Zoo Update - May 2

There's been a lot going on at the zoo this past month; I'll get you all caught up here, since I haven't been doing it as things happen.

I attended an awards banquette with several zoo personnel (Tex Edwards, Sammye & John Sewell, Shannon Jensen, Beth Foglestadt, Brian Moore, and volunteers Elizabeth Maciariello and Carol Morgan) on Wednesday, April 14. The luncheon was sponsored by BP and was to honor volunteers in and around Anchorage. The AAVA, or the Anchorage Association of Volunteer Administration, gave out 6 awards: three Outstanding Volunteer Program Awards recognizing agencies for their volunteer programs (Alaska Legal Services, Clare House, and Abused Women’s Aid in Crisis), a Community Service Award recognizing a Youth Volunteer (Stephen Arendain – 16 years old, 200 hours volunteering for KCI Head Start), a Community Service Award recognizing an Individual Volunteer (Sallye Werner – volunteered for CASA helping abused and neglected children), and a Community Service Award recognizing a Business or Corporation (Davis Wright Tremaine).

That Friday night was the second to the last of the girl scouts programs. I wasn't feeling very good that night, so only ended up doing half of it. It was a good program, focusing on Birds. I unfortunately missed hearing Kaleigh's presentation - she's our mentor student who worked all semester on Bird Anatomy, and that night was her formal presentation, with somebody from her high school there to grade her on it. She did very well, I hear, but we knew she would.

Saturday, April 16th, was National Kid’s Day in Anchorage, with several businesses around town offering special events for kids. The Alaska Zoo offered free admissions to kids under 12, and had all kinds of activities throughout the day. I was to have given a Naturalist Tour at 2:30, but nobody wanted one. So I ended up just helping out wherever necessary. I helped Shannon feed the otters (actually, I just stood there and watched while she fed them). I helped close up shop at the critter table, carrying the tub full of items back to the office. I helped Jim while he presented Tula, the Bactrian camel (again, I basically just stood there – but I would have helped out if it had been necessary). I even helped Liz when she got Trini, the silver fox, out to show people. The whole day was a great success, with over 1,800 people attending.

The last of the girl scouts programs was on Friday, the 22nd, but I had come down with a serious chest/head cold that weekend and had to call in sick. I also missed the Woman’s Show at the Sullivan Arena. The Alaska Zoo had a booth there, to pass out information on our volunteer program as well as all the other programs we have. I felt really bad about missing my commitment because I knew Shannon was having a hard time getting people to work the table. She ended up having to do the whole day all by herself! I wasn’t thrilled with the whole idea to begin with, but I had said I would help out and I usually try to do what I say I will.

By the following Tuesday, April 26, I was finally well again, and was able to attend the monthly volunteer meeting. We’re getting really good at the whole monthly meeting thing; it’s really a worthwhile two hours. Not only do we get to hear all the latest news and up-coming events, but we also get to work out problems and get caught up on all the latest gossip. I am, as you might know, in charge of typing up the minutes to be sent out to everybody, so I won’t go in depth here.

This past weekend was also busy for me. I gave a tour to the American Travel Writers club on Saturday, April 30. It was a small group, with just 6 people, but I have to say it was one of the worst tours I’ve ever given. The group was very hard to handle, wouldn’t listen to me so I had to repeat everything about 5 times, and one man was so slow it took 2 hours just to get to the elephant exhibit! I didn’t even get to do over half the tour, and they had to go back to the hotel. I know the zoo was really hoping to get a good write-up from them, but I don’t think it will be that good. I tried, but one can only do so much.

The next day was much better, although it was raining. I met up with one of the new volunteers, Heather Doncaster, to go over the Naturalist Tour information. It was very nice to have somebody with me, because I tend to learn things better when I teach it to somebody else. It has been a long time since I last went over all the plant information! I have forgotten a lot, so it really helped reviewing it all with her. She plans on giving the tours all summer, and will be able to do them on weekdays since she is a schoolteacher, with the summer off.

On April 21, Ginger (our female caribou) gave birth to a beautiful baby! We don’t know what the sex is just yet, since Ginger is a very protective mother, but I’ll let you know as soon as we figure it out. He/she is a very cute little one, sticking to mother like Velcro.

We received three alpacas on Thursday, April 28, two to be housed in the old llama enclosure and one headed to the petting zoo. They are really cute animals, let me assure you. Very different from the llama, which I understand we are still in the market for.

And, last but not least on the list of new arrivals, is a young red fox that was found near a runway at the airport. We are unsure of whether this fox will stay permanently at the zoo, but for now he is comfortably housed in the infirmary till a decision can be reached. He is a tiny little thing, but the zookeepers assure me he is not only quite healthy but is also probably 5 weeks old!

All of the new arrivals can be seen on our web site at www.alaskazoo.org as well as on the zoo photographers web site at www.johngomes.smugmug.com

Summer is finally here: there are leaves and grass and everything! I am so happy to see the last of the snow, as are all the migratory birds at the zoo. Since all the birds we have are injured in some way (that’s the only reason we have them) and are not able to fly, we have to take the migratory ones inside the infirmary for winter, to keep them warm and healthy. After 6 months being cooped up inside, I am sure that they, too, are very happy to see green again.

Sister, our oldest river otter, has an injured foot (seems the wolverine objects to having river otters as a next door neighbor) and has been moved to the infirmary till she can heal properly. She is "a weenie", to quote her handler, and complains quite loudly to anybody who will stop to listen. She holds out her paw, leans up against the bars of her cage, and whimpers. If that doesn’t get the sympathy she’s after, she will actually start to cry (loudly) even! She is getting the best of care possible, however, despite what she thinks, and will no doubt be back with her two companions in no time.