I got to give a special tour last Thursday night. About 200 people from the ACVB (Anchorage Convention & Visitor’s Bureau) came over to review the construction going on at the zoo. Yes, I really mean 200 people! We had 5 volunteers (myself, Chris, Carol, Carie, and Heather) stationed at different points throughout the zoo. The people came in waves, brought by big tour busses, so at least we didn’t have all 200 at once. They wondered around where ever they wanted to, and were able to talk to the volunteers about the construction going on.
These people were all involved in the tourist business, coming from lodges, B&B’s, cruise companies, all kinds of businesses, and were there to check out what we have to offer so they could refer us to the hordes once they start showing up. So, needless to say, we were all on our best behavior and really talked the zoo up for them. Gave them all kinds of information to pass on, in hopes of attracting more customers.
I have to admit I was not in a very good mood that night. I have some personal stuff going on right now that has me really depressed, added to which my old cat Floyd is getting worse, so I will have to say goodbye to him soon. Thankfully, Heather stood by me and helped me out with the crowds, so it went alright.
Sunday afternoon was my family’s 16th annual Zoo/Picnic Day! We all met at the zoo at 2:00, as usual. This year our crowd was rather smaller than usual: Stan & Grandma Dorothy were both in Minnesota, and Danny & Gareth had to stay home to take care of their Grandpa. Also, Laurel was doing her weekend-warrior thing with the Army, so she was only able to show up for the picnic, after the zoo thing was over. All in all, we only had about 19 people (normally, the number would be around 25). And ass usual, half my family was late, and as a result they ended up missing the first of my behind-the-scenes events: the polar bear enclosure. But, I told everybody to meet up at 2:00; it’s not my fault they can’t do that.
We met up with Liz, one of the zookeepers, who took us in to Ahpun’s den area and showed up her filtration system and all the equipment required to keep her environment just perfect. Ahpun’s pool is 14 feet deep and the creek that runs thru her enclosure is 4 feet deep. Add in the two waterfalls, and that’s a lot of water. About 55,000 gallons total, and all that water runs thru the filtration system every hour of the day, so the tanks to accommodate all that are quite large. Rather than use chlorine to treat the water, which is bad for the animal (not to mention the fact that it smells funny) they use an ozone system: it’s actually called an "ozonation system" which sounds to me like something out of Star Wars!
After visiting Ahpun for a while, Liz led everybody over to the infirmary where she introduced us all to Max, the orphaned fox kit. He is an absolute doll! Such a cute little thing. He was found recently out on the tarmac at the airport, hence his name. Everybody enjoyed hearing his story and asking questions. Liz even let us pet him, which really surprised me. Normally, they don’t do that; but since he is going to be one of our educational animals, I guess they want him to get used to being in a crowd and being touched.
Smitty, another one of our zookeepers, took over after Liz was done and led us all over to meet up with Steve & Al, the Siberian tigers. Or, as is the correct terminology, the Amur tigers. Technically speaking, they don’t come from Siberia at all – they come from an area nearby a river called Amur, near the Chinese/Russian border. Way back in the early 1900s people thought it sounded more exotic to call them Siberian tigers, so that’s what they got stuck with. Scientists are now trying to get the name put back to what it should have been all along, but changing hundreds of year’s worth of name-calling is easier said than done!
Anyway, Smitty led everybody to the back of the enclosure so we could get a good look at them. He is a talker, and loves nothing better than to talk about his cats – and my family is more than happy to ask questions, too. We ended up spending quite a bit of time back there, till I finally got everybody moving again. We headed on over to the snow leopards, with Smitty in toe, and spent an equal amount of time there, asking all kinds of questions and listening to Smitty some more.
After finishing up at the snow leopards, we eventually ambled back to the entrance of the zoo. We were all hungry by that time, so headed on to the picnic: this year it was held at Reed's girlfriend's house. She has a very nice place, and is kind enough to let all of us crowd in and take over. Those of you who know my family know that we can be a bit overwhelming at times. We mean well, but it's pretty much chaos when we're all together; everybody talking all at once.
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