Third Friday Update – October Edition
Remember to check in on the 1st and 3rd Friday of each month for Volunteer Updates!
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
Thank you to everyone who came to our Volunteer Appreciation Drive-Thru Event! I know everything looked different this year, but we are so grateful for all of you and appreciative of you giving us the opportunity to show it!
Click Here To See More
Zoo Updates:
Zoo Tales Podcast:
Mark Fisher and our hosts talk going green, LED lights, Yoda and baseball in this new podcast episode! We’re taking you behind the scenes at the Zoo and telling you all of our secrets on being the Greenest Zoo in America®!
Click Here to Listen to the PodCast
Plant & Animal Updates:
World Animal Day:
Happy World Animal Day! The holiday this year emphasizes, protecting not-so-cute wildlife is just as important as helping the ones that we all find adorable. That doesn’t mean you have to give up your love of pandas, cheetahs, and other sweet-faced animals, but understanding that ALL creatures are important to Earth’s health is a big step in becoming an empowered steward of the planet. 
African Penguin Awareness Day;
October 10th was African Penguin Awareness Day! This species was relatively abundant as recently as the early twentieth century, but a suite of threats including habitat loss and massive declines in prey abundance have resulted in a steep population decline. We would like to ask you to join us in these efforts to save the African Penguin by making at least one of the pledges-
Reduce our use of plastic by telling the server, “No drinking straws, please” when dining out.
Reuse shopping bags by asking our cashier to “Please use the bags we brought along”.
Request sustainable seafood that is fished or farmed in ocean-friendly ways.
These pledge options focus on the things that you can do in your daily life that could impact the safety, survival and quality of life of African Penguins, as well as other wildlife around the world
Sad Sloth Update:
Months of anticipation and excitement surrounding the birth of what would have been the zoo’s first sloth baby ended early in the morning on October 11th when Lightning delivered a stillborn pup. Vets and care staff were present for the hours-long labor and are devastated by the outcome. Please keep them in your thoughts as they shift their focus to making sure that Lightning remains healthy and comfortable in the weeks ahead.
Click here to Learn More
The Zoo has renamed our sloth habitat to honor Oliver Nicholson, who would have been two years old this month. His family is very pleased to have something positive to think about on what was a difficult day for them. They posted a nice note of sympathy for our sloth team when they learned that our sloth Lightning delivered a stillborn.
Click Here to learn more about the renaming of our Sloth Habitat
Fall Fiona:
Have you seen this BEAUTIFUL photo of Fiona in her Fall best?
What is Blooming at the Zoo:
Iris:
Iris, the 11-year-old female Moholi Galago, had a cataract removed from both eyes on September 30, after one of her keepers noticed her vision was beginning to impair her daily life. It was a collaborative team effort by her care team, our vets, and doctors from local MedVet on this tennis ball sized species. The surgery was a success and Iris is doing well. Click here to Learn More
Bo & the Pool:
With the Cooler weather are you longing for the Pool Days of Summer? Enjoy this video of Bo having fun in his pool! He is not ready fo rthe Pool days to be done! Click Here to Watch
Mimi’s first Climbing Lesson:
Did you see the video of Mimi’s First Climbing Lesson? Click Here to check it out!
Opportunities:
Bowling for Rhinos:
We are excited to announce that we will be having an event this year, however it will not be our big bowling event. We want to keep the health and safety of everyone in mind first and foremost. We hope to come back bigger and better next year.
However, we still need to raise money to help support our Rhino friends. We will be hosting an online auction that will start on Tuesday, October 19th and run through Tuesday, October 26th.
On Wednesday, October 27th, we will have an in person event at The Wooden Cask in Newport, KY. You can pick up your winnings that evening. We are hoping to have a musician come out and play to add little more to the night. We also are going to bring back our “grab bag” that was so popular a couple years ago. And as always we will have a raffle and some merchandise for sale.
So please, save the dates and help support Bowling for Rhinos and AAZK. If you aren’t able to make it, we are always accepting donations as well. We will not be raising nearly as much money this year since we are not asking for sponsorships but every dollar helps.
Click Here for the Online Auction
Click Here for the Auction Facebook Event Page
Click Here for the In-Person Party Facebook Event Page
Thank you so much for your support and we look forward to seeing you over the next couple of weeks,
GCCAAZK
New Fiona Calendars are Available to Order:
The 2022 Fiona & Friends Calendar is here! There is a photo of Fiona on every month along with some of your other favorite zoo residents. Click here to order – https://shopcincinnatizoo.com/collections/whats-new/products/calendar-fiona®-2022
Volunteer Corner:
Check out these Photos of our Bowyer Horticulture Crew planting 1400 Sweet Gum Trees for a new Browse Field! Way to Go!
Friendly Faces:
There are some new Faces on the Development Team, Can you find them?
Martha and Jen are the new faces on the team! Learn a little more about them below, and make sure that you say “Hello” and “Welcome” if you see them around the Zoo!
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Martha comes to us from the Cincinnati Nature Center where she did a whole range of development work including database management, communications, volunteer management and donor relations. She will be focusing on writing and communications for all things Development, as well as managing our new email and fundraising page platform Luminate! Martha loves National Parks (as you can see from her photo!). She has visited 28 so far and is planning to eventually get to all 63! |
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Jen comes to us from the Bethesda Foundation where she directed several fundraising events supporting Bethesda North, Bethesda Butler and Fernside. Her focus will be on managing and planning donor events, helping drive revenue for fundraisers like Zoofari and Zoo La La and working on sponsorship sales and deliverables with Dave Plogmann. In college she ran track and threw the javelin and her “sometimes love” of running has led her to run 4 half marathons with her 5th coming up at the end of the month! |
Upcoming Zoo Events:
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HallZOOween
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10/16 , 10/17 , 10/23 , 10/24 , 10/30
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For more HallZOOween information Click Here
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Did you miss this in the last in the last Update:
Did you know the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is offering an opportunity to witness the Monarch Migration in person next year? It will be a once in a lifetime trip with Amazing Opportunities! Click the Link below to learn all about it!
2022 Mexico Trip with the CZBG
Don’t forget to Log your Hours in MVP. Do you need a quick refresher course on logging your hours? Click Here
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.