you celebrate with your family & loved ones!

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Dec
14

First Ever Zoo “Crowd Curated” Exhibit!!

Posted by in Crowd Curated Exhibit,Mammals,Primates,Series,Wortham World of Primates

The bald uacari. Definitely one of the strangest monkeys on the planet. Photo credit: ABC Vozes dos Animais

Thanks everyone for your ideas and input on what we should put in your exhibit. Keep sharing this series with your friends and help increase the size of our Crowd!

So far we’ve had suggestions from very small and cute, such as Goeldi’s monkeys, to larger and stranger like uacaris.

The idea of having a multispecies exhibit is also very intriguing. The exhibit is too small for  giant anteaters, and while I really like the idea of having birds and monkeys together, the thought of a tiny monkey finger in the mandibles of a macaw makes me a rather nervous. But overall the idea is very cool!

 

Big birdie beak + tiny monkey fingers = OUCH! Photo credit: barloventomagico on Flickr

Below is a list of suggestions we have had so far, in no particular order! I left off the species that have been suggested that we already have here at the zoo. This week your job is to peruse the list and let me know your vote for which of these species you think should be in the exhibit. Vote by leaving your thoughts in the “Comments” section at the end of this post. Tell me if you want just one species or more than one. As a curator, some of the things you need to consider are what niche each species fills in the wild. Where does it like to hang out? Do you want all arboreal animals or do you want some down low and some up high? It all depends on how much space you have, the needs of each species and what you want your final exhibit to look like for the guests. You have to think about if the space is appropriate for that species and if the type of containment will hold the particular species that you want.

 

Have fun, maybe do some research on the different species. You can vote on this list even if you didn’t make any suggestions. I hope to hear from more people each week, so feel free to jump in!

 

Goeldi's monkey. One of the cutest monkeys on the planet. Photo credit: bayucca on Flickr

Possible Species:

Primates:                                            NonPrimates

Spider monkeys                                  Capybaras

Squirrel monkeys                                Brazilian porcupines

Common marmosets                           Pudu

Emperor Tamarins

Golden bellied capuchins

Titi monkeys

Woolly monkeys

Uacaris

Goeldi’s monkeys

Golden headed lion tamarins

The ever popular spider monkey. Photo credit: Primates.com

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