Zoo Boise Zoo Boise News and Notes

Ituri

Ituri

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I found the statistic that Zoo Boise donates 12% of its operating budget on field conservation compared to the AZA average of 2% quite fascinating.

Zoos Raise Money for Faraway Animals - NYTimes.com

Zoo Boise, a small city zoo in Idaho, receives a lot of praise in the zoo community for its commitment to and success in raising money for conservation programs aimed only at animals in the wild — a goal many zoos aspire to but do not necessarily follow through on.
The problem, most zoo officials say, is that supporting their live animal collections is so expensive that they do not have money left over to finance conservation in the wild. (Some of the issues facing modern zoos are outlined in my article in Monday’s Times and in this video produced and narrated by my colleague Erik Olsen.)
But are zoos really handling their live collections in a way that helps their kin in the wild? Zoo officials say part of their mission is to inspire visitors to contribute more to conservation, but it is hard measure how successful they are at doing so.
Zoo Boise gets only 325,000 visitors each year, fairly modest compared with attendance at larger city zoos. (St. Louis, the nation’s attendance leader, has roughly three million visitors a year.)
Yet Zoo Boise decided it had to do better in supporting field conservation. So in 2007 it raised zoo prices by a quarter and then 50 cents and devoted all of the extra money to projects for wild animals that are completely independent of its own programs.

“This is in response to the growing extinction crisis that threatens some of the world’s most famous inhabitants within the next 50 years,” the zoo tells visitors in its written materials. “We must act on their behalf.”
Zoo Boise came up with the idea of letting visitors vote for where their money should go. Visitors are given a token and allowed to drop it into the slot of one of three conservation projects that the zoo chooses each year.
Zoo BoiseZoo funds went toward protecting an Idaho species, too: the wolverine.
This past year the Boise zoo raised $110,000 to help finance projects like research on wolverines in northern Idaho and for tarsier habitat education programs in the Philippines. The zoo also raised about $120,000 for outside conservation by charging fees for activities like feeding giraffes and for boat rides.
It is not a fortune in absolute terms, but it amounts to 12 percent of the zoo’s operating budget. By contrast, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums estimates that its member zoos and aquariums gave less than 2 percent of their operating budgets on average to field conservation activities for wild animals in 2010 — about $134 million.
That zoos and aquariums have not done more in this area is a source of some frustration among conservation organizations that are doing much of the actual work in the field.
Dr. Sanjayan Muttulingam, the lead scientist for the Nature Conservancy, which gave $400 million in 2010 for conservation projects around the world, describes the failure to convert more visitors into donors as a wasted opportunity.
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Zoo Boise takes in probable wolf pup

Lost Wolf Pup Sent to Zoo Boise For Care | citydesk

Zoo Boise has become a temporary home to a lost pup, while officials await DNA test results to determine "whether it is a wolf, a wolf-hybrid or something else," according to Idaho Fish and Game.
Out-of-town campers discovered the pup outside of Ketchum over the Memorial Day Weekend. A technician at a local veterinarian clinic initially thought the animal was a wolf, so Fish and Game officials spent four days looking for a wolf pack in the area where the pup was found, but couldn't find fresh tracks.
In the meantime, the pup was in need of care and was transferred to Zoo Boise.
"The pup is not in the best physical condition," said a Fish and Game spokesman.
Wildlife officials theorized that it was possible that a pack was moving with pups—perhaps from a den to a rendezvous site—and may have been disturbed by traffic.
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@ Ituri - You mentioned in another thread on hyenas (back in 2009) that the zoo was getting striped hyenas. Do they in fact have these animals on exhibit?
 
Arizona Docent said:
@ Ituri - You mentioned in another thread on hyenas (back in 2009) that the zoo was getting striped hyenas. Do they in fact have these animals on exhibit?
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The striped hyenas are still there and I saw two of them in the summer of 2010. They are remarkable animals and I just saw two more last week at Naples Zoo in Florida.
 
Breaking news: The Boise Police Department has made an arrest in the death of the Patas monkey. They will be holding a press conference tonight at 7:00.

Once again, we want to thank the community for the incredible support you have given the zoo. It has meant the world to us!

Source ZooBoise facebook
 
Zoo Boise announces new Patas Monkey exhibit for the African Plains.
Zoo Boise Patas Monkey Update

Even before the events of November 17, Zoo Boise had started making plans for its next major construction project which will involve removing the Primate House, built in 1961, and replacing it with other, modern exhibits. This would have included creating a new home for the patas monkeys. In light of the recent tragedy, Friends of Zoo Boise has decided to make this project a top priority and is beginning the fundraising effort immediately. If fundraising is successful, Zoo Boise plans to open the exhibit late next summer.

Zoo Boise has begun designing a new, 1,000 square foot home for the patas monkeys, which will be more appropriate and suitable for a family group than the current Primate House. "Patas Place" will be located in the African Plains Exhibit, adjacent to the patas monkeys' outdoor enclosure on the zoo lagoon. The zoo will also expand this outdoor space, for a total of 1,500 square feet.

These additions will provide year round viewing of these spectacular primates for visitors. As a bonus, the gibbons and mangabey monkeys will have more space in the Primate House, until their new exhibits are complete in the future.

The total cost of "Patas Place" is $209,000. This includes design and construction, as well as a conservation grant to protect patas monkeys in the wild. To help make this exhibit a reality, you may donate online.
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City Contributes $100,000 for Patas Monkey Exhibit

Zoo Boise has finished raising the money needed for the new Patas Monkey exhibit in the African Plains. Construction will commence in Spring and be completed by Fall of 2013.

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A fundraising campaign to build a new patas monkey exhibit at Zoo Boise is complete in just five weeks thanks to a $100,000 boost from the City of Boise. The Friends of Zoo Boise (FoZB) raised the remaining $119,000 from private donors. City funds will come from year-end savings in the Boise Parks & Recreation fiscal year 2012 budget.
Construction starts this spring. Zoo Boise’s three patas monkeys are expected to move into the new exhibit in fall 2013.
“Once again, Boise citizens have shown their compassion and commitment by coming together to create a positive outcome for our community,” said Mayor David Bieter. “I commend the Friends of Zoo Boise for quickly raising contributions for this important exhibit and look forward to seeing its three new residents move in later this year.”
FoZB is a non-profit organization founded in 1961 to support the zoo.
The new Patas Monkey Exhibit will be located in the African Plains exhibit near the giraffe barn. The structure built of sustainable materials will have indoor and outdoor living space and three large viewing windows for the public.
The fundraising campaign was precipitated by a zoo break-in Nov. 17, which resulted in the death of a male patas monkey. Since then, the remaining male has lived alone at the zoo. Two female patas monkeys arrived Dec. 3 from the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York.
Upon completion of a quarantine period in February, the females will be placed in an enclosure within sight of the male. After determining that they are compatible, all three monkeys will live together in the Primate House until the new exhibit is complete.
Patas monkeys are ground-dwelling animals from the plains of Africa. At 2 ½ feet, they typically weigh 35 pounds.
As part of its conservation mission, Zoo Boise will contribute 10 percent of project costs to the Wildlife Conservation Society for the preservation of patas monkey habitat in Yankari National Park in Africa.
Long-term capital improvement plans at Zoo Boise include demolition of the Primate House, which was built in 1967. "We are planning to replace aging facilities with modern zoo exhibits that are better for both the animals and our visitors" said Steve Burns, Zoo Boise director.
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Boise, like much of the country, is in an unusual cold snap right now. Oddly, much of the rest of the Idaho is at their more usual winter temperatures. Zoo Boise has found themselves discounting admissions and having to bring in animals that are usually hardy to the areas relatively mild winters.

Frigid weather brings many Zoo Boise animals inside | KTVB.COM Boise

BOISE -- The long-lasting frigid cold has forced Zoo Boise to make changes this week by taking many of the animals inside. The zoo's veterinarian says it really depends on species, but in general anything under 20 degrees is concerning for most animals.

"When we start getting in the single digits, that's really, really, really concerning," Zoo Boise Veterinarian Dr. Holly Peters said.

Peters explains some exotic animals are very sensitive to the cold and require extra attention in the winter.

"We kind of have guidelines that we follow where we say this particular animal needs to be in at this particular temperature."

Peters says an Indian Sarus Crane, for example is actually pretty tolerant of cold weather, but with so many days below freezing, the bird is staying in the monkey cages for now.

Outside, many exhibits are quiet and empty, with animals staying in different indoor locations around the zoo.

"All of Africa, you're going to see lots of empty exhibits," Peters said.

The lions' habitat is empty, and the giraffe are staying in their heated building. Some other animals are okay outside with some help.

"Our hyenas are out, but they have access to heated dens," Peters said. The hyena also dug their own den under rocks in their habitat.

For some Idaho-native animals, like bald eagles, it's pretty much business as usual.

"We still watch these animals because these are captive animals, so they don't always have the same instincts as their wild counterparts would have," Peters said.

There are also animals that actually really like the cold, such as snow leopards and red pandas.

Though it's been extraordinarily cold, Dr. Peters says no animals have been sick or injured because of the weather.

"We've had a few that we've noticed signs they looked colder than we'd like them to be, so we've moved them, but not anybody that's actually been ill from it," Peters said.

Peters says they check thermometers in animal habitats throughout the day and night, and they also watch for signs from the animals.

"We can go in the barn with thermometers and see what's the temperature like right under the heat lamp? What's the temperature like in the coolest part of the barn? And make sure that that's okay for the animal," Peters said. "We also look for the animal to show us signs that they're cold. So they'll shiver. Sometimes we'll see birds that will stand in their water dish, things like that, and that's signs that they're really too cold."

Because so many animals are not out on display, Peters says Zoo Boise is offering discounted admission this week. Children (ages 4-11) can get in for $3 and adults for $4.25. Children 3 and under are free.
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