Third Friday Update – September Edition
Remember to check in on the 1st and 3rd Friday of each month for Volunteer Updates!
We are ALL EARS and we want to hear from you!
As we move into the Fall, we are looking to continue to grow and improve our Volunteer Program, and we would like your input! The Pandemic has brought many unavoidable challenges, but we are excited to take this opportunity to focus on what we can do to make the program better.
Click Here to take the Adult Volunteer Program Survey
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There is no question that the Volunteers at CZBG are the BEST in town! We are working on a unique way to Appreciate and Celebrate all of you! More details on the way, be on the lookout for your invitation!
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Don’t forget to Log your Hours in MVP. Do you need a quick refresher course on logging your hours? Click Here
Zoo Updates:
Zoo Tales
There is a new Podcast…and as usual it is entertaining, informative and shouldn’t be missed! This episode features Lindsay Garrett, our Manatee Keeper!
She talks about her personal journey, our wonderful manatee residents and the dramatic Manatee loss that has happened this year and how we can help here at home!
♦ 9/9 Update: From listening to Lindsay Garrett’s podcast you heard about how difficult 2021 has been for Florida Manatees but the Zoo got some WONDERFUL news about 2 of our released manatees. On September 9th, Miles and Matthew, who were released in March of 2020, have been rediscovered and are alive an doing well! Between tracking equipment problems and the COVID-19 crisis neither animal had been seen in more than a year. Surviving and thriving after 18 months on their own means that their rehabilitation, a joint effort between Sea World Orlando and the Cincinnati Zoo was a success! You can see a picture of Miles and Matthew below, it was taken by Lindsay during their time here in Cincinnati!
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Monarch Festival
I don’t know about you, but I can’t believe we are already half way through September and almost in October! October brings the Monarch Festival, the celebration the Fall migration of these BEAUTIFUL Butterflies! The Monarch Festival is here at the Zoo on October 2nd, but there are many ways you can help from your own home!
Click Here to Learn More about the Monarch Festival
Plant & Animal Updates:
International Vulture Awareness Day
September 4th is International Vulture Awareness Day! Vultures play a crucial role in many ecosystems by cleaning up deceased animals and stopping the spread of disease. Unfortunately, most of the 23 species of vultures are faced with dramatic population declines and are threatened with extinction. The Cincinnati Zoo is home to four species of vultures. We have the critically endangered Rüppell’s Griffon Vulture, which is the world’s highest flying bird and the endangered Lappet-Faced Vulture which is the largest vulture in Africa as well as Black Vultures and Andean Condors.
Dwayne & Iggy
The 3-month old RockHopper Penguins are now in with the whole colony! Dwayne currently wears the Blue Band and Iggy is wearing the Yellow Band. Make sure you head to the Wings of the World building and check them out
Click Here to Check out a Video of Dwayne & Iggy
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Currently Blooming:
We have a whole new batch of Beautiful Blooms here at the Zoo. Were you able to snag any photos?
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A Sad Goodbye
On 9/11/21 the Cat Ambassador Program said Goodbye to a member of their family, Sihil, the Ocelot Ambassador.
Click Here to Read Linda’s Tribute to Sihil
Zoo Birthdays:
Happy 11th Birthday to Quilliam!
September 9th is Quilliam’s birthday! Quill is a Cape Porcupine who is an Animal Ambassador in our Kroger Cheetah Encounter! He loves all different kinds of vegetables like Sweet Potatoes and Corn. He also loves Fruit, especially mango, which he is eating inthe photo. His least favorite foods are asparagus and brussel sprouts. Fun Fact: A grou pof Porcupines is called a “Prickle”!
Happy 17th Birthday to Medea!
September 10th is Medea’s special Day! Aye Ayes are one of the most unique and rare animals at the Cincinnati Zoo! Like a woodpecker, the aye aye is a percussion forager! Tapping on a dead log with it’s especially long and thsi middle finger, the aye-aye listens closely for signs of insect larva inside. It chisels a hole in the wood with its ever-growing incisors and extracts the larva with its finger. Hunting along with habitat destruction have made the aye-aye critically endangered.
Happy 5th Birthday to Zoey!
September 13th is all about Zoey! Zoey is one of our BEAUTIFUL Maasai Giraffes found in Giraffe Ridge! She is easy to tell apart from the rest of the herd due to her droopy left ear. She had an ear infection as a calf resulting in the droop.
Opportunities:
Have you heard about the Wildlife Ranger Challenge?
Have you been looking for a way to make an Impact? Here is a wonderful opportunity to support one of our Conservation Partners in Kenya! There are several ways you can support the Wildlife Rangers who are making a difference for African Wildlife every single day! Check out the link below to read a message from Lily, our Director of Global Conservation, and learn how you can contribute! Don’t forget to send me a photo if you participate by walking, running or biking! I will include it in our next Volunteer Update!
Click Here to Learn More about the Wildlife Ranger Challenge
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Donation Request:
When Zoo Animals are in need, I know our generous group of Volunteers will rise to the occasion! We received a message that Jungle Trails has a need for New (or Like New) Fleece Material. If you are interested in helping out our JT friends, we will have 3 collection days over the next week and would graciously accept your donations! If you would love to donate, but unable to bring donations during the dates/times listed, never fear – there will be many additional ways to donate in the future! Below you will find the Dates and Times that donations will be accepted:
Weekdays:
There will be a bin outside of the Main Entrance of the Education Building across from elephant). Please place your donations in the bin and replace the lid.
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Wednesday, September 22nd 9am-2pm
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Wednesday, September 29th 9am-2pm
Weekend:
There will be a bin outside the door of City Barn, on Vine street near the intersection with Ruther Ave. and Glenmary Ave. The building is covered with Charley Harper murals and is pictured below. Please place your donations in the bin and replace the lid.
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Saturday, September 25th 9am-1pm
- As much as we would love to include the public in our donation request, this ask is only for the Adult Volunteers in our community. Thank you for your understanding.
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Ultimate Happy Hippos Getaway
The Zoo is hosting a special adoption event, with a pretty AWESOME Prize Package! For only $5, you could win the following:
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2-night Hotel stay and the Zoo’s Official Hotel – Graduate Cincinnati
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$50 Gift Card to Fiona’s Bar & Grill, located inside the hotel
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5 Tickets to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
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Behind the Scenes Tour (for 5 people) to meet all 3 of our Hippos, Bibi, newcomer Tucker and of course, Fiona!
Purchasing one special $5 hippo ADOPT gets you one entry or you can pruchase a $20 ADOPT to be entered 5 times! ADOPT the hippos today through September 30th to be entered to win. By becoming a Cincinnati Zoo ADOPT Parent, you help provide food, toys and fun enrichment items to our Zoo’s animal family.
Click Here to ADOPT the Hippos and be Entered to Win
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Did you know that CZBG has put together a “Baby Pool”?
Lightning is due anytime between now and October. Help us guess the correct birth date and time and you will win a private Zoom encounter with mom and baby sloth!*
Each guess is $5 (guess as many times as you like!). Funds raised will be used to care for our sloths and to support our partners at The Sloth Institute in Costa Rica. All guesses must be submitted by September 30, 2021, at 11:59pm.
Click Here to Submit your Guess
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Plant 4 Pollinators Challenge
All Volunteers have a chance to make a difference for the pollinators in our community. In 2019 the Plant for Pollinator Challenge was started at CZBG. This year Volunteers will have their own Plant for Pollinators challenge with a chance to win a CZBG Pollinator Plant Kit (Valued at $99.99). To be eligible to win the CZBG Pollinator Plant Kit, you must register your garden this year (even if you have registered in the past)
Click Here to Learn More
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FC Cincinnati Tickets
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With FC Cincinnati’s move to the MLS, their ticket pricing and discount options changed dramatically. They were willing to offer 2 discounted games to our employees & volunteers, and have set up dedicated links to purchase tickets. Tickets are available in sections 229 & 230. Which will allow for Zoo employees, families, etc. to sit near each other.
Click Here to Buy 10/2 Tickets
Volunteer Corner:
Ernie has done it again! He captured a fun photo that he wanted to share! Ernie caught Amali doing her best Taffy Pull impression from the very BEST seat in the house…Her Mom’s Lap! Thanks for sharing!
Do you have any Volunteer news, photos of your team or an article you would like to share? I would love to include Volunteer updates in future updates! You can send content to me by e-mail anytime!
Friendly Faces:
Horticulture
Have you looked around lately and thought, “Wow, this place looks great – Who do I need to Thank?”…Let me introduce you to our one-of-a-kind, absolutely WONDERFUL Horticulture Team! A Special Thank You to Jerome for putting together these truly entertaining Bios!
Carlos VanLeeuwen
Carlos first started at the CBGZ in 2019 as a seasonal. He did this while attending the University of Cincinnati for Horticulture. He returned to the zoo this year to fulfill the Rockdale Urban Learning Garden position. He manages this garden to ensure that it can be utilized by the Rockdale students. He is also working with the teachers and STEM teachers of Rockdale to engage in hands-on learning opportunities to teach the students of Rockdale in their new outdoor classroom, the garden. In his time spent outside of work he enjoys hiking and being immersed in nature. He loves dogs, travelling, and playing soccer. He has beautiful hair.
Ed Atkinson
Ed has been recently hired on at CBGZ as a new full-time Horticulturist. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Cincinnati State and received degrees in Landscape Horticulture and Sustainable Horticulture. Ed is stepping in to help the department with garden and habitat maintenance. He has a passion for trees and other woody plants, finishing 2nd in the country at the 2020 National Collegiate Landscape Competition in Woody Plant Identification and getting a perfect score on his Arboriculture final. When he is not at the zoo he enjoys hiking, reading, gardening and playing with his husky, Karl. Oddly, Ed arrives to work every morning in this suit.
Chase Bodkin
Chase has been full-time with the CBGZ since 2018, but started his career with an internship at C.R.E.W. and the Primate Center, followed by 6 years with the Education Department as an instructor. He helps manage Bowyer Farm, assists with native plant sales, and oversees the browse program. He received his B.S. in Natural Resources and Conservation Management from the University of Kentucky. For a few years after graduating he worked on wildlife field research projects, mostly concerning bears. He enjoys playing chess, guitar, soccer, and backpacking/kayaking. Whatever the context of this photo might be, it’s pretty apparent that this is Chase’s world and we’re all just living in it.
Jerome Stenger
Jerome has been with the CBGZ since 2017. Previously, he owned and operated a garden center in Western North Carolina for 7 years before returning home and joining the team. Aside from assisting on landscaping projects (most recently Rockdale, Bird Show Amphitheater and Insectarium Hillside), he oversees plant purchasing and coordinates plant inventory at Bowyer Farm and Rockdale. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with degrees in English and Journalism and worked at a library in Nampa, Idaho, where book clubs were nearly as popular as book burning clubs. His hobbies include playing guitar for his cats, mining the Criterion Collection, NBA analytics, rereading a few sentences from Blood Meridian now and then, tending to his own gardens, and diverting surface water runoff away from his home’s foundation and directly onto his neighbor’s property.
Paul Koloszar
Paul has been with the CBGZ since 2016. He grew up in South Bend, Indiana and carries a bachelor’s in public horticulture from Purdue University. He’s worked at numerous regional horticultural gems such as Indianapolis Museum of Art (now Newfields), Civic Garden Center, Davey Resource Group, and Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum. Paul is our plant records archivist and handles all plant labeling throughout the zoo, while lending a heavy hand to garden maintenance. If you have a plant question for Paul, he can remember the relevant plant name 15-30 minutes after the time has passed. His interests include, but are not limited to, photography, woodworking, reading science fiction, eating fresh garden tomatoes, the expression of the Fibonnaci sequence in various forms, extreme natural phenomena (gravitational lensing, quantum entanglement, the Grand Canyon, black holes), stouts/porters, and dancing to the Talking Heads post-stout/porter. Loving husband to Karen and proud father of three.
Tosh Dobias
Tosh joined the CBGZ in 2012 and her primary responsibilities in the Garden have grown to include: display and garden maintenance/installation (you know those Tulip beds – she designs them!), nursery support, Horticulture Volunteer Program coordination, and, most recently, Horticulture seasonal hiring. Prior to the zoo, she traveled the country through non-profit networks where she worked as an environmental educator at a summer camp on the Puget Sound and grew food crops on organic farms in California. Tosh also served three terms with AmeriCorps, where she gutted and removed mold from homes on the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina and worked on a trail and fuels reduction crew for a conservation corps in Arizona. She graduated from Arizona State University with Bachelor of Science degrees in Conservation Biology and Sustainability. In her spare time, Tosh enjoys drinking coffee on her porch with her husband and two cats, hiking, biking, gardening, knitting, reading, and watching slow moving mystery series’ on tv.
Dave Padur
Dave has been with the CBGZ since 2010. His decade-long rise from unpaid intern to head keeper is the result of moving many kinds of rocks around the zoo for many years. Dave oversees all major landscaping projects from design to installation. Dave can pick a penny off the ground with a Bobcat excavator claw with his eyes closed in a snowstorm. While he devotes time to his wife, son and daughter, he spends most of his downtime cleaning the pool. Also, if you own land and Dave finds out, he’ll casually befriend you only so he can one day shed hunt on your property.
Atom (Marti) Martinez
Atom has been with the CBGZ since 2009 and currently oversees all arboreal work. He’s an ISA-Certified Arborist and Qualified Tree Risk Assessor who began his landscaping career straight out of high school. Atom has a passion for planting trees, and secondly, cutting trees down. If you asked him what his favorite trees in the zoo are, he’d say, “That’s too difficult to answer, but a few would be the Catalpas and Bald Cypresses at Swan Lake and the American Hornbeam in Safari Camp.” He’s a Cincinnati native, but now he lives in rural Kentucky for some reason. His hobbies include but are not limited to chopping wood, eating peanut butter while sleepwalking, and homesteading with his wife Melanie (perhaps you know her), their daughter, two dogs, cat, three hens and six chicks.
Scott Beuerlein
Scott has been with the CBGZ since 2010 as Manager of Botanical Garden Outreach. He curates our mind-expanding symposium series and is a committee member/chairperson of many, if not all, regional horticulture groups. He is both an ISA Certified Arborist and ONLA Landscape Technician, and is also an award-winning speaker and garden writer, with regular contributions to Horticulture Magazine and the Garden Rant blog. His best talk title is “Badass Trees for Piss Poor Places”. Scott holds a Communications degree from Xavier University. Because he is currently on vacation and auto-replying to emails, I’m thrilled to report that Scott’s favorite place to hike is outside, his favorite thing to read is a book, and his favorite color is clear.
Brian Jorg
Brian has been with the CBGZ since 2004 and is the Manager of the Native Plant Program (NPP) at Bowyer Farm where he oversees wetland restoration efforts. The NPP includes the conservation, education, and promotion of native flora. Finding more efficient manners of propagation and cultivation are a prime goal of this program – these protocols can then be used on rare and endangered plants in conservation efforts. His passion is outdoor photography, with published material in various books, magazines, field guides, calendars, advertisements, and greeting cards. Brian travels more than 30,000 miles a year on photographic trips (must be nice) and plays a stanky bass guitar. If Brian interrupts your conversation to blurt out the name of a bird flying overhead, don’t be insulted, he’s just working things out. This photo is of Brian wading in his home swimming pool.
Danny Rupp
Danny Rupp is a 1992 Zoo Academy student whose mom never picked him up on the last day. He’s been here ever since. He’s worked in Children’s Zoo, the Veldt, at Mast Farm, Primate Center, Night Hunters, Commissary (team leader) and for the last 15 years, Horticulture, where he oversees irrigation, outer properties maintenance, snow removal, and serves as liaison to the animal department. He has two daughters, Dani (19) and Alex (17), and is obsessed with zoo history and his classic cars (1956 Chevrolet Bel Air!). A walking zoo institution this man.
Kyra Back
Kyra came to the CBGZ as an intern in 1992 and landed a full-time gig in 1995. Currently, she oversees the Zoo Nursery Growing and the Display and Trial Gardens, but as with all horticulturists in the department, she’s dipped her toes in many other things as well. Her life passions include introducing and inspiring others to be interested in the fascinating world of plants; gardens that especially invite wildlife in; hiking, biking and generally enjoying the outdoors; getting down and dirty creative…mostly with glass and fiber arts. Oh, and she really likes to dance! Kyra received her bachelor’s degree in Horticulture from Temple
Steve Foltz
What more can be said about our Director of Horticulture that Scott didn’t already mention in his email a few weeks ago? If you haven’t gotten the chance, read Steve’s feature in the current issue of Horticulture Magazine!
SteveFoltzInterview
Feathered Faces:
Who said that the Humans should have all the face-time? I thought it would be fun to shake up our “Faces” Section and add in some Animal faces too! Have you met Grover and Oscar, our two silly Tawny Frogmouths?
While often confused for an owl, the Tawny FrogMouth is actually part of the nightjar family. There are about 14 Frogmouth species, most with large bright yellow eyes and a wide set beak that is yellowish to olive gray in color. The beak is abnormally wide like the mouth of a frog, triangular in shape, and sharply hooked. They are native to Australia. Tawny Frogmouths have weak legs and feet to grab prey; instead, they pounce and use their wide, hooked beak to kill their prey.
Upcoming Zoo Events:
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September 18th – Deaf Zoo Day – Hearing Speech & Deaf Center (HSDC)/Community Services for the Deaf (CSD) is partnering with the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden for a fun-filled, family friendly event!
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September 24th – Zoofari
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September 25th – Bowyer Farm Plant Sale – Fall Plant for Pollinator Kits Available
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October 2nd – Monarch Festival
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October 9th – Bowyer Farm Plant Sale- Fall Plant for Pollinator Kits Available
Contact Information:
Brittany Garera-Stapleton
Volunteer Relations Coordinator
(513)559-7768
[email protected]
**My in-office hours have been varying week to week to accommodate staff meetings. The best way to reach me day-to-day is through e-mail.