Almost to the Finish Line

With less than a month at the zoo to go, I have a lot of things to get ready for. Packing for school, getting paperwork out of the way, getting my last hurrahs in with friends before I move. It's so weird to think I've been in St. Louis for nearly a year. It had never been my intention to stay this long, but I'm glad I did. Working at the zoo has been amazing! 

With so much time dedicated to my Interpreter's job with the education department I haven't had nearly so much time to go into the lab. This may not be entirely bad since I've found I'm coming down with a bit of senioritis I suppose...I find myself increasingly resistant to do fox videos, asking for other projects to complete instead. It's just as well, it may be time for me to move on anyhow. 

The Stingray exhibit is a phenomenal success and has been a ton of fun to work. Talking on a microphone for 3 hours can get a bit old but it definitely beats working fast food or some other menial job. I've been super fortunate to be a part of both the Research and Education departments at the zoo. By far my favorite Stingray is the baby cownose, Stewart. I need to get a picture of him! 

But what on earth am I going to do with this blog when I leave? I'm not really sure yet. I'm hoping to get a job at the Lowry Park zoo in Tampa, or at least try to volunteer, so maybe it'll transition nicely.

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to taking more pictures, going on some intern tours (went on a Carnivore tour which included a back-area tour of the Big Cats! Standing two feet away from two Amur Tigers is pretty intimidating) and just kicking back and enjoying whatever comes next in the 3 weeks I have left. 

By the way, when we were down with the tigers, we were close enough to hear them chuff. One was taking a bath and washing his enormous paw. Despite their intimidating size, they were still horribly adorable. It was super hot the day we went on this tour, so all the tigers were seeking shade or playing in their pool. 

In other news, the littlest Asian elephant, Jade, was finally introduced to the rest of the herd permanently. Seeing one baby elephant is cute, but TWO in one exhibit is just...well....twice as cute. Jade and Mahlia can be seen from time to time making little hay hats. On the super hot heat advisory days, the elephants have been playing in their water. It's a shame I don't have any pictures. 

Finally, the Equid herds have been separated. Having watched the foals grow up over the fall and winter, it's been tough to see them get so big. Soon the mares will breed again (hopefully) and the cycle will continue, with some new interns falling in love with the new babies. The things we do for conservation. 

The zoo is coming back to life

Being in the Midwest, predictably the slowest time of year for the zoo is the winter. With the few nice days we've had lately, it's great seeing the zoo fill up with people again like it was when I started here in August. The equid study will resume shortly and I actually can't wait to begin taking data...live observations are definitely my favorite part. 

The best part about spring is all the babies that will be arriving! I haven't heard of any major confirmed pregnancies but I know a few babies have already been put on display. In the Takin exhibit in Red Rocks there is a brand new calf that likes to sit on the rocks with its mother. This makes three adolescent takins in the exhibit! In December, another baby giraffe was born. On super warm days they'll put the baby out in the yard with the other older baby (who will be a year old next month) and enjoy sunshine. It's odd to say a giraffe can look so small and yet so big at the same time. In the Primate house there is a new Ring-Tailed Lemur who is maybe only a quarter of the size of its mother. I only caught a glimpse of it as it was being groomed by mom high in a basket in the exhibit but it had the cutest little face and the tiniest tail. I've heard from another intern that a Cotton Top Tamarin was born as well, but I haven't seen it yet. 

With everything getting so green and new its odd to think that the "new babies" born last spring, before I even arrived at the zoo, are almost a year old. The Amur Tiger cubs look nearly as big as their mother now and the Somali Wild Asses are getting up there in  size. I went out to their exhibit and was amazed at how big they had gotten. Fortunately they're still retaining some of their infant qualities so its still easy to tell them apart characteristically as well as physically. Kalama, the infant Grevy's Zebra, has a wild mane that won't stay up and the top of it falls into his eyes, almost like an emo hairstyle. Finally, Sophia, the Amur Leopard, has gotten to the point where its getting harder and harder to tell when it is her in the second leopard exhibit or her mother. However, granted she's not napping, if she happily bounces up to the fencing to "play" with the guest then we know without a doubt its her. She just seems to have this happy quality about her and I can't help but take a thousand pictures of her everytime I go past Big Cat Country. 

Equid Observations start next week; we'll be working with a class from Washington University to demonstrate how data is collected. This will be a weekly thing and its exciting to know our work is important enough to have students involved. 

Another thing I can't wait for; Caribbean Cove opens in May!