Oregon Zoo - Portland, OR - www.oregonzoo.org
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Oregon Zoo - Portland, OR - www.oregonzoo.org |
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Press
Kits: Press
Releases: NOTE: Dates indicate date of press release, not the date of the event.
November 30, 2007
Joni Kabana, author of "Torina's World: A Child's Life in Madagascar," will be at the zoo Saturday, Dec. 1, from 4 to 6 p.m. Kabana show readers the Madagascar culture through the eyes of her tour guide, Torina, an 8-year-old Malagasy girl. Divided into three sections -- "We Live," "We Grow" and "We Feel" -- the book offers a glimpse into the daily life of a Malagasy village, and encourages children from Western cultures to examine and reflect on life in a developing country. Kabana took the photos, while her son, Benjamin, the same age as Torina, helped edit the images and added the text. Kabana is an award-winning Pacific Northwest commercial and portrait photographer. She was named "Compassionate Photographer of the Year" by Seattle's Rosewater Foundation and has been the recipient of various grants.
Spooner is a cartoonist, writer, illustrator and instructor. His resume includes work for The Oregonian, Willamette Week, Esquire, Portland Business Journal and the Saturday Review. He also is the creator of The Oregonian comic strip, "Mr. Portland." In addition to a great selection of books, the Zoo Store is bursting with unique animal-themed gifts. From intricate handmade animal ornaments to cuddly plush toys, the gift shop has something for everyone. There are a wide variety of animals to hug, puzzles to solve and collectible gifts for everyone on your list. Zoo admission is not required to shop at the gift shop. November 29, 2007
The zoo's dedicated Volunteer Enrichment Team creates the presents, while keepers and zoo veterinarians plan the contents. Primate treats include dry cereal, nuts, raisins and other dried fruit, while Ralph the ocelot receives tuna and salmon. The gift boxes are wrapped with paper made of nontoxic materials, and nonadhesive tape is used. On Dec. 22 and 23 at 10 a.m., Presents for Primates continues, as the chimpanzees and mandrills (Dec. 22) and the orangutans and ocelot (Dec. 23) receive cardboard "gingerbread" houses. In the houses, keepers have cut holes for windows or made windows and doors that open. This provides a place for the keepers to place treats to encourage foraging behaviors. The cardboard houses also provide the animals with opportunities to control something in their environment, even if it is the opportunity to "deconstruct" the item. Web visitors can watch last year's Presents for Primates enrichment activities at http://www.oregonzoo.org/VideoArchive/Primates.htm. Enrichment items, such as these gift boxes and gingerbread houses, are used to encourage hunting and foraging behaviors. This is the sixth year that the primates have received boxed and wrapped food items for the holidays, but providing enrichment is a routine task for zookeepers. The Oregon Zoo is known internationally for its enrichment programs, and zoo staff anticipates seeing playful, predatory and otherwise interesting activity from the animals. The other primates (zoo visitors) can enjoy the holiday season during the zoo's 20th annual ZooLights, which runs through Dec. 30. Decorated with a million holiday lights, ZooLights is a family tradition, featuring illuminated life-size animal silhouettes, trees, buildings, walkways and the zoo train. Gates are open from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday through Thursday, and 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, with costumed characters and elves greeting visitors. Guests have one hour past closing time to make their way back to the front gate. During this time, lights and other activities continue until gates close. The festival is closed Dec. 24-25. In addition to the light displays, the event features seasonal culinary treats, and hundreds of music and dance groups. The zoo's Cascade Grill also offers a holiday buffet Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The Cascade Outfitters gift shop will be open for holiday shopping and will also feature an eco-friendly Artists' Corner throughout the event. For a preview of the light display, visit the zoo's Web site at http://www.oregonzoo.org/Events/ZooLights/preview.htm
"Animal enrichment is very important to the health and well-being of the animal," noted Tony Vecchio, zoo director. "However, it is often done behind the scenes. This opportunity allows visitors to watch animals interact with their Thanksgiving treats." To watch a video of last year's Thanksgiving-themed animal enrichment activities for polar bears and meerkats, visit www.oregonzoo.org/VideoArchive/Thanksgiving2006.htm. Other Thanksgiving activities at the zoo include the Turkey Trot, Nov. 22. The Oregon Road Runners Club organizes this annual Thanksgiving Day event for runners and walkers of all ages. A portion of the proceeds goes to fund animal care and conservation programs at the zoo. On Thanksgiving, the zoo's Cascade Grill will offer an open-face hot-turkey sandwich served with cranberry sauce, gravy and fries for $7.95. November
20, 2007
The papier-mache turkeys, pumpkin-berry blizzard, layered pumpkin "pie" and other treats serve as enrichment for the animals. The zoo uses enrichment, a tool used to keep animals mentally and physically stimulated, to encourage hunting and foraging behaviors. The animal treats are designed and created by the zoo's dedicated Volunteer Enrichment Team. The entire day's schedule includes: - 9:30 a.m. - The zoo's Amur tigers, Mikhail and Nicole, receive a papier-maché rabbit filled with tiger treats. - 10 a.m. - It's never too early for dessert! Polar bears Conrad, Tasul and Yugyan enjoy yummy pumpkin-pie ice treats. - 10:15 a.m. - The zoo's sun bears are treated to a 100-pound "pumpkin-berry blizzard" - an ice treat packed with delicious goodies, including berries and pumpkins. - 10:30 a.m. - Meerkats tuck into a turkey pinata filled with delicious cricket stuffing. (Well, delicious to meerkats, anyway!) - 11 a.m. - Six small scarecrow guests enliven the cougars' Thanksgiving feast, set to include a table and platter with all the fixings. - 11:30 a.m. - Bobcats enjoy a papier-mache squirrel. - 12 p.m. - Mountain goats receive some overseas guests: a huge scarecrow and a cardboard replica of the Mayflower. - 12 p.m. - Black bears Gerry, Pete and Homer get burlap scarecrows and a cornucopia overflowing with goodies.
"Animal enrichment is very important to the health and well-being of the animal," noted Tony Vecchio, zoo director. "However, it is often done behind the scenes. This opportunity allows visitors to watch animals interact with their Thanksgiving treats." To watch a video of last year's Thanksgiving-themed animal enrichment activities for polar bears and meerkats, visit www.oregonzoo.org/VideoArchive/Thanksgiving2006.htm. Other Thanksgiving activities at the zoo include the Turkey Trot, Nov. 22. The Oregon Road Runners Club organizes this annual Thanksgiving Day event for runners and walkers of all ages. A portion of the proceeds goes to fund animal care and conservation programs at the zoo. On Thanksgiving, the zoo's Cascade Grill will offer an open-face hot-turkey sandwich served with cranberry sauce, gravy and fries for $7.95. November
9, 2007
Ceann and Marcus, both 12, have lived at Oregon Zoo since they were 2 months old, and are longtime favorites of visitors to the zoo's Alaska Tundra exhibit. The closure of the Alaska Tundra this fall, to make way for the zoo's new Predators of the Serengeti exhibit, provided a great opportunity to create a predator-prey arrangement at Elk Meadow. "Having the wolves in a setting next to the elk, an animal with which they normally share an ecosystem, is probably the best feature of the new exhibit," said Chris Pfefferkorn, Oregon Zoo general curator. "The move should be enriching for both animals." The wolves' new space occupies about 10,000 square feet, an increase of about 1,400 square feet over their former space, and is seeded with grasses and native Northwest trees and shrubs. The terrain features natural contours that slope from a shady spot downhill up to a sunny knoll. Boulders and mounds create places for the wolves to explore and climb for better vantage points, as well as spaces where keepers can stash food and treats. A rock "tunnel" den in one of the mounds gives the wolves a place to seek cover while still on view to the public. The visitors' viewing shelter boasts all-new education graphics about elk, wolves and their important links.
Gray wolves are still listed as endangered. However, in larger sections of the country where wolves occur, many state and wildlife refuge populations have been de-listed, with some being categorized as "experimental, non-essential." November
5, 2007
"Every year, the zoo presents a stunning display of light and color," says Tony Vecchio, zoo director. "I know many people in our community eagerly anticipate ZooLights and look forward to seeing the many new touches we add each year. It's so gratifying to know the Oregon Zoo has become an important holiday tradition to so many families." New additions to the holiday event include displays featuring black bears, bobcats and babirusa pigs, which commemorate exhibits opened this year at the zoo. Conservation is also showcased in lights, with new silhouettes of endangered condors, manatees, a blue-footed booby, and a diorama that alternates the words "conservation" and "extinction." The entry plaza makes quite a statement with a statue similar to the one in Bremen, Germany, depicting the four farm animals from the Grimm fairy tale "The Bremen Town Musicians." As guests work their way from the plaza down the boardwalk, they encounter perennial favorites such as the leaping reindeer and tobogganing polar bears. Visitors may turn left and visit the yellow brick road, Dorothy, Toto, the Cowardly Lion and even those frightening flying monkeys from the Land of Oz at the zoo's Trillium Creek Family Farm, or turn right and take a ride on the zoo's famous Oregon Steamer train, decked out in its holiday finest. Deep inside the zoo, an anaconda is re-created in lights at the Amazon Flooded Forest exhibit, and a gingerbread house, complete with a candy-cane fence, lights up the Crossroads. Three life-size, 3-D hippos graze near a meandering river of LED lights, 180 feet long and 16 feet wide, on the zoo's concert lawn. Two life-size, 3-D crocodiles keep close watch on the hippos as they graze; one crocodile has a motorized mouth that opens when visitors tap a switch. Just below the river of lights are submerged hippos and crocodiles. Nearby, an African fish eagle swoops down and scoops up a fish from the river. The zoo's popular costumed characters and elves greet zoo visitors and pose for pictures. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer joins Buddy Beaver, Honey Bear, Eliza Elephant, Lulu Lemur, Nate the Eagle, Rock E. Goat, Sandy Sea Otter and Titus Tiger. Visitors can also see some of the zoo's resident animals, including mountain goats, elephants, primates, and pettable sheep and goats. Music lovers will enjoy the highly animated light silhouette of Mick Jaguar, performing on the concert stage with his all-star animal band: Packy Pachyderm tickling the ivories, Richard Lion playing guitar, Gerri Giraffe on bass, Billy Bear on trumpet, Orville Orangutan on drums and Willy Wildebeest on sax. The Ostrich Sisters add backing vocals.
The sounds of the season can be heard in the zoo as more than 100 schools, churches and professional groups perform holiday musical selections, and are joined by several local dance troupes. For ZooLights thrill seekers, "Fun House Express," the zoo's newest 3-D simulator feature takes visitors on a spooky, crazy ride through a broken-down funhouse ride operated by Jimmy. The cars creak and roll on a track through the flimsy-looking funhouse. Jimmy drops riders through a trap door and sends them on a wild underground ride he's created called "Clown Chaos." Admission for the ride is $3 for all guests. For last-minute shoppers, the zoo's gift shop is bursting with animal-related gifts. Paintings by the zoo's talented elephant Rama are available for purchase on zoo grounds during festival hours Dec. 7, 8, 14, 15, 21 and 22. Join the zoo in the Cascade Grill for a holiday buffet served Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays during ZooLights, and nightly Dec. 14-23. Buffet service runs from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The price is $15.95 for adults (12 and older), $8.95 for children 6-11 and $5.95 for children 5 and under. No reservations are needed. The Cascade Grill offers a limited menu on days when the buffet is not available. AfriCafe and food carts throughout the zoo offer holiday treats and warm beverages every night of ZooLights. For a preview of the light display, visit the zoo's Web site at http://www.oregonzoo.org/VideoArchive/ZooLights2006.htm ZooLights runs from Nov. 24 through Dec. 30, and is co-sponsored by KOIN News 6, Clear Channel Portland and United Rentals. Hours are 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday through Thursday, and 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Guests have one hour past closing time to make their way back to the front gate. During this time, lights and other activities continue until gates close. The festival is closed Dec. 24-25. ZooLights package tickets, which include admission and a train ride, are $9.75 for adults (12-64), $8.25 for seniors (65 and older), $6.75 for children (3-11), and free for children under 3. Additional information is available at www.oregonzoo.org or by calling 503-226-1561.
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© Oregon
Zoo 
© Oregon
Zoo 
© Oregon
Zoo 
© Oregon Zoo 
© Oregon Zoo 
© Oregon Zoo 
© Oregon Zoo 