Third Friday Update _ 10/21/2022

Posted on By Amber Suttmiller

Third Friday Volunteer Update – October Edition

Volunteer Tickets 

Volunteer Hours have been Logged and the Report has been run!  Volunteer Tickets will be available for Pick Up starting Monday, 10/24.  I will have the Volunteer Tickets available at my desk on the Third Floor of Education.  If I am not at my desk, the Tickets will be in envelopes in the blue hanging file folder with your name on it.

 Zoo Updates:

Traffic Update/Road Closures:

 Erkenbrecher Ave will be closed from the Euclid crosswalk down to Vine Street next week (Mon 10/24-Wed 10/26, with possible extension that week and the week after). Euclid and Shields will be open as a detour to Vine St.  If you plan on visiting the Zoo, plan accordingly!

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Butterfly Aviary Closing Soon

The Butterfly Aviary will close on Oct. 30th for the winter and will re-open next Spring. Flutter over to the World of the Insect on your next visit to see them.

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Vet Tech Week

The week of October 18th was National Vet Tech Week! Our vet techs play a crucial role in keeping animals at the Cincinnati Zoo healthy! Thank you to Lead Veterinary Technician Jenny K., Veterinary Technicians Amy L and Janell D, and the entire Animal Health Team for all you do!
Click Here to Read More

 

 Just For Fun:

Willow

Hello sweet Willow the ringtail. The name “ringtail” comes from the seven or eight black rings on the animal’s tail. They are members of the raccoon family.

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African Penguin Awareness Day

Populations of endangered African penguins are declining due to threats including oil spills & depleted prey populations as a result of overfishing. We support SANCOOB, aleading non-profit organization that has treated more than 90K ill and injured Penguins.
Click Here to Learn More about SANCOOB

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John

No message for this tongue out photo of John, I just wanted to add it in because I know someone needed a smile! 😉

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Fritz

 Fritz showing off his teeth coming in!  He is 2 months old and over 250lbs!  (When Fiona was two months old, she weighed around 106 pounds!)

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Giraffe

It’s Fenn, Tessa & Zoey!  A group of giraffes is called a tower.

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Steve Folz

The rest of the world is learning what we already know (about Steve)!  Check out the links to the articles below
https://gardenrant.com/2022/10/the-gift-of-steve-foltz.html
https://gardenrant.com/2022/09/cincinnati-zoo-has-baby-hippos-and-great-landscapes-too.html

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Rookwood Ornaments

The Fiona ‘Love You to the Moon & Back’ Rookwood Ornament celebrates love that is truly out of this world! This heartwarming ornament depicts Fiona & Fritz sweetly snuggling among the twinkling stars and bright moon. 20% of sales go to the Zoo! rookwood.com/collections/fi

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Armadillo Playdate

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Rozi & Remus

 Remus and Rozi had another great playdate!  Have you been lucky enough to catch them playing in the yard together?

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Animal Tricks & Treats

Not only do the animals at the Cincinnati Zoo have some interesting treats to suit the season, they’re also full of some cool & creepy tactics & adaptations—or, more fittingly, tricks—that help them survive.
Click Here to Read More in the Blog Post

Cute Photo Alert!

The red pandas explored some bubble enrichment which made for some adorable photos!

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World Okapi Day

October 18th is World Okapi Day!  The endangered okapi is found only in the DRC. You can help by recycling old cell phones. Cell phones contain Coltan, a mineral that is mined within okapi habitat. Bring your old cell phone to the Zoo for recycling & help prevent future habitat destruction

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International Sloth Day

On October 21st wished a Happy International Sloth Day to Moe and Lightning! The sloth is not lazy, just slow. Instead of foraging all day long to get enough energy from the leaves it eats, the sloth conserves energy by being inactive.

 

Plant & Animal Updates:

The Bloat is all together!

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The Gardens still look AMAZING!

If you haven’t been on grounds lately, it is time to come and take a look!  Our Horticulture team, both staff and the amazing volunteers, continue to just knock it out of the park!  The photos above were taken last week!  Can you identify them all?

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Isla is Expecting!

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Kris on the Run

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Lightning is Expecting!!

We are thrilled to announce that Lightning is pregnant and due next summer!
Click Here to Read More
Click Here for A *NEW* Home Safari featuring Moe

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Manatee

Manatees SwimShady, Alby, and Manhattan did great on their journey back to Florida. They arrived at SeaWorld Orlando on a beautiful sunny day, started eating right away, and checked out their new temporary home. The next day they joined five other males who will be returning back to the wild with them in early 2023.

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King Penguin News

A king-sized bundle of joy has been welcomed into the world thanks to a collaboration between Cincinnati Zoo & Detroit Zoo. The egg was laid at the Cincinnati Zoo but when the AZA’s Species Survival Plan recommended the Detroit Zoo as a home for the future chick, representatives from both zoos started collaborating – carefully crafting a plan to incubate, transport and transfer the king penguin chick egg to its new foster parents, a 21-year-old male and a 7-year-old female named Gertie. These king penguins bonded during the mating season but didn’t produce an egg of their own. Instead, to prepare the couple for parenthood, zookeepers provided the pair a “practice” egg to care for until the “real” egg from the Cincinnati Zoo arrived. The egg hatched in August, and the chick is doing well and is being closely cared for by its foster parents.

Conservation News:

Sustainable Palm Oil

Be Eeeek-o-friendly this year when choosing your Halloween candy. Please support companies that use sustainable palm oil which helps protect the natural habitat of orangutans & other species.
Click Here to see what candy companies use sustainable palm oil

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African Painted Dogs

We support field projects aimed at protecting African painted dogs and encouraging human-carnivore coexistence in Africa, including the Botswana Predator Conservation Trust.

Click Here to Learn More about the Botswana Predator Conservation Trust

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Gorillas & Chimps

Learn more from our partners in the Congo about their amazing observations of gorillas and chimps socializing together!  Deep in the rain forest of the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo, scientists have observed an unlikely friendship between a group of chimpanzees and gorillas.
Click Here to Read More

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Saving Sloths in the Wild

In honor of the BIG Sloth Baby News here at the Zoo, we wanted to feature one of our partner organizations dedicated to Sloths in the Wild.  The Cincinnati Zoo is helping to save sloths through The Sloth Institute Costa Rica.
Click Here to Learn More

 

Opportunities:

 Bowling for Rhinos

Don’t miss the opportunity to support the AAZK Cincinnati chapter at their 7th annual Bowling for Rhinos event.  This year the event will take place on October 29th.  Click the link below for more information!

Bowling for Rhinos

We have some cool things in our silent auction – such as a Fritz kiss painting!! *gasp*  You can follow us on social media to see some of the other fun items we will have for sale, and in our raffle and silent auction. (follow us here www.facebook.com/greatercincinnatichapteraazk)
Can’t make the event, but still want to support rhinos? We have t-shirts for sale! Alle in Education has some at her desk for sale and can meet you sometime if you are interested in purchasing one. They are $20 and we take cash or card! Email Alle if you are interested (alle[email protected]) to arrange a time to meet. 

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Rain Barrel

Calling all artists! Apply before December 16 to be a part of the 11th annual Rain Barrel Art Project, an initiative designed to educate the community about water conservation and pollution caused by stormwater runoff. Apply here: savelocalwaters.org/participate

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Free Webinars

Want to explore the tough topics within monarch conservation? Or the nuances behind behavior change patterns and pathways to encourage people to take conservation action?  Our very own Lily Maynard will be featured on two upcoming, free webinars and you’re welcome to tune in!
What We Talk About When We Talk About Monarchs: Tackling the Tough Topics in Monarch Conservation 
Tuesday, October 25 at 2 pm ET
  • Presenters: Katie-Lyn Bunney, Monarch Joint Venture & Lily Maynard, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden.
  • Summary:  The positive emotions people feel about monarchs can be a strength used to increase conservation engagement. Join us for a discussion about how to have productive conversations on topics where people may hold very different convictions. Even tough conversations can mobilize people into action. Come away with strategies and ways to reframe messages to diverse audiences on topics like tropical milkweed and raising monarchs.
  • Registration: https://donate.monarchjointventure.org/event/the-monarch-butterfly-conservation-webinar-series/e383215 
Motivators of Conservation Behavior Change and Pathways to Tap Into Them

Thursday, November 3, 2022, at 12 pm EST

  • Presenters: Lauren Watkins and Lily Maynard
  • Summary:  In this webinar, presenters Lauren Watkins and Lily Maynard will introduce you to social science tools to amplify strategies to motivate conservation action using a framework to explore diverse pathways to behavior change. These tools provide new lenses and resources to frame communications and mobilize audiences, as well as ideas for adaptive management and evaluation. Participants will get a sneak peek at a soon-to-be-released workbook on pathways to motivating conservation behavior change, designed by the presenters and partners.
  • Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/motivators-of-conservation-behavior-change-and-pathways-to-tap-into-them-registration-435760329877

New Faces/Positions:

CZBG Global Fellow Spotlight: T’Noya Thompson

The Zoo has never let the boundaries of the park limit our impact. The impact of the conservation efforts at the Cincinnati Zoo can be seen far beyond the Zoo gates, in the local community as well as across the world. This year, the Zoo furthered its global outreach by launching the Global Conservation Impact Fellow Program. This program is designed to uplift conservation leaders across the world and support and empower the work they do in their communities. By hiring our first international zoo staff to represent the Cincinnati Zoo in active community-driven work, we are investing in deserving conservationists and leaders. As of July 2022, the Zoo is happy to welcome the first Global Conservation Impact Fellow to our community – T’Noya Thompson!
T’Noya Thompson is a project manager and conservation educator in the Bahamas, whose goal is to use organizational leadership to promote conservation on an organizational scale. She is a passionate and intelligent communicator with a magnetic personality that simply draws people to her vision. Her experience in organizational leadership, community involvement, and marine sciences is an excellent complement to the Zoo’s conservation mission.
T’Noya’s story begins with the water. As a native of Nassau, the Bahamas, T’Noya has always been inspired by the ocean. This passion continued into her academic career, earning her bachelor’s degree in marine biology from Texas A&M Galveston. A self-described lifelong learner, T’Noya continued her academic pursuits while following her passion across several distinct roles in her career path. She attended three Earth Expedition trips (receiving her master’s degree with Project Dragonfly in the process) and shortly thereafter began her Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership at Southeastern University. Through this time, she began to truly hone in on her passion: uniting and empowering communities to take charge of their local environments. Specifically, T’Noya seeks to promote conservation on the organizational level. She applied this vision to her work with the Galveston Bay Foundation and the Houston Advanced Research Center and created dialogue with the local community for many years.
Eventually, her work took her back to the Bahamas–fulfilling her goal of doing conservation work on her “home turf.” Conservation Nation, an organization dedicated to funding projects for conservation, awarded T’Noya and her team a grant for their project, “Bahamians, Birds, and Botany.” This project aims to engage Bahamian high schoolers and learn more about migratory birds on their islands.  The Cincinnati Zoo is proud to further support T’Noya’s efforts to promote community science and Bahamian empowerment.
It is work such as this that makes T’Noya a powerful force for good. Her career artfully marries her passion for nature with her many years of expertise. The Cincinnati Zoo shares this passion and hopes to continue conservation efforts in the Bahamas with the help of T’Noya. Specifically, we are partnering to engage Bahamian youth to learn more about the environment and protect wildlife while serving the best interests of the people by encouraging new practices in tourism companies. With T’Noya’s leadership, the growing Fellowship team, and the support of the Cincinnati Zoo, there is no limit to what can be accomplished for wildlife in the Bahamas and beyond.

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Dan Canfield

Congratulations to Dan Canfield, our newest full-time zookeeper of Team Bird!
Dan is no stranger to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. He began his journey in 2012 as an intern and then followed up with multiple paid positions throughout the zoo over the course of 5 years, with a particular focus on birds. He also spent time as an Amazon & Beyond bird keeper at Zoo Miami. Dan brings with him some really great training experience, mixed taxa husbandry strategies, public speaking skills (move over Cody), and a lot of nerdiness. In his free time, you may find Dan volunteering at the Comic Expo, playing rugby for the Queen City Rugby Football Club, and playing various tabletop games.

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Marianne Van Atwerp

Please help us welcome Marianne Van Antwerp to the CZBG Animal Department! Marianne is the new Team Leader of Night Hunters.  Her career in zookeeping has taken her across the country and back again.  Starting out at the Cosley Zoo and Brookfield Zoo in Illinois, Oklahoma City Zoo in Tulsa, Hogle Zoo in Utah, Reid Park Zoo in Arizona, and the Audubon Zoo in Louisiana, she’s now making her way to Ohio!  She has worked with a wide variety of species, but carnivores are her favorites (of course!).  She was lucky enough to have worked with Mushu our male Pallas’s Cat when he was just a baby at Hogle and looks forward to working with him again as Pallas’s Cats are her favorite animal.
Outside of work, Marianne enjoys spending time with her four crazy rescue cats, reading, checking out local craft breweries, watching true crime documentaries, bingeing Star Wars and Marvel content, and exploring parks and hiking areas.

Contact Information:

Brittany Garera-Stapleton
Volunteer Relations Coordinator
(513)559-7768
[email protected]