Children’s Zoo (Lacerte Family)

Beyond exercise: The adventurous animals in the Lacerte Family Children Zoo go exploring

Lacerte Family Children’s Zoo goats explore the tiger viewing area on a recent adventure!

Animal Care Supervisor Lisa Van Slett Guest Blogs on ZooHoo!

For most people, taking your dog for a walk is a common event. It feels natural to say that your dog (and you) need exercise to stay in shape. Beyond good exercise, these walks are also a way for you to bond with your four-legged best friend.

But what about other animals? While we are limited by species at the Dallas Zoo (I would not recommend walking your giraffe around Oak Cliff), the Lacerte Family Children’s Zoo has room to roam. On any given day you may find the keepers walking goats, sheep, pigs, chickens or our longhorn!

Upon first glance walking these animals may seem straight forward, but there is more to it than meets the eye. Our keepers start training the animals with the basics, like getting comfortable with wearing a harness, halter, or collar. Just like people, individual animals have different levels of confidence. Sometimes we get lucky, and a goat is comfortable wearing a collar right away! Other times we have to build up to it, which is when the relationship between animal and keeper is vital. We use positive reinforcement to build those strong relationships and earn the animals’ trust. Once they are dressed and ready to go, we can start exploring the Zoo!

Penny and Oliver say hello to the Komodo dragon in the Herpetarium.

Another less obvious benefit of walking our animals around different parts of the zoo is how enriching it is for everyone involved. The animals get to see and explore something new, and it’s also fun for guests at the Zoo! Although you can go into our contact yard with the animals, there is something very special about bumping into them somewhere unexpected. The keepers get just as excited and request that we call them to tell them when the goats are coming for a visit! We also love seeing the reactions of the other species. The penguins and otters are always curious. Killa, the harpy eagle likes to watch the goats, and the Komodo dragon comes to the glass to see the pigs up close.

Keepers have a lot of factors to consider when deciding which animals to take out and what destination to pick. For instance, our goat herd contains 11 goats! As fun as that would be to walk the whole herd, we mix and match within the group, and only take out two or three at a time. Our Kune Kune pigs, Penny and Oliver, are always a big hit too. They are both halter training and can usually be seen walking within the Children’s Zoo, but occasionally you might find them out in ZooNorth. They have even made appearances in the Herpetarium! The sheep are our most adventurous animals. They have gone through the tunnel to the Wilds of Africa to visit the lions, cheetahs, mandrills, and penguins.  Everyone comes out to take a look!  Bahati the lion took a seat at the window, sitting as close as she could to the sheep. Mshindi the chimp likes to look at the chickens and watch as they walk around.

There are endless possibilities for adventure and exploring with our contact animals.  If you would like to see our animals in action, there are several options. You can come for a visit on Monday, Thursday or Saturday around 10-11 am (weather dependent) when we have our scheduled goat walks.  You may also see the sheep greeting guests as they come into the Zoo during our monthly Dallas Zoo Member Mornings. However, on the nicer days you never know what (or who) you may see around the Zoo during your visit!

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Local organization gives back to the Zoo

Fidelity Investment volunteers building the playhouse for the Lacerte Family Children’s Zoo

May 2 was Fidelity Cares Day! This annual day is all about volunteering with more than 7,000 Fidelity Investments employees giving back to local communities around the world on a single day. Almost 400 volunteers from Fidelity Investments helped with this mission of serving our community, and over 80 of them came out to the Zoo!

Multiple projects were kicked off at both the Zoo and at Fidelity’s campus. The first one was actually started by our animals. As a form of enrichment, multiple animals painted on small canvases to help stimulate their minds and bodies. Well, we turned those canvases into magnets. Fidelity volunteers painted the edges of the canvases, added an information label, and adhered magnets to the backs! There were 1,000 magnets created in total, and they will all be for sale soon at our Zoofari Market.

Volunteers also built a playhouse for the Lacerte Family Children’s Zoo. Using pre-cut lumber, Fidelity employees led a team of volunteers through constructing and painting a playhouse for young Zoo guests to use their imaginations even further in play areas. Twenty-five volunteers spent 100 combined total hours building this structure for kids of all ages to enjoy.

The last project was a combined effort of Zoo and Fidelity volunteers. People on both Zoo grounds and on Fidelity’s campus worked on making faux log browse feeders. Browse are used in animal habitats to encourage them to use their natural behaviors and instincts to search for food. Volunteers distressed PVC pipes using sandpaper and rasps; added bolts to help hang the pipe; and used oil-based paint to make the pipe look like a log or a tree branch. Different types of browse will be put in the pipes before they are attached to real trees in various animal exhibits. After 85 volunteers spent a combined total of 42.5 hours, we now have 70 faux log browse feeders for the animals to enjoy.

“The Fidelity volunteers were awesome,” Julie Bates, director of volunteer services, said. “I am always amazed and inspired by hard working volunteers who give their time to help us create a better world for animals. A lot was accomplished thanks to them!”

None of the day’s accomplishments would have been possible if it were not for the Fidelity volunteers. They all spent a total of 837.5 hours working on all these projects to benefit the community and the Zoo. Thank you, Fidelity Investments! We’re already looking forward to next year’s Fidelity Cares Day!

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“Arty for the Planet” art contest details!

Booker T. Washington students create animal-inspired chalk art at last year’s Arty for the Planet event.

When Earth Day rolls around, it’s a party at the Zoo! On April 21 and 22 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., our Lacerte Family Children’s Zoo is hosting Arty for the Planet. Guests can bust out ZOOmba moves with us; create upcycled musical instruments and jam; look at stunning wildlife conservation-themed chalk art by local art students; watch animals engage in art; and create your own nature-inspired art, too!

ART CONTEST

But before we kick off Earth Day celebrations, we’re inviting artists of all ages to submit an original art project using upcycled materials from April 14—18. Artwork will be judged on originality and use of upcycled materials in each age group by a panel of Dallas Zoo’s staff artists and the public.

Guests can enter into these four categories: ages 5 and under, ages 6-10, ages 11-17, and ages 18 and up. In each category, awards will be given for Peoples’ Choice (determined by Zoo-goers) and Experts’ Choice (determined by a panel of Zoo staff).

Submissions can be delivered to the Dallas Zoo Membership Services booth from April 14-18 during Zoo hours (9 a.m.-5 p.m.). Art will be on display in the Children’s Zoo for guests to vote on, and the winners will be announced and contacted on April 22. (Plus, we’ll share it on the Zoo’s Facebook page!) Winners of each category will receive a Family 4-pack of Dallas Zoo tickets. Good luck!

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Pint-sized Texas Longhorns delighting Children’s Zoo guests

 

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It may not be the Starship Enterprise, but the Lacerte Family Children’s Zoo is the perfect home for the newest animal additions: Captain and Kirk. These two miniature Texas longhorns are settling in nicely to their home and guests couldn’t be happier.

Miniature longhorns are a relatively new breed and came about through selective breeding of full-sized longhorns. These smaller longhorns are gentle and docile, making them the perfect addition to the Children’s Zoo.

The minis joined us in November, but until just recently were nameless as they integrated into the Children’s Zoo and began working with keepers. Former U.S. Trade Representative and former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk remedied that situation.

IMG_6427Kirk, a former Zoo board member and long-time supporter, won the naming rights to the longhorns at the Zoo To Do gala late last year. Kirk enlisted his daughters to help name the calves. And he admits he’s never seen an episode of Star Trek.

The minis are eight months old and weigh 200-250 pounds. Fully grown, they’ll weight 400-500 pounds and stand up to four feet tall. For now, their signature horns are more like stubs, but over the next two years they’ll grow and have similar proportions to their full-size longhorn brethren.

Guests can see Captain (he’s the larger of the two with mostly black hair) and Kirk at the Children’s Zoo red barn. Those that want an up-close encounter with Captain and Kirk should sign up for the new Junior Rancher Adventure program, where they’ll get to interact with and feed the longhorns.

Live long and prosper, Captain and Kirk!

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Tunnel into the world of naked mole rats

 

Did you know naked mole rats can run as fast backwards as they can forwards?

Tucked away in a quiet corner of the Dallas Zoo’s Lacerte Family Children’s Zoo is the Underzone, which hosts two colonies of naked mole rats. Our keeper, Joby Davidson, gives us the inside scoop on what makes these tiny, hairless rodents so fascinating and important. In Davidson’s words, “Naked mole rats are not moles and not rats, but they are naked.”

Despite looking a little too naked for some folks, these fascinating creatures seem to break the mold in just about every way.

Why they’re important:

In the wild, they call sub-Saharan Africa home, where they provide essential ecosystem services, such as being a part of the local food chain and digging tunnels that help irrigate the land during rare rainfalls. They’re also becoming increasingly important for research in cancer, osteoporosis, joint studies and Alzheimer’s disease, because a complex sugar produced in their body makes them cancer-resistant. They could be holding the secret to the fountain of youth! Interested yet?

Take me to your leader!

Naked mole rats have a very complex social hierarchy, similar to ants and bees. This is the most defining aspect of how they DON’T fit the mold for most rodents. Each colony has one queen and one or two mating males, and the rest of the members are divided into different levels of workers, including diggers, food-movers, and warriors.

Additionally, age is an important factor in rank – older ones hold more authority. For example, while moving around in their tunnels, they constantly have to figure out how to get around each other if they’re going opposite ways. The solution? Whoever is subordinate passes below, while the superior crawls over.

Here’s another interesting behavior observed in naked mole rat colonies: if an older mole rat sees a younger one doing miserably at its job, it will tug on the younger one’s tail as if to say, “Just let me do it.” The younger one gets the message and scurries away while the older one takes over, presumably grumbling about “kids these days.naked-mole-rats-from-cloud

At the top of the chain, the queen runs the show. She is the only female with a specific scent (or pheromone) that lets the rest of the colony know she’s the one with breeding rights. A queen is typically pregnant for an average of 79 days and has a litter of 10-15 babies (or pups). It’s possible for her to get pregnant again as soon as 10 days after giving birth (count me out!), but the average is four to five months between pregnancies. In the wild, populations grow quickly because breeding can happen at a rapid pace, but it’s possible that naked mole rats may regulate their own population, because most colonies even out at about 75 members.

On that note, we’re leading the way in experimenting with birth control for naked mole rats. Because they breed so often and have relatively large litters, population control helps us keep track of how many mouths there are to feed and ensure that our colonies are a comfortable size.

We began this research more than two years ago, treating the queen with annual birth control. One of the biggest questions was whether she would continue to produce the pheromone that asserted her “nobility,” and if not, would another female step up and take the role?

It seems to be working so far. “The queen still acts like the queen in every way, except for breeding,” Davidson explains.

Who’s who?

Currently, the Dallas Zoo has two separate colonies. The first and largest colony began from a single breeding pair and now boasts 47 members. The second sprouted off from the first in a situation where a second female challenged the queen and attempted a takeover. We quickly separated them, and she became queen of a new colony all her own, with 21 members.

With so many members, how do we keep track of each animal? Microchips! We began a microchipping program six years ago. Although zookeeper Davidson says he doesn’t know each of them individually, he’s pretty adept at picking out queens and several other notable members of the clan.

The only “cold-blooded” rodent

Here’s your vocabulary word for the day: naked mole rats are poikilothermic. This means they are incapable of maintaining their body temperature and are essentially “cold-blooded.”

They build several levels of chambers of varying depth, so the higher chambers are warmer than the lower ones. Our residents have separate enclosures that mimic those chambers, with varying levels of temperature. On average, we keep the temperature around 85° degrees, with about 70% humidity.

Homey habits

Several other techniques keep our naked mole rats thriving. Tunnels connect their different chambers. These tunnels have to be replaced fairly often though because naked mole rats’ teeth grow continuously throughout their lives, like most other rodents. These teeth are on the outside of their mouths, placed in a way that they can use them to dig their tunnels, but be able to close their lips so they don’t ingest dirt. Since their teeth grow constantly, the’re always busy wearing them down on their exhibit and tunnel walls.

Besides chewing on the walls, naked mole rats are exceptionally civil little beings. They have special bathroom chambers that are used only to collect waste. Sounds familiar, right? (Disregard if you still dig holes in the yard.) It gets a little weird after that, though. Naked mole rats are very close to blind, so they rub their own urine on themselves after using the bathroom as a way to distinguish themselves by smell.

Threats to naked mole rats

Although the current wild populations of naked mole rats seem to be pretty healthy, increasing droughts are likely to make it difficult for them to find the bulbs and roots they need to feed the colony. They are likely to establish colonies on farms, where they feast on cassava and sweet potatoes. If farmers perceive them as pests, they may double their efforts to get rid of the wrinkly rodents.

What you can do to help naked mole rats

Since the change in weather patterns worldwide is greatly influenced by the amount of heat-trapping gases in the air, we can help protect naked mole rats and other African animals in the comfort of our own homes. Reducing our energy use can have a positive impact on wildlife. Weatherizing your home, unplugging electronics, taking short showers are all easy ways to reduce your carbon footprint. You can also join the Dallas Zoo’s Wild Earth Action team to get involved in local, hands-on conservation efforts.

If you’re interested in meeting a queen, but can’t quite foot the bill to take a trip to England, come visit the Underzone in the Lacerte Children’s Zoo instead, and see for yourself the fascinating world of naked mole rats.

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