Thank You Everyone!

I just wanted to thank everyone who came out to the zoo this long weekend. It was a huge success!

Here’s a quick update on Sandy and Penelope, our white handed gibbons. Previously I wrote about Sandy’s quest for a companion and how we think that Penelope may be just what he is looking for. Well last week we decided to introduce them. Things went well for a first encounter. At first Penelope really didn’t know what to think of Sandy, but as the day came to an end she was playing games with him. As Sandy has been a father before, he knew exactly how to deal with Miss Penelope and her childish hair pulling games. Sandy was a true gentleman, comforting Penelope with a kind arm around her shoulder, hoping that she would spend some relaxing time with him. Unfortunately, because Penelope is so young, she is full of energy. This means that Sandy will have his hands full for a while. He defiantly thinks it is worth the extra effort.

Stefanie

Just In Time For The Long Weekend!

Now that the beautiful weather is upon us, all of our animals are able to stay outside for the summer, including Lexi, our 9 year old female cheetah. This past Monday, Lexi was put outside into her new and improved enclosure in Carnivore Alley. The first thing she did was run to her favorite spot in the grass and sleep in the sun! After she woke up from her cat nap, Lexi was re-energized and amused herself by stalking the nearby chickens. By the end of her first day back outside she had remembered all of her favorite spots to lounge, including on top of her shelter.

Maggie is About to Retire!

In 1989 Maggie the crab-eating macaque was born into the Bowmanville Zoo family where she was hand raised by one of our keepers. Here at the zoo, she was trained to spin a wheel. With her new found talent and great personality Maggie was chosen for a new gig on TSN. The executives decided that they would "do something random" with their show, and they ended up bringing Maggie onto their broadcasts to make Stanley Cup Playoff predictions.

This year it has been announced on TSN that the 2009 playoffs will be the last year Maggie will make predictions for the network. She will be retiring at the end of the 2008-2009 hockey season. Here at the zoo we have made a special retirement villa for her and her two friends. Here she will enjoy basking in the sun and laying in the hammock.

Stefanie

Introducing...................Me

So I have been updating all of you over the past few weeks and I completely forgot to introduce myself. I am the Head Keeper here at Bowmanville Zoo. I have many responsibilities here at the zoo but my favourite is being the baboon trainer. Two years ago I was asked to hand raise a baby male baboon, Sammy. He came to us at two months old and needing a bottle every 4 hours, even at 3 in the morning! I gladly adopted him. We went everywhere together, even to hockey games. Now Sam is in his terrible two's and has integrated himself into the larger adult troop. In this troop are Alf (the dominant male) Tony and Nikki (adult females). I spend many afternoons working with the entire group, learning new behaviours, going for strolls through the zoo, and educating our guests in our Animatheatre.

Stefanie

New Best Friends???

The goal of Bowmanville Zoo is to give our animals the best quality of life possible. In captivity animals can suffer from lack of mental stimulation, obesity and boredom. Here at Bowmanville Zoo our animals are given carefully calculated amounts of food appropriate for their species, and are supplemented with any vitamins and minerals that they need. Along with that, exercise and training are very important components of daily life to maintain maximal health. As animal husbandry and management is our top priority we find new and different ways to stimulate them each day. Today we thought that introducing Jonas to Limba our Asian elephant would be a new and exciting event for both of them. As you can tell by the picture they both were very curious. By the end of their encounter Jonas and Limba have seemed to find a new friend.

Introducing Jonas

Hey everyone!

I thought it was about time for you to meet another one of my favorite animals, Jonas, the Siberian tiger. Jonas came to us last summer as a 3 month old cub. You may even remember having your picture taken with him in our photo opportunity booth last summer. Over the past few months we have watched him rapidly grow into a beautiful tiger. Although he is not fully grown he still expresses all hunting traits of a wild tiger which he manifests in Ontario by, stalking squirrels and chasing birds. His favorite part of the day is when his trainers, Marcel and Niall, take him for a long walk, let him swim in the creek and teach him new behaviors.

Stefanie

EXPEDITION PREDATOR!

As part of your admission this season we have included our newest attraction, EXPEDITION PREDATOR!

Get on board Bowmanville Zoo's antique tram and take a ride through the WILD WOODS where you will come face to face with a lion, tiger, jaguar or wolf. This is a one of a kind experience that allows you to get up close and personal with some of the world's largest predators. As you venture through the Wild Woods you will learn the personal story of each animal, different daily enrichment that we provide for our large predators and much more.

Don't forget we open this weekend, April 25, 2009.

Stefanie

Head Keeper

Rain Rain Go Away!

Hopefully this rain will stop.....but it looks like its going to be wet outside for the next few days. In preparation of opening THIS WEEKEND, we have be working around the clock to get everything prepared. Today's task, cleaning the Animatheatre! The Animatheatre is where we host all of our daily educational shows at 12, 2 & 4. Each show is approximately 30-45 mins long and helps promote animal awareness and gives everyone a basic biology lesson. Come join us at one of our shows this summer.

One small step for Limba, one giant step for MS!

Limba our Asian elephant made her annual MS walk appearance today. Both Limba and her trainer Robert walked through the streets of Bowmanville making their way towards one of the local high schools. As soon as they started to approach Bowmanville High School Limba immediately remembered where she was heading and started to rumble with excitement. Once at Bowmanville High School, Limba happily greeted and posed for pictures with all of the MS fundraisers participants. As the walk was about to begin she wished all participants good luck with a truck & foot salute and waved them all off with many of her “happy noises”, rumbling and clicking sounds. She can’t wait to see all of her friends again next year!

Stefanie

Spring Clean Up

It’s that time again; spring clean up at the zoo!

Our staff and co-op students are working no stop to make Bowmanville Zoo beautiful for opening weekend, April 25, 2009. We have even included our elephants, Limba and Sheba, in raking the leaves. They tend to eat more of the leaves then actually rake! Elephants are extremely social mammals and enjoy spending time with each other as well as their people friends. This is a great way for all of us to spend our afternoons! You can visit Limba and Sheba when you come to the zoo.

See you soon,

Stefanie

Meet Sydney and Kane!

Hey Guys!

For today’s blog I thought I would introduce to you Sydney and Kane, two of my favorite wolves (in the photo Kane is the larger, darker of the two). Sydney came to the zoo after being rescued by the OSPCA two years ago. Shortly after her arrival, Sydney gave birth to two pups, Kane and Annie. Being a first time mother Sydney was unable to care for the pups properly. This required our keepers to take over and hand raise them. We spent many late nights bottle feeding and caring for them. In turn for our hard work, we have built an extremely close relationship with both pups. Every day Sydney, Kane and Annie explore the zoo as we take them for a walk. This is in addition to their ever changing enrichment program. They enjoy other fun activities such as chew toys, frozen meat popsicles, target training, playing with balls and sniffing out different scents in their enclosure like men's cologne. On May 2nd Kane and Annie will turn two years old. Join our zoo family by coming to celebrate their birthday with us. If you miss the birthday party come and see them in the Wild Woods on Expedition Predator! This is our new zoo adventure, a tram that travels inside the enclosure of large carnivores. You should check it out!

Hope to see you there.

Stefanie

Celebrating Easter at the Zoo

Hi Everyone!

I hope you had a great Easter Monday, I know the animals here at the zoo did. As part of our on going animal enrichment program, the keepers made special Easter surprises for all of our animals. In the picture posted I am giving Alf, the male Hamadryas baboon, his Easter basket. Inside he must search for fruits, veggies, and the odd jelly bean. He really enjoys the green ones! In the spirit of Easter I have a surprise for all of you too! But you have to wait for tomorrows posting to find out what it is. Oh I almost forgot! I'll be posting additional "Easter at the Zoo" pictures throughout the week with many of our different animals!

Talk to you tomorrow,

Stefanie

Just in Time for Easter!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Bowmanville Zoo received an early Easter present this year!! On Friday April 10th, a baby mouflon was born! His name is Kujo and weighs approximately 4 lbs. He is doing great and has a favourite game, playing chase the keeper! Come and visit Kujo and his new playmates, Duke and Bowie. We are opening very soon, April 25!

Welcome Penelope!

Hi Everyone!

Today I wanted to introduce you to the newest member of the Bowmanville Zoo family. Her name is Penelope and she is a 18 month old white handed gibbon.

Currently the zoo has 2 gibbons, Sandy and Fufu. Sandy is the oldest gibbon in captivity at 51 years of age and going strong, while Fufu is almost 8.

Years ago Sandy had a mate named Ebony. They spent their entire life together, over 45 years! Sandy would share his bananas and cherry tomatoes with her, even though these are his two favourite foods! As she got older it was hard for her to open the door to go outside. Sandy being the gentleman that he is, would hold open the door for her. Theirs was a very special relationship. Unfortunately, 3 years ago she died of cancer. In an attempt to find Sandy a companion Fufu arrived on loan from a sister zoo. When we introduced Fufu to Sandy we hoped that they would form a bond like his with Ebony. Although Sandy has enjoyed her company, Fufu was ambivalent towards Sandy. She would take food out of his hands and hogged the heat lamp (so we gave them two) and was generally less than the perfect mate. This is where our new gibbon Penelope, comes in. Over the next few weeks, Fufu will be returning to her original home and we will be introducing Penelope to Sandy. I can't wait to see how it goes. You should come and see how the quest to find Sandy a new mate rolls out! We open April 25th. I will keep updating you with the latest zoo information so keep checking back!!!

Talk to you soon,

Stefanie

FIRST BABIES OF 2009

The first babies of the 2009 season were born yesterday! On Tuesday April 7th our eldest female aoudad, Stampy, gave birth to twin baby boys!! Duke and Bowie were both born with unique white markings on their forehead. Being twins, this helps the keepers in telling them apart. Come and visit them at the zoo this spring. We open on April 25, 2009.

Opening Day is April 25, 2009