Archive for the ‘Pollinators’ Category

Jun
20

Pollinators get you Points!

Posted by in Children's Zoo,Events,Insects,Pollinators,Swap Shop

This weekend, Saturday June 23 and Sunday June 24, the Houston Zoo will be celebrating Pollinators Day.  There will be booths, keeper chats and activities for the kids.

The Naturally Wild Swap Shop will join in the fun.  Any nature journal on pollinators or pollination will get double points!  Topics can include (but are not limited to) bats , bees, butterflies, or the plants that they pollinate.  Journals might also cover the many  products collected or manufactured thanks to the hard work of these and other pollinators.  Don’t know about the Naturally Wild Swap Shop?  Click here for more information.

Pollinators help us with many products from honey to tequila.  They provide something for everyone.  Some Pollinators are at risk and their numbers are dwindling.

Come join us for Pollinators Weekend and learn more about these amazing animals.

 

 

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Apr
12

Six Bat Species all in one day!

Posted by in Children's Zoo,Conservation,Events,Just for Kids,Mammals: Our Furry (and Hairy!) Friends,Meet the Staff,Natural Encounters,Pollinators,Swap Shop

How can you see six different species of bats all in one day?  Bat Fest Houston at the Houston Zoo and the Waugh Bridge!  The United Nations has declared 2012 The Year of The Bat – come see  the celebration we have in store!

Straw Colored Fruit Bats

 Saturday, April 14 and Sunday, April 15 are the dates for Bat Fest Houston.   On both days there will be children’s activities, keeper chats and bat related information booths at the zoo from 10:00am – 3:00 pm.   If you come on Saturday you will also have the opportunity to attend a bat seminar in the zoo’s Brown Education Center  from 10:00-12:15 that will include some great speakers.  The talks will include information  about bats from around the world and the bats in our own back yard as well as a new threat to bats, White Nose Syndrome.   You will also be able to visit the zoo’s bat exhibits where you can see Jamaican Fruit Bats, Seba’s Short-tailed Fruit Bats, Pallas Long-tongued Nectar Bats, Straw Colored Fruit Bats and an Indian Flying Fox Bat! 

If visitors 18 and under bring a nature journal or report to the Naturally Wild Swap Shop on the topic of bats they will receive DOUBLE points on these two days!  Don’t know about the Swap Shop?  Click here to learn more.

The best part – all of this is included in your regular zoo admission. 

Bat emergence at Waugh Ave. Bridge

And the fun doesn’t stop there!  From 6:00pm to 9:00pm join us at the Waugh Avenue Bridge (Waugh Avenue at Allen Parkway) for more children’s activities, bat chats and an amazing emergence of 250,000 Mexican Free-tailed Bats from under the bridge.  The Waugh Bridge activities are completely free.  Click here for information on parking at the bridge.

 

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Mar
30

Bat Fest is Coming!

Posted by in Children's Zoo,Conservation,Events,Just for Kids,Mammals: Our Furry (and Hairy!) Friends,Natural Encounters,Pollinators,Swap Shop

Get ready for a batty fun time at the Houston Zoo and the Waugh Bridge!  2012 has been named Year of the Bat by the United Nations Environment Program.  In celebration, the Houston Zoo, in association with Texas Parks & Wildlife and several other organizations will be hosting Bat Fest April 14-15, 2012.

The fun will start at the Zoo at 10:00AM.  On both Saturday and Sunday there will be booths, children’s activities and zookeeper chats about bats.  On Saturday only there will be a bat seminar with some awesome speakers from 10:00-12:15 in the Brown Education Center.

In addition, to help celebrate, The Naturally Wild Swap Shop will be giving double points for any Nature Journal on bats.  Dont know about the Swap Shop?  Click here for more information.

The best part – all this is included in your paid zoo admission.

The festivities won’t stop there.  Be sure to join the Houston Bat Team at the Waugh Drive bat colony (corner of Waugh Drive & Allen Parkway) from 6:00-9:00PM.  The Waugh Drive bridge is home to a colony of 250,000 Mexican Free-tailed Bats.  There will be bat chat presentations from members of the Bat Team along with children’s activities and an amazing emergence from the bats at dusk. Click here to check Facebook for parking info.

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Sep
09

There’s a New Resident at the Houston Zoo and It’s Not an Animal!

Posted by in African Forest,Horticulture,Pollinators

There’s a new bud in town.

We are happy to announce that our very own spunky and stinky corpse flower, Pewtunia, is about to bloom!

Our fans know and love all the interesting, diverse and engaging animals that call the Houston Zoo home. However, an aspect of the Zoo that is sometimes overlooked is the incredibly maintained and varied plant life that not only keep the Zoo grounds looking beautiful, but also add a natural enhancement to animal habitats.

One of these resident plants is definitely a standout – our gal Pewtunia is what is known in the horticulture world as an Amorphophallus titanum. We realize that’s kind of a mouthful (we had to re-spell it several times to get it right), so you may know her better as a Corpse Flower, Carrion Plant, Titan Arum or Voodoo Lily.

Originally scientifically described in 1878, discovered by Odoardo Beccari, and only found in Western Sumatra, Corpse Flowers are definitely a rare sight and, ahem, smell. The name Corpse Flower comes from the distinct stench that has been described as the smell of a corpse.

Obviously our dear Pewtunia does not have any dead bodies near her – the smell is really given off, along with extra heat, to attract Carrion Beetles and Blow Flies. These friends to the Corpse Flower are pollinators, which means they are integral to continuing the Corpse Flower population. This attractive (well to bugs anyway) odor will be at it’s most powerful 12-24 hours of full bloom.

It’s rude to ask a lady’s weight, but we’ll tell you that Pewtunia is almost 20 pounds and currently stands 2’6″. She may not sound like a heavyweight yet, but prior to blooming, Corpse Flowers grow rapidly, and she will reach heights of 4′-6′ – maybe even 8′!

Pewtunia as of Thursday, September 8

So if you’d like to experience Pewtunia in all her glory, then start planning your trip to the Zoo now – we think she’ll be in full bloom by or before next weekend! Or maybe you’d prefer to enjoy the view without the smell?

Pewtunia will be viewable in the Zoo on The African Forest walk between the 4-D Experience and the Indoor Chimp Viewing area starting Monday, September 12. And there will be special Horticulture Keeper Talks at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. when one of our knowledgeable horticulture staff members will be there to answer any and all Corpse Flower curiosities you may have!

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Jun
25

Go Batty During Pollinator Week!

Posted by in Pollinators,Spotlight on Species

It’s National Pollinator Week… so get out of the house and give thanks to the pollinators of the world (that includes bats!) by attending the Houston Zoo‘s 2nd Annual Spotlight on Species: Pollinators!  You may be familiar with bees that pollinate our crop plants, but did you know that some bats are pollinators too?  They are primary pollinators of delectable guavas; a favorite food of  primates big and small, the banana; and my favorite fruit EVER, mangoes.  Thank you, bats!!   Man, a bowl of fresh fruit salad would be good about now… but I digress.

Mmmmmmango....

Bats also pollinate many different cacti including the stately Saguaro, Arizona’s state cactus – that’s the one that looks like a tall, weird prickly green person with permanently bent arms…  (if you don’t have an overactive imagination as I do, here’s a picture).  AND, bats pollinate the Agave plant.  This is exciting to me because I love Agave nectar, but exciting to normal people because the Agave plant is used to make Tequila!  Have you ever had a margarita without tequila?  Well, its just boring.  So again, thank the bats for all those margaritas you probably don’t remember drinking.

Bats Emerging at Bracken Cave, TX

 

Most folks know about the Congress Avenue Bridge bat colony in downtown Austin, but that’s a bit of a drive for an after-dinner family excursion.  Want to get out and see bats here in Houston?  Check out the Waugh Bridge Mexican free-tailed bat colony one of these evenings…  all the action happens around dusk.  Most US cities don’t have a free bat show, so take advantage of the natural beauty Houston has to offer!  And be sure to thank all those bats for eating so many mosquitoes (unless you like mosquitoes, in which case you might see plenty of those too  - you just can’t lose!).  To learn even MORE about bat pollination click here and for general bat information, peruse the Bat Conservation International website.  Or better yet, join us at the Houston Zoo this weekend to learn all about bats and other fascinating pollinators!

 

Bat photo – NaturallyEarthFriendly.com

 

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Jun
22

A World of Pollinators

Posted by in Pollinators,Spotlight on Species

What the heck is a pollinator and why is the Houston Zoo having an event celebrating them?  A pollinator is an animal that helps a flowering plant complete its life-cycle by picking up pollen from one flower and physically moving it to another of the same type – this fertilizes the plant, allowing it to form seeds for the next generation.  The plant usually offers some sort of reward for this valuable service (sweet, sweet nectar…), but sometimes a plant will attract an animal to its flowers under false pretenses (check out these awesome examples!).  Pollinators are fascinating animals that also happen to provide humans with, oh, at least 30% of ALL the food we eat!

 

Malachite Sunbird, South Africa

 

About 1,000 different vertebrate species around the globe are pollinators – in this group are bats, birds, small mammals, lizards and even a lemur!  Bats are pollinators of some of our favorite edibles, such as mangoes and bananas – they also pollinate Agave, no doubt a very valuable plant to all you tequila lovers out there…

 

Mexico's Banana Bat (photo ©Marco Tschapka)

 

The vast majority of pollinators (a whopping 200,000 species) are invertebrates.   These can be beetles, bees, moths and butterflies, wasps, flies, ants and many others.  The most efficient pollinators in the world by far are bees.  You are probably familiar with the European honeybee, the bee that pollinates many of our crops and provides us with yummy honey.  But the European honeybee is only one of around 25,000 named bee species.  The United States alone has about 4,000 types of native bee – compare that to around 5,000 species of mammal in the entire world!  Want to learn more about our fantastic native bees?  Tune in next time…

 

Green bee on the shores of Lake Michigan

 

*photo credit, Malachite Sunbird: http://academic.sun.ac.za/botzoo/bruce/pollinator_adap.htm

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Jun
17

Bug Out! Attract the Good Guys to Your Garden

Posted by in Insects,Pollinators,Spotlight on Species

Bumblebee on Lantana flowers

Have you ever wanted to help wildlife but weren’t sure how to do it?  Would you like to start your very own conservation project in your own backyard?  The Houston Zoo is hosting a Spotlight on Species: Pollinators event the last weekend of June, and just in time…. because pollinating insects need your help!  Pollinator habitat in Texas is being destroyed every day – our native prairies are all but gone and any remaining open spaces are being developed at an alarming rate.  But you can create a haven for pollinators at home, at school or even at the office.  You can attract butterflies by planting native and non-native plants that provide nectar and/or food for caterpillars.  Native bees need flowers that provide nectar and pollen and a place to nest  (some nest in the ground and some will nest in special boxes) both of which are easy to provide.  All of these insects are fun to watch and beneficial too… if you are a vegetable gardener or have fruit trees, the more bees you attract the more bountiful your harvest will be!  Learn how to create a pollinator haven by joining us at the Zoo for Spotlight on Species:Pollinators!

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Jun
15

Top 10 Reasons to Love Pollinators

Posted by in Conservation,Insects,Pollinators,Spotlight on Species

Why do we have an annual Pollinator Awareness Day at the Houston Zoo, you ask?  Because pollinators RULE!  Here are 10 reasons why:

10.  Fruit! Bananas, strawberries, blueberries, watermelon, mango, peaches, cherries, apples, kiwi, oranges… well, you get the idea (the list goes on and on).

9.  Veggies! Squash, tomatoes, potatoes, broccoli, artichokes, bell peppers, onions, yams, beans… and many more!

8. Nuts and Spices! Almonds, walnuts, cayenne, chipotle, saffron, fennel, Allspice, VANILLA!

 

 

7. Clothes! Cotton, anyone?

6. Halloween! No pollinators, no pumpkins.  So much for traditional Thanksgiving pies, too…

5. Dairy! Hmmm… what’s the connection here?  Alfalfa! Dairy cows need alfalfa (a plant pollinated by leafcutting bees) so that you can have cheese, milk, yogurt, butter, ice cream and pretty much every dessert ever conceived.

4. Honey! (this is a no-brainer)

 

 

3. Coffee!! Let’s face it, without coffee you probably couldn’t even operate this computer.

2. Chocolate!! This is a big one folks!  Did you know that cacao trees (this is where chocolate comes from) are pollinated by a midge, which is a tiny fly?  Are you going to put your flyswatter down now?  I thought so.

1. Life as we know it! about 75% of all flowering plants depend on pollinating animals to complete their life cycles – and even if you don’t eat any part of all those thousands of  plant species, somebody out there depends on them… Without pollinators, animals that depend on those plants would perish and the animals that eat the aforementioned herbivores would starve too.  An absence of pollinators would result in a catastrophic collapse of the Earth’s fragile terrestrial ecosystems (yes, this is where you live).  So put down the bug spray and start creating a backyard pollinator habitat today!  Hey – every little bit helps.

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