Zoo ToDo

LaTerra Bunn

Reindeer Event
The Willow Park Zoo welcomed the
Christmas season with its annual Reindeer
Trek event on Saturday. The zoo opened its
gates to families, allowing kids to meet two
reindeer, get their pictures taken with Santa
and enjoy hot chocolate and cookies among
all the other animals in the zoo.
Its a chance for the kids to see Santa Claus
without the mall atmosphere, said Barbara
Tew, the education director for the Willow
Park Zoo.
This is the second year the zoo has held
the Reindeer Trek with their two resident
reindeer, Zema and Nanook. Both came to
the Willow Park Zoo from Oregon. Before
that, they spent time in Disneyland. Both
reindeer are males. Zema is 5 years old while
Nanook is 4 years old. Guests can tell them
apart because Zema recently lost his antlers
from roughhousing too much, but they will
grow back next year.
Theyre cute, cuddly and friendly, Megan
Smith, the zoos hoofstock specialist and
caretaker, said of the two.
Smith said training the reindeer has been
an interesting experience because of their
different personalities.
Nanook is our social butterfly, while
Zema likes to work and go and go instead
of sticking around to be social, Smith
explained.
Smith has been training the reindeer using
positive reinforcement, such as rewarding
Zema and Nanook with reindeer pellets.
She also taught them to turn the direction
she requests by using key words and
reinforcement.

Zoo Rehabbing Sea Turtles

The 14 sea turtles that Ms. Romasco and a veterinary technician brought to Pittsburgh on Nov.
23 are among more than 900 sea turtles, most of them Kemps ridley turtles, that have been
rescued after stranding themselves on Massachusetts beaches beginning in mid-November.
Such cold-stunned turtle strandings happen every fall when the water begins to cool, as early
as September.
Because turtles are cold-blooded animals whose body temperatures depend on their environment,
early cold snaps such as the one that occurred off the Massachusetts coast can quickly drop their
body temperature and make the young turtles too disoriented to find their way back to the Gulf
Stream, and home to the tropical warmth of the Gulf of Mexico, according to Pittsburgh Zoo
officials.
As the waters continue to cool, hypothermia sets in and the turtles become lethargic, stop eating
and simply float on the surface of the water, exposed to being hit by boats or eaten by predators,
until the waves wash them ashore.
While the New England Aquarium usually treats and rehabilitates several hundred sea turtles
each year, beginning in September and usually peaking between Thanksgiving and Christmas,
this years total of 900 stranded turtles so far is unprecedented, Ms. Romasco said. The turtles
are 5 to 10 years old and live to be 60 to 80 years old.
It happens every year, but this year is off the charts, she said. Every time I check in, the
numbers are so much higher.
The New England Aquarium sent turtles in stable condition to North Carolina, Florida and
Pittsburgh for medical care and rehabilitation. Here, each turtle receives about an hour each day
of medical care that includes antibiotics and receiving fluids injected under the skin.

Worlds Top Ten Zoos

1. Henry Doorly Zoo (Omaha, Nebraska)
2. San Diego Zoo (San Diego)
3. Loro Parque (Puerto de la Cruz, Spain)
4. St. Louis Zoo (St. Louis)
5. Singapore Zoo (Singapore)
6. Chester Zoo (Chester, UK)
7. Prague Zoo (Prague)
8. Tiergarten SchoenbrunnZoo Vienna
(Vienna)
9. Bioparc Valencia (Valencia, Spain)
10. Gramado Zoo (Gramado, Brazil)

Worlds Top Ten Aquariums

1. Monterey Bay Aquarium (Monterey,
California)
2. Oceanario de Lisboa (Lisbon, Portugal)
3. Georgia Aquarium (Atlanta)
4. Tennessee Aquarium (Chattanooga,
Tennessee)
5. Ripleys Aquarium of the Smokies
(Gatlinburg, Tennessee)
6. Aquaworld Aquarium (Hersonissos,
Greece)
7. Dallas World Aquarium (Dallas)
8. Vancouver Aquarium (Vancouver, British
Columbia)
9. Mundomar (Benidorm, Spain)
10. Two Oceans Aquarium (Cape Town,
South Africa)

New Baby!
A rare baby Sumatran orangutan born last month at the Fort Wayne Childrens Zoo is doing
well and now has a name.
The zoo announced Wednesday that the 11-day-old orangutan has been named Asmara, which
means love in Indonesia.
The baby is the only Sumatran orangutan born in the United States this year, although two
other orangutans also are pregnant. She will be on display for visitors when the zoo opens for
the season on April 25.
The zoo says it plans to post photographs of Asmara on its Facebook and Twitter pages in the
coming weeks.
Zoo officials say fewer than 7,000 Sumatran orangutans remain in the wild, with about 320
living in zoos worldwide. Only about 15 babies are born in the worlds zoos each year.