Sweeping in Jungle Trails

On Saturday mornings I try to get it on my schedule to come in and work with the keepers in different areas of the zoo.  Of course it’s good for me to get a sense of what’s really going on out in the zoo; it’s fun to hang with the keepers and hear their concerns and aspirations; and the coolest part, naturally, is being with the animals. [Read more →]

It’s that time of year again, time for the coolest parade that the Zoo has going on: the Penguin Parade! For the second straight year, with a slightly longer route, the King penguins will be marching from the Wings of the World building to the entrance of the Children’s Zoo.

That's my hand! Occasionally the fellas need a little guidance!

The parade will feature our amazing King penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) which is the second largest penguin species found on the planet, standing up to three feet tall, and up to thirty-five pounds! One of the great aspects of the Penguin parade is that it puts you right beside this amazing animal, so you can see how large they really are!

The Penguin Parade will take place during the duration of Penguin Days, which runs through the 28th of February. As long as the temperature stays below their exhibit temperature, the parade will happen at 10:00am and 2:30pm everyday. So come out to the Zoo, enjoy half price admission, and take a walk with a few of the coolest animals on the planet.

In 2010 we opened a new exhibit Dragons!, a new and improved Children’s Zoo and a brand new Cheetah Encounter facility.  We mourned the loss of Akilah, our beloved giraffe, and Nikki’s rhino calf, who lived less than one day (read rhino pregnancy blog posts.)  We celebrated the birth of two bonobos, the release of two rehabilitated manatees, the arrival of three new manatees, scientific achievements and the remarkable success of our cell phone recycling program!

Thanks to our fantastic videographer, Pat Story, we captured most of the year’s highlights on video.  Here are my picks for the top 10 zoo stories of 2010. What were your favorite zoo experiences this year?

1. Bonobo Babies – Outside for the first time!

2. Greenest Zoo in America – Thane Maynard narrates this “green” tour of the Zoo.

3. Manatee Released in Florida – Former resident of Manatee Springs, Slip, swims off with his new tracking gear!

4. Cincinnati Opera Returns to the Zoo – Wonderful voices in Wings of Wonder amphitheater.

5. Nikki’s Pregnancy - Historically significant as the first live birth of an Indian rhino using frozen sperm to AI the mother. Sadly, the calf lived less than one day.

6. New Cheetah Encounter – Thane & Cathryn Hilker show us around the new facility.

7. Dragons! Exhibit Opens – Featuring Hudo the Komodo dragon.

8. New & Improved Children’s Zoo – Home to Little Penguins, Goats, Llama, Alpaca, the Nursery & a play area where kids can pretend to “be the animal!”

9. Cell Phone Recycling Program – We collected 10, 355 phones!!

10. New Silverback Gorilla, Kwashi, meets the Females in his Group