Archive for the ‘Carnivores: Spots, Stripes and Sharp Teeth!’ Category

May
09

Carnivores Hunting

Posted by in Carnivores: Spots, Stripes and Sharp Teeth!,Enrichment: Keeping it Interesting

I have been told that I can be a little competitive.  I would like to think it is just that I am driven and do not like to fail.  Regardless, the end result is that if something is a little difficult for me I will often keep trying until I can get it right.  I often see that same manic glint in the eyes of our zoo residents as they try to figure out an enrichment item.  Enrichment is something that keepers offer to the animals at the Zoo every day.  It can be something as simple as a new food item, or as complex as a giant barrel made to look like a bird and filled with meat.  Whatever it may be, it is something different in an animal’s environment that encourages natural behaviors.

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 15th 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.

Tags: , , , ,
Apr
15

Bear Awareness Day- Saturday April 20, 2013 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Posted by in Carnivores: Spots, Stripes and Sharp Teeth!,Conservation,Featured,Spotlight on Species

Bears in East Texas??  That’s right!!  Black bears are returning to what historically was their home.  In 1992 the Louisiana black bear, (Ursus americanus luteolus), was listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife.  Today, populations are finding their way back to East Texas.  Their decline was attributed to human disturbance, hunting, and habitat loss.

In 2005 the East Texas Black Bear Task Force was formed as a subcommittee of the Black Bear Conservation Coalition www.bbcc.org .  The task force promotes the restoration of the black bear in its historic range of East Texas through education, research, and habitat management by bringing together individuals, organizations, and state and federal government representatives to support the recovery.

Representatives from Texas Parks and Wildlife will have an Operation Game Thief Trailer which highlights many of the local wildlife found in Texas.  All of the items on display in this interactive trailer were confiscated from illegal poachers.

Meet our Carnivore Keepers when they demonstrate the safe way of camping and hiking in bear country during their fun and humorous skits.  These skits will help you determine the difference between black and brown bears as well as show you what to do if you encounter a bear.  One of the many ways you can camp safely with bears is by properly disposing of your trash and recycling your recyclables.  We think that responsible camping ties in well with being good stewards of the earth so what better weekend to celebrate it on than Earth Day Weekend.  Come and join us for Bear Awareness Day on Saturday April 20th from 10 to 3 and learn how you can help not only save bears but the Earth as well.

The future of these amazing animals is in our hands.  The more we learn about coexisting with bears the safer we will be and the better chance of survival they will have.

Activites:

11:30 a.m. – Grizzly Bear Exhibit Keeper Skit- Hiking in bear country

2:00p.m. – Andean Bear Exhibit Keeper Skit- Camping in bear country

Kids can color their own bear mask

 

Displays:

Texas Parks and Wildlife

Bio Facts Table- skulls and furs

Houston Zoo info table- Educator’s guide, Camping guide, hiking guide

The Houston Zoo Commissary- displaying a variety of food that bears eat.

Tags: , , , , ,
Apr
11

Preparing for travel to Zimbabwe to assist Painted Dog Conservation

Posted by in Carnivores: Spots, Stripes and Sharp Teeth!,Conservation

Hello again zoo supporters! I am about to embark on a great conservation adventure in Africa.

 

Painted Dog Conservation of Zimbabwe (PDC), established in 1992, has been successfully working toward conservation through direct assistance to dogs, community outreach, conservation education programming, and research. PDC works to stabilize and increase painted dog numbers in the surrounding areas of Hwange National Park, through anti-poaching units, a pack monitoring program and their rehabilitation center with a recent veterinary hospital addition.  Injured or sick painted dogs that would otherwise suffer and die are brought into the rehabilitation center for care and treatment with the intent of returning them as quickly as possible to the wild.

 

In March of 2011, staff from PDC visited the Houston Zoo for training with the veterinary, education, facilities, and carnivore teams to gain knowledge and experience to  take back to their project in Zimbabwe. The Houston Zoo veterinary technicians worked closely with PDC Rehabilitation Facility head keeper, Xmas Mpofu, on an accelerated curriculum that included parasitology, hematology and anesthesia monitoring.

Fast forward to the present and Painted Dog Zimbabwe has reached a milestone with the completion of their new veterinary facility. Thanks to the incredible generosity of the Houston Zoo employees who contributed to the Staff Conservation Fund, I will be traveling to the Painted Dog Zimbabwe field site to resume the training for Xmas and other PDC staff members. We will concentrate on parasitology for my visit and I have been hard at work gathering supplies and preparing for the trip.

I am overjoyed and truly honored to represent our Houston Zoo community in Zimbabwe.

Stay tuned for exciting updates from the field!

Tags: , , , , ,
Apr
09

Staff Conservation Fund Project for Painted Dogs

Posted by in Carnivores: Spots, Stripes and Sharp Teeth!,Conservation

Hello everyone! My name is Lisa Marie Avendano and I manage the Veterinary Hospital and Animal Nutrition Department here at the Houston Zoo.

You may have heard about the Staff Conservation Fund managed by the Houston Zoo Conservation Department. Every year zoo employees can donate to the fund and four times a year employees can apply for funding to support a wide variety of conservation efforts. The specific criteria is set by a staff committee and this past year a Program Enhancement component was outlined within the application process. As a member of the Houston Zoo Veterinary Department, I recognized a special opportunity to provide enhancement to our partners in the field at Painted Dog Conservation Zimbabwe (PDC). Our friends and colleagues at PDC have shown incredible commitment and dedication to saving painted dogs in the wild and when news came that their veterinary facility was near completion, I knew I wanted to help in any way possible.

The Houston Zoo Veterinary staff includes 4 veterinarians, 4 veterinary technicians, 4 keepers and 3 administrative positions. As the manager, every day I see the remarkable skill and hard work that goes into providing veterinary care to the amazing animal collection at the Houston Zoo. These photos show our team in action during the last set of routine exams for our own painted dogs.


As a former keeper and technician at the veterinary hospital, and now the manager, I felt that my skills and experience would be a great fit for enhancing the Painted Dog Conservation Zimbabwe veterinary program. I applied to the Staff Conservation Fund in November and was awarded funding to assist PDC with setting up the laboratory at their new facility.

I am counting down the days until I leave for Zimbabwe!

 

 

Tags: , , , , , ,
Apr
01

Chronicles of a Zoo Intern: Protecting Texas Wildlife

Posted by in Carnivores: Spots, Stripes and Sharp Teeth!,Guest Blogger Series

This post written by Melissa Talamantes

Texas, in my opinion, is a wonderful state, with many awesome things you cannot find anywhere else. We can claim Whataburger, sweet iced tea, and even some exotic animals. If you grew up in the city, like I did, it may seem weird to think there are wild animals that could be living in your backyard. The truth is there are! Texas is a huge state, and has different types of ecosystems that different animals can find habitable. We have plains, hills, deserts, swamps, and even mountains! Texas is home to many animals and plants, some famous, some not. Some famous ones are the state flower the bluebonnet, the state lizard which is the horned lizard, coyotes, rattlesnakes, cougars (which are also known as mountain lion or puma, depending on your area), and we are even known for our diverse bat population! However, there are some species of animals people never even knew lived in the United States, let alone Texas. Did you know that jaguars used to be found here? What about grey wolves, or ocelots? Those are just the mammals! Reptiles, fish, and invertebrates have a higher diversification of species. Since they are also smaller than mammals, they can be found in higher densities in one area.

Growing up, you may have noticed that the suburbs have created more houses, or the fields that you use to catch lizards in are gone because a new gated community is being built. This is happening everywhere, not just your town. With the population of humans increasing, and more people moving to the city, deforestation (the tearing down of natural land) is occurring at an alarming rate. With all of the development occurring, the animals are running out of land to live on that is undisturbed and safe. Even if only one species leaves the area, it can affect the entire ecosystem. For example, a certain species of mouse makes its home in an area of land. This land is developed to make housing, eliminating the mouse’s source of food and shelter. The mouse population could decide to leave to find other food. The cats, snakes, and even birds that eat the mice cannot hunt. Due to this, the predators can die from starvation, or leave the area to find other food. This affects the other animals that eat the snakes, birds, and cats. This continues on because everything is interconnected in an ecosystem. If there is no more land for an animal to go to, the species can eventually die out.

One prime example is the ocelot. This small cat used to be found all over Texas, but now only two small sub-populations can be found here. It is estimated that there are less than 100 ocelots in the Texas wild today. According to the USFWS (United States Fisheries & Wildlife Service), the ocelot is threatened with extinction in Texas. The global population is a different story. In South America, stable populations of ocelot can be found, however it is a different sub-species than the one found in Texas. There are two varieties: the general ocelot (in Texas) and the Brazilian ocelot (in South America). Due to the stable population of the ocelot, in general, the IUCN has listed this species as of least concern. As Texans, it is up to us to help preserve this species that has almost disappeared from our home.

One of the reasons the ocelot population declined was the demand for their pelt since it is so beautifully patterned. Ocelot fur was very popular, and everyone seemed to want one in the sixties and seventies. Ocelot are very small animals though, their weight ranges from 25-35 pounds, so it took nearly forty ocelots to create ONE coat! Another reason their population declined was the pet trade. Ocelots are small, gorgeous cats that people believed would make good pets. Not the best idea! Ocelots are completely different from your house cat. House cats have had thousands of years to be domesticated, and even then, all of our cats still have their natural instincts to hunt and stalk. Ocelots are not domesticated. They are wild animals. They may appear cute and cuddly, but they will defend themselves if threatened, and can cause severe damage.

One ocelot calls the Houston Zoo home; Novia first came to the Houston Zoo when she was one year old as part of a breeding program to help diversify the genetics in the species. (Because of the low population in Texas, there is a high probability of inbreeding. This can cause genetic mutations, medical conditions to arise, and even death.) When a carnivore first arrives to the zoo, they must stay in quarantine for thirty days to ensure they are healthy and safe. When Novia was in quarantine, it was discovered she actually had a medical condition that was genetic. This means that if she had kittens, her offspring might also have this condition. It was decided that she should be spayed, meaning she can no longer reproduce. Even though she could not have kittens anymore, the Houston Zoo decided it would be best for Novia to stay here. This was because the zookeepers knew her medical history and could best provide for her care.

Isn’t she just gorgeous!?

 

Novia is currently 4.5 years old, and weighs about 15 pounds. She is a bit smaller than the average ocelot, but every animal is different and she is in good body condition. Novia seems to enjoy cat toys and prefers mice to her meat diet, but we give her the mice to sneak in her medicine. (Shhh!) She is also a celebrity! National Geographic recorded a video of Novia going under surgery, and you can view it here. Like all ocelots, Novia is typically nocturnal and prefers to lounge and sleep during the day. You may have noticed her sleeping on her platform when you visit the zoo. This is not because of boredom; this is because that behavior is what is most natural to her. (Also like most cats, they love napping!) Her eyes are very large to allow light in at night, so she can see better (which is true for all ocelots), and if you look at her picture, you can see her beautiful coat. If you ever see an ocelot in the Texas wild, you are one extremely lucky person!

We should all try to preserve our great state’s land not only for ourselves, but also for the other species that call it home. It may be hard to remember that other species live in our backyard because they may be small, only out at night, or up in trees, but they do live with us. We should all be true Texans and fight for their home, just as we would fight for ours. 

Here we have Novia celebrating her birthday! (She just turned four.) The keepers decorated her exhibit with presents, enrichment toys, and a pool filled with a crab for her to enjoy!

Tags: , , , , , ,
Mar
01

Chronicles of a Zoo Intern: Experiencing Enrichment

Posted by in Carnivores: Spots, Stripes and Sharp Teeth!,Enrichment: Keeping it Interesting

This post written by Marissa Talamantes

Whenever guests visit the carnivore section, I notice they spend a good amount of time watching the animals on exhibit. While observing them, I am sure they notice random objects in the exhibits such as toys, butcher paper, bones, or even a distinct smell. We put these objects, known as enrichment, on exhibit for the animals.

Enrichment is something the Carnivore Department does every day in different forms. We use ENRICH as an acronym for Encouraging Natural Responses In Creative Habitats. Every day the keepers want to encourage natural responses in the animals by stimulating them with different objects and scents.

Here is Pandu, the male tiger playing tug-of-war with his enrichment object. This enrichment would receive a 5 for the day!

Each month the Carnivore Department makes a chart for every animal in the department. This chart is set up like a monthly calendar, and every day is labeled with a different behavior to encourage, as well as an example of an enrichment item that could be used. Some behaviors we encourage are playing, digging, and even jumping! Underneath the type of enrichment is a rating scale of 1 to 5. After we set up the enrichment for the day, we observe and rate the animal’s response. A score of one would be given if the item or activity is completely ignored. If there is a lot of interaction with the item or activity, a score of five would be given.

Here is an example of the calendar the Carnivore Department uses. The date is next to the behavior the keepers want to encourage, and the object of enrichment is underneath!

On certain days of the week, different animals in the department receive a gorge diet, meaning a large amount of food is given. This high amount stimulates behavior that is similar to making a large kill. The day after the gorge diet, the participating animals have a fasting day. This means they do not receive their raw meat diet, but bones instead; not only are they fun to chew on, but bones are also good for their teeth! This is similar to how food might be consumed in the wild where large meals are followed by days of fasting. The gorge diet enrichment helps simulate the uncertainty of finding food. Animals in nature are unsure of when their next meal will occur. Due to this uncertainty, the animals eat as much of the prey as possible in order to withstand the next possible days of not eating.

The Carnivore Department has different types of enrichment options, but some animals appear to have favorites. Jonathan (the male lion) and Ivy (the black leopard) appear to really enjoy poop from an Ankole steer, a livestock breed exhibited here at the zoo. Jonathan and Pandu (the male tiger) also appear to have favorite scents. Jonathan seems to like Polo cologne more than others, while Pandu seems to enjoy Stetson more.

Many items are donated by generous guests, docents, volunteers, and even staff. If you would like to learn more about enrichment at the zoo and the possibility of donating a toy for our animals, check out our Amazon Wishlist!

Here is Patty (an Andean Bear) scratching at the Christmas Tree she and her exhibit-mate, Willie, received for enrichment.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Feb
21

Rescued Bobcat Undergoes Root Canal

Posted by in Carnivores: Spots, Stripes and Sharp Teeth!,Featured,Zoo News

(Authored by Houston SPCA)

The adult male bobcat that was rescued from the Friendswood area back on December 12, 2012 was transported to the Houston Zoo to undergo a root canal on February 20, 2013. Several of his teeth were in poor condition and a root canal was performed  to prevent infection.  The 2-hour long procedure was performed by Dr. Maryanne Tocidlowski of the Houston Zoo and Dr. Frank Shuman of the Houston SPCA.  To prepare the bobcat for surgery, he was sedated, blood was drawn, and x-rays were taken.  The dental work involved 6 root canals which comprised 4 canines and 2 premolars.

The procedure involved drilling a hole in the top of the tooth, filing down the area around the hole, cleaning out the canal and disinfecting and drying the entire area. The hole was filled with an inert latex like material and the hole was capped with a resin based dental restorative compound.  After the surgery, the bobcat was safely transported back to the Houston SPCA where he is being monitored by our veterinary staff.

While in the care of The Wildlife Center of Texas and the Houston SPCA, the bobcat has been treated for and recovered from flea infestation, a bacterial infection and sarcoptic mange.  The bobcat was also severely emaciated and over the course of six weeks, he has gained 15% of his initial body weight.  We will continue to monitor his progress until he is ready to return to his native habitat.

The bobcat was found in poor condition in a rural area and initially brought to The Wildlife Center of Texas, a subsidiary of the Houston SPCA.  Last year, nearly 9,000 wild animals, comprising 286 different species arrived at The Wildlife Center of Texas in need of treatment and care. The Houston SPCA and The Wildlife Center of Texas are thankful once again to partner with our friends at the Houston Zoo for their knowledge and expertise in the rehabilitation of this wild animal.

The mission of the Wildlife Center of Texas is to care for injured or orphaned wildlife through rehabilitation and public education. For more information call 713-861-WILD (9453) or visit their web site at www.wildlifecenteroftexas.org.

 

Tags: , , , , ,
Dec
18

Cheetahs Run at Sam Houston Race Park

Posted by in Carnivores: Spots, Stripes and Sharp Teeth!,Enrichment: Keeping it Interesting

Last week, our cheetahs visited the Sam Houston Race Park to stretch their legs and chase a custom-made lure. Over the past few months, the cheetahs have made multiple trips to the race park, walking on leashes to become familiar with the park and its surroundings. Last week was the second time that Kito & Kiburi ran on the grass track off of their leashes.

In our special video, Beth Schaefer, the Houston Zoo’s curator of primates and carnivores, explains the importance of providing this exercise as a means of enrichment and benefit to the health of the animals.

Check out our flickr album with pictures of the cheetah run.

Got any questions about the run? Leave them in the comments section!

Tags: , , ,

Older Posts »