Category — Education

Written by Crissi Lanier, Advanced Inquiry Program Graduate and Interpretive Media Volunteer, and Shasta Bray, Interpretive Media Manager

Guests make a new friend at the Kea Encounter

If you’re like me, your first question might be: What is a kea?

Meet the Kea

Ground-nesting parrots native to the Southern Alps on the Southern Island of New Zealand, keas have adapted to survive through bitter cold and little food during harsh winters, feeding mainly on bulbs, leaves, seeds, worms and insects, and even Hutton’s Shearwater chicks and eggs when other food isn’t available. Males are slightly heavier than females weighing about 850 to 1,000 grams (around 1.5 to 2 pounds) and have noticeably larger upper mandibles.

Female kea

Male kea

Keas have beautiful olive green feathers that become slightly darker at the end. If you look closely when they spread their wings, you will see a brilliant orange color on the under part of their wings. While keas are strong fliers, they spend a great deal of time on the forest floor foraging for food.

Antonio (male) shows off the beautiful colors on the underside of his wings.

These clever parrots are considered to be as intelligent as primates. They regularly engage in play behavior and display play signals much like canids and primates do. They can also learn and adapt very quickly when presented with new situations such as the new Kea Encounter!

Keas are listed as Nationally Endangered in New Zealand and as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.  This means it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild. They have been considered a threat to livestock and 150,000 birds were killed as part of a government bounty system. They have also seen a decline in numbers due to invasive species, habitat loss and lead poisoning. Only in 1986 did they finally receive legal protection. Clearly, they are in need of our help.

Keas at the Zoo

The Cincinnati Zoo is home to over 40% of the entire kea population in North America with 16 keas, include 10 adults (five males and five females) and six juveniles. The juveniles hatched in April and are growing rapidly, already weighing as much as a young adult. Juveniles can be spotted by the yellowish coloring around their eyes and beak, which fades to dark brown after several years.

Kea chicks that hatched at the Zoo

Come Play at the New Kea Encounter!

At the new kea exhibit (formerly Lorikeet Landing), there is large window through which guests can view the birds. Here, guests can play an interactive game with the keas to move a quarter through a puzzle by taking turns at turning gears and flipping levers.

Guests work with the kea to move a coin through a puzzle.

There is also an interactive that challenges guests to be clever like a kea and move a ball around a track by working together. Keepers are on hand each day at 10:30 AM to chat with guests (check the daily animal encounters schedule for confirmation).

Guests work together to move a ball along a path to see if they are clever like a kea.

During the special Kea Encounter on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 4:00 to 5:00 PM, visitors are invited to enter the kea habitat. During that time, you can get up close views of the birds as they fly over your head and hop on the ground around you. With keeper assistance, the birds will accept donations for kea conservation; taking your dollar in their beak, they fly to a donation box and drop it in.

A kea collects a dollar donation from a guest.

A young guest meets a kea up close.

Supporting Kea Conservation

Funds raised by the Zoo support the  Kea Conservation Trust (KCT) in its mission to protect keas in the wild through nest monitoring and tracking kea movements. KCT is also testing a non-toxic repellent spray that would keep keas away from livestock and, in return, protect keas from farmer retaliation.  (Keas have been known to peck at and feed on the backs of sheep with their sharp beaks.)

Kea Conservation Trust studying keas in the wild (Photo: Nigel Adams)

Next time you’re at the Zoo, be sure to stop by and participate in our new Kea Encounter!

Guest blogger: Sophie Williams, Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP) student and consultant on the Passenger Pigeon Memorial renovation

In the past few months, we’ve learned about the story of the passenger pigeon and species conservation at the Cincinnati Zoo, as well as how you can help birds in your own backyards. There is still work to be done to continue protecting species around the world. From genetic research at the Zoo’s Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW) to Go Green initiatives you can participate in both at the Zoo and at home, the Cincinnati Zoo is committed to saving endangered plants and animals from extinction in North America and around the world. Here are just a few ways you can contribute!

Be a Sustainable Shopper!

Many animals and plants are threatened by habitat loss. As consumers, we all have the power to protect wildlife by using the Sustainable Shopper app to choose products made with Certified Sustainable Palm Oil. Palm oil is used in many of the foods and products we consume every day from frozen vegetables to shampoo. Oil palm plantations are spreading across Indonesia, which produces 85% of the world’s supply of palm oil, often to the detriment of its rainforests and wildlife.

As consumers, we can choose to buy products made with sustainable palm oil as certified by the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil. The Sustainable Shopper app connects you with more than 500 products manufactured by RSPO-certified companies.

To get the app: From your web-enabled phone, scan this QR code with your preferred QR code reader, or go to cincinnatizoo.org/sustainable-shopper.

Recycle your cell phone, and save a gorilla!

As we continue to advance our phone technology, cell phone users rapidly replace their old models with newer ones. But, what do you do with your old phone? Recycle it at the Zoo!

By recycling your cell phone you are preventing the large number of hazardous substances from entering our environment. Metals such as antimony, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, copper, and lead, which can linger in the environment for a long time and have adverse effects on human health, can be recycled or disposed of properly.

In addition, by recycling coltan, a mineral mined in gorilla habitat, you are helping gorillas maintain a future in the wild. Drop your old cell phone into one of the collection bins around the Zoo!

Buy a bracelet to support lions and livelihoods in Kenya.

Our Lions and Livelihoods bracelets were made by Maasai women from the Olkiramatian Women’s Group in Kenya’s South Rift Valley. Revenue from the sale of these bracelets helps the Women’s Group provide tuition for local school girls and contributes to the operation of the Lale’enok Resource Center, a community center that helps support both wildlife conservation and thriving Maasai livelihoods. Bracelets are sold at the Africa exhibit at the Zoo on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoons. This partnership is supported by the Cincinnati Zoo’s Saving Species Campaign. Wear a bracelet and proudly support this global initiative.

Go Green!

Get involved with habitat protection and species conservation through sustainable actions! The Cincinnati Zoo supports a number of sustainability initiatives on site, from generating power through the largest publicly accessible urban solar array in the United States to a green roof to prevent storm-water runoff and filter out air pollutants.

You can practice sustainability at home, following the lead of the Zoo’s Go Green initiatives. Take a close look at the choices you make in life and identify the opportunities you have to select greener options. Start with a couple of quick and simple changes, such as switching your light bulbs to energy efficient ones or bringing reusable shopping bags to the grocery store. Once you’re comfortable with these small changes, pick out a few more to pursue, and you’ll be well on your way towards a greener lifestyle. Every small action you take can make a big difference in creating a more sustainable future for us all!

To read the other posts in this series, click here. Join us in July for updates on the renovated exhibit space and events surrounding the centenary of the passenger pigeon’s extinction.

Learn about cheetahs, red pandas and tigers from our 6th – 8th grade Working with Wildlife Summer Campers!

Cheetahs

Red pandas

Tigers