Month: May 2018

May 31, 2018

It’s nearly summer, but it’s not too late to plant a pollinator garden at your home. It’s important to keep in mind the variety of organisms that use your lawn or garden as a habitat, and to create some space on your property to assist them throughout their lifecycles.The Seneca Park Zoo Society is entering another season of our Butterfly Beltway Project, planting pollinator habitats with native New York plants that promote shelter, food, and host materials for these insects. Our goal is to increase the combined square footage of pollinator habitats throughout the urban and suburban centers of Rochester, as well as to make our pollinator habitats more accessible for a homeowner to plant on their property. To achieve this goal, we created a Pollinator Habitat Garden Kit, which is a packet of seed mix with over twenty species of local New York pollinator supporting plants that provide everything a pollinator species needs to live in our environment. We have packets that cover 100 and 250 square feet with instructions inside that outline how to easily sow the seeds in any part of your property.We are focusing on creating habitats for pollinating species of insects and other animals because pollination is incredibly important for the planet. Pollination plays a crucial role in flowering plant reproduction and in the production of most fruits and vegetables. These habitats are also used by monarch butterflies on their fall migration from Rochester to Mexico by creating waystations with food and shelter leading out of the urban areas and increasing survival rates of migrating monarchs.

Stop by the ZooShop during your next trip to the Zoo to purchase your very own Pollinator Habitat Garden Kit. Once you’ve planted your garden, we encourage you to register your garden with the Zoo Society so we can add it to our database.– Dave Will, Lead Zoo Naturalist for Citizen ScienceRegister Your Garden

May 24, 2018

When I was asked to write a blog to honor Lilac’s 40th birthday, I thought to myself, “How can I put into words how remarkable Lilac is?”; “How can I express what a special elephant she is and how much she means to me?” It isn’t going to be easy, but I’ll do my best.Lilac has been a guest favorite at Seneca Park Zoo since her arrival in 1979, when she was approximately a year and a half old. Lilac is the smallest of our four female African elephants, weighing in at 7,200 pounds. What she lacks in size she most certainly makes up for in personality! Her small stature allows her to be quick and agile, which helps in her role as the herd’s matriarch. Lilac is always full of surprises and she likes to keep her trainers guessing. Just when you think you’ve got her figured out she does something unexpected! There is never a dull moment with Lilac – she has a spunky personality!

Zoo keepers try not to have favorites when it comes to the animals under their care, but I must admit that Lilac holds a special place in my heart. I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to work with her for the last 20 years. My time spent with her has truly enriched my life and I can only hope that I have had a positive impact on her life. She has taught me so much – patience, perseverance, and trust, just to name a few.  I am so thankful for the bond that we share.During your next trip to the Zoo, be sure to visit Lilac in A Step into Africa. Her beauty and wonderful personality may inspire you to take action for her counterparts in natural range. It’s estimated that 96 elephants are poached each day in Africa for their ivory. With your help, we can continue making strides toward decreasing that number. If you want to support efforts that will help save this species from extinction, attend one of our ZooBrew events this summer. A portion of every ticket sold goes to the International Elephant Foundation (IEF), a long-standing conservation partner of the Seneca Park Zoo Society that is dedicated to saving elephants and their habitats worldwide.– Sue Rea, ZoologistPhotos courtesy of Sue Rea

May 14, 2018

When Seneca Park Zoo’s oldest resident arrived in Rochester, Lyndon Johnson was President of the United States and a gallon of gasoline cost just 34 cents. Can you guess who it is and when she arrived?

Believe it or not, Gertrude, one of two king vultures at Seneca Park Zoo (see featured image above; photo by Marie Kraus), was born in 1966 and arrived at the Zoo in 1968. According to statistics provided by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), king vultures have a life expectancy of 29 years. At 50 years old, Gertrude is 10 years older than 40-year-old African elephant Genny C, who herself is two years past the life expectancy of African elephants in zoos. And, she is nearly two times older than 26-year-old Lou, everyone’s favorite spotted hyena, who is the oldest hyena ever in conservation care.A lifetime of excellent nutrition, veterinary care, and mental stimulation means our Zoo animals are living longer than ever before. Since we commit to each animal for its lifetime, this longevity means that we have to consider the senior needs of many of our animals in novel ways. For example, Lucy, our spider monkey, has experienced significant tooth wear over the course of her 43-year life, so we cut her food into very small pieces and soften her biscuits to make sure she can eat properly. Genny C, Lou, and Katya, our 13-year-old Amur tiger, all receive a joint supplement each day to help them maintain healthy joints and cartilage as they age. Physical and mental stimulation are also critically important as animals age. In the winter, you might find our elephant keepers jogging around the barn to keep the elephants moving. In the spring and summer, you may have seen Lou the hyena in action playing fetch and doing other behaviors with a zoo keeper. These interactions not only provide Lou with important physical therapy, but mental stimulation in the form of problem solving and cognition as well.

These little things mean our animals live comfortably into their golden years. While definitely a good thing, it also means that we see diseases related to old age that don’t often occur in the natural range. The most common condition is arthritis, a disease many older people have that causes joint pain. Several of our African penguins, including 24-year-old Fred and 23-year-old Herbie, receive meloxicam, an anti-inflammatory drug, and tramadol, a pain medication, in their fish to keep them comfortable.

Because older animals would become prey or die of poor nutrition in their natural range, we also see diseases like cancer, heart disease, and kidney and liver disease as our animals exceed their normal life expectancies. When these diseases occur, keepers, managers, and veterinary staff all work together to pursue treatment options and to carefully evaluate the animal’s quality of life. When we can no longer keep an animal comfortable, euthanasia is considered only after all treatment options have been explored. It is never an easy decision, but is one that we make as a team of caregivers dedicated to providing the best quality of life we can.

Look forward to seeing many of our senior ambassadors at the Zoo!– Dr. Louis DiVincenti, Director of Animal Health and Conservation

May 3, 2018

If you have visited Seneca Park Zoo you have probably met Bill the southern white rhinoceros, an impressive megaherbivore who has stolen the hearts of guests and staff alike. It’s hard to look into the eyes of such an incredible animal and think about the brutal poaching crisis rhinos are facing in their natural range. But if you have met Bill, you have already contributed to saving his species.The southern white rhino conservation story is one of rare overwhelming success. While the historical range of these rhinos was at one time widespread across southern Africa, they were believed to be extinct in the late 19th century. However, in 1895 a population of less than 100 individuals was discovered in the Kwazulu-Natal region of South Africa. Conservationists worked hard to protect this small population, and they began efforts to rebuild the species. Then came Ian Player, a passionate conservationist who spearheaded Operation Rhino at the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park. During the 1950s and 1960s, Player and his team worked tirelessly on this project to translocate white rhinos from iMfolozi to restock other neighboring reserves including Kruger National Park, where the largest population of white rhinos currently live. Thanks to the determination of one conservationist, a project was started that saw the population of rhinos grow from less than 100, and on the brink of extinction, to a stable population of about 20,000 today.Southern white rhinos are listed by the IUCN as Near Threatened, making them the only species of rhino that are not listed as Endangered today. However, over the last five years, South Africa has seen a major spike in poaching levels, with over 1,000 white rhinos killed by poachers every year. Poachers are after the rhino for their most distinguishable trait – their horn. Rhino horn is made of keratin, which is falsely alleged to have medicinal purposes in many Asian cultures. One rhino horn can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, which drives poachers to risk their lives to acquire them. Conservationists are getting creative with new ways to prevent poaching, utilizing drones to patrol reserves, implanting GPS trackers into rhino horns, and even air lifting rhinos from helicopters to relocate them to safer areas.

Earlier this year we saw the death of the last male northern white rhino, Sudan. The rapid decline of the northern white rhino population was largely to blame on unmanageable poaching, even in protected areas. This is a wake-up call for us to take action, to save other rhino species from the same fate. Rhinos only have a chance at survival if we fight to protect them. But what can we do in Rochester, NY to protect white rhinos in South Africa?

Making an impact for species survival is as simple as visiting Seneca Park Zoo. The Zoo partners with the International Rhino Foundation (IRF), an organization that is dedicated to the survival of the world’s rhino species through conservation and research. IRF’s Operation: Stop Poaching Now program is dedicated to putting a stop to South Africa’s unprecedented poaching crisis. When you support the Zoo by visiting or donating, you are not only supporting the animals you see during your visit, you are supporting global conservation efforts to save species from extinction.

The Zoo also participates in the Species Survival Plan (SSP), a program that oversees the management of populations within zoos.  Maximizing the genetic diversity of these populations ensures the long-term survival of their species.On Saturday, May 5, the Seneca Park Zoo Society will be hosting its third-annual Cinco de Rhino celebration. A portion of each ticket sold goes directly to the International Rhino Foundation. What better way to save rhinos than partying for a cause?– Annie Wheeler, Lead Zoo Naturalist for ProgramsSupport Rhino Conservation at Cinco de Rhino