Congratulations, it's a girl!

Two girls, to be exact! Wildlife Safari is happy to announce the arrival of our two young lionnesses, Mtai and Serafina. We have been waiting for these two girls from the St. Louis Zoo in Missouri since November! Poor weather this past winter prevented them from shipping out as expected, but they arrived about 2 weeks ago, and were released on display on Monday.

The girls in the huts (Serafina in the back, Mtai front and center)

(Photo credit to Jordan)

These gorgeous girls were born on Valentine's Day two years ago, making them just a few months older than our boys, Tsavo and Enzi, who will turn two in June. The boys are very excited about the arrival of the girls, and are very curious.

Mtai is the larger of the two girls, who is similar to Tsavo in personality. She's usually in your face first, and very food motivated, which makes it really easy to shift her. She is very playful, and especially likes to bite her sister in the butt.

Mtai loves watching us clean. She is fond of trying to catch the broom through the doors and under the fences.

She also loves this tree!

Serafina is a little more shy, and unsure of her new surroundings. I'm not sure she likes the boys very much. Hopefully she will adjust to her new home soon. I don't have any good pictures of her yet, because she likes to keep her distance.

Tsavo and Enzi are a very special pair. As I may have mentioned in one of my earlier posts, the boys' father and mother were a gift from Africa to the sheik of Qatar. Unfortunately, after giving birth to her three cubs, their mother didn't make it. She was not fully developed because she was so young, so the births were too much for her. After this tragedy, the sheik decided it wasn't really the best idea to have lions as pets, and gifted the family of lions to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Wildlife Safari was among a few lucky zoos and wildlife parks in the nation that entered in a drawing to have these animals at their facilities. The boys' father and sister went to separate zoos, and we got the two boys about a year ago. This family of lions have a very rare line of genetics that is not represented in North America, so they are ideal for breeding (we call these "founders").

(Photo credit to Suz) Enzi on the left, Tsavo on the right

The Species Survival Plan (SSP) is a facet of AZA which helps arrange breeding pairs in animals across North American zoos, keeping track of genetics and former breeding to prevent inbreeding, and to help maintain a healthy population of captive animals (so we don't have to take from the wild). Being part of the SSP helped us land the two girls, who are planned to breed with the boys, should introductions go smoothly.

Introducing the animals is likely to be a long, and interesting process, that will require a lot of patience and keen observation. The process includes scent intros, visual intros (all from a distance), and eventually, should their temperaments allow, they can share a fence line, and eventually (fingers crossed) they will be allowed in the same pen, and monitored for breeding behavior. This is not a process to be rushed! But hopefully we will see some lion cubs in the near future. We haven't had lion cubs born at Wildlife Safari in over 20 years!

Enzi is just so handsome!

The boys were born in a palace, and basically hand-raised so they are really social with the keepers and interns in our department. The girls, on the other hand were mom-raised, and have very different temperaments with the staff. I'm excited to see some fun enrichment and training with these girls as they get more comfortable in their new environment.



And now its time for the answer to the blog question of the day/week/month/year:

Andiamo (Andi)

Q: How many spots does a cheetah have?

A: A single cheetah can have anywhere from 2000-3000 spots!! If I told you that McHumba had 2387 spots on her, you would have to believe me (because I've counted!).

Ok, no. I haven't counted. That would be silly.

So, I originally had planned to share some cool cheetah facts this week, but with the arrival of the new lions, you will have to wait till next week!

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good..."

“Dear Mr. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…”

Wait. This isn’t the Wizarding World of Harry Potter….. My bad.

Dear Miss Schmidt,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been offered an extension to your internship at Wildlife Safari…

That’s totally how the letter would have gone, had they need to write one. Instead, last weekend (by weekend, I mean weekend for normal people), we had our intern reviews. Our department’s intern coordinators basically sit us down and tell us what we are doing well, and what we need to improve on. After my review they told me that they wanted to offer me an extension to work as an intern during the summer session as well, should I choose to accept. Clearly this is good news, and that they like me enough to keep me around for another three months! I wasn’t the only one extended in the carn/cheetah department, but to protect the innocent, I will refrain from stating who didn’t get extended, or who chose not to extend (fools). SO I’M EXTENDING!!

Technically, they are not supposed to extend us, so to get around this, I will be labeled as a Cheetah Intern for the summer, though still mostly staying with Carnivores. This basically translates to being a swinger that can cater to either departments needs at the drop of a hat. So this is what those of us who extend get to do. “Switch departments”, and become swingers. To help this along, they have started cross-training us, which I am stoked about because I get to hang out more with cheetahs and with Saigon (the most handsome tiger I’ve ever met), while still getting to hang out with my lions and bears. It’s basically a win-win all around.

Now, I know you’ve all been wondering: What is the best way to tell the difference between black bears and brown bears?

One of the best ways to tell them apart is the hump on the backs of brown bears. Brown bears, such as our grizzly boys, are well known for their digging capabilities, and they have a hump on their backs, which represents their bulky shoulder muscles. They also have longer claws than black bears, which also help them dig. However, if you are close enough to see their claws, and you’re not at a zoo or wildlife park… you’re in trouble! Another way to tell them apart is by their size. Black bears tend to be much smaller than brown bears, but this is hard to tell if you don’t have them next to each other for comparison. Our grizzly boys weigh between 500-800lbs right now (Oso is the smallest), and our black bear kids are probably ranging from 300-600lbs (not sure the last time they were weighed).

If you said you could tell them apart by their color, you’re in for a surprise! If you noticed in my previous post, Takoda is brown black bear. Black bears come in lots of different colors, ranging from cinnamony-reddish brown to black, so judging by the color alone is not very helpful at all.

So now you know!

Since we have started our cross-training with the cheetah department, I wanted to share a cool story about one of our cheetahs and her slightly unconventional sister, an Anatolian shepherd dog.

(I cannot take credit for this photo)

Sanurra is a female cheetah born in November of 2005 at Wildlife Safari as a single birth. Singleton cubs are usually rejected by their mothers due to the high mortality rate of cubs in the wild, and the mothers generally weigh out their options and figure that one cub isn’t really worth investing all that time and energy. After 11 days, her mother rejected Sanurra, and the keeper staff stepped in and hand raised her. Worried that she would be lonely and bored, they decided to get her a puppy.

Ellie is an Anatolian Shepherd, born September of 2005, who arrived at Wildlife Safari in January of 2006. The Anatolian Shepherd breed was chosen for Sanurra specifically because of their use by the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) to save cheetahs in the wild.

The story is, that farmers in Namibia were worried that wild cheetahs were going to eat all their livestock, as cheetahs are considered pests. Cheetahs are very flighty animals, and would rather abandon a kill, versus stay and defend it from something bigger or louder than them. Enter the Anatolian shepherd: the dogs are able to protect the livestock merely by barking. The bark is enough to make the cheetahs run away, which eliminates the need for farmers to kill the cheetahs. In fact, the Anatolian shepherds have been so successful that there is a 2-year waiting list for farmers to get one from CCF!

So instead of bonding Ellie with livestock, we chose to bond her with Sanurra, to help spread the message of cheetah conservation. It really helps bring the connection between the efforts made in captivity to protect the cheetah (such as maintaining a captive breeding population to avoid taking cheetahs from the wild), to the conservation work being done in Africa to protect the wild populations.

These two, like sisters, don’t get along 100% of the time, but they seek each other out for comfort and enrich each other’s lives.

(I cannot take credit for this photo either)

Over 170 cheetah cubs have been born at Wildlife Safari since its’ opening in 1972. As far as cheetah breeding, WS is second in the world only to Africa (come on, it’s hard to compete with Africa!). Cheetahs are incredibly difficult to breed, because they are very high stress animals, and extremely flighty. Wildlife Safari has a great advantage over other facilities because it has a lot of space. Situated on 600 acres, this drive-thru park is the perfect setting for cheetah breeding away from Africa. Out of 19 cheetahs currently at the park, only about half of them can be seen in the drive-thru, while the other half are off display in the cheetah breeding areas.

I can even name all 19 cheetahs.

The girls: Sanurra, McHumba, Taini, Marlindi, Moyo, Moonfire, Kenya, Kira, Imara, Charo, Ronnie, and Zuri.

The boys: Khayam, Hulets, Dapper, Donovan, Frankie, Andi and Roble.

And now for the question of the week:

How many spots does a cheetah have? (**not the number of spots in the picture below)

Tune in next week for some fun cheetah facts!

"Mischief managed."

Bear with me on this one....

So, I mentioned a while back that we work with 11 bears.  I don't know if I really talked about all of them!

We will start off this entry with the obligatory question of the day:

What's the best way to tell the difference between a black bear and a brown bear?

Tune in next time to find out!

Grizzly bears - Victor, Mak and Oso. 9 year old boys. Orphaned, and brought in from Alaskan Fish and Wildlife. I have posted many pictures of these goof balls. They are not true brothers, but have been together since they were two since they came to Wildlife Safari. The boys are currently up to 16 pieces of produces a piece, 2 quarts of dog food and 2 pounds of meat. Victor is the blondest with the longest face. Mak has a much rounder, darker face and overall fur. If he opens his mouth, you can see a canine in his lower jaw has been ground down (he had a root canal). He is often seen hanging out by himself, but he is one of the best for doing the Big Bear behavior, because he will hold it for as long as it takes for you to toss that donut to him! Oso is the littlest bear, and he has little bug eyes. It has taken me most of the past month to learn to tell these guys apart. I feel accomplished!

Suz training the boys during a Big Bear. Perfectly timed TEETH!

Alaskan Coastals - Claire and Russell. 26, and 27 year old girls. Orphaned, and brought in from Alaskan Fish and Wildlife. Also, not sisters, but have spent their whole lives together. The best way to tell these two girls apart is that Russell has really fluffy ears, and Claire has crazy eyes! The girls are eating 12 pieces of produce, 1.5 quarts of dog food, and 3 pounds of meat a day! We don't do the encounters with these two because of their age, and we don't want them to hurt their joints by asking them to stand up so many times. I've actually never seen any training with them since I've been here, but the latest hire is their primary trainer, so I'm sure we will see some soon!

Russell (see her fluffy ears?) and Claire. 

Black bear kids - Takoda, Chochmo (boys) & Donna. They are 5, 6, and 7 years old. Not sure where they came from, probably same story as the brown bears except from they are likely from Oregon. Takoda is a brown black bear. Chochmo and Donna both have black coats, and the best way to tell them apart is that Donna is very round. It's fun training these guys because you can feed them handfuls of nuts through the fence (just don't stick your fingers in!). I just love the sound they make when they are scarfing down nuts. It's just a cute nom. Oh, and beeteedubs, Donna doesn't like walnuts. I like to give her cupcakes. This is probably why she is so round. Not from me! But from everyone wanting to give her cupcakes. These kids get 12 produce, 3 qts of dog food and 4 lbs of meat a day!!

Takoda (T-bear) standing on his pool

Alyssa feeding 'Mo some mixed nuts

Suz training with Chochmo

Suz training with Donna

Black bear adults - Little Girl, Little Boy and Ricky. I think they are in their twenties. Little Girl's real name is something like Mollalla (??), and Little Boy's real name is Detroit (I think). Ricky is just Ricky (or scrunchie face). I have been told that I will probably never see Little Girl because she only comes out from hibernation for 2 months (September and October). Ricky and Little Boy have been pretty active this week, so I guess technically they are out of hibernation now. Ricky and Little Boy are just started getting 8 pieces of produce (instead of 5), 1 qt of dog food and 1 lb of meat. I'm sure we will see increases in everyone's diets soon!

Ricky

That's all for now! Tune in next time to get a closer look at some of the other animals I work with, and to find out the answer to the question of the day!