Noticing the small details

There are many tasks associated with the care of animals, and zoo keepers are on a lifetime journey of learning many details of animal husbandry. Some seem quite obvious, like giving food and water, or cleaning habitats. Other husbandry details are learned by researching the natural history of these species, or even better yet, observing them in their natural range. Usually, all of the minute husbandry details are put together after having multiple successes and failures.

One such husbandry detail became a major breakthrough for us as we raised many Eastern ribbon snakes years ago. Ribbon snakes are live-bearers (as opposed to egg-laying), and as soon as we would see breeding behavior, we would carefully observe the female to see if she started to gain weight. When she would gain over 20% of her body mass, we knew she was gravid (pregnant). When the young were born, they were just over 15 centimeter (6 inches) in length and had a girth of less than one centimeter. At that size, finding food items small enough for them to eat was difficult. In their natural range, ribbon snakes usually feed on tadpoles and leeches, as well as other small vertebrates and invertebrates, which is not practical at the Zoo, so we decided to try small smelt cut into 1 centimeter cubes. The snakes were always interested, but never seemed to eat them.

After observing for an extended period of time after offering the cut smelt, I could finally see the problem. We had been offering the smelt on a rock in the snakes’ terrarium, but by the time they had gotten to it, it was stuck so hard to the rock that they were not able to lift it off. We decided to offer the smelt on a petri dish with just a small amount of added water to keep it from sticking. Success! They started eating right away and suddenly we were better at breeding and raising Ribbon snakes than ever before.We’ve had many similar ‘wins’ with husbandry techniques recently. A few months ago, our yellow-banded poison dart frogs started calling. I knew that these males were looking for females to breed with and hoped we would get some eggs. These frogs would need cupped leaves or fallen bark to hold the water to lay their tadpoles in. We decided to try leaves from the larger trees in the aviary, but were unsuccessful with this technique. We decided to try deli cup lids placed in the habitat, and the frogs were definitely interested in them, but something wasn’t right. They were not depositing eggs in them. So, I thought it might be nice to give them a little more privacy, adding a ‘C’ shaped piece of bark over the top of the deli cup lid to give them some protection.

Since then, they have been regularly laying eggs into the lids. The lids with eggs are pulled to the frog room and kept moist until the eggs hatch, which can be up to two weeks. Once the eggs hatch, the tadpoles are moved into separate deli cups and raised with small algae rocks for grazing and some fallen pothos or ficus leaves for cover.

I’ve honed the process of noticing the small things over the years by taking the time to observe the animals in human care, as well as observing animals in their natural range. These experiences don’t necessarily have to be exotic: I have been lucky enough to travel to Panama and work with wild tropical amphibian populations, but most of my amphibian experience has come from spending many of my younger years flipping rocks and logs in the Finger Lakes region, discovering frogs and salamanders. Surprisingly, the rocky streams of Canadice Lake are not all that different from the bigger boulder streams of Central Panama.

The journey of learning about all of these unique details and making the necessary husbandry changes for the animals in our care is what I love most about my job. Taking moments to observe animal behavior, and giving them the habitat and environmental conditions to accommodate these behaviors, is what sets modern zoos apart from zoos of the past.– John Adamski, Assistant General Curator

ZooBrew 2017

RIT and Seneca Park Zoo Society sign partnership agreement

Officials from Rochester Institute of Technology and the Seneca Park Zoo Society have announced a new strategic partnership between the two institutions.

The collaboration formally recognizes and builds upon a relationship that has existed for years and was formalized with a memorandum of understanding to develop, promote and implement mutually beneficial projects.

Read the full story here.

Are you with me yet?

Three weeks ago, I “went public” with the McNelly Challenge, and my goal to be able to run this year’s Jungle Jog 5K in tribute to its founder, Don McNelly. I asked people to join me in getting fit after 50 (or fit by 50) by setting a goal to walk or run in this year’s event, being held on Sunday, July 16.

I know there are a few you out there who thought, “Yes, I can do that; it’s time.”  Or even, “Sounds like fun, and for a good cause.” Some of you, like me, started or recommitted to an exercise routine to safely prepare you for Jungle Jog.  Some of you have maybe started and stopped.  And some of you are still thinking about starting.

I want to encourage you to stop stopping yourself.  You can do this, and you deserve to do this for yourself. And with eight weeks to go, there’s definitely time.

Believe me, I know it’s difficult to get started. We tell ourselves it’s going to be hard, and we’re not sure we’re going to succeed, and we don’t have the time. We must become our own cheering section. We have to let go of being sure that those who see us when we start will scoff at our efforts. I can promise you many of the people who see you on the treadmill at the gym or exercising outside are thinking, “That’s brave. I wish my dad would start taking care of himself,” and “You go, girl.”

A few days ago, I felt pretty good out there, and could feel myself growing stronger.  I ran a little longer than I had previously without walking, and my lungs didn’t give out so easily.

This morning, everything hurt. I was so slow. I felt every extra pound fighting against my progress. My knees didn’t want to cooperate. The muscles in my upper back were aching.

And then I noticed the bright yellow of a goldfinch, and then the bright red of a robin, and then the bright red and yellow of a red-winged blackbird. I took in the lilacs and the lilies of the valley, every sight and every sound of the beauty of nature in my neighborhood. I made my way up to Lake Ontario and saw the powerful forces of the water on the shore.I choose to run and walk outside because the energy of nature is infectious.  The sunrise I see when I run before work is a reminder that every new day is a new start.  The buds and blossoms, the bees and the moths, the rabbits and chipmunks – they are not just distractions for me but they remind me how lucky we are to be able to experience these things.

They remind me, too, of how important it is that we all commit to being better stewards of this one world we have.

That’s really what the Jungle Jog 5K & Conservation Walk is about: the event raises funds for the education and conservation efforts of Seneca Park Zoo.

Those efforts include connecting people to the nature all around them, as well as wildlife around the world, to inspire them to save these animals from extinction.  Whether it is lemurs in Madagascar or otters in the Genesee River, every creature deserves our best effort.

Maybe, just maybe, that means it’s time for you to join the McNelly Challenge.— Pamela Reed Sanchez, Seneca Park Zoo Society Executive DirectorREGISTER

Invest in the Nest

The mission of the Seneca Park Zoo is to inspire our community to connect, care for, and conserve wildlife and wild places. We do this is by partnering with various other organizations who share our mission.

One of the most important partnerships we have is with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), our national accrediting body and the organization through which we work with other zoos across the country and internationally to conserve species and ecosystems.

An important new initiative of the AZA is SAFE: Saving Animals From Extinction, an effort to fully integrate the actions taken for species in human care with actions taken for those same species in their natural range, to ultimately save them in place and preserve natural ecosystems.

One of the first species being focused on is the African black-footed penguin.

The black-footed penguin has seen dramatic losses during the last 100 years for a variety of reasons, one of which is loss of nesting sites due to harvesting of guano for fertilizer. As a result, the burrow-nesting birds find themselves with very limited places to nest.

As one of the most successful penguin colonies in human care, with more than 100 chicks hatched and raised since 1997, we have an opportunity to make an impact in that area by supporting an initiative by AZA SAFE to design and build nest boxes that will work in their home range.

Today kicks off a national Kickstarter campaign to raise money for this truly worthwhile initiative. I encourage you to support the Campaign nationally and to support Seneca Park Zoo’s other efforts to save this magnificent bird.— Larry Sorel, Zoo DirectorKICKSTARTER

The McNelly Challenge

Today is the first of May, and I’m going to go running for the first time in many months.  I’ll probably end up walking a lot more than running, and that’s okay.  I’ll be starting.  And I’ve been putting off starting for a long time.

My goal? Run the Seneca Park Zoo Society’s Jungle Jog 5K on July 16.

I’ve been down this path before. I started running when I was 48 years old.  I had lost a significant amount of weight, and I decided it was time to get fit, because it would be easier to get fit before I turned 50 than after.  I hated running when I started, but I liked how quickly my body responded to exercise. Each time out, I ran a little farther, I walked a little less, I grew a little stronger. I ran my first marathon a few weeks before I celebrated my 50th birthday.

I have completed 11 half marathons (13.1 miles), two full marathons (26.2 miles), and a whole bunch of 5K and 10K “races,” including three Jungle Jogs. (That’s me in the picture above, at last year’s Jungle Jog.  And yes, that’s a GoPro on my head.)

I don’t “race.”  I participate.

I will never finish first, and that’s never been my goal. My goal has been to be out there, off the couch, celebrating the fact that I am still capable of walking and running and being outside with the sun (or the wind, or the rain) on my face.

But I stopped running last fall, for a variety of reasons (also known as excuses). I had already put some weight back on, and frankly, I’ve been sedentary and eating far too much.

And then something happened. Don McNelly, the founder of the Zoo’s Jungle Jog 5K, died at age 96. Don, too, started running at age 48, and then proceeded to run more than 700 marathons.

Don McNelly at Jungle Jog in 2011. Photo by Vasiliy Baziuk
Don McNelly at Jungle Jog in 2011. Photo by Vasiliy Baziuk

Don was and is an inspiration to many of us, whether due to his passion for wildlife and nature, or his infectious enthusiasm about it NEVER being too late to start running.  Don’s death made me stop and think about how I was letting him down–and letting myself down–by being inactive and allowing excuses to keep me from the joy I feel when I am active and feeling strong.

So, it’s time for me to start my journey to fitness, again.

And I’m wondering if it’s time for you, too. It’s easier to do this knowing you’re not alone, so I’m issuing what we’re calling the McNelly Challenge.

I would love nothing more than to see a group of people of my vintage or older at this year’s Jungle Jog, walking or running the course and supporting one another in our quest to get or be fit after 50. 

We have about ten weeks to work up to walking or running (or some combination of the two) 3.2 miles, which isn’t as insurmountable as you might be thinking.

If you haven’t been exercising at all, your first call is to your physician to make sure you’re physically capable of starting an exercise program.  And then, it’s just about getting out there, a few times a week. Start slowly. Start with a mile. Or a half mile. Whatever pushes you just a little bit is where to start, and then build from there. Slowly.

Life isn’t a race. And neither is the Jungle Jog at Seneca Park Zoo. It’s a morning we spend some time outside in an Olmsted Park and through the Zoo, celebrating what this Zoo means to our community and our families, and raising funds for the Zoo and for lemur conservation.

You can follow my journey on my Facebook page (Pamela Reed Sanchez) and on Twitter, and you can share your own journey with me on social media, using #McNellyChallenge.

I hope you’ll help me create a community of people honoring the legacy of Don McNelly by participating in this year’s Jungle Jog 5K and Conservation Walk.— Pamela Reed Sanchez, Seneca Park Zoo Society Executive DirectorRegistration for Jungle Jog opens May 3.MORE INFO + REGISTERNeed help getting started?The Couch to 5K app is a training plan to help you move from the couch to the finish line of a 5k.DOWNLOAD THE APP