Animal Chatter Fall 2012
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animal chatter Fall 2012 you do that? w do Ho fall colors ahead Can you believe it? We’re heading into fall. Time flies when you’re having fun! And we have lots of fun in the works at the zoo during the next few OFFICERS AND BOARD MEMBERS LAKE AREA ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY months. Costume lovers and trick- Donna Schoenbeck President or-treaters will enjoy ZOO BOO on Dale Christensen Vice President Saturday, October 27, with special Steve Hageman Secretary/Treasurer Halloween activities. Plan on attending Jeanne Flaherty Board Member Breakfast with Santa on Saturday, Dean Gackstetter Board Member Georgia Fishman Board Member December 15, with a special visit from Lorraine Rittmann Board Member Santa Claus as well as a hot breakfast. Brian DeBoer Board Member Don’t miss seeing the zoo’s new tiger Dave Todd Board Member cubs and participating in the Tiger Cub Will Morlock Board Member Naming Contest. “Come Closer” to Mike Vener Board Member Rebecca Hoover Board Member the Bramble Park Zoo and help the Susan Munger Board Member zookeepers by providing a name for the new tiger cubs. PARK AND RECREATION DIREctoR There’s always something new Terry Jorgenson and exciting taking place at the zoo, I PARK AND RECREATION BOARD encourage you to join us as we fall into Jean Doyen Heidi Stoick our autumn season. Jim Stoudt Mike Danforth Scott Johnston Dennis Murphy See you at the zoo! Kim Bellum Dan Miller, Zoo Director BRAMBLE PARK ZOO STAFF Dan Miller Zoo Director Jim Lloyd General Curator John Gilman Zookeeper LeAnn Stavig Zookeeper Bill Gallagher Zookeeper zoo hours Winter Hours Michelle Miller Zookeeper 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Daily Joe Jipp Maintenance Summer Hours Memorial Day-Labor Day Kim Konrad Office/Visitor 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Daily Services Manager admission fees Jaime Stricker Educator 2 and under – Free Barb Struwe Roots & Shoots 3-12 years old – $5.00 + tax Coordinator 13 and over – $7.00 + tax Call for pricing during special events. ACCREDITED BY THE 605-882-6269 2 The Bramble Park Zoo is mourning the loss of “Tika” a beloved member of our zoo family. “Tika” had declining health for quite some time. He had a number of medical problems due to his advancing age and was receiving treatment for arthritis, kidney failure, and decreasing vision. In his last weeks, Tika had become increasing unsteady. The Bramble Park Zoo Animal Zoo mourns loss of staff and Lake Area Vet Clinic worked diligently to ensure “Tika” received the best care possible, but despite “Tika” the tiger their tireless efforts, his quality of life continued to decline, said Dan Miller, TIKA Director of the Bramble Park Zoo. This is a very difficult loss for our zoo family I remember the first time we met and the Watertown community, as “Tika” You were jumping all over like a nervous wreck was a long-time resident of the Zoo. That loud roar and jump on the caging? “Tika” was born on July 16, 1991, What an awesome sound! It was so amazing! and came to Bramble Park Zoo on April 1, 1994. He was on loan from the Henry You were scared to come outside for a long, long time. Doorly Zoo and was donated to Bramble Then one day you realized, it was all just fine. Park Zoo in 2009. The zookeepers who cared for “Tika” Your morning roar could be heard every day described him as a gentle giant. “Tika” As John opened your door so you could go out and play enjoyed watching and saying hello You carried your pumpkins around with pride, (chuff) to everyone that came to see And you’d sneak into the corner during the day to hide. him. “Tika” also enjoyed scaring the You’d rub on the wire like a big house cat, zookeepers, by roaring at them. In his younger days, “Tika” enjoyed playing in You were a gentle “giant” that only wanted a scratch. his pool and carrying pumpkins. 18 years at Bramble Park Zoo, You were the CAT that everyone knew! Rest now “Tika”, your pain is gone. Memories of you will always live on. Written by: LeAnn Zoo Keeper JULY 16 1991- AUGUST 22, 2012 TIKA 3 How do you feed the big cats and bears? First thing every morning, all the cat and bear exhibits have to be cleaned. This means picking up all the poop, washing the concrete and all of the windows. Once or twice a week, all of their pools are cleaned too. When their exhibits are cleaned, the cats are shifted outside. Then the inside cat and bear exhibits are cleaned. Another important part of the daily feeding and care routine is enrichment. Animals in captivity need to be stimulated as they would in the wild; whether it’s chasing a ball to mimic hunting, or hiding food around the exhibit to encourage foraging. Enrichment items can be edible or something simple such as scents or climbing structures. The large carnivores are a little trickier when planning enrichment. You have to be careful you don’t give them anything they may ingest and cause harm. Our big cats and bears enjoy frozen blood pops, feathers, balls on a rope, and even simple boxes or totes to sit in. After the zoo closes, all of the cats are brought inside to be fed. This is where safety is the most important. In the cat building each holding area has a shift door. We slide their food pans under the caging and then the cat is shifted into that section to eat. We never slide the pan in the part of the cage with the cat in it so we zookeepers don’t get hurt. The most important things to remember when working around big cats are: to always triple check yourself, know where your cats are at all times and be sure the cage and shift doors are closed and locked. New to our big cat routine is the addition of two white Bengal tiger cubs, a brother and sister, that came to us June 12, 2012. At two weeks old, they made the trip from Wichita, KS, to Watertown. They began eating 2 oz. of milk replacer every two hours through the night. No rest for the weary! They weighed about 4 lbs. when they came and they were around 26 lbs. at six weeks when they left for the zoo. Now they are four months, weigh around 40 lbs. and are eating 3-4 lbs. of meat a day! They are inseparable! They are fun to watch wrestle. The little girl can dish it out, but she can’t take it! By John Gilman, zoo field since 1989 and Michelle Miller, zoo field since 1994 4 5 310% 6 How do you know if an animal is sick? Maintaining animal health for an exotic animal collection definitely has its challenges. It is far easier to work for sickness prevention than it is to treat animals once they are sick. We call this preventative medicine. On a day to day basis preventative medicine starts with high husbandry standards. Every day each of our animals get a nutritional diet that has been researched and tested over generations of zoo animals. Most of our animals now have a commercial diet that we buy, but many do not. The tortoises at the zoo are made a salad made up of many different types of greens, fibrous fruits and vegetables and then are provided “tortoise chow.” The food is sprinkled with a multivitamin specifically formulated for reptiles. The penguins get fish that comes to us frozen. It then gets “gut loaded” with vitamins and anti-malaria medication. All diets are weighed to assure the proper amount is given. The next component of good animal health is the animal’s environment. Zookeepers spend the majority of their day cleaning animal exhibits and holding areas. Exhibits are cleaned first thing in the morning before visitors arrive. In certain areas of the zoo such as the children’s zoo, visitors are able to observe zookeepers working and ask questions. After the busy morning routines are completed and the zoo is open for business, animal staff go back to areas where the animals spent the night and clean those quarters. In the majority of the areas this means hosing and disinfecting floors, walls and caging. When the behind the scenes cleaning is completed, it is time to bring animals back in for the night. It’s vaccination time (the time of the year that all animals dislike, just like us!) Many of the animals in the collection get annual vaccines as a part of keeping them healthy. The penguins get West Nile vaccines, the cats get feline distemper and rabies, the camels get clostridium and tetanus, even the children’s zoo goats get several shots per year. The most important part of animal health is the zoo staff that takes care of the animals every day. The biggest challenge the staff has is noticing when one of these wild animals are sick. Because they are wild animals they hide their weakness until they are very sick. Expert eyes are always on the lookout for small changes in behavior, eating habits or differences in an animal’s demeanor. A combined 117 years of animal knowledge between six full-time animal care givers goes a long way. The staff very seldom bobbles when an animal becomes sick. Every zookeeper can spring into action at a moment’s notice to assure that the animal gets top notch care.