Posts Tagged With: tiger

Sweating for the love of tigers

It’s not every day Malayan tiger Batu searches his one-acre habitat for dozens of hidden meatballs. But when 25 volunteers spend four hours cleaning it, they get the special task of hiding his food and watching from a behind-the-scenes location as he enters to find it.

“Hiding Batu’s food was the best part,” said 16-year-old volunteer Cierra Smith-Vaughn. “The keepers said he can stand nine feet tall, so I tried to hide it as high as I could.”

Our wonderful volunteers put in much appreciated work that would have taken our zookeepers triple the amount of time to complete. Here’s the roundup:

  • Bagged 150+ 60-gallon bags of leaves
  • Filled two trailer loads full of dead bamboo
  • Wheelbarrowed in four tons of river rock to build a dry stream bed to control water erosion from the viewing building
  • Drained and cleaned the tiger pool and outside stream
  • Planted winter grass seeds

“I came because I know the keepers needed help and it’s a beautiful day,” said volunteer Caroline Moore. “I could volunteer anywhere else, but I want to be here. I love the Dallas Zoo.”

And it’s selfless volunteers like neighbors Cierra and Caroline, who drove from Fort Worth to spend their Saturday putting sweat, hard work and a lot of laughter into cleaning our tiger habitat.

The volunteers also received a behind-the-scenes tour of the tiger and otter night quarters, plus a free breakfast. For more information on becoming a Zoo volunteer, click HERE.

Volunteers remove leaves from river stream
« 1 of 11 »
Categories: Enrichment, Mammals, Tigers, Volunteers, Zookeepers | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Palm oil debate: Saving rainforest homes

On the other side of the world, orangutans, tigers and many other animals are losing their rainforest homes so we can eat food and use products that contain a special ingredient that grows in their habitats – palm oil.

Palm oil is obtained from the fruit of the African and South American oil palm tree. Today, it’s found in about half the products sold in grocery stores, everything from cookies to toothpaste. Conflict palm oil production is connected to major issues, including habitat loss, climate change and more, as rainforests in countries like Indonesia and Malaysia continue to be wiped out to make room for new palm oil plantations. In fact, palm oil production is now one of the leading causes of rainforest destruction worldwide.

But there’s something we can do. With the help of one of the Dallas Zoo’s own zookeepers, big snack food companies are starting to change how they produce palm oil.

Tiger keeper Stacy Lupori supports the #InYourPalm campaign with Sumatran tiger Melati

Tiger keeper Stacy Lupori supports the #InYourPalm campaign with Sumatran tiger Melati

Tiger, primate, and otter keeper Stacy Lupori is an action team leader for Rainforest Action Network (RAN). Right now, Lupori is helping coordinate a social media campaign called “The Last Stand of the Orangutan.” With only about 60,000 orangutans left in the wild, one of humankind’s closest kin are on the brink of extinction if their homes continue to be destroyed.

“We’re not asking these companies to stop using palm oil – that’s not going to happen. We’re pushing them to be sustainable,” Lupori said. “A lot of companies choose to go in and slash and burn the rainforest and all the animals that live there, but there are much better ways to do it.”

So far, more than 300,000 people from all over the world have flooded the Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages of what RAN has dubbed the “Snack Food 20.” These 20 major U.S. companies were selected by RAN for harvesting conflict palm oil. The campaign lets people submit a photo of their hand, labeled with the hashtag #InYourPalm. Through increased consumer pressure, the goal is to get the Snack Food 20 to change how they grow palm oil.

RAN is asking the Snack Food 20 to implement a palm oil procurement policy to ensure that the oil it sources is fully traceable, legally grown and from verified responsible palm oil producers not associated with deforestation.

Some of the companies already have agreed to change their policies to eliminate conflict palm oil. However, those steps won’t be taken until 2015. “We all know just because a company says they are going to do something doesn’t mean they will,” Lupori said. “Until these policies are put into effect and are traceable, we still need help putting the pressure on them.”

RAN’s campaign won’t end until all 20 companies have responsible palm oil polices in effect. For Lupori, it’s a lifelong commitment. “As a zookeeper, it’s not just about taking care of these tigers. It’s mostly about conservation,” she said. “This means nothing if I’m not doing something to preserve them in the wild. I look at them, and it breaks my heart to think that if conflict palm oil doesn’t stop, they may not be around in 10 years. And that’s why I’m not going to stop.”

This Halloween, we ask you to buy sustainably produced candy. And we challenge you to post your #InYourPalm photo to Instagram and Facebook, along with a photo of your conflict-free Halloween candy. Our colleagues at the Woodland Park Zoo have put together a great candy list, and it includes many of the most popular ones: http://www.zoo.org/document.doc?id=1423

Lupori and RAN officials are working to create a “sustainably made” product logo to help consumers detect traceable palm oil products. Until then, Lupori suggests downloading the free Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Palm Oil Shopping Guide App. It’s a great tool to help identify sustainably produced products in the meantime.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) is also standing behind efforts toward deforestation-free palm oil production. The AZA encourages guests at AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums to help break the link between palm oil production and deforestation.

Learn more about the #InYourPalm campaign: http://inyourpalm.org/

Categories: Africa, Conservation, Education, Social Media, Tigers, Zookeepers | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Special donor makes unforgettable contributions

We’ve been part of her life — and her budget — since 1989, when Carrollton resident Linda Balkey made her first donation to the Dallas Zoo. And it didn’t stop there! Since 1995, Balkey has donated $25 every single month, and it’s a handwritten check every time.

Balkey holds African penguin, Opus.

Balkey holds African penguin, Opus. Dallas Zoo/Chelsea Stover

She proves that no matter how small, every donation counts. “The Dallas Zoo is just a part of my budget. You don’t have to do a lot. I just felt called to do more, and this $25 I just won’t notice,” she explained.

But we’ve noticed. Each month when we open Balkey’s handwritten check, we wondered, ‘who is this woman?’ We wanted to know more about her, so we invited her out for a special day at the Zoo.

When we greeted her at the front gate, it felt like we had known her for years. “The Dallas Zoo has a soft spot in my heart,” said Linda, a retired second-grade teacher. “You all are like teachers, heroes — people don’t appreciate you enough. But I appreciate you stepping up and taking care of animals when the vast majority of us can’t.”

Her day began with a behind-the-scenes tour of the giraffe barn. Giddy as she fed the giraffes crackers, Balkey acknowledged it’s been too long since she had been to the Dallas Zoo. “I was a member when my kids were young, but that stopped when they grew up and moved away,” she said. “But I’ve kept up with you guys, and I’m so proud of your changes.”

Those changes couldn’t have happened without support such as hers. We visited our African black-footed penguins next, where Balkey got to hold and feed Opus.

Balkey feeds giraffe Auggie. Dallas Zoo/Chelsea Stover

Balkey feeds giraffe Auggie. Dallas Zoo/Chelsea Stover

When we learned tigers were her favorite animal, we knew we had to take her to their off-exhibit home. Her face lit up, and when we entered, it was if the tigers knew how special she was to us. Sumatran tiger Batu showed off, lounging in his pool, rolling over on his back and chuffing loudly (tiger lingo for “talking”).

We are immensely grateful to all of our donors, especially those who stay with us through the years. But we need you, too! On Oct. 1, we’ll launch our Decision/Donate 2014 Annual Fund campaign, where you can make a donation and vote for one of our candidates for our Animal Board of Directors! Stay tuned here on the ZooHoo! blog and on our social media sites for details.

 

Categories: Conservation, Giraffe, Penguins | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Brought to you by the Dallas Zoo