Zookeeper Trapped!

Famous zookeeper Jack Hanna was recently trapped when traveling with several of his zoo companions.

Hanna was passing through a security turnstile at the Columbus Ohio airport while accompanied by a flamingo when both he and the flamingo became trapped.

Hanna freed himself from the turnstile, leaving behind flamingo Marty trapped in a crate.

Firefighters arrived at the scene and freed the majestic bird.

No word on whether this is an early indication that Hanna's role as one of the nation's top zookeepers may be coming to a close.

Answers to Quiz

Hey kids,
here are the answers to the quiz. See if you are a monkey master or are need of enrolling in macaque 101.

Answers.
1. d 2. b 3. c 4. e 5. a

Score
5 out of 5 = Dr. Zaius
4 out of 5 = Marcel from "Friends"


3 out of 5 = Michael Jackson's Bubbles



2 out of 5 = Abu from Disney's Aladdin
1 out of 5 = Gordo, also known as "Old Reliable." The squirrel monkey that survived space flight in the Jupiter 13 rocket flight of 1958, who died tragically when the parachute apparatus didn't open during re-entry. Gordo's body has never been recovered.

Back to Zookeeper School(*SPECIAL QUIZ*)

Dear zookeeping pupils,
welcome back to school. Although the summer was filled with zoo exploration and passive animal observation, it's time to get back to more serious zoo endeavors.

In the last week, Zookeeper Blanche and I took a trip to the Minnesota Zoo to enjoy the animals and prepare a special post-Labor day quiz.

The highlight of our zoogoing trip was the exhibit on Japanese macaques. Although they have small, difficult to spot tails, the macaques are monkeys and not apes. Macaques are known for being a gregarious bunch. They are quite intelligent and are seen in nature teaching each other human-like behavior, such as washing certain foods before eating them and cleaning one another's coats. They are also one of the few monkey species to tolerate a cold winter.

As a back to school exercise, feel free to take the macaque quiz below.

1. Which of the following behaviors is not included in a Buddhist adage inspired by Japanese macaques?
a) Speak no evil
b) Hear no evil
c) See no evil
d) People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

2. Which of the follow viruses is common among macaques but does not cause symptoms in the monkey?
a) Hepatitis A Virus
b) Hepatitis B Virus
c) Hantavirus
d) Rabies Virus
e) West Nile Virus

3. Macaques attack tourists and frequently steal cameras at which of the following historic sites?
a) The Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza
b) The Emperor's palace in Kyoto
c) The rock of Gibraltar
d) The Creation Museum near Cincinatti, Ohio

4. The macaque pictured at the right is in the midst of assembling which of the following snow structures?
a) Cave
b) Fort
c) Man
d) Reproduction of Jeff Koon's modern art masterpiece "Puppy"
e) Pagoda

5. Which of the following is not a staple of the Japanese macaque's diet?
a) Termites
b) Fruit
c) Nuts
d) Seeds
e) Flowers


See the Next post for the answers

Zoo of the Week

Modern zookeeper offers apologies to offering fewer zoo of the week entries, which have probably hampered the weekend activities of the frequent blog readers.

This week's zoo of the week is the San Francisco Zoo. Zookeeper Diego has fond memories of the SF Zoo from a late night visit to the zoo. Zookeeper Beno and I decided to experience the zoo intensely by hopping a fence late at night.

Despite my uncanny abilities to befriend even the most ferocious members of the animal kingdom, after scurring up a fence and squeezing underneath some barbed wire, I was struck with the frightening possibility that we had jumped into a carnivore's lair. Unlike most nights, I had no fresh meat in my pockets to offer as a token of friendship to whomever lived inside. Fortunately,
we had only jumped into a grassy hill near the footpath and walked unscathed into the zoo.

Most of the zoo's majestic animals were sleeping, although zookeeper Beno managed to coax a group of friendly flamingos into song, arousing the suspicion of zoo security.

If you do wish to see more the SF zoo, I would suggest a daytime visit. The zoo is known for it's lemurs which vocalize in groups and make excellent goalkeepers if you are putting together a zoo soccer team. The black lemurs, as seen here stopping a shot by Wayne Rooney, are an endangered species, disliked in their native Madagascar for eating crops.

The zoo also has an excellent exhibit called Companion Animals. The exhibit teaches children, through a petting zoo and informative signs, which animals make good pets and which are better kept wild. If your child is thinking of bringing home an African hairy warthog, coming down with a post-zoo case of African Swine Fever(carried by the hogs) will be enough to dissuade your child that such animals are better kept in our city parks and alleyways and out of the home.

Modern Zookeeper instead recommends the following animals featured in the Companion Animals exhibit as great pets:
1. Rabbits
2. Goats
3. Goliath Tarantula

Animal versus animal

This week, an evil zoogoer released a large python in the Budapest Zoo killing three Kea parrots. Like any good Hungarian zoo, the Budapest Zoo owns a few pythons but couldn't find a microchip in the identified killer.

Kea parrots are native to New Zealand and are rumored to attack sheep, although this New Zealand folk lore has never been confirmed. They are one of the less colorful of the parrot family, but are supposed to be quite playful when they aren't shredding things in their sharp beaks.

In other zoo news, the only capybara at the Northwest Florida zoo was killed by a resident hippopotamus. This is the same zoo that suffered the death of a baby hippopotamus last month.

The hippo bit the capybara on the "rear end" and "stomach area" according to zookeeper Gus Mueller. The cause of the fight was unknown by press time.

The capybara is the king of the rodent family. Native to the Amazon, the capybara is the largest rodent and its name comes from a tribal word for "master of the grasslands."

The capybara is eaten frequently during lent in Venezuela, as the catholic church ruled that its meat is similar to fish and passable during the religious fast. Despite this religious claim, the capybara is not a fish, although they can dive underwater and sleep mostly submerged.

Zoo of the Week

This week, Modern Zookeeper travels east from the Lake Superior Zoo, to New York City to the Bronx Zoo. In three months and five days, the zoo will celebrate its 108 year anniversary, so what better time to feature its many exciting animals?

The Bronx Zoo features a famous gorilla exhibit, rare tropical birds, and several educational sessions. You can feed sea lions or penguins and watch a "Tiger Enrichment Session" wherein zookeepers offer tigers different items to "explore" in a trust-building session.

Examples of items offered to the great cats include "a treat spinner high up in a tree, a deer hide dangling from the end of a fishing pole, or a big barrel to pounce on." We here at MZ aren't sure how a deer hide dangling from a fishing pole builds trust, as the tigers must be frustrated when everytime they jump for the hide, the devious zookeepers pull it just out of their grasp. Like feline Charlie Browns trying to kick the football before it is pulled from their foot's path, the tigers may become frustrated by this "enrichment" exercise.

As an aside, Siberian Tigers are the largest tiger species. Like Helen Keller, they are born blind, but quickly develop excellent vision. In the wild they feast on deer species and wild boar rather than spinning treats and sugar-coated cereals they enjoy in captivity.

Besides the tigers, if you visit the Bronx Zoo, MZ recommends the World of Darkness exhibit featuring bats, sloths and the douroucouli, the world's only noctural monkey. A native of Central and South America, these spooky primates are known for their big eyes, shrill forest cries and lack color vision, which offers little benefit at night.

Stay tuned as the Modern Zookeeper caravan travels on, perhaps to a zoo located near zoo.

An Ancient Model for a Modern Zoo?

Suppose you caught a snake, a crocodile, a bird, a fox and a monkey, six creatures of very different natures, and you tie them together with a strong rope and let them go. Each of these six creatures will try to go back to its own lair by its own method: -the snake will seek a covering of grass, the crocodile will seek water, the bird will want to fly in the air, the dog will seek a village, the fox will seek the solitary ledges, and the monkey will seek the trees of a forest. In the attempt of each to go its own way there will be a struggle, but being tied together by a rope, the strongest at any one time will drag the rest.

Like the creatures in this parable, man is tempted in different ways by the desires of his senses, eyes, ears, nose, tongue, touch and brain, and is controlled by the predominant desire.

If the six creatures are all tied to a post, they will try to get free until they are tired out, and then will lie down by the post.

From : The Teaching of Buddha
rky

Liberation Wednesday

While polar bears and arctic foxes continue to be among the more oppressed animals in contemporary zoos, one animal has struck back for their white-faced brothers. Oliver, a capuchin monkey, escaped this morning from the Tupelo Buffalo Park and Zoo in Tupelo, Mississippi.

Can Oliver find his way through underground zoo tunnels to the peaceful monkey haven of Martinique? No one can be sure.

If you look closely at the photo, you can see Oliver blending in to the Mississippi bayou.

For all the modern zookeepers in Mississippi, if you see a young man, around 18 inches tall who looks similar to zookeeper Kojak, please help. Any amount of change or a palm nut would be appreciated. Good luck, Oliver.

Latest headlines

Hey all,
while Berlin may be the Euro capitol famous for spreading good will via the Love Parade and Martin Gropius building, apparently polar bears aren't extended the same open arms.

The latest news from the Berlin Zoo reminds us why villanous zookeepers in films and the modern imagination speak mostly Hungarian, the East Timor language of Tetum, and German.

German zookeepers have decided to force the polar bear cub Knut into going on a diet. Despite the fact that wild polar bears eat a diet of seals and fish very similar in taste to schnitzel and beer battered cod, the zookeepers have decided to feed Knut less croissants, more porridge and some vitamin supplements.

Will Knut survive the harsh Berlin winter on this diet?

When will 60 Minutes write an expose on his poor treatment?

Modern Zookeeper demands answers.

Zoo of the Week

Good afternoon zookeepers,
it's time for the zoo of the week. This week, our Modern Zookeeper mobile took a short trip from last week's Zoo of the Week in St. Paul Minnesota up north to the Lake Superior Zoo in Duluth Minnesota.

The Lake Superior Zoo has long been considered one of the top forty five zoos of the upper midwest(not counting Michigan) and features several habitats to engage young and old. There's an Australian Outback, African Savanna, and Nocturnal Trail.

Zookeeper Diego is partial to the Asian Caravan, featuring a snow leopard, siberian tiger and Pere David's Deer.

The deer are no longer actually seen by bedouins traveling across the Silk Road, as they have gone extinct in their native habitat of China. The last deer were reportedly killed and eaten by foreign troops during the time of the Boxer Rebellion.

Apparently a herd was bred in captivity while in England and have now been re-released into the wild in China.

There are several theories about how the Pere David's Deer got to the Lake Superior Zoo, but most zoologists believe that the deer came over with explorer Leif Erikson to Newfoundland. Then after tiring of the bland Viking diet, they migrated westward, traversing the St. Lawrence Seaway before hitching a ride with local voyageurs down to the Great Lakes port in Duluth.

The zoo welcomed them with open arms.

The Lake Superior Zoo also offers a Zookeeper for a Day program for only 12 dollars and a Zoo Snooze where you can sleep in one of the animal cages at the zoo. Modern Zookeeper particularly recommends sleeping with the kinkajous.

Siamang

Just when Kentucky seemed stocked up on primates, along came baby Zain, a baby male Siamang born this week at the Louisville Zoo.

As everyone on Modern Zookeeper probably knows, siamangs are apes native to Malaysia and other parts of SE asia. They eat figs and other fruits and are known for their piercing howls that can be heard for over 2 miles through the forest.

Here's what little Zain may look like someday...

a handsome tapir indeed

Pangolin symbiosis

Hi from a Zookeeper in New York Cuty

HI:

I AM A ZOOKEEPER IN NEW YORK AND I HEARD ABOUT THIS NEW BLOG. IT LOOKS LIKE YOU HAVE A GREAT COMMUNITY OF PEOPLE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN THE WELL BEING OF ANIMALS AS WELL AS NAMING FAVORITE ANimals (woops , my caps button HAHA!) ANyway I wanted to alert any people that are fans of Tapirs that there is a good source of information about Tapirs and it can be sent to your email "inbox" Its called tapir talk and you can learn more about it
here
A Modern Zookeeper Rocky Dynamic

Deaths in the family

Good morning weekend zookeepers,
I thought Sunday would be a good day to reflect upon the zoo deaths from the past few days. Formal obituaries on each of these great beasts will follow...

7 kangaroos died at the Guadalajara, Mexico zoo after experiencing severe stress during a season of rain storms. Red kangaroos are widely considered the most high-strung of marsupials.

While environmental stresses may cause anxious twilight foraging in the Western Grey Kangaroo, abstinence from sexual activity in the Eastern Grey Kangaroo, or general malaise in the Antilopine kangaroo, none really lose their cool like the old Red Kangaroo.

Here's a test question from the Zookeeper Credentialing International Exam(ZCIE) that illustrates the well-known behavior.

HYENA: MARTIN LAWRENCE:: RED KANGAROO: ?

A) Will Smith
B) Mandy Moore
C) Charles de Gaulle
D) Rodney Dangerfield

For those playing at home, the answer is D.

In other animal tragedy news,
at the Zoo of Northwest Florida, Sammy the giraffe died of a neck injury this week. And while investigators stated that the necropsy revealed evidence of trauma, no one knows yet if the death is related to the death earlier this year of baby Niles, a one and a half year old hippopotamus. Theories abound about the possible motivations for the deaths...poor Pensacola zookeeping, trans fats in the animals' diet, violent video games. Feel free to post your own thoughts.

RIP kangaroos, Sammy and Niles.

Zoo of the Week

This week's zoo of the week is the Como Zoo in St. Paul, Minnesota

I attended this zoo as a youth, when zookeeping was just another possibility of career options along with locomotive engineer and researcher specializing in ochronosis.

In earlier times, there was a fish booth where for two dollars you could by a paper plate with five fish on it to feed to the sea lions.

The daily highlight is the Sparky the Seal show, although Sparky is soon to retire to be replaced by Chino a newly trained seal recently rescued from injury in the Pacific.

The current highlight of the zoo is a polar bear, although the zoo currently only has old water cooler jugs as play toys for the bear. If you'd like to donate other office supplies to the bear cage, the zoo can be contacted at
http://www.comozooconservatory.org/supp/index.shtml

The pangolin

When I was a younger zookeeper, recklessly enamored with a black Finn,
I once saw a man carrying a dead pangolin on a stretch of forested highway in western Cameroon. I believe it was dead, although I couldn't be sure through the haze of the red dust kicked up from the unpaved road.

It was a tragic moment that shocked me from my afternoon reverie. To see the pangolin, the humble prince of the Pholidota order, soon to become part of a delicious stew was a sad image.
I always fancied myself as similar to the pangolin and it reminded me of my own mortality.

We both have no teeth and long tongues and both the pangolin and I will curl up into a protective ball when challenged. And although we share the ability to emit a noxious smell from our anus, I do not typically do so when predators approach.

If you'd like to see a pangolin in person, I would suggest the following Taiwanese locales:
1. The Taipei Zoo
2. Ticino restaurant on Tien Mou east road(order the fondue).

For the budding zookeepers in the home audience, the following items are necessary if raising a pangolin at home:
1. Shade trees
2. Bowl of water
3. Cathedral mound of African termites(about 300 pounds of mound+termites will suffice for one month of food)
4. TLC

Welcome

Welcome all to the world of modern zookeeping,
throw away your prior assumptions about what zookeeping used to be, for this page will notify you of contemporary ways of creating a successful, carbon-neutral, non-denominational zoo that will appeal to young and old, hip and square, animal experts and those who couldn't tell the difference between an aardvark from an aardwolf.

There will be news from zoos, DIY posts, comedy/tragedy, opinion and animal facts.

Zookeeper Diego