Guest blogger: Zoo Academy Student, Elaina Allen

Here at the Cincinnati Zoo we have a lot of fascinating animals to look at from leaf-cutting ants to Asian elephants. However there is more to the Cincinnati Zoo; the Zoo is also known for its amazing plant displays. One plant display in particular that I will be discussing is the amazing Dinosaur Garden located outside of the front entrance of Reptile House on the right side near Monkey Island.

The Dinosaur Garden was designed in the 1970s through 1980s around the time the Zoo also became a botanical garden. A botanical garden is an establishment where plants are grown for display to the public and often for educational study. The purpose of the Dinosaur Garden in particular is to convey knowledge to the visitor about the prehistoric plants that lived around the same time as the dinosaurs.

One thing interesting you can find inside the garden is the Araucarioxylon arizonicum or the petrified log. When a plant is fossilized it is considered petrified. The Araucarioxylon arizonicum is an extinct species of conifer that is known for its massive tree trunks.

My favorite species to look at while in the area is the China Fir because this tree has pointy needles, which is an adaptation to defend itself against large animals such as dinosaurs.

Observing the Dinosaur Garden you will notice that some of the plants come and go, depending on the season. The Horticulture staff makes sure to maintain and keep up with the changes in the weather, and also the requirements or needs of the plants in the garden. Horticulture is the art of garden cultivation and management. The staff in the Horticulture department maintains any appropriate plant species throughout the Zoo.

So next time you decide to visit the Zoo, check out the Dinosaur Garden and the many other plant displays. You won’t regret it!

Penguins, Penguins, Penguins! Here at the Zoo, we celebrate our sea-faring feathered friends every day. We care for and display five species of penguins – little penguin, Magellanic penguin, rockhopper penguin, African penguin and king penguin. You can see them in the Children’s Zoo and the Wings of the World bird house, and even in the summer Wings of Wonder Bird Show.

Penguin Days at the Zoo

Throughout January and February, it’s Penguin Days at the Zoo. In addition to half-price Zoo admission, we invite guests to march with our king penguins during daily Penguin Parades. Waddle with our kings and their keepers from the Wings of the World building to the outdoor exhibit in Children’s Zoo at 11:00am and then back to the building at 2:30pm.

 

What’s Black and White and Red All Over?

One of our talented penguin artists creating a one-of-a-kind canvas painting for you to take home and enjoy! Offered March through October, our VIPenguin Experience is the perfect gift for your favorite penguin lover. You’ll even get to join our penguin keepers in the Wings of the World bird house to prepare and hand-feed meals to the penguins on exhibit. Register here.

Giving Penguin Chicks a Chance

Funds raised by the VIP Penguin Experience and our Saving Species program help save African penguins through the support of SANCCOB (the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds). SANCCOB is a leading marine non-profit organization which has treated more than 90 000 oiled, ill, injured or abandoned endangered African penguins and other threatened seabirds since being established in 1968.

Every year between October and January, hundreds of small fluffy African penguin chicks are abandoned by their parents when they start their annual moult. During this time, the parents replace their old, worn-out feathers with a brand new set of waterproof feathers and are unable to hunt for fish and feed their young during the three to four week moulting process. As a result, the chicks that have yet to fledge are abandoned and face starvation unless SANCCOB and its conservation partners intervene.

This year, a total of 570 abandoned African penguin chicks have been rescued from the penguin colonies and admitted to SANCCOB’s seabird rehabilitation centres. The chicks spend between 6 to 12 weeks undergoing careful rehabilitation. Once they are at a fledging age, the correct weight, healthy and their feathers are waterproof, they receive the final nod of approval from the veterinary team and get released back into the wild. SANCCOB hopes to successfully rehabilitate and release the last of this year’s chicks in the next three to four weeks.

With less than 2% of the original African penguin population remaining, the hand-rearing of ill and abandoned chicks is a crucial conservation intervention to help bolster the wild population.

Just by coming to the Zoo and participating in our special experiences, you are helping us save penguins across the globe!

 

In September, the Zoo’s Center for Conservation and Research (CREW) was awarded a National Leadership Grant from the Institution of Museum and Library Services in support of a Rhino Assisted Reproduction Enterprise (RARE) initiative for Indian rhinos and African white rhinos. Dr. Monica Stoops will be the Project Director for the grant work and will be working in partnership with Dr. Justine O’Brien from the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Reproductive Research Center (SWBGRRC), which includes a state-of-the-art sperm sorting and cryopreservation laboratory.  CREW will undertake the project to expand access and build capacity for African and Asian rhino reproductive care within North American zoological facilities. Eight zoos have committed to building a Rhino Assisted Reproduction Enterprise (RARE) in collaboration with CREW.  This project will help 1) contribute to the genetic management and propagation of captive Indian rhinos through artificial insemination (AI); 2) enhance southern white rhino fertility through exogenous hormone administration prior to natural breeding or AI; 3) build upon national rhino gamete rescue centers at CREW and SWBGRRC; and 4) provide collaborating facilities with individualized training and/or support in rhino assisted reproductive technology (exogenous hormone protocols, ultrasonography, endocrine analysis, AI, and sperm collection, sorting and cryopreservation).

One part of the proposed research will be to continue and expand upon a preliminary CREW investigation conducted to develop an exogenous hormone protocol to initiate reproductive activity in previously acyclic southern white rhinos. The African white rhino remains the most popular rhino species held in U.S. zoos (although we do not currently house them here in Cincinnati). Although captive breeding has been successful and a sufficient number of calves are being produced to consistently maintain the population, the proportion of breeding recommendations resulting in offspring is quite low. It is estimated that <30% of all wild born and <20% of captive born African white rhinos have reproduced in captivity. These numbers reflect a major impediment to achieving a sustainable captive breeding program for this species.

A primary reason for the low reproductive rate is that a vast majority of females display long periods of acyclicity. Significant progress has been made in initiating reproductive activity in acyclic white rhinos in Europe using exogenous hormones. However, many drugs used overseas are not commercially available in the United States. Therefore, it became necessary
to develop novel hormone protocols using U.S. drugs to similarly promote a resumption in reproductive activity for acyclic white rhinos.

CREW scientists, in partnership with several North American zoos, embarked on a preliminary exogenous hormone trial in which four acyclic female white rhinos were treated. Females responded by growing preovulatory follicles, but did not stand for breeding by a male and required an additional hormone to ovulate. This initial hormone protocol may be adequate should artificial insemination be performed, but CREW scientists and partner zoos are working to develop an alternative hormone protocol that will result in natural mating so that more individual rhinos and institutions will benefit. By enhancing the fertility of captive African white rhinos, CREW is helping to ensure the sustainability of this rhino population.