Get EdZooCated!

With all the excitement brewing over the opening of A Step into Africa and the return of lions to Seneca Park Zoo, I thought our blog readers might be interested in learning more about my favorite part of the new exhibit: the Dig Zone, an exhibit which replicates Olduvai Gorge.

Photo by Kelli O'Brien

For the past few years, I have been extremely lucky to be a part of the team developing the Dig Zone area. Three years ago, the Dig Zone was a blank slate, a kidney-shaped space on the topographical map of what would become A Step into Africa. I was thrilled to be tasked with filling in that space with what I hope you will agree is the most engaging, educational dig experience at any zoo or museum.

Many decisions needed to be made; after all, we have 4.5 billion years of history to work with! The first decision that needed to be made was what time period to focus on. It did not take long to settle on our time frame of 1.8 million years ago. Why? Because 1.8 million years ago in the area we now call Olduvai Gorge, amazing things were taking place!

Early hominids called Homo habilis were making some pretty complex stone tools, hunting strategically, butchering animals in fairly similar fashion to how things are done today, even cooking! My favorite story from that time period revolves around a fossil that dates to this age, OH8, the record number for a nearly complete foot of Homo habilis. A portion of the heel is missing and there are two teeth marks right through the top of it, which match the teeth of Crocodylus anthropophagus, literally translated as a man-eating crocodile! More hominid fossils indicating a similar demise tell us an interesting story, at one time, man was not at the top of the food chain!

So, aside from our crocodile and hominid, what other species would we want to represent? Well, at one time, this now-arid region was a lake surrounded by volcanic ash deposits and the fossil record supports this. So, be sure to look for fossils of animals you’d expect to find in a freshwater lake, like turtles and stingrays. You can also expect to find some evidence of a butchering site. Some of the animals you will unearth are now extinct, but many are still around today.

The diversity of life then and now is staggering, but deciding on the animals was just the beginning. I wanted to be sure our visitors learned what it’s really like to be a paleontologist. With twelve years of field and museum preparatory experience under my belt, I felt I could work to make this element of the exhibit truly unique from other dig experiences.

Photo by iStock.com

Visitors will be able to explore the walls of the “pit” to see the sedimentary layers of rock that have been excavated. Fossil shipping crates will be in place with fossils being prepared to “ship” to the museum. Paleontologist field books will be on hand for visitors to learn more about the fossils unearthed at the site. Be sure to look up at the “surface” of the pit so that you can see all the tools a paleontologist uses at a dig site, too.

So, the next couple of months are going to be pretty busy. Shopping for “fossils” and casting them in cold-cast concrete in order for them to survive Rochester winters will be a huge undertaking.

I’m really excited about this project because it is where I will be able to put to use all the hours of lab experience I acquired earlier in my career. We will also be settling on the substrate, or matrix, that visitors will be digging in. While this sounds like an easy task, this has probably been the piece of the exhibit that has taken the most thought. Finding a balance between ease of movement, cleanliness, color, hardness, aesthetic principles and cost is an arduous task! Sieve stands are being constructed by an Eagle Scout to replicate those used at dig sites and shopping for props like shovels, pick axes, lunch boxes, gloves, etc. to set the stage are the final pieces to give our Dig Zone a truly authentic feel.

I am eagerly anticipating the chance to share this exhibit with our Zoo visitors. Being able to work on this exhibit has been a dream come true!

- Tina Crandall-Gommel, Conservation Education Coordinator

So I have one more blog about pets before I move onto the summer season. This month, I would like to talk about mammals.

Photo by Kelli O'Brien

These are obviously the popular choice for a pet; cats and dogs are the most popular ones. There are other mammals that make great pets and some that do not. Again, I stress this with any pet: Do your research! In my opinion, the best non-traditional mammal pets are often the ones that give people the creeps…RATS! They are wonderful pets and let me tell you why.

First off, they are a great starter pet for children. They require minimal care and do not live very long, so if the child loses interest parents are not stuck with an animal they did not want for an extended period of time. Also, rats form strong bonds with their owners and are easily trained. There are also guinea pigs, gerbils and hamsters, which are similar to a rat in care, but can be temperamental. Another good mammal pet is a rabbit, but you need to make sure you have enough space to support one. In fact, I have many friends that have rabbits and have trained them to use a litter box!

Photo by Helen Dishaw

Now let’s talk about the not-so-good options for a mammal pet. Ferrets can be great, but can require a lot of care. Chinchillas are beautiful, but they are nocturnal and really do not like to be held. The oil on our skin makes a chinchilla feel gross! Then there are more exotic pets, such as kinkajous and sugar gliders. These animals are very cool, but they can become aggressive if not properly trained, require a lot of care and can live a long time. Having a wild animal as a pet is illegal, so don’t think about a squirrel or a chipmunk, either. They do not take well to becoming domesticated and can be a safety risk.

Lastly, I get this question all the time: “Can I get a monkey as a pet?” No. It is illegal and dangerous. Monkeys need specialized care and socialization that we cannot give to them as pet. I hope you enjoyed my blogs about pets over these past few months. Keep an eye out for blogs about summer season, which I am getting very excited about!

- Kenny Nelson, Education Animal Programs and Training Coordinator

Photo by Kelli O'Brien

It is time to think warm summer thoughts – you can beat the winter blahs with a warm and fuzzy visit from the Zoo.

You might have seen the Wegmans ZooMobile at any number of festivals last summer, including Positively Pittsford, St. Monica’s Music Fest and the Ontario Beach Harborfest. It might still be winter, but it is not too early to start thinking about festivals. In fact, the ZooMobile will be attending 92.5 WBEE presents Kids Fest 2012 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Saturday (Feb. 18)!

Kids Fest is being held at Unity Health System’s Total Sports Experience again this year with plenty of things to do. Here is a brief schedule of the live entertainers: 11 a.m.: Flyin’ Brian and Miss Understood; 12:30 p.m.: Bill Gormont’s “World of Magic”; 2 p.m.: Airplay – Juggling, Acrobatics and Comedy (featured guests at two of our Night at the Zoo events in 2011); 3 p.m. Gary the Happy Pirate.

For more information on 92.5 WBEE presents Kids Fest 2012, click here. For more information about the Wegmans ZooMobile, click here. See you there!

- Tim Fowler, Off-site Education Coordinator

Try out a color that's different from the same old pink, red and white this year.

I was astonished last night as I watched the nightly news report that Americans spend more than $18 billion on Valentine’s Day annually! It made me think about how far that money could go if put to use in conservation projects. My challenge for you this year is to take part of what you’d spend on Valentine’s Day and make it count for the environment, or your favorite animal.

Here are some suggestions:

1. Buy a Zoo membership as a Valentine’s Day gift for your family. Your support of the Zoo not only helps out animals, but visiting frequently is a great way for your family to learn about the animals and what we can do to help them. Not to mention it’s the best value in town when you take advantage of the reciprocity with other Zoos.
2. Adopt an animal! Seneca Park Zoo has options to adopt your favorite resident here. But if your sweetheart’s passion is sea turtles, gorillas or great white sharks, click here  for more adoption options.
3. Plant a tree! Trees help by producing oxygen to breath as well as habitat for local animals.
4. Buy organic and fair trade chocolates. Conventionally grown cacao is one of the most pesticide-intensive crops grown today. Read about a sweet promotion the Zoo has with chocolate maker Madecasse through the month of February here.
5. Purchase local wine. There is no shortage of local wines in western NY. Improve the greenness of your wine purchase with organic wine, and better yet, from a winery that is also FSC-certified (no wild trees are harmed in the production of cork and paper labels). Check out wines from Four Chimneys.
6. Make cards and decorations from recycled items. Spread the love in your home by turning scrap paper or junk mail into a festive Valentine’s Day garland! Use paper doilies and baker’s twine, along with old pieces of scrapbooking paper, to create a fun, heart-shaped garland that’s sure to get the whole family in the spirit. But don’t restrict yourself to standard pink-and-red garlands. Make “unconventional” hearts from junk mail, food boxes and magazine pages. If store cards are a must, look for ones made from recycled content paper.
7. Eat at a locally-owned restaurant. Look for one that serves locally-grown, organic produce and locally-raised, free-range meats whenever possible.
8. Instead of roses, opt for a native perennial plant that can be put outside in the spring. Native perennials provide food and habitat for many local species.

Hope these tips help you on your way to a greener Valentine’s Day!

- Tina Crandall-Gommel, Conservation Education Coordinator

I know it is only the start of February, but believe it or not ZooCamp season is here!

Photo by Helen Dishaw

It is going to be a big year for the Zoo with our new exhibit A Step into Africa opening up in mid-May, which will bring back lions to your Zoo. Gearing up for this awesome new area we are offering camps themes such as “African Adventure”, “African Safari” and “I Dig Bones: Exploring Paleontology.” Of course, all of our summer campers will get a chance to experience this new exhibit and all of the other features your Zoo has to offer. Plus, campers always get a behind-the-scenes peek of areas where visitors typically don’t go. It might be a tour of the kitchen, helping clean the Rhino Exhibit, or helping to sort fish for the sea lions. Every week is full of surprises!

Photo by Andrew King

Can’t wait for summer to get here? Well, sign up for February Break or Spring Break Camps! In February Break Camp, we will be discovering how animals survive in extreme climates, learning how polar bears stay warm in the Arctic and how elephants keep cool in the African heat! We’re hoping for snow that week too, because we always try to squeeze in some sledding and hot chocolate!

Spring Break Camp will be VERY exciting this year because we will be experiencing “A Peek into Africa.” Campers this week will be some of the first kids to enter the new exhibit and see everything it has to offer: the Dig Zone, the Safari Bus the new lions and more! It is bound to be a “wild” time!

So register today for February Break, Spring Break and Summer ZooCamp before they fill up! See you at the Zoo!

- Emily Coon-Frisch, Manager of Program Development