Volunteer Updates & Opportunities
Volunteer Appreciation Week
I hope everyone had a wonderful time during Volunteer Appreciation Week. If you were a lucky giveaway winner, you should’ve received a message about picking up your prize. I also wanted to remind everyone that the Summer Fun events are available for sign ups in MVP.
As a Reminder, you can sign up for only one of the After Hours events listed below:
- History & Hijinks Tour
- Africa BTS Buildin Tour
- Night Hunters BTS Building Tour
- Manatee BTS Building Tour
The Jane Goodall Film screening is available for all volunteers and doesn’t count toward your one event. Everyone is welcome to sign up for the screening, even if you were able to snag a tour spot.
Last, but certainly not least. I want to announce the winner of our Bonus Giveaway! The winner of the Red’s Tickets is…
Michelle Peters!
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Zoo Camp Starts Soon!
Note from the Education Team:
Hello folks! The Education Department’s children’s clothing/underwear stash for when our campers have accidents is growing low. If you have any gently loved children’s clothing to donate that would be amazing! Girls pants/shorts, boys pants/shorts, socks, undies, & t-shirts from 3T to size 10 are what we are in need of. Please drop off donations at the front desk. Thanks so much!
Also, If you have any extra cardboard boxes (free from any chemicals/chemical storage) or toilet paper tubes please drop them off in the education building. We will have a plastic collection box near the front desk, in the instructor room. We are accepting donations until 5/24.
Zoo Updates
Elephant Trek Updates
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Citizen Science Project at the Zoo
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ZooBabies
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Cheetahs and Dogs at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
The Cincinnati Enquirer wrote a fun story about the cheetah and companion dog duos! Click on the link below to read more.
Click Here to Read the Article
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A Family Affair
The Cincinnati Enquirer featured a story on a Mother-Daughter duo who have a unique connection to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. Click on the link below to learn more about how the Kotagal family has been helping Cincinnati Zoo Gorillas for five decades.
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ZooTales Podcast
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World Veterinary Day – 4/27
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Happy Birthday Remus – 4/27
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Happy Birthday Rozi – 4/26
Plant & Animal Updates
Bat-eared Fox Update
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Maizy Update
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Swimming Ostriches
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Bengals at the Zoo
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Happy Birthday Harapan – 4/29
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Happy Birthday Jin – 4/29
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Lakeside Daisy
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Grey Crowned Crane
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Grow Natives
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Happy 10th Birthday to Sheldon the ruddy shelduck! – 5/2
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Happy 10th Birthday to Suri the clouded leopard! – 4/25
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ZooBlooms
The tulips may be done but there are still many beautiful blooms throughout the Zoo & gardens.
Conservation Corner
Native Plant Sale – 5/4 – This Saturday!!!
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SORALO – Flooding
I received a message today with photos of flooding happening in Kenya. In the image above, the top photos show pictures of our group walking over a bridge while we were working with SORALO. The bottom photo is the same bridge during the flooding crisis happening right now. SORALO has been helping the community any way they can. We have asked for ways that we can support them through this tough time, I will hope to share news soon.
On a side note, thank you to all the volunteers who came to the Brown Bag discussion today to hear about the work we completed at SORALO. Unfortunately, we were not able to record the Brown Bag, but I am willing to do a ZOOM meeting in the evening if there is enough interest.
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Ocelotapalooza
If you missed Ocelotapalooza, it isn’t too late to contribute. We are still raising money to go towards Ocelotapalooza!
Here’s how you can help:
- Donate to our Facebook fundraiser through our AAZK page- Facebook
- Donate directly on our Facebook page using our new “DONATE” button.
We will continue to raise money until May 4th, so don’t wait and help us raise the funds for Friends of Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Sanctuary. This organization is located in South Texas and works to help save the last remaining ocelots on public land in the U.S.!
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New Conservation Game (As mentioned in the Elephant Trek Blog Article Above)
New conservation game alert! Welcome to Harmony : Heroes of Elephantia, where you get to save all the elephants of the world. Find treasures, fight shadows, and protect elephants while competing with your friends for the highest score.
Can you please help us promote and review the game?
If you have an Android phone, can you help us by downloading it and giving us a positive review? Can you also promote this to your friends and family?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.CincinnatiZoo.Harmony
As Elephant Trek opening approaches later this year, we’re advancing our active involvement in Asian elephant conservation efforts to ensure they thrive in the wild as much as they do in our care here.
To make sure our efforts will have the desired result of saving elephants, we explored the causes of the most human-elephant conflicts in Northeast India with our partners Conservation Initiatives (CI)… and were surprised to find the biggest threat is bored teenage boys! As you can imagine, their pressuring of each other to take selfies or mob elephants causes dangerous situations for both the teenagers and elephants!!
So, the partners at CI asked us for help designing an alternative to redirect the teenagers and sneak some learning about what elephants need in an unconventional way: we’ve developed a video game called “Harmony: Hero of Elephantia.”
In this game, players rescue Asian elephants from the clutches of wicked “Shadows” while receiving an empowering conservation message. When battling the evil Shadows, players confront their own negative behaviors, learning to become heroes who stand up for elephants.
The game, that just went live for Android platforms, aims to deepen players’ connection with these majestic creatures while promoting peaceful coexistence in regions where human-elephant conflict is common. The Conservation Impact team is working with CI to evaluate the effectiveness of this game in achieving our behavior change goals compared with traditional education programs and control groups. So, stay tuned for updates as we learn more and see if this helps to reduce human-elephant conflicts in NE India!
Staff Updates
New Youth Conservation Programs Manager
I’m thrilled to announce that Amanda Pace will be the Zoo’s Youth Conservation Programs Manager! Amanda started her Zoo career as an AmeriCorps member with the Conservation Impact team serving as the ZooTeen Engagement Member where she impressed us with her passion for the mission of the Zoo, youth development, and her skills with program operations and relationship-building with people of all ages and backgrounds.
After completing her second year in AmeriCorps in September 2023, she was hired by the VE department as the Visitor Experience Coordinator focusing on talent acquisition and process improvement. In just a few months in the role, she took the lead and successfully launched an employee accommodation plan, expanded opportunities for volunteers to support the VE team, and started a hiring manager collaboration to improve communication and share resources. With bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communications, a deep love of nature and conservation, and first-hand experience with the power of zoos to shape lives (she was a teen volunteer at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo for 4 years), Amanda is perfect for this role!
Amanda will report to Jerran who was recently promoted and is now our Senior Manager of Conservation Leadership Programs, so this dynamic duo will be working closely and collaboratively with lots of Zoo departments to expand opportunities for ZooTeens and other conservation leaders to take action for wildlife, wild places, and continue promoting coexistence! Beginning Monday, May 6th, all Intern and ZooTeen-related questions should be sent to Amanda, Jerran, and me while we transition management of these programs and get everyone up to speed.
In her free time, Amanda loves to ride rollercoasters at Kings Island, read, hang out with her family, sing some tunes with the piano, and be creative. If you ever want to strike up a conversation with Amanda, ask her about her 5 cats, Taylor Swift, or the Sarah J. Maas book universe.