Akron Zoo Akron Zoo News 2012

Technically, the raccoon exhibit was changed to the rotating small mammal exhibit before the first set of construction plans were released for bids. This is why I said that Grizzly Ridge is only missing the black bear exhibit. A raccoon could still possibly be on exhibit in the small mammal exhibit on certain days, but I would prefer the zoo to bring back coatis or a relative rarer relative that is not seen in zoos around here at some point. The interactivity has been replaced by the Woodland Creature Encounters presented by the zoo's education department. There was not a way for the public to bypass Grizzly Ridge through the earlier aviary. There were entrances and exits on both levels due to the steep drop in elevation. You could not access the other level from inside the early plans of the aviary.
 
Dinosaur Train Nature Trackers Event Press Release

Be a Dinosaur Train Nature Tracker at the Akron Zoo!

Western Reserve PBS and the Akron Zoo team up for a fun-filled children’s event

NORTHEAST OHIO — Aug. 20, 2012 — Get up! Get going! Join the fun! Come to the Akron Zoo on Saturday, Sept. 8, for a special nature event featuring Buddy from the popular PBS Kids show Dinosaur Train. The event takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Akron Zoo, 500 Edgewood Ave., Akron, and is held in cooperation with Western Reserve PBS. Akron Zoo admission fees apply.

Have fun finding animal tracks, collecting items from nature, discovering recyclable materials and learning about conservation. Enjoy meet-and-greet sessions with Buddy and watch Dinosaur Train “Nature Trackers” episodes in the zoo’s theater.

The first 500 children to complete four Nature Tracker activities will receive a special goodie bag. All children who complete the activities can enjoy a free ride on the zoo’s train, the A & K Wilber Express.

Buddy, a curious, funny and intelligent T-Rex, is the star of Dinosaur Train, which airs on Western Reserve PBS (WNEO 45.1/WEAO 49.1) on Sundays at 8:30 a.m. and weekdays at 9:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. The half-hour program embraces and celebrates the fascination that preschoolers have with both dinosaurs and trains, while encouraging basic scientific thinking skills.

For more information about the Dinosaur Train Nature Tracker event, call Western Reserve PBS at 1-800-554-4549 or the Akron Zoo at 330-375-2550.

About Western Reserve Public Media
Western Reserve Public Media (formerly PBS 45 & 49) is owned and operated by Northeastern Educational Television of Ohio, Inc., a private, nonprofit corporation and consortium of Kent State University, The University of Akron and Youngstown State University. A trusted community resource, Western Reserve Public Media uses the power of commercial-free television and related services to enrich the lives of people through high-quality programming and educational services that teach, illuminate and inspire. It serves the largest population (5.13 million people) of Ohio’s eight PBS member stations.

Western Reserve PBS (WNEO 45.1/WEAO 49.1), a service of the organization, is the only broadcast television service that reaches all of northeast Ohio. It is available to 5.13 million people in the Cleveland and Youngstown designated market areas. In an average month, more than 1 million people tune in. The organization also operates three standard definition channels: Fusion (WNEO 45.2/WEAO 49.2), MHz Worldview (WNEO 45.3/WEAO 49.3) and V-me (WNEO 45.4/WEAO 49.4).

Through funding from eTech Ohio, Western Reserve Public Media provides K-12 educational technology training and instructional television programming to 21,500 educators and 256,700 students in eight Ohio counties. For more information about the organization, visit WesternReservePublicMedia.org or call 1-800-554-4549.

About the Akron Zoo
The Akron Zoo is open 361 days a year. The Akron Zoo hours are 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and admission is $10 for adults, $8.50 for senior citizens, $7 for children (ages 2-14). Children under two are free and parking is $2. For more information visit AkronZoo.org or call (330) 375-2550.

Founded in 1953, the Akron Zoo is a non-profit, world conservation Zoo with over 700 animals from around the world. Located just west of Downtown Akron, the Zoo strives to provide a dynamic, financially responsible, guest centered animal experience that is energized by innovation and fun. The Akron Zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). With its more than 200 accredited members, AZA is a leader in global wildlife conservation, and your link to helping animals in their native habitats.

Be a Dinosaur Train Nature Tracker at the Akron Zoo!
 
Akron Zoo's Komodo Kingdom Cafe becomes the 1st 4-star restaurant in the state; only the 7th in the U.S.

by Akron Zoo on Thursday, August 23, 2012 at 3:00pm


The Akron Zoo’s Komodo Kingdom Café has been awarded 4-stars by the Green Restaurant Association (GRA), making it one of the greenest restaurants in the U.S. The

zoo’s café is the first 4-star green restaurant in the state of Ohio and only the 7th in the United States. The Akron Zoo is the first zoo in the country to receive such honor. It is currently ranked as the fifth greenest restaurant in the U.S. according to the GRA.

The GRA is a national non-profit organization that has been working to improve restaurant sustainability since 1990. The GRA’s Green Restaurant Certification Standards provide a clearly defined and cost-effective way for restaurants, manufacturers, distributors, and consumers to become more environmentally responsible.

The certification process is based on a point system. Each aspect of the building and every process within the food service operation is scored based on the level of energy efficiency or level of sustainable practice achieved. To achieve full certification you must accumulate a total of 100 points, meet minimum points in each category, have a full-scale recycling program, be free of polystyrene foam (aka styrofoam) and provide yearly guest education. Komodo Kingdom Café received a total of 349.01 points.

Points are awarded in the following areas: water efficiency, waste reduction and recycling, sustainable food, energy, use of disposable products and chemical/pollution reduction.

Because the café is inside Komodo Kingdom, which is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building, it helped the café achieve some of the most difficult sustainability points. For example, the café received credits due to the building’s geothermal heating and cooling system. Komodo Kingdom was the first LEED certified building in Summit County. The zoo also received points because it increased its usage of vegan and vegetarian foods. Other categories receiving high marks include the zoo’s food waste composting program and the introduction of Green Seal certified cleaning products.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/akro...urant-in-the-state-only-the/10151029798183042
 
The snow leopard exhibit and the Himalayan tahr exhibit at the Akron Zoo will reopen in several weeks. Other exhibits will closed for a period of time to have their glass replaced as well throughout the late summer and fall. The snow leopard cubs will be on-exhibit in the jaguar exhibit for the time being.
 
Sabu & Raj

SNOW LEOPARD CUBS

Sabu & Raj are on exhibit from 10:15 - 11:45 a.m. daily.

The snow leopard cubs that were born on May 14, 2012 at the Akron Zoo now have names. A public naming contest, with over 3,852 votes, concluded Monday, August 20, 2012 and the two names with the most votes are Sabu (Sah boo) and Raj (rah j).

The zoo narrowed the names down to five choices for people to vote on from August 10-20, 2012. All the names had ties to either snow leopards or their habitat. Sabu, which received 974 votes, is the Tibetan word for snow leopard and Raj, which got 920 votes, means king or ruler in India. The non-winning names were Tai (tie), which means mountain in Mongolic language and is where the snow leopards inhabit; Layan (LAY-an) which is short for Himalayan Mountains, where snow leopards are indigenous to, and also means gentle and soft; and Kovo (cove-O) meaning strong in India.

Sabu and Raj are currently on exhibit daily from 10:15 – 11:45 a.m. They will continue to be on exhibit everyday during those hours for the time being until they are bigger and can be out longer.

Everyone that had the winning combination of names was entered into a drawing and one person was selected to win a sponsorship of the cubs for one year which includes a certificate, a photo and a stuffed snow leopard toy. The snow leopard cub naming contest had even more votes than the popular octopus naming contest the zoo held earlier this summer, which garnered 2,220 votes.

Snow leopards are an endangered species and only nine cubs have been born this year that are part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP) in the United States. Snow leopards are endangered primarily due to loss of habitat, illegal poaching for their pelts and body parts and killings by local herders when a snow leopard has preyed on their livestock. There are only 155 snow leopards in the SSP in the U.S. and there are believed to be as few as 4,000 left in the wild.

Snow Leopard Cubs
 
I saw the snow leopard cubs. They are adorable. They are still in the jaguar exhibit. The snow leopard and tahr exhibits have new glass now, but are still several weeks for being ready to reopen. They are out 10:15am to 11:45am, but they have been staying out till at least 12:30pm if the cubs are not tired yet. There is a queue line that starts at the jaguar exhibit and winds up the path to the condors. Chauck, the male jaguar, was on-exhibit when we got in line today. Naom, one of the female jaguars, was going to replace the cubs on exhibit this afternoon. Roscoe & Shanti have been given the green light to breed again by the AZA so they will place them together to try to get her pregnant again in March.

Not much more news, but there has been a sign added at the former gibbon exhibit. It reads as follows:

------------------------------------------

An "Inn" at the Zoo

This exhibit is being used as temporary housing for some new animals. This gives the animals time to get used to the sights and sounds of the zoo before they meet their new roommates.

You may see these animals in this exhibit over the next few months, but not at the same time.

Barking Deer
White Stork
Bald Eagle

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The zoo announced on Facebook that the aviary next to Wild Prairie is now officially reopened after being closed for over a year.
 
The zoo has provided me with a list of species in the aviary.

Wild Turkey - Meleagris gallopavo
Blue-winged teal - Anas discors
Ringed turtle dove - Streptopelia risoria
Mourning dove - Zenaida macroura
Common grackle - Quiscalus quiscula
Rose-breasted grosbeak - Pheuctcus ludovicianus
Northern oriole - Icterus galbula

I think at least some of the species will move to the Grizzly Ridge aviary. They want species that can be on exhibit year-round, especially reopening it this late in the summer. It could be move tropical species will move in to the exhibit after Grizzly Ridge opens next year.
 
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TigerValley98 said:
The zoo has provided me with a list of species in the aviary.

Wild Turkey - Meleagris gallopavo
Blue-winged teal - Anas discors
Ringed turtle dove - Streptopelia risoria
Mourning dove - Zenaida macroura
Common grackle - Quiscalus quiscula
Rose-breatsed grosbeak - Pheuctcus ludovicianus
Northern oriole - Icterus galbula

I think at least some of the species will move to the Grizzly Ridge aviary. They want species that can be on exhibit year-round, especially reopening it this late in the summer. It could be move tropical species will move in to the exhibit after Grizzly Ridge opens next year.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the species list.Do you happen to have any idea how big the Grizzly Ridge Aviary is supposed to be?

Team Tapir
 
The zoo has given me a schedule on when exhibits are having their glass replaced. The lions and bears will be done in September. The tiger and jaguar exhibits will have their glass replaced before the end of the year (likely after Boo at the Zoo).
 
The snow leopard cubs are now on exhibit in the SNOW LEOPARD EXHIBIT from 10:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. daily.
 
Penguin chick born at the Akron Zoo!

Penguin chick born at the Akron Zoo!

An endangered Humboldt penguin was born at the Akron Zoo on July 8, 2012. The chick, a male, has been named Pedro which means rock in Spanish. Pedro has been in a burrow since he was born but is now emerging and coming out onto exhibit at the zoo’s Penguin Point.

Pedro’s name is significant because penguins build their nests out of rocks. Pedro is still not able to eat on his own so his parents are still feeding him. The parents are fed four times a day, twice as much as the other penguins at the Akron Zoo. They are fed two varieties of fish, which include capelin and smelt. The parents feed the penguin chicks by eating first and then regurgitating the food into the chick’s mouth. Pedro should start eating on his own in a couple of weeks.

This is the second penguin chick born at the Akron Zoo this year. On April 8, 2012 Antia was born at the Akron Zoo.

Humboldt penguins are warm climate penguins, unlike their Antarctic relatives. They are commonly found in more temperate climates like Peru and Chile. The Humboldt penguin is currently an endangered species primarily due to commercial harvesting of guano for agricultural fertilizer. Without nesting locations, Humboldt penguins are in serious danger of extinction. Some estimates indicate the possibility of extinction in the wild within 10 years. The Akron Zoo is proud to have these penguins as part of the Humboldt Penguin Species Survival Plan (SSP). The mission of the SSP is to help ensure the survival of selected wildlife species. Through scientifically-controlled managed breeding programs, SSP’s are a proactive approach to preventing extinction. SSP's were formed back in 1981 to help ensure the survival of endangered species. SSP's are managed by the AZA, of which the Akron Zoo is an accredited member.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/akron-zoo/penguin-chick-born-at-the-akron-zoo/10151054073233042
 
Grizzly Ridge - Final Plan Revised

The zoo has posted a slightly revised version of the Grizzly Ridge plan on the construction fence. The coyote exhibit has been modified. The small mammal area in front of the otter building has been modified from the last version as well.

Grizzly_Ridge_2012_09_08_1_.JPG


http://www.zoochat.com/1214/grizzly-ridge-final-plan-revised-289624/

Speaking of Grizzly Ridge, the zoo's aviary in Wild Prairie has reopened with species I mentioned in a previous post. There will also be a green heron in this exhibit. I expect a majority of these birds will move to Grizzly Ridge. Some of the birds in this exhibit are injured birds that cannot be re-released. It is nice to have the aviary reopened.
 
The gecko exhibit is now open in the Madagascar Building. The lion and and sloth bear exhibits are closed for glass replacement. The tigers and jaguars will have their glass replaced after Boo at the Zoo.
 
TigerValley98 said:
The gecko exhibit is now open in the Madagascar Building. The lion and and sloth bear exhibits are closed for glass replacement. The tigers and jaguars will have their glass replaced after Boo at the Zoo.
Click to expand...

Are Lions and Sloth Bears going to be finished before Boo?

Team Tapir
 
They should be. They were working on them yesterday and it looked like part of the glass for the lion exhibit was already installed. There was a lot of noise coming from the sloth bear exhibit because they were working yesterday.
 
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