| Go Wild at the Zoo - Tour Number Four: Eurasia & South America |
| Written by Kelly Ray | |
| Monday, 25 August 2008 | |
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As a part of our visitor experience, the Calgary Zoo provides interpretive programs called Nature Tales where you can learn about different species at the Zoo.
If you come through the West Gate of the Calgary Zoo, the first thing you’ll see upon arrival is our Amur (Siberian) tigers. Their enclosure is very large and extends to both your left and right, so be sure to take the walk around to see them from all different angles. Look closely as they may be lying beside the fallen logs or they can often be seen to the far left seeking shade under a canopy of trees. The Calgary Zoo is involved in a Species Survival Plan for Amur tigers that manages the breeding of this threatened species in order to maintain a healthy and self-sustaining captive population. Our newest addition is a male cub, born March 21, 2007. Past the West Gate and the tigers, you’ll come to the Alpine ibex. Their Latin name is Capricorn, and so the ibex for a long time has been seen as a mystical animal hunted for cures for illnesses and for ingredients for magical potions. As a result of this hunting, the ibex was almost extinct as early as the beginning 19th century. Today, after extensive and ongoing reintroduction programs, the population in the wild is estimated at about 30,000. You’ll then come to the Tiger’s Den gift shop and snack bar. Directly on your left, follow a path to see some often missed creatures. You will see a wild boar; and then the raptors: birds of prey that hunt for food primarily using their talons. We have a snowy owl and a Peregrine Falcon. You can see a snowy owl in the Harry Potter movies as Harry’s animal companion, Hedwig. The Peregrine Falcon has the fastest dive of any animal on the planet, diving steeply at speeds of over 322km/h. Continuing on this often overlooked pathway, you’ll find the enclosure for our red pandas and Reeve’s Muntjac. This small deer is also called the barking deer, and they are only about 37 inches tall! Follow the path to find the entrance to the Eurasian marsh, where you’ll see several species of waterfowl and wading species including pelicans, Demoiselle crane, black-crowned night heron. For 25 cents, you can purchase a handful of feed for these birds. After visiting the Eurasian Marsh, go to your right and backtrack a short distance to the Bactrian camels. Here we have Ava and Zsa-Zsa (pronounced Ja-ja; call them and they might come over to see you at the fence). The Bactrian camel has two humps on its back, versus the Dromedary, also known as the Arabian camel, which only has one. Head back east on Discovery Trail and see one of two brother sloth bears on your left. Due to a little sibling rivalry, however, you’ll never see these two out together. Across from the sloth bears is a jungle gym for our Japanese macaques. We have one adult male, three adult females, and their offspring. The newest addition was born Mother’s Day 2007 and can often be seen clinging to her mothers’ belly. Next on your right are the white stork, the Japanese serow (a goat-antelope), and the sarus crane, the world’s tallest flying bird. You’ll then come across the male and female snow leopards. For a period of three years, the Calgary Zoo was listed as a project partner with the International Snow Leopard Trust. The Snow Leopard Conservancy promotes community-based stewardship of the endangered snow leopard, its prey and habitat. The building across from the snow leopards is the Elephant Crossing. The new (June 2007) facility provides greatly increased indoor and outdoor space for the elephants as compared to the old building, and has state-of-the-art interpretive information, so take a walk through this new exhibit to see our Asian elephants; Spike (male, 1981), Kamala (female, 1975), Swarna (female, 1975), and Maharani (female, 1990). South American Centre East of Elephant Crossing is the South American building (formerly Primates). Before going in, to your left there is a mute swan, and to the right on a sunny day, enjoying her outdoor habitat, is our giant anteater, Eliza. Eliza was born in 2001 and came to the Calgary Zoo in May 2007. She is the only giant anteater in Canada, and will soon be joined by another female, Nezza (2006). Anteaters eat not only ants, but also termites and other insects in vast quantities, often up to 30,000 in a single day and can eat a few thousand insects in just minutes. As you enter the building to the right there are the squirrel monkeys, which have access to both indoor and outdoor enclosures. Inside on your left, there is a multi-species exhibit with yellow-headed Amazon parrots, cotton-top tamarin monkeys, St. Vincent agoutis, and two two-toed sloths. The name “two-toed” for these sloths is tricky though, because they actually both have three toes; but they do only have two fingers! The next three windows on your left provide viewing into the enclosure for the spider monkeys. Watch them swing from branch to branch, and search for food while hanging from their prehensile tails! The next window on your left has two colobus monkeys. The name colobus comes from the Greek word for mutilated, because unlike other monkeys, colobus monkeys are born without thumbs. Coming around the corner on your right is the indoor enclosure for Eliza the anteater. To the left is a fish tank with piranhas, which are carnivorous freshwater fish. Beside them are two patas monkeys. Patas monkeys live on the ground rather than in trees and are the fastest runners among primates, reaching speeds of 50 km/h. On the right, after the anteater enclosure, there are two dark windows with a purple light. Be patient and take a close look. These primates, lesser slow loris, are nocturnal, meaning they like to sleep all day and become active during the day. Since we want our visitors to see them active, they are on a reverse cycle, meaning it’s night time all day, and the lights for them turn on during our night time. The next exhibit is for our pygmy marmosets, which are the smallest of all the monkeys. Look closely at their tails, which like the anteater are just as long as their bodies! After the marmosets is the prehensile-tailed porcupine. Prehensile means that this animal has an organ that has adapted for grasping or holding; in this case, the porcupine’s tail. Other animals at the Zoo that have prehensile body parts are the tails of spider monkeys and opossums, the trunks of elephants, and even the tongues of giraffes. The last animal on your way out of the South American Centre are the Andean condors. Lorenzo (male, comb on head) and Shirley (female, red eyes). They are part of a Species Survival Plan because Andean condors are endangered. These two were born in 1987 but condors can live for up to 75 years in captivity. |
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