Celebrating a Year of Impact: A Heartfelt Thank You to Our Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden Adult Volunteers
As we approach the end of this remarkable year, I find myself reflecting on the incredible journey we’ve shared as a community of dedicated individuals at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. Your passion, commitment, and tireless efforts have played a pivotal role in making this year truly special.
From engaging visitors with fascinating insights to tending to the lush beauty of our botanical wonders, each one of you has contributed to the magic that makes our zoo a cherished place for families and nature enthusiasts alike.
As the holiday season arrives, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks for your exceptional contributions. Your enthusiasm has created memorable experiences for our visitors and has fostered a sense of community that makes our zoo unique.
Wishing you and your loved ones a joyous holiday season filled with warmth and laughter. May the new year ahead bring you exciting adventures and continued opportunities to share your passion for wildlife and conservation.
Thank you for being the backbone of our Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden family. Your dedication is the heartbeat of our community, and I am truly grateful for each and every one of you.
Happy holidays and cheers to a wonderful new year!
With a Heart full of Gratitude,
Brittany Garera-Stapleton, CZBG Volunteer Program Manager
Zoo Updates
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Blooloop – Zero Waste Story
SSA and the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden are in the news again for their sustainability efforts, this time in BLOOLOOP.
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Make Some Bunny’s Day
If you didn’t see Sam Bono’s post about reuniting a lost bunny with its family, here it is…When a Stuffed Bunny Spends the Night.
Fox 19 also covered the heartwarming story — http://my.tvey.es/f8Q9R – and the family posted a very nice note about how Zoo staff went above and beyond to make their holiday season brighter. Grab a tissue!
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A Rave Review for You Know Who
Fiona: The Musical debuted at the Ensemble theater and it was a hit. Click on the link below to read a review in Cincinnati Magazine.
Click Here for More Information
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ZooTales Podcast
What does it take to carefully move four elephants from Ireland to Cincinnati? Keepers from the Dublin Zoo and Cincinnati Zoo tell us all of the hard work that goes into getting four elephants ready for a big move. https://ow.ly/8UUg50QivZg
Plant & Animal Updates
Otter Info
Otters Sugar and Wesley! Otters are the only aquatic members of the weasel family.
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December 4th – Kuvua Birthday
Happy 16th Birthday to a very pregnant Kuvua!
Kuvua the okapi getting extra loving from one of her care givers. She is due and day now after a long 15-month gestation.
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Violet
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Mushu the Pallas Cat
The many faces of Mushu the Pallas’s cat.
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Juno Update
Cutest pic of Juno yet!!! She is almost 6 months old and has just starting climbing on her own!
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Elana Update
Great shots of Elana, the new female Mexican wolf that was recently added to the pack. She is darker and smaller than the males so you can tell her apart fairly easily.
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New Animal Alert
Opal is a blue duiker, the smallest of duiker species. She turned 1 in Nov, but likely reached full size at 6 mo old & only weighs 6.9lbs! We are hoping to have a male join her in the future for breeding purposes in an effort to preserve this species in zoos.
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Peruvian Walking Sticks
These are Peruvian jumping sticks, native to the Upper Amazon Basin of Peru and Ecuador. This species is a great example of sexual dimorphism – the large brown one is the female and the two small green ones are the males. Even though their name suggests they are stick insects, they are actually a species of grasshopper. They are strictly herbivores; feeding on rose thorn plant (Pyracantha) that we grow on zoo grounds. Females will bury their eggs deep in the soil, where the eggs will take around 9 months to hatch. Females can live around a year and a half, while males live around 8 months.
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Bowyer Update
CREW Oak Project:
CREW has been working on various projects to further their efforts in the conservation of oaks. Bowyer Farm will be receiving dozens of oaks from their propagation efforts. These oaks will be over-wintered at Bowyer with the intention of developing an oak
conservation field at Bowyer in collaboration with CREW where research into these trees can continue for years to come.
(Words by Dani Kastor. Photo by Casey Coovert.)
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12/13 – Hot Cocoa Day
Happy National Hot Cocoa Day! The Plant Division at the Lindner Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW) is home to a plant that we all know and love… The Chocolate tree! The Exceptional Plant Signature Project at CREW focuses on endangered plants for which seed banking is not an option for long-term conservation. While the Cacao tree is not currently considered endangered, it is a great example of an exceptional plant species! The scientists in the Plant Lab work every day to preserve plant biodiversity for future generations. We hope you enjoy some hot cocoa today!
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12/10 – Aegon’s Birthday
Happy 5th Birthday Aegon! He currently weighs around 25lbs but a full-grown male Komodo dragon usually weighs between 175-200lbs. The largest ever recorded was 366lbs! So Aegon has a lot of growing still to do!
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12/7 – Happy Birthday M’Linzi
Happy 41st Birthday to Mlinzi!
Mlinzi is old in age but young in spirit.
Playful and loving, yet lets few see it.
Guests visiting the zoo question her brow.
And perceive her as grumpy with a scowl.
Don’t let this fool you, as she is a gorilla.
You wouldn’t expect her to act and look human, would’ya?
Her keepers cherish and love her a ton!
Help’em wish Mlinzi a happy forty-one!
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Black Rhino
Black rhinos (Diceros bicornis) are so named not because of the color of their skin but to distinguish them from the white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum). The terms “black” and “white” are thought to be mistranslations or misinterpretations of the Afrikaans words “swart” and “wyd,” which mean “wide” in English.
The white rhinoceros has a wide, square-shaped mouth adapted for grazing on grass, while the black rhinoceros has a more pointed, hooked upper lip that is adapted for grasping leaves and twigs from bushes and trees. So, the distinction between black and white rhinos is based on the shape of their mouths rather than the color of their skin.
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Jonah & Juanita
Jonah and Juanita, who are a part of the Six-banded Armadillo SSP, are currently living together for breeding! Keepers have found them sharing a nest box and napping together.
Conservation Corner
30×30 CZBG Joins Others in Lending Support
Message from David Orban:
You may recall from a posting a few months back that the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden joined the campaign urging governing officials to protect 30% of land and oceans by 2030. This worldwide initiative is gaining momentum and is a big talking point at the current COP28 (United Nations Climate Change Conference). While CBZG was one of the initial signatories on a letter from zoos and aquariums, there are now over 200 zoos and aquariums urging action, including 155 from AZA.
From the chair of the AZA Government Affairs Committee:
We continued to push sign-ons to the letter with a result of 155 of our institutions joining, fully 66% of the membership, and an additional 58 signers from our WAZA colleagues. Candidly, this is one of the best broad-based policy engagements in recent memory. We pressure tested our regional network structure and we were able to get a great result and build out our network. Thank you for being a part of this effort!
This is a great show of collaborative strength and growing focus on advocacy within the zoo and aquarium community! Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden will continue to engage in these and other efforts to protect wildlife and wild places.
Click Here for More Information
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Terri Roth talks about Harapan siring a calf
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Sustainable Holidays
While the holidays are a fun and festive time of year, they can also generate a lot of waste. Please consider your personal impact as you wrap up holiday preparations! Read below for waste reduction recommendations, from gift wrapping to gift giving!
Wrap Better
- Gift Wrap
- Disassemble paper grocery bags and wrap as usual
- Try butcher paper or newspaper
- Use old or leftover gift wrap
- Incorporate a gift into the wrapping!
- Scarves and dishtowels make great gift wrap!
- Packages
- Reuse mailers or boxes
- Toilet paper tubes as boxes for small items
- Mason jar are decorative and reusable
- Gift Bags
- Reuse old bags
- Place gift in a reusable bag
- Make a bag using butcher paper
- Decor
- Reuse old ribbons, bows, and string
- Make ribbon from plastic grocery bags or old clothes
- Decorate packages with dried oranges or pine needles
- Use paper tape or challenge yourself to wrap without tape
- Make gift tags or write directly on the package
- Make holiday cards (Create own stamps with potatoes!)
- When in doubt, THRIFT materials
Gift Consciously
- Gift what they need, practical gifts are the best
- Gift what they truly want or talk about
- Thrift gifts or purchase from local creators/shops
- Purchase new items from sustainable/ethical brands
- Curate an experience or quality time
- Donate or volunteer for a cause in the recipient’s name
- Handmade
- Fill a mason jar with dry ingredients and attach cookie recipe
- Write out your famous recipes
- Make scented hand soap or candles
- Send an e-certificate to a favorite restaurant or shop
- Normalize re-gifting or NOT gifting
Avoid Waste
- Create a thoughtful list
- If people ask, tell them what you need or truly want
- Send e-cards to reduce emissions and paper waste
- Offset travel emissions or package delivery when possible
- Recycle/Reuse wrapping materials each year
- Avoid unnecessary gifts
- White elephant is wasteful! Host a swap instead to find homes for loved items and keep them from waste streams.
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Hefty ReNew
The Greenest Zoo in America is going orange with the Hefty ReNew™ Orange Bag program. The Hefty ReNew™ program establishes a way for residents to collect otherwise hard-to-recycle plastics & convert them into valued resources. https://ow.ly/EkWz50Qfgof #HeftyReNew
Volunteer News
CREW Holiday Potluck
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Volunteer Photo
Check out this great photo captured by Jasmine Statzer, her caption is below:
“Our new Goliath beetle pair we just put on display at world of the insect! They were so cute eating their banana like lady and the tramp!”
In Case You Missed It
The Giving Tree
If you are interested in contributing, you can see the available options by clicking the link below.
Click Here to Access the Amazon Wish List
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