Third Friday Update _ February Edition 2/16/2024

Posted on By Amber Suttmiller

Volunteer Updates and Opportunities

EXCITING NEWS – Stuffed Animal Clinic coming to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

I am so excited to share news about a project I have been working on over the past few months! On Tuesday, June 11th, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden will be inviting visitors to bring their favorite stuffed animals in for a check up, or a sick visit that would require minor surgery (ex. sewing up a hole).

The purpose of the Stuffed Animal Clinic will be to create an experience that will connect visitors with the remarkable work of our Animal Health team, showcase how to support local wildlife and maybe even calm some fears of the doctor for our youngest visitors.  This initiative not only promises a unique and creative experience for our visitors but also provides a platform for adult volunteers to actively contribute to our zoo community.

The best part is…THIS WILL BE AN ADULT VOLUNTEER LED EVENT, and there are several ways to get involved. Check out the different ways you can sign up to be a part of this event!

Well Visit Support

We are looking for Adult volunteers with great “people skills” and a passion for both people and wildlife. These attendants will be located at the Well Visit locations and will perform an engaging Stuffed Animal Check-Up(using a checklist like the one below), chat about animal welfare at the Zoo and handout a certificate of health containing some calls to action to help local wildlife.

If you are interested in this position, click on the link below to sign up and learn more:

Click Here to Sign Up for the Well Visit Support Volunteer Positions

Sick Visit “Surgeons”

Are you crafty or skilled at sewing? Do you love helping to brighten a kiddos day? If so, we are looking for you. These “Surgeons” will meet with our visitors, learn about what is bringing the stuffed animal into the clinic today and then using your skills to help “patch up” the stuffed animal and bring a smile to a face of the visitor 🙂

If you are interested in this position, click on the link below to sign up and learn more:

Click Here to Sign Up for the Sick Visit Surgeon Volunteer Positions

Donations

We will need some help making sure that we have everything we need to get the clinic up and running. If you are interested in helping to ensure that we have everything we need to make a visitor’s day, please sign up on the link below to receive an e-mail with donation requests.

Click Here to Sign Up to receive emails about Donation Requests

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TB Test – Volunteers in Animal Areas

All Volunteers in animal areas should have received an e-mail with information on the on-site TB Tests here at the Zoo. If you did not receive an e-mail, please reach out to me (Brittany – [email protected] ) for more information.

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Lost & Found Update

Visitor Experience will take on responsibility for all Lost & Found items in the Zoo! If you find an item or a guest approaches you in search of a lost item, please reach out to our Visitor Experience Communication Specialist (VECS) team, you may call the Visitor Experience Supervisors at 513-475-6198. Please standby with the item until a team member is able to come and meet you to retrieve it. As a reminder, guests who have lost an item here at the Zoo are encouraged to report it via this form – https://form.jotform.com/222704499234055

Zoo Updates

Solar Array Kick-Off

Cincinnati Zoo Breaks Ground on Largest Publicly Accessible Urban Solar Array in the U.S.

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Realizing the Dream through Service

The Cincinnati Reds announced yesterday that they will join Martin Luther King III’s Realizing the Dream initiative.  The project aims to drive 100 million hours of service by the 100th anniversary of MLK Jr.’s birth, January 15, 2029 (see project details below). The Reds are the first MLB team to join the movement, and the Cincinnati Zoo will be a big part of their first big service project, this year’s Community Makeover project. 

Click Here to Learn More

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CREW News – Polar Bears can catch cold too

Polar Bears Can Catch Colds, Too

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Grants to Support Wild Conservation

Empowering Employees: Cincinnati Zoo Grants Support for Wild Conservation Initiatives

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Commitment to Elephant Wellness

Guardians of Giants: A Glimpse into the Zoo’s Dedication to Elephant Wellness

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We still have a few spots on our Amsterdam trip with Steve Foltz

To Learn More, Check out the Form in the link below:

2024 Amsterdam Come Tip Toe Throught The Tulips with the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden.pdf

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ZooTales Podcast

When you think about conservation, you probably think about saving animals. DYK: Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden has a Plant Research Division dedicated to saving plants? Megan Philpott, Ph.D teaches us about the work it takes to save endangered plants https://ow.ly/NBEt50Qzqir

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Check Out how Our Browse Program is Supported by Krohn Conservatory

Plant & Animal Updates

Goodbye to our Sweet Red Panda, Lin

The Children’s Zoo team lost a very special animal today. We had to say goodbye to our sweet Red Panda, Lin. Lin was 10 years old and was loved by everyone she met. She was born here at the zoo and then went on to have 10 offspring of her own. She would always stand for her ultrasound while she ate her favorite treat, apple slices. The CZ team and our vet team worked hard to troubleshoot some recent weight loss and elevated liver values. Despite not wanting to take her meds, she would come over to see what the keepers made each day. They have been monitoring her condition but she declined quickly over this past week and today we had to make the difficult decision to say goodbye.

Children’s Zoo Team Leader, Mary Frondorf, added “Lin was a wonderfully kind panda who was an amazing ambassador for her species. She was a rock star mom and was beloved by all her caretakes here in Cincinnati. I will miss her so much! I really try to stay emotionally detached/reserved with the animals here at the zoo. I think it’s the only way to stay sane! Lin was however very special to me. I have many pictures of the 2 of us huddled together like we are solving the world’s problems. She was a special lady! I have a framed poster of her in my living room that I had done at Walgreens. After 30+ years here at the zoo, she is one I will remember always!”

Children’s Zoo Senior Keeper, Paul Reinhart: “Lin was an incredibly cool, well behaved and unique panda. We have had a lot of pandas here but she was just the best. We are going to miss her so much.”

Red Panda Cub Born at the Cincinnati Zoo!
Red Panda Cubs Born at Cincinnati Zoo

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Penguin Parade in the News

The Cincinnati Enquirer did a nice feature about our penguins and the end of parades. Click on the link below to check it out!

Click Here to Read the Article

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Remembering M&M

Recently the primate department lost a special member of their team, the adorable and sweet faced Buff Cheeked Gibbon, M&M.   M&M and Skittles often referred to as the candy gibbons were an inseparable pair of sisters that have touched the lives of so many people while on Gibbon Island.  The primate team and veterinary staff worked hard to manage M&M’s condition but ultimately, she lost her courageous fight.  I am personally so thankful that M&M had such an amazing team of people caring for her, this can be such a hard profession, but the fact that we get to share even a little bit of these incredible animals’ lives makes it worth it.   

Primate Center Keeper, Shaina Gerber shared this about M&M:

M&M passed peacefully after living with a neurological condition for the past 8 years.  When M&M was diagnosed with this condition, the team wasn’t sure how long she would be able to sustain getting around and doing all the things a gibbon should be able to do but she was a strong girl.  She was a wonderful companion to Skittles, her sister, for her whole life.  Like sisters do, they sometimes would get into little tiffs but by the end of the night they would be cuddling and made up.  M&M loved sunbathing on her island, yogurt (which she would always end up wearing all over her face), and she really enjoyed being a surrogate mom to Kip. We are so thankful that she got this chance to be a mom since she didn’t have the opportunity to have offspring of her own, and she was a natural at it!  The first day she was introduced to Kip she instantly knew what to do, she groomed him and was playing and laughing with him, it was a beautiful thing to see.  You could often hear Skittles and M&M dueting together and we will miss hearing her part with Skittles.  Rest easy M&M we will miss you sweet girl!

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World Wetlands Day – February 2nd

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Violet

Violet – then and now. She is 4-months-old today!

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Ondine the Fishing Cat

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Happy Birthday Minerva

Minerva the Eurasian eagle owl turned 10 during the week of February 6th

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Kinky’s Check-Up

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Happy Birthday Bibi – 2/7

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Elephant Trek Update

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Fritz Update

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Fritz had the right pick for the Super Bowl

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Happy Birthday Terri – 2/10

February 13th is Love Hornbills Day! This day celebrates Asian hornbill species. That bird has two bills? Look again! Hornbills get their name because of their unique horn-like structure called a casque. Casques are a hollow structure thought to amplify calls for mating and territory.

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Harley Fun

Conservation Corner

An update on our conservation partner SANCCOB

Check out the Message below from Jenny Gainer – Curator of Birds & African Animals

Happy February, zoo friends! I wanted to provide a brief update on our conservation partner SANCCOB (Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds ).  SANCCOB is a registered non-profit organization whose primary objective is to reverse the decline of seabird populations through the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of ill, injured, abandoned, and oiled seabirds – especially endangered species like the African penguin. For those that don’t know, CZBG has been supporting SANCCOB since the inception of the VIPenguin tours back in 2014. In 2020, we were fortunate enough to tack on 2 additional tours, the little blue penguin encounter and African penguin feedings, to supplement the funds we have been contributing over the years. 

I’m thrilled to share that in March of 2023 we sent $18,970.00 to support SANCCOB’s newly launched fundraising initiative to improve and expand their Chick Rearing Unit, where African penguin eggs and chicks are incubated and hand reared.  The space they currently have is no longer big enough to accommodate the large volumes of eggs and chicks admitted each season. To create additional space, better flow, and a more hygienic environment, they plan to join the two existing buildings to expand the CRU. This expansion would include an egg incubation room, chick incubation and brooder room, a room for chicks in crates, a room for food preparation, a laundry room, a bathroom for staff/interns, a storage area, and an outdoor pen for the chicks to get fresh air and sunlight.

Since 2006, SANCCOB has hand-reared over 10,000 African penguins, with 80% being released into the wild.  This year, Team Bird member Kim Klosterman will be joining the SANCCOB team for 2 weeks to lend her penguin and hand-rearing skills, and hopefully participate in a release! Stay tuned for more news from Kim when she comes back!

For more information about SANCCOB, check out their 2022-2023 integrated report, as well as their website. 

Integrated Report online here

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Reported Decline in Eastern Monarch – We CAN help!

Sadly, sharing the unfortunate news about the 59% decline in eastern monarchs overwintering in Mexico… but let’s use this to fire up ourselves, our teams, our visitors, and our communities to help feed the migration with Plant for Pollinators! 

You can see in the graph that they can rebound, so let’s work to help them do so! 

The presence of the eastern monarch butterfly population in Mexico’s oyamel fir forests this past winter was 59.3% less than the previous year, according to the most recent survey released by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Mexico. Monarch butterflies occupied 0.9 hectares, 1.31 less than the 2.21 hectares in the 2022-2023 overwintering season. This is the first time since the 2013-2014 overwintering season that the eastern monarch population has occupied less than one hectare. 

You can learn more through our recent blog post.

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Celebrating Valentines Day with our Bonobo Partners

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Manatee Update

Volunteer News

Photos from Ernie Martin, Habitat Ambassador Volunteer

Sometimes it is fun to look back at our history. Bakari was the 47th gorilla born at the CZBG August 13, 2006. The photos were taken June 2nd 2007. Jomo was the father and Muke the mother. Bakari became a resident of the Oklahoma City Zoo. 

In Case You Missed It

Open Volunteer Opportunities:

There are several department who are recruiting new Volunteers for the upcoming 2024 season! If you are interested in adding to your volunteer resume, or looking to make a change, check out the new volunteer opportunities below. Click on the Applications do be redirected to the forms.