The building is almost done. There’s a bit more work to do and then its up to us to get everything cleaned up and ready for the chimps. I say “we” in the general sense, I’m leaving all this up to Judy, our newest supervisor, because tomorrow morning I fly to California to pick up the chimps.
almost there...
We’ve talked about where zoos get their animals but have you ever wondered how? The answer depends on the animal – some we ship cargo on commercial airlines or FedEx, others come on land via a professional animal shipper or we just go pick them up ourselves. This shipment is a bit unusual and we’re using a combination of methods. Three Houston Zoo staff, including me, are flying to California, where we will rent a vehicle and meet a professional animal shipper. All of us, plus Greg and Carol, who owned the chimps, will then load them up Monday morning and we’ll all drive to Houston.
The shipper has a large climate controlled trailer with 10 comfortable crates for the chimps. We’ll be driving straight through but will stop regularly to check on the chimps and provide food and water. We expect the trip to take about 40 hours, and if weather and traffic cooperate and should get to the zoo Wednesday morning.
For more updates from the road next week, follow @HZIChimps on Twitter.
