Lucy fishing at replica termite mound.

Chimpanzees in the wild exhibit a similar behavior by modifying branches to fish for termites. Other examples of tool use by chimpanzees in the wild include modifying branches into spears for hunting small mammals, using rocks to crack nuts, wadding leaves as sponges to soak up water, and bunching leaves and branches to make comfortable nests to sleep in at night.

When visiting the Houston Zoo chimpanzee exhibit, take a second to watch the different techniques the chimpanzees use to ‘fish’ for their treats in the termite mound.  Lucy’s favorite spot is the top of the termite mound. This is prime real estate when it is time to ‘fish.’ It is also a great spot for her to observe guests of the zoo and all their entertaining antics. She usually chews on the end of her branch in order to make it better able to soak up liquids or makes it flatter so that it can scoop more treats out of the tubes.

Willie

Willie, the juvenile, has his own unique technique. Instead of modifying his own branch, he usually tries to steal someone else’s already modified tool. If he doesn’t steal the tool, he may sit just next to another chimpanzee and take their delicious treat off the end of their branch before they get a chance to enjoy it.

Let us know your suggestions for what tasty treat to put in the chimpanzees’ termite mound, then stop by on May 25-27 for a ‘Spotlight on Species’ focusing on Chimpanzees to see what they are fishing for that day. The ‘Spotlight on Species’ will be from 10am-3pm and there will be many fun and educational activities to help visitors learn about chimpanzees. You can bring in old cell phones for recycling in exchange for a chimpanzee conservation bracelet. Meet the primate keepers who care for the Houston Zoo’s chimpanzees at 12:30 and 2:30 during a keeper chat.

For me, nothing is more powerful than watching our carnivores “hunt”.  The absolute stillness which overtakes their bodies as they stalk their “prey” makes me not want to blink for fear of missing that crucial lunge.  Of course the pounce is so big that there was never a chance of missing it in the first place!  The Carnivore Keepers at the Houston Zoo help to encourage those natural hunting behaviors through the enrichment items they provide.

One of the lions proves that this species can indeed climb trees. She was able to knock the large femur bone from its perch.

The African Painted Dog pack works together to tear down a hanging piece of meat from a zip-line.

The carnivores at the zoo are fed a special meat diet formulated to meet the nutritional requirements of both felids and canids (cats and dogs).  They also receive special treats ranging from fish, to chicken, to even meal worms and crickets!  Presenting their regular diet as well as special treats in a variety of ways helps to engage that hunting behavior and offers the carnivores as well as our guests something special.

This can be especially important for social carnivores such as Lions and African Painted Dogs.  Offering them special food items as a group or an opportunity to hunt as a pack reestablishes crucial social ties.  Lions, for example, eat in order of a specific hierarchy.  The male eats first followed by females in order of dominance.  While keepers feed the majority of their diet separately to discourage aggression and make sure each lion receives their fair share, it is important to occasionally encourage the social interaction that occurs around a carcass.

The 15^th of every month allows keepers to do just that.  The carnivores are offered a treat called bone-in-meat.  This is a large hunk of meat with the bone still inside.  The larger cats receive pieces ranging anywhere from 15-30lbs!  Presentations of this treat vary from sending it down a zip-line to staking in on exhibit, but the ripping and tearing involved in the consumption of this treat is enriching for animals and guests alike.

Julius is also starting to eat on his own.  While he is still reliant on his mother’s milk until he is about 6 months old for most of his nutrition, he has grown quite the appetite for edible leaves we call “browse”.  Be sure to keep an eye out for the keeper chats in Wortham World of Primates focusing on Sifaka as well as  Spotlight on Species event featuring all of our lemurs at the end of August.  These are great times to see the Sifaka up close and get all of your questions answered!

Photos by Tina Carpenter

Inspecting a toad before weighing

Last week we were happy to announce that the Leon county toads, a group of toads that had been housed at the Houston Zoo’s toad facility since 2010, had finally been given approval for release back into the wild. On the first leg of their journey, the toads were transported from the Houston Zoo to an outdoor facility managed by Texas State University.  The facility is in the county of Bastrop, one of the few counties in Texas where Houston toads still remain in the wild.

The facility consists of ~40 large tubs filled with sand, water, and vegetation.  When the Leon county toads arrived at the Texas State facility, groups of sixty toads were placed into the tubs. Here the toads were given an opportunity to acclimate to the outdoors before actually being released into the environment.

The “release” itself was staged over the course of several evenings. Graduate student Melissa Jones from Texas State was in charge of orchestrating each of the toad releases.  Before they could be released, Melissa had to weigh, measure, photograph, and give each toad an identifying mark. We were very fortunate to have the opportunity to assist Melissa in processing the toads one of these evenings.

Documenting toad information

First, we had to find the toads hidden in either the sand or in the water of the tubs, and then take their measurements. Melissa was very patient showing us how to perform these techniques in the field – it was far more difficult than taking these same measurements in the comfort of the quarantine building at the zoo! Collecting all of this data took several hours, but it was an amazing night.  The gentle winds blowing through the pine trees kept us company and were additionally treated to the singing of several other wild amphibians.

Processing toads

After processing, the toads were transferred to smaller bins and driven out to a pond near the holding facility. We stumbled through the dark with flashlights, carefully clutching our precious cargo as we made our way through the brush. Surprisingly, we did not disperse our charges at the pond’s edge; instead, under Melissa’s direction, we circled the pond and placed toads in small holes that we dug in the soil with our hands. We made holes under trees or other brush, placing two or three toads in each. By spreading out and hiding the toads in this way, we were ensuring that we were not making a “toad buffet” for hungry predators.

Slowly but surely, some of the little toads dug themselves out of their holes and made their way to the pond. Like any good “toad mom,” I got a little teary eyed watching these animals that I have taken care of for so long take their first few hops into  this strange new place, but I take comfort knowing that they have finally made it back where they belong. This is what wildlife conservation is all about. Thanks to everyone who has supported the Houston toad program and conservation programs everywhere!

Pygmy marmosets: yep, they’re adorable.

As you may have read in recent blogs, pygmy marmosets have some unique characteristics, including what they eat and the way they parent. You may have also learned that pygmy marmosets, as well as 300 other species of animals, have a special plan for breeding in zoos to make sure they don’t breed with others in their family tree and that there is enough space for them.

Now let’s take that a step further: what is the Houston Zoo doing to breed them responsibly so we make sure that we’ve got enough marmosets in zoos, especially if the wild population takes a turn for the worse? Our pygmy marmosets happen to be some of the most successful at having babies of any zoo, so let’s take a look at what we think we’re doing right.

It all goes back to April 2006. Pygmy marmoset pair Per and Mia were both 4 years old and new to the Zoo, so before putting them out to roam with other animals in our Natural Encounters rainforest exhibit, we figured they needed some quiet time to get to know each other. And get to know each other they did…in a few short months, sure enough, twins arrived. We suspected that it was because they were kept in a quiet, smaller area, but at this point we weren’t quite sure.

Then came Bobby and Tilly. This pair was introduced when they were both 4 years old, which seems to be prime time for marmosets to get a mate. They turned out to be the most successful family the Zoo has ever had! They had a total of 8 offspring that made it to maturity.

Bobby, Tilly, and one of their offspring

The secret? We think it’s the same thing, which we called the “closet method” – let them get to know each other in a small, quiet space with no interruptions, and then they have babies. Once they have a couple births, we can introduce them to other animals and let them all frolic together in our rainforest exhibit.  This makes sense, because pygmy marmoset families don’t move around much in the wild – they have a small range where they live and they don’t venture out much beyond it.

To test the “closet method” theory, we’re working with the SSP coordinator to reach out to other accredited zoos and seeing how successful they have been in breeding marmosets, and also finding out basic information about how their marmosets live, what they do for enrichment and training, and even what they eat. If we understand how people are housing and managing them, and also what success in breeding they’ve had, we hope to establish a pattern and then help zoos around the country become successful with their marmosets.

So where are our marmosets? Right now, they’re all behind the scenes so they can relax and get to know each other. You never know when they’ll be ready to be in the rainforest, though, so keep an eye out when you visit.

Thanks to Abby Varela, Senior Keeper at the Houston Zoo, for the fantastic information and photos!

These plans are managed by an organization called the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. In order to be a member of this organization, a zoo or aquarium has to go through a rigorous accreditation process to be sure they are providing a safe, healthy environment for animals, as well as caring for them properly, among many other standards. The Houston Zoo is proudly accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

One way we do this is to be sure we have a large enough number of animals in zoos that are as genetically diverse as possible (for example, making sure animals that breed are not related). This is especially important, because if an animal is on the brink of extinction in the wild, zoos will have animals with diverse enough genes to breed with the wild animals and help bring the wild population back. An example of a success story was the reintroduction of the Arabian Oryx, which was declared as extinct in the wild in 1972. Because of the Species Survival Plan, there are now more than 1,450 Arabian Oryx worldwide.

Arabian Oryx

Let’s take the adorable pygmy marmoset, which we learned about in a recent blog, as an example of what an SSP does. First, experts from the zoo world figure out how many marmosets are living in zoos that can be a part of the Species Survival Plan. Then, they figure out if they want that population size to stay steady or to grow. In the case of pygmy marmosets, we want their population to grow. Then, we figure out the marmoset family tree…who’s related to who, and how. Then, we make a plan to keep introducing animals with different sets of genes so they will not breed with marmosets in their same family.

So how do we do all this, especially if many of the pygmy marmosets at the Houston Zoo are related (mom, dad, brothers, sisters, aunts, and uncles)? We move animals from one zoo to another. So if a male marmoset at another zoo isn’t related to our female, and the SSP thinks they would be a good breeding pair, we move one or the other so they can be together, breed, and (hopefully) have adorable, tiny, pygmy marmoset babies.

Pygmy Marmoset

But while we’re learning more about breeding, it’s not always an exact science…especially with animals like pygmy marmosets. Stay tuned for another blog about them, where you’ll learn why we’re one of the most successful zoos at breeding these animals, and what we think helps them have success.

Thanks to Abby Varela, Senior Keeper at the Houston Zoo, for the great information and photos!

The employees of our Zoo are devoted professionals, regularly spending more time with the animals than their own families.

Let’s do some math here: We’ll posit that a “normal” business can expect their operating hours to be Monday through Friday, 9am – 5pm, requiring approximately 40 hours/week (don’t forget the 1hr lunch break).  The Houston Zoo is open 7 days a week, 9am – 7pm, 364 days a year. Oh yeah, be sure to factor in our night events, special parties, and occasional offsite visits.  So we open at 9am. Not too shabby right? Think our keepers get here the same time as our guests? Ha! Depending on the animal section, our keepers arrive anywhere from 5:00am – 7:00am to begin their day.

Ok, even though we haven’t directly said it, tip #1 for working at a zoo is to be prepared to work long hours. We pride ourselves on outstanding animal care, and that takes time…… a lot of time.

Tip #2 for landing a job as an animal keeper may be obvious: Get an education. Beth Schaefer, Curator of Primates and Carnivores at the Houston Zoo notes , “A college degree is becoming more and more important in the zoo field.  Our primate staff has lots of different degrees such as  biology, zoology, conservation biology, wildlife management, anthropology, and even psychology .” If you don’t have a dedicated animal degree, that’s ok. Beth also recommends volunteering to supplement your education. “Start volunteering at a local zoo as soon as you are able and look for internship opportunities. This way, you can prove that you show up when you are scheduled and willing to take on any task, regardless of how physically tiring it may be or what the weather is.”

Tip #3 is crappy: Embrace the poop. Animals poop, get over it. It’s time to get comfortable shoveling, scooping, grabbing, scrubbing, picking, and washing away poop. This will be part of YOUR job if you work as any animal keeper regardless of your education, experience, or age.

Tip #4 involves being flexible. Just because you’ve wanted to work with primates your entire life, doesn’t make you any more qualified to care for them. Beth offers more wisdom here, “Being willing to move around the country makes you a better candidate. Also, don’t expect to start working with your “dream animal”.  Take whatever job is open, work hard, be open-minded and learn lots.  A good reputation is everything in this small, close-knit field. “

With that said, we whole-heartedly wish you the best of luck in your search!

In the wild, pygmy marmosets dwell in trees and scurry up and down tree trunks and across branches and vines. They have nails resembling claws that help them hang onto trees while they use their teeth to munch through branches to access their favorite meal, which is tree sap (they also eat insects). When they have babies, they usually give birth to non-identical twins. They live in groups, usually ranging from 2-9 marmosets each: this includes a monogamous pair with offspring from the last 4 litters.

A unique feature of pygmy marmosets is called “alloparenting.” Alloparenting is when individuals that are not the parent help care for offspring (for example, siblings). Mom typically carries the babies for the first couple of days of their lives, then hands them off to dad most of the time, and often you will see brothers and sisters carrying the little guys around and caring for them. While alloparenting is pretty common among primates, marmosets and tamarins are unusual in that the males are involved in the care of infants – this isn’t the case among other primates. Pygmy marmosets are sometimes compared to gorillas in how they parent, keeping an incredibly watchful eye and letting the family eat before dad gets to eat. Sound familiar?

At the Houston Zoo, you can sometimes find pygmy marmosets in our Natural Encounters building. They live in the rainforest area with a host of other incredible animals, including golden lion tamarins, and even a sloth. Sometimes, though, you can’t see them, and for good reason – they need peace and quiet to breed and have babies, so we have a comfy off-exhibit area for them to stay while that process is happening.

How do we and other accredited zoos decide what animals should breed? It’s a highly calculated choice that is made to ensure both the survival of a species and that there’s enough room in zoos to house pygmy marmosets and many other kinds of animals. It’s called a Species Survival Plan (SSP). More on that coming soon in a future blog! In the past couple of years, the Houston Zoo has been one of the most successful zoo at breeding pygmy marmosets – it’s a tough thing to do. We’ll also tell you what we learned about breeding marmosets at our zoo and what we’re learning as we go.

Thanks to Abby Varela, Senior Keeper at the Houston Zoo, and the National Primate Research Center for the fantastic pygmy marmoset information!

“Black-bellied’s at twelve oh three! It counts!”

With that, team Jiminy Frigates started a whirlwind 24 hour Great Texas Birding Classic competition-a quest to identify by sight or sound as many different bird species as possible from midnight to midnight. Our team had never been bird watching as a group before, and no members had ever participated in competitive birding.  After studying the totals of teams from previous years, we set our goals at a respectable number, 150 species. Twenty four hours and 387 miles of driving later, the final total was 178 species. How’s that for coming out of the gate strong?

We began our birding odyssey on Houston Zoo grounds and visited 13 different sites, drove within throwing distance of Louisiana, rode a ferry, and found a new bird in a Beaumont Church’s Chicken. We saw snakes, wildflowers, alligators, frogs, dolphins, lizards, one very sleepy raccoon, not to mention a few birds.

On average, we saw 8 new species of bird every hour, or every 2 miles traveled. Armed with iPhones, we tweeted, uploaded photos, posted blogs, updated Facebook statuses, and may have even involved Tumblr at some point. We were all so happy to see Houston Zoo supporters following along on our adventure, offering advice and encouragement! When you skip a night of sleep, have soggy muddy feet, a mosquito bite on your right eyelid, and only fast food in your stomach, that kind of support really helps.

Many hours of sleep and one scalding shower later, I realize that bird watching isn’t just about staring at some eagles or sparrows through binoculars; it’s about being outdoors and everything else that entails. As soon as you begin to look around you for birds, you notice everything else you’ve been missing; the armadillo by the pond, the beautiful oak tree in your yard, the butterflies flitting around and those flowers everyone says you’re supposed to stop and smell.

Bird watching is something you can do alone, with children, your mother, with a group of friends, or on a romantic date. No matter what, it’s always a fun adventure, and you’ll see something that will amaze you.  As another Earth Day comes and goes, we encourage you to get out and look for birds. You’ll find everything else on the way.

•  Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
•  Fulvous Whistling-Duck
•  Wood Duck
•  Mottled Duck
•  Blue-winged Teal
•  Northern Shoveler
•  Northern Pintail
•  Green-winged Teal
•  Canvasback
•  Redhead
•  Pied-billed Grebe
•  Neotropic Cormorant
•  Double-crested Cormorant
•  American White Pelican
•  Brown Pelican
•  American Bittern
•  Great Blue Heron
•  Great Egret
•  Snowy Egret
•  Little Blue Heron
•  Tricolored Heron
•  Reddish Egret
•  Cattle Egret
•  Green Heron
•  Black-crowned Night-Heron
•  Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
•  White Ibis
•  Glossy Ibis
•  White-faced Ibis
•  Roseate Spoonbill
•  Black Vulture
•  Turkey Vulture
•  Osprey
• Mississippi Kite
• Notherthern Harrier
•  Swainson’s Hawk
•  Red-tailed Hawk
•  Clapper Rail
•  Purple Gallinule
•  Common Gallinule
•  American Coot
•  Black-bellied Plover
•  American Golden-Plover
•  Snowy Plover
•  Wilson’s Plover
•  Semipalmated Plover
•  Killdeer
•  American Oystercatcher
•  Black-necked Stilt
•  American Avocet
•  Solitary Sandpiper
•  Greater Yellowlegs
•  Willet
•  Lesser Yellowlegs
•  Whimbrel
•  Long-billed Curlew
•  Marbled Godwit
•  Ruddy Turnstone
•  Sanderling
•  Western Sandpiper
•  Baird’s Sandpiper
•  Dunlin
•  Stilt Sandpiper
•  Ruff
•  Short-billed Dowitcher
•  Long-billed Dowitcher
•  Wilson’s Phalarope
•  Bonaparte’s Gull
•  Laughing Gull
•  Ring-billed Gull
•  Herring Gull
•  Least Tern
•  Gull-billed Tern
•  Caspian Tern
•  Black Tern
•  Common Tern
•  Forster’s Tern
•  Royal Tern
•  Sandwich Tern
•  Black Skimmer
•  Rock Pigeon
•  Eurasian Collared-Dove
•  White-winged Dove
•  Mourning Dove
•  Inca Dove
•  Yellow-billed Cuckoo
•  Black-billed Cuckoo
•  Great Horned Owl
•  Barred Owl
•  Common Nighthawk
•  Chimney Swift
•  Ruby-throated Hummingbird
•  Belted Kingfisher
•  Red-headed Woodpecker
•  Golden-fronted Woodpecker
•  Red-bellied Woodpecker
•  Downy Woodpecker
•  Northern Flicker
•  Peregrine Falcon
•  Monk Parakeet
•  Eastern Wood-Pewee
•  Acadian Flycatcher
•  Eastern Phoebe
•  Eastern Kingbird
•  Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
•  Loggerhead Shrike
•  White-eyed Vireo
•  Blue-headed Vireo
•  Warbling Vireo
•  Red-eyed Vireo
•  Blue Jay
•  American Crow
•  Fish Crow
•  Northern Rough-winged Swallow
•  Purple Martin
•  Tree Swallow
•  Barn Swallow
•  Cliff Swallow
•  Carolina Chickadee
•  Tufted Titmouse
•  Red-breasted Nuthatch
•  Sedge Wren
•  Marsh Wren
•  Carolina Wren
•  Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
•  Ruby-crowned Kinglet
•  Swainson’s Thrush
•  Wood Thrush
•  American Robin
•  Gray Catbird
•  Northern Mockingbird
•  Brown Thrasher
•  European Starling
•  Worm-eating Warbler
•  Louisiana Waterthrush
•  Northern Waterthrush
•  Black-and-white Warbler
•  Prothonotary Warbler
•  Swainson’s Warbler
•  Tennessee Warbler
•  Orange-crowned Warbler
•  Kentucky Warbler
•  Common Yellowthroat
•  Hooded Warbler
•  American Redstart
•  Northern Parula
•  Blackburnian Warbler
•  Yellow Warbler
•  Blackpoll Warbler
•  Palm Warbler
•  Yellow-rumped Warbler
•  Yellow-throated Warbler
•  Black-throated Green Warbler
•  Wilson’s Warbler
•  Savannah Sparrow
•  Seaside Sparrow
•  Swamp Sparrow
•  White-throated Sparrow
•  White-crowned Sparrow
•  Summer Tanager
•  Scarlet Tanager
•  Western Tanager
• Northern Cardinal
•  Rose-breasted Grosbeak
•  Indigo Bunting
•  Painted Bunting
•  Red-winged Blackbird
•  Eastern Meadowlark
•  Brewer’s Blackbird
•  Common Grackle
•  Boat-tailed Grackle
•  Great-tailed Grackle
•  Brown-headed Cowbird
•  Orchard Oriole
•  Baltimore Oriole
•  American Goldfinch
•  House Sparrow

Kamia, my sea lion sister, and I are early risers. We are up and swimming around before the sun rises and our keepers arrive. Our male sea lion, Rockie, on the other hand, prefers to lounge around behind the scenes. Sometimes we sleep outside on exhibit, and sometimes behind the scenes in our bedroom…I just go with the flow because that’s just how I am.

Yep, it’s me – Cali!

When our keepers arrive, they always check in on us and say good morning.  Our keepers change things on us all the time: we never know if they are going to clean our exhibit first, play music, give us enrichment, or do class time first. I really get into class time & enrichment! Enrichment is like recess; it’s anything that changes our environment…and that we typically play with. My favorite enrichment is ice, but Ozarka bottles with fish & fish pops are a close second. There’s lots of other enrichment too, like bubbles, water play, toys, scents, music…the list is endless!

When I’m in class, I get to play with the keepers and learn things too. Sometimes I go into the keeper area and give kisses, hop up on the cart, learn a new behavior, work on research, play & goof off, and do husbandry behaviors too.

For those of you who don’t know what a husbandry behavior is, I will school you. It’s a medical behavior or any behavior that helps them take better care of us. They brush our teeth, look into our eyes with flashlights and they will listen to us breathe with a stethoscope. They’ve been getting us more comfortable with more complicated behaviors too, like x-rays, taking blood, and ultrasounds. These behaviors are highly positive and I will tell you why…for anyone who knows me, I’m a “wiggle worm!” So, the keepers’ give me a bunch of food and play with me for being still. They get really excited which makes it fun for me.

The vets are also very nice and feed me too. I like all the subjects in class because I get lots of fish, but most of all, play time with the keepers. I really enjoy interacting with them and seeing what crazy things I can get them to do…they think they’re training me, but really, I am training them…it’s great! They all love us very much. I’ve heard them say they spend more time with us than their own kids.

Check me out! I know how to recycle and help teach others too.

After the shows and class time, the keepers start wrapping things up for the day because they go home to their human companions. We will typically swim and play for a couple more hours before snuggling up for bedtime. Some people don’t know this, but we sleep on land and can be out of water for 8 plus hours at a time.

Oh! That reminds me…sometimes we take naps underwater. Guests always get worried… it’s okay! We can hold our breath for up to 20 minutes! So, sometimes we will lie on top of the drain or under a pipe to make it easier to stay at the bottom of the pool then snooze for a little bit. Cool, huh?

Speaking of all of you, our guests, we enjoy people watching and warming your hearts. So, please come by and visit us; we would love to see you! Well, that’s all I can think of for the moment. So, on that note, I’m going to go see what my keepers are up to. See you later!