It's A Boy!

Photo Courtesy of M.J. Grippin Photography

Binghamton Zoo has a baby red panda! Zhin-Li ("treasure") was born on June 18, 2013, to parents Mei-Li and Xiao-Li. He weighed 160 grams when he was born. He had fur, but his eyes were closed. Over the last few weeks, his eyes have opened, his fur has turned a reddish-brown color, and he has gained 800 grams! That means that in 37 days, he gained 600% of his body weight. If that happened to me, I would weigh 720 pounds by September 1.

On Thursday, July 25th, Binghamton Zoo held a press conference to announce Zhin-Li's birth. County Executive Debbie Preston proclaimed August to be Binghamton Zoo Month and Director Steve Contento announced the birth of the baby. However, when Curator Dave Orndorff tried to show the baby to the press, Mei-Li decided that this would be an excellent time to nurse and protect her baby boy. Dave was eventually able to coax Mei-Li away from the nest box with apples and bring the baby outside. At just over a month old, Zhin-Li is already feisty: he barked angrily when Dave picked him up to weigh him.

Mei-Li has been an excellent mother. Because she is a first-time mom, we were worried about her ability to raise the baby on her own, but she has succeeded with flying colors. Red pandas typically breed in January or February and give birth in June or July. Mei-Li had been gaining weight and spending lots of time in her two nest boxes, so we were keeping our fingers crossed, but we were not positive that she was even pregnant. Additionally, red panda gestation can last from 96 to 156 days, so we weren't sure when Mei-Li would give birth if she was pregnant. Zhin-Li was actually born outside in the exhibit around 11am and was found when a keeper went to feed Mei-Li her lunch.

Zhin-Li is weighed once a week, and has been steadily gaining weight by nursing constantly. Around six weeks old, red panda cubs typically weigh about 685 grams, so Zhin-Li is already chunky at 960 grams! Mei-Li will probably keep him inside until he is weaned--generally around three months after birth. When he is weaned, he will begin eating leafeater biscuits, grapes, apples, and bamboo, just like his parents. In the meantime, we have installed a camera in front of the nest box, so visitors can watch the baby on a monitor in front of the exhibit.

I have a special interest in this birth because I train Xiao-Li, Zhin-Li's father. Xiao is trained to target to a ball on a stick, stand on his hind legs, stand on a scale, and receive vaccinations. This training simplifies the keepers' and veterinarians' jobs. When Zhin-Li is weaned, he will also be trained to do various behaviors for food rewards.

This birth is very exciting for a number of reasons: it proves that our red pandas are comfortable enough in their exhibit to breed; it boosts the number of visitors through the zoo's gate and increases revenue; and it is a boon for conservation programs. Red pandas are classified as a "vulnerable" species on the IUCN Red List and there are only about 10,000 individuals left in the wild due to habitat destruction and hunting. Red pandas are part of a Species Survival Plan (SSP) that monitors and controls captive breeding in AZA Zoos, like the Binghamton Zoo. Zhin-Li's birth proves that Mei-Li is a good mother and will be able to raise other cubs in the future. Zhin-Li will also become part of the SSP and produce cubs of his own to help preserve red pandas in captivity.

We can't wait to see this baby grow up! Keep an eye out on my blog for video footage of Zhin-Li going outside for the first time.

National Zookeeper Week: Elise Newman

Binghamton Zoo at Ross Park

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Continuing with National Zoo Keeper Week, we're highlighting another great keeper at the Binghamton Zoo, Elise!

What inspired you to become a zookeeper? I have loved animals for as long as I can remember, and I attended the zoo once a week growing up in California. In high school, I worked at a small animal vet clinic for 4 summers as a technician and I subsequently interned as a keeper’s assistant at the Sacramento Zoo. I majored in wildlife management and environmental conservation at Cornell University and fell in love with field research while studying in Kenya and Tanzania. Upon graduation, I worked at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science rehabilitating birds and educating the public. I then got offered a keeper position at the Binghamton Zoo and I can’t wait to see where this career path takes me!

How long have you been with the Binghamton Zoo? Since January 2012 (1 ½ years and counting!)

What do you like most about your job? I love training the animals and seeing their faces light up as they puzzle out a new behavior. I also enjoy providing the animals with enrichment and watching their reactions. The otters romp all over the raft I built them, and Kalinika, the Amur leopard, struggled so hard to get a boat bumper out of her pool that she almost fell in!

What’s the funniest thing that’s happened to you at the zoo? Fellow keeper Ashley and I had to catch the two golden lion tamarins for their annual physicals. Stuck in a tiny exhibit with 2 screaming tamarins and perches stabbing us in the face and back, we struggled the catch them. We ended up shouting incoherent syllables instead of actually communicating, so needless to say it did not go well. Ashley ended up with a tamarin down her pants!

What are your typical daily activities? On a typical day, I spend 90% of my day feeding animals, cleaning their exhibits, cleaning the holding areas where they sleep at night, and preparing diets. Free time is spent refurbishing exhibits with news plants and perches, designing enrichment, training the otters and the male red panda, and conducting keeper talks for the public. I also assist with vet rounds, administer medications, weigh animals, mentor interns, and discuss future zoo exhibits and conservation plans! Every day is exhausting and fulfilling!

August in Winter?

August, a two-year-old male arctic fox, arrived at the Binghamton Zoo at the beginning of the summer. Originally from the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, WA, August was housed with bighorn sheep. But this little fox has a Napoleon complex and kept trying to dominate the sheep, so now he has moved to Binghamton!

Arctic foxes live in some of the coldest areas in the Northern Hemisphere. I need about 27 layers of clothing to survive Binghamton's winters, so I can't even imagine the Arctic! Instead of a parka, arctic foxes have thick, white fur to keep them warm and help them blend in to the snowy landscape. Now that it is summer, August is shedding his fur and growing in a much thinner, brown coat. Arctic foxes also have extremely good hearing, and are able to dig through the snow to uncover small hibernating rodents. Although these foxes are not picky eaters in the wild, August's favorite treats are chicks and milkbones. Although August was bred in captivity, his instincts are still sharp: he always buries his milkbones to save for a future food shortage. I guess August hasn't realized that in a zoo, he is always fed twice a day!

Boat Bumpers Bust Boredom

Mei Li enjoys breakfast

Have you ever seen a bored zoo animal pacing back and forth in its exhibit or staring into space? The keepers at the Binghamton Zoo use enrichment to keep our animals entertained. Enrichment can be novel foods, scents, toys, or environmental stimuli.

As part of a new enrichment program, we are using donated boat bumpers to stimulate our animals. Our red panda pair loves browsing for their morning bamboo from their hanging boat bumper feeder. Annabelle and Polly, our constantly hungry guinea hogs, take longer to eat when their yams are stuffed inside a boat bumper. Longer feeding time means less time pestering the keepers for more food! The golden lion tamarins, Tanner and Ludwig, utilize natural foraging behaviors by pulling mealworms out of holes cut in a boat bumper. This behavior imitates pulling bugs out of rotting logs in the South American rainforest where these tamarins are normally found.

Because these bumpers are sturdy enough to keep a boat from hitting a dock, we don’t mind if some of our animals “play rough” with them. Our river otters, Leroy and Elaine, wrestle with a boat bumper, trying to get out the fish chunks hidden inside. Koosaka and Terney, our Amur tiger sisters, rip apart their boat bumpers to get to delicious fish and hamburger pieces.

Koosaka and Terney labor to tear down a hanging boat bumper

I have been working on an enrichment article about reusing boat bumpers for Animal Keepers’ Forum with Keeper Pattie Beaven from Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, WA. The article will hopefully be published in the October issue, and I will post a copy at that time.

Keeping captive animals entertained is a full-time job!

Traveling to the Urban Jungle to pick up...sheep?

On Wednesday, June 19, I drove to the Staten Island Zoo with fellow Binghamton Zoo keeper Ashley to acquire animals for our new farmyard exhibit. The farmyard at the Binghamton Zoo is getting a face-lift, and we are getting a plethora of animals from around the country to stock this new exhibit. Although the Binghamton Zoo is in upstate New York, surrounded by farm country, Ashley and I drove to Staten Island to pick up three sheep.

You might wonder why in the world we needed to drive three hours to New York City to pick up animals that we can see two minutes down the road? Well, AZA accredited zoos have detailed animal transfer procedures. Like Craig’s List, zoos “surplus” animals they no longer want on a website and advertise for animals they would like from fellow zoos. Zoos are not allowed to receive or donate animals to private institutions or citizens without special circumstantial permits.

Therefore, Ashley and I navigated a rented U-Haul (practically a tractor-trailer!) through the congested, maze-like streets of Staten Island to pick up three sheep for our zoo’s collection. Apparently the Staten Island zookeepers are “Batman” fans, because sheep Bane, Joker, and Robin are now settling into the Binghamton Zoo’s farmyard nicely