NOTE: Dates indicate date of press release, not the date of the event.
January 2010
January 28 — Make a Difference - Be a 'Zooteen' January 27 — Urban Wildlife Expert to Kick Off Lecture Series at Zoo January 22 — Kids Invited to Valentine's Overnight at Oregon Zoo January 22 — Love in the Air, Treats in Store for Oregon Zoo Animals on V-Day January 15 — Zoo to Punxsutawney Phil: You Ain't Nothin' But a Groundhog! January 15 — Oregon Zoo Foundation Announces New Managing Director January 14 — Resurgence of Rare Butterflies Tied to Zoo Conservation Work January 6 — Oregon Zoo Attendance Reaches All-time High... Again
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Teens looking for something wild and exciting to do this summer should consider becoming a ZooTeen at the Oregon Zoo. Students entering 9th through 12th grade this fall may apply now through Feb. 22 for this award-winning volunteer program.
ZooTeens present animals to visitors, help keepers with the care and feeding of pettable animals, go on a behind-the-scenes tour with keepers, and manage the pygmy goat kraal and family farm, both run solely by teens. Some ZooTeens, with additional training, give animal presentations and serve as junior counselors at zoo day camps.
"We are the only zoo in the nation that has teenagers supervising teenagers," said Amanda Greenvoss, zoo youth volunteer coordinator. "This allows the teens to create a unique environment where they feel they belong. It's a kind of family."
ZooTeens gain an insider's view of the zoo and its animals, make new friends, and develop leadership and public-speaking skills in a fun environment, handle zoo education animals, and explore career possibilities. ZooTeens must apply and go through an interview process, which teaches valuable career skills and prepares them for future job interviews.
"I have always loved animals, and this program was a great way for me to express this passion," said Zach Bryant, a fifth-year ZooTeen and senior at Benson Polytechnic High School. "You can learn something one day and then interpret that information to the public the next day."
ZooTeens work 11 hours a week, split into two 5 1/2-hour shifts, with two weeks of vacation. They receive 24 hours of training. Up to 70 ZooTeens may be invited to participate in the winter volunteer program, and 35 of these have the opportunity to become team leaders. These select teens help lead the program on a daily basis.
The team-leader program has twice received an Award of Excellence for youth-leadership involvement from Mutual of Omaha's Wildlife Heritage Center.
Each summer, ZooTeens contribute nearly 60,000 hours to the zoo. The program, which started in 1972, has participants from as far away as Eugene, Salem and Longview, Wash.
PORTLAND, Ore. -- "Urban wildlife" may seem a contradiction in terms, but many wild animals are finding cities and suburbs to their liking -- and sometimes conflicts and controversy can result. Communities debate ways to control flooding caused by beavers, stop deer from eating petunias or respond to the occasional black bear wandering down Main Street.
John Hadidian, director of urban wildlife programs for the Humane Society of the United States, will speak on the topic of human-wildlife relations when he kicks off the 2010 Wildlife Conservation Lecture Series on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 7 p.m. at the Oregon Zoo.
In his lecture, "Wild Neighbors: Living With Wildlife on Urban Landscapes," Hadidian will look at some of the conflicts caused by wildlife in cities, discuss humane solutions and identify the challenges we face within the context of urban ecology.
The Humane Society's urban wildlife programs advocate concepts such as backyard sanctuaries as a means of helping displaced wildlife, a concept that has also been promoted by the zoo.
"Although the first goal in wildlife conservation is to preserve a species' natural habitat, there are many things people can do to provide animals with livable space in an urban setting," noted David Shepherdson, deputy conservation manager for the zoo. "We want to provide some relief to the pressures these animals are facing."
Hadidian has participated in or led nearly 100 urban wildlife workshops and has published numerous scientific articles on wildlife issues. In addition to his role as director of urban wildlife programs, he serves on the steering committee for the Human-Wildlife Conflict Collaboration. He has served on the national wildlife services advisory committee for the U.S. Department of Agriculture as well as the Human-Dominated Systems Directorate for the State Department's Man and the Biosphere program. He was an associate editor of the Journal of Urban Ecosystems. He currently teaches as an adjunct professor at Virginia Tech's Northern Virginia Center.
Hadidian received his master's and doctoral degrees in primatology from Penn State University and has a bachelor's degree in anthropology from the University of Arizona.
The Wildlife Conservation Lecture Series continues through April with the following additional lectures:
Tuesday, March 30
Dusty Gedge
President, European Federation of Green Roof Associations
"Green Roofs and Living Walls for Wildlife"
Tuesday, April 13
Chris Parish
Director, Condor Reintroduction Program, The Peregrine Fund
"Returning Condors to Arizona"
Tuesday, April 27
Stanley Gehrt
Assistant Professor and Extension Wildlife Specialist, Ohio State University
"Urban Coyotes"
The series is presented by Pro Photo Supply and Shiels Obletz Johnsen, with additional support from Portland General Electric. Hadidian's lecture is co-sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States. Hosts for the series are the Audubon Society of Portland, the Oregon Zoo and the World Forestry Center. Lectures are held in the zoo's Banquet Center and begin at 7 p.m. The cost for each lecture is $10 for nonmembers and $8 for members of host organizations, students or seniors.
The host organizations hope the lecture series will strengthen the community's knowledge base on ecological systems and environmental issues -- motivating people to make a difference in the environmental future of the region.
PORTLAND, Ore. -- While parents enjoy an evening of Valentine's romance, their kids can experience the nighttime wonders of the Oregon Zoo. The kids-only "I Love the Zoo" overnight begins Saturday, Feb. 13, at 5 p.m. and ends Sunday, Feb. 14, at 9:30 a.m.
Kids ages 7 to 13 can experience guided tours, see education animals up close and go behind the scenes at the zoo. Kids will also create valentine treats for zoo animals to receive the following day.
Participants should bring a sleeping bag, pajamas and their sense of adventure. Dinner, an evening snack and a continental breakfast are included in the $48-per-child fee.
"Valentine's Day is an appropriate time to teach kids to care about animals and their habitats," said Mike Keele, deputy zoo director. "By educating them in a fun environment, we empower them to respect and protect the world around them."
For more information, visit www.oregonzoo.org/Education/families/families_overnights.htm or call 503-220-2781.
January 22, 2010 LOVE IN THE AIR, TREATS IN STORE FOR OREGON ZOO ANIMALS ON V-DAY Zookeepers show their love with valentines for hippos, sea otters and warty pigs
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Two of the Oregon Zoo's resident condors, Squapuni and No. 189, have been spotted manicuring their nest and passing a feather back and forth in an apparent courtship ritual. Love, it seems, is in the air!
The condors won't be the zoo's only lovebirds this Valentine's Day. Keepers will spread the love Sunday, Feb. 14, delivering some nontraditional valentines to the zoo's sea otters, Visayan warty pigs and hippos.
A valentine made of ice might not be the best thing to give your sweetheart in the wintertime, but nothing could be tastier to a sea otter. The zoo's Valentine's Day festivities kick off at 11 a.m. when the otters receive red heart-shaped ice treats filled with shrimp and mussels.
Visayan warty pigs join the fun at 12:30 p.m. receiving heart-shaped boxes stuffed with their favorite fruits and vegetables. And at the hippopotamus exhibit, apples arranged in the shape of a heart are sure to entice the hippos out of the water at 2 p.m.
This is the 10th year that special Valentine's Day enrichment treats have been handed out to zoo residents. The Oregon Zoo is known internationally for its enrichment programs, which mentally stimulate the animals, and provide them with the opportunity to play, hunt and forage. The zoo is always looking for innovative ways to keep the animals engaged for their overall well-being.
After watching the animals receive their gifts, visitors will have the chance to get their own sweet treats too. On Valentine's Day, anyone purchasing four pieces of delicious homemade fudge at the Zoo Store will receive a fifth piece free.
January 15, 2010 ZOO TO PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL: YOU AIN'T NOTHIN' BUT A GROUNDHOG! Oregon Zoo's old-school prognosticator gears up for annual Hedgehog Day prediction
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Punxsutawney Phil may hog most of the attention on Groundhog Day, but Oregon Zoo traditionalists say Jabari the hedgehog is the one to watch. The spiny little creature, whose name is Swahili for "the brave one," will boldly make his prediction Tuesday, Feb. 2, at 10:30 a.m. in the zoo's entry plaza: Will it be an early spring this year, or should we hunker down for six more weeks of winter?
"The groundhog is actually something of a johnny-come-lately as far as meteorology's concerned," said Metro Council President David Bragdon, who will oversee the zoo's Hedgehog Day festivities. "The groundhog tradition began out of necessity when European immigrants to the United States found there were no hedgehogs in their new country. So our hedgehog here at the zoo is really more authentic. Not necessarily more accurate -- but more authentic."
PORTLAND, Ore. - The Oregon Zoo Foundation has selected Pamela Knowles to be its new managing director. Knowles, who has a wide range of experience with local organizations, most recently served as chief operating officer and general counsel with the Portland Business Alliance. She begins her duties with OZF on Feb. 1.
"The Oregon Zoo Foundation has a strong reputation in our community," said Jon Kruse, chair of the OZF board of trustees. "We are very pleased to have recruited not only an extremely qualified person but a Portland native who understands the community and region. Her leadership and connections within the donor community will be of great value as we enter a new decade."
In addition to the Portland Business Alliance, Knowles has worked with Portland Center Stage and the Portland Schools Foundation, and she was a partner at the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine. She was recently elected to the Portland Public Schools Board of Education. Because of her community involvement, she is well acquainted with many members of the OZF board.
"One of the foundation's strengths is the knowledge and experience its board members bring in operations, development, community relations and advocacy," Knowles said. "I have great respect for their abilities, and I look forward to building a strong working relationship developed through good communication and partnership."
Knowles has been a zoo supporter all her life, having visited with her parents and grandparents as a child, and with her children as an adult.
"I have had the pleasure of watching the zoo develop from a small, city-owned zoo to a regional asset that provides our children and our community with the opportunity to learn about animals from around the world and their environment," continued Knowles. "I am excited by the opportunity to help the zoo be a leader in conservation and education for our region as well as a place where we can learn about other parts of the world and see the animals that live there."
"Pam's skills and experience make her an excellent choice to lead the foundation as it defines its strategic direction and fund-raising plans for the future," said David Bragdon, president of the Metro Council, which governs the zoo. "We're confident she will help make our great zoo even better."
As OZF's managing director, Knowles will work closely with the incoming Oregon Zoo director, Kim Smith. Smith, currently vice president of animal care at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, will assume her duties at the Oregon Zoo on March 1.
The mission of The Oregon Zoo Foundation is to foster community pride and involvement in the Oregon Zoo and to secure financial support for the zoo's conservation, education and cultural programs. OZF secures private funding for the zoo from individuals, foundations and corporations, and manages a membership program of more than 46,000 households. OZF has a four-star rating from Charity Navigator (2005-2009) and its recent "Bring Back the Roar" campaign for Predators of the Serengeti exceeded goals by 25 percent, raising $6.2 million.
The zoo is a service of Metro and is dedicated to its mission to inspire the community to create a better future for wildlife. Committed to conservation, the zoo is currently working to save endangered California condors, Washington's pygmy rabbits, Oregon silverspot and Taylor's checkerspot butterflies, western pond turtles, Oregon spotted frogs and Kincaid's lupine. Other projects include studies on black rhinos, Asian elephants, polar bears and bats.
January 14, 2010 RESURGENCE OF RARE BUTTERFLIES TIED TO ZOO CONSERVATION WORK Oregon Zoo, conservation partners work to restore silverspot population along Oregon coast
PORTLAND, Ore. -- A group of Northwest butterfly conservationists got some great news at its end-of-year recap meeting. After comparing notes and crunching a few numbers, the group realized that the Oregon silverspot butterfly, a species it's been working hard to stabilize, may finally have gained a foothold at a key spot on the Oregon coast.
Each December, conservationists from the Oregon Zoo, Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo, Lewis and Clark College, the Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service meet to discuss strategy and assess the past year's work. For 10 years, these organizations have been rearing silverspot larvae and pupae, then releasing them into the wild in an effort to stabilize and revitalize the dwindling native populations.
It hasn't always been encouraging. At one release site, on U.S. Forest Service land near Yachats on the Oregon coast, fewer than 20 silverspots had been observed in previous years -- some years, only one or two butterflies were detected.
In 2009, though, a field biologist estimated more than 400 butterflies to be in the area.
"This is terrific news and strong evidence that what we're doing is really making a difference in the field," said Oregon Zoo conservation scientist David Shepherdson. "The rearing of plants by our living collections and horticulture staff both to feed larvae and restore habitat has played a critical role in the restoration of this species."
The zoo's horticulture department raised thousands of western blue violet (Viola adunca) starts to plant at the release site, providing a crucial food source and allowing the larvae to pupate.
Zoo butterfly conservationist Mary Jo Andersen was particularly encouraged by the fact that silverspots released at the site this year developed from the caterpillar stage, a good indicator that the population is sustainable and can return in years to come.
Overall, the zoo released more than 2,000 of the rare Northwest butterflies in 2009, including 806 larvae to the site near Yachats, and an additional 600 pupae each to release sites at Cascade Head and Bray Point.
"Through our combined efforts, we hope to stabilize the butterfly population and bring it back from the brink of extinction," Shepherdson said.
The Oregon silverspot butterfly is listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. It was once found in coastal grasslands from northern California to southern Washington, but has since disappeared from all but a handful of sites along the Oregon coast due to habitat loss and the disappearance of its host plant, the western blue violet.
During the preceding decade, monitoring at Cascade Head revealed a dramatic decline in the number of butterflies seen flying. In years prior to 1992, average numbers exceeded 1,000 adults, but in 1998, only 57 of the butterflies were found.
Each year, female silverspot butterflies are collected from Mount Hebo and induced to lay eggs at the Oregon Zoo's butterfly conservation facility. The eggs hatch into tiny larvae (caterpillars), which are kept in refrigerators over the winter, when they are in a dormant stage called diapause (similar to hibernation).
"Each larva is only about one millimeter long when it hatches," Andersen said. "They look like tiny specks, but when you observe them under a microscope, you can see that they are perfect miniature caterpillars."
The Oregon silverspot captive-rearing effort is a project of the NW Zoo & Aquarium Alliance, which promotes collaboration on regional conservation among zoos and aquariums in the Pacific Northwest.
Over the past decade, the zoo has collaborated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Nature Conservancy, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Xerces Society to successfully raise and release Northwest butterflies.
In addition to conserving Oregon silverspots, the zoo has enjoyed phenomenal success in its work with the endangered Taylor's checkerspot, raising and releasing thousands of these butterflies over the past six years.
According to Andersen, butterfly populations throughout North America are in decline, with 23 species listed as either endangered or threatened. To address this problem, the Oregon Zoo has been a charter member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Butterfly Conservation Initiative, which involves nearly 50 national zoos and aquariums. The initiative is designed to bring together government and non-government agencies to aid in the recovery of imperiled butterflies.
January 6, 2010 OREGON ZOO ATTENDANCE REACHES ALL-TIME HIGH... AGAIN 1.6 million visitors flock to zoo in 2009; new Predators exhibit, ZooLights draw big crowds
PORTLAND, Ore. — For the fourth year in a row, and the fifth time in the past six years, the Oregon Zoo has broken its all-time calendar-year attendance record, with 1,612,359 visitors in 2009. This marks the first time zoo attendance has topped 1.6 million in a calendar year. The previous record, set in 2008, was 1,594,015 visitors.
"To achieve record attendance again, especially in such a tight economy, is very remarkable," said Metro Council President David Bragdon. "It's a strong testament to our community's support of the zoo. The zoo not only provides a rich family experience but also funds many conservation and education programs aimed at creating a better future for wildlife."
An already impressive attendance year was capped off by ZooLights, which had its own record turnout this winter. From Nov. 27 to Dec. 31, more than 125,000 visitors came to see the popular light display — a figure that might have been even higher if last week's surprise snowstorm hadn't forced the zoo to cancel a night. For the entire run, which ended Jan. 3, ZooLights attendance totaled 138,597. The previous best for the festival, set in 2006, was 130,603 visitors.
Zoo attendance got off to a fast start in 2009, with its best January ever (nearly 60,000 visitors). Events such as Elephantastic and Bear Fair helped bring in big numbers during the spring, and summer at the zoo was characteristically busy, with more than 200,000 visitors in both July and August. The summer concert series was a big draw, with capacity crowds taking in shows by the B-52s, Tears for Fears, the Indigo Girls and more.
But the lion's share of people — if not the most visitors — arrived toward summer's end. Beginning Labor Day weekend, huge crowds turned out to see the zoo's new Predators of the Serengeti exhibit showcasing lions, cheetahs and African wild dogs. A record 164,071 visitors passed through the gates in September, even more than turned out last year to see the baby elephant, Samudra.
After such a successful 2009, Bragdon looks forward to an even better 2010. In May, the zoo plans to unveil "Prehistoric Predators," a blockbuster summer exhibit that will once again bring lifelike robotic dinosaurs to the zoo. (In 2008, "Dinosaurs!" — featuring a fearsome life-size T. rex and more than 20 other prehistoric creatures — proved the most popular temporary exhibit in the zoo's history.) Also set to open this summer is Red Ape Reserve, a new orangutan and white-cheeked gibbon exhibit that will more than triple the orangs' current space and allow Inji, Batik and Kutai year-round outdoor access for the first time at the Oregon Zoo.
"We attract large audiences because of our commitment to offering new exhibits and programs," Bragdon said. "With dinosaurs returning to the zoo in May and the highly anticipated opening of Red Ape Reserve, I'm confident we'll continue to be the best-attended zoo in the Pacific Northwest."
The first time the zoo's attendance topped a million was during 1962, the year Packy was born. The baby pachyderm, born that April, helped draw 1,211,170 visitors, eager to see the first elephant born in the United States in 44 years. It wasn't until 1989 that the zoo broke the million mark again. Since then, the zoo has welcomed more than a million guests in 18 of the past 21 years.
The Oregon Zoo continues to have the highest attendance of any fee-based tourist attraction in Oregon.
