Congress Recognizes AZA

This photo was taken at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.  So what does an aquarium in Georgia have to do with our Lowcountry Zoo?

We are both accredited members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, known as AZA.  Being an AZA Zoo is a big deal!  Every 5 years, they thoroughly inspect our animal collection, facility, educational programming, and veterinary care.

AZA is such a big deal that Congress passed a bill "to honor the American Zoo and Aquarium Association and its accredited member institutions for their continued service to animal welfare, conservation education, conservation research, and wildlife conservation programs."

"Collectively, AZA member institutions draw over 135 million visitors annually and have more than 5 million zoo and aquarium members. These institutions teach more than 12 million people each year in living classrooms, dedicate an estimated $50 million annually to education programs, invest an estimated $50 million annually to scientific research, and support over 1300 field conservation and research projects in 80 countries."

To view the bills, please use the following links:

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/R?cp107:FLD010:@1(hr565)

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c112:2:./temp/~c112WpOzbH::

http://www.aza.org/



Our Wild Neighbors

Did you know that Brookgreen Gardens owns 9,000 acres of land?  Much of that land is

 undeveloped, but even the gardens and zoo have a lot of habitat for our wild neighbors. 

 As you visit us, look around!  You may see some wildlife yourself.

Imperial Moth by Pavilion Restaurant

Fox squirrel helping himself to some swan food

Barred owl beside the Alligator Exhibit

 Visitors got some great pictures that day!

Cottonmouth relocated from the zoo

Yellow ratsnake at the zoo.  They can reach 7 feet long!

Halloween with the Otters

Our otter triplets were given a jack o' lantern for Halloween. 

Look how big the otters are now.  They were just born in March!

Photos from the Festival

We had perfect weather for our Harvest Home Weekend! 

Thank you to everyone who came out and made our event a success.

 



Harvest Home Weekend

Fall is finally in the air at the Lowcountry Zoo.  Please join us this weekend for our Fall Festival, Harvest Home Weekend.  On October 15th and 16th, there will be events and activities throughout the gardens and zoo.

David Grant and the Marsh Tacky
Association gave wonderful horse
presentations last year.  We are
fortunate to have them back again
this year.  The Marsh Tacky
Demonstrations are beside the
Whispering Wings Butterfly Exhibit
at the zoo, and they are held at
11:45 AM and 2:45 PM each day.

We will have hayrides, scarecrow
decorating, street painting,
and more!  Many events are free
with admission.  There is a $4
charge for the hayride.

Wool spinning demonstrations and crafts will
be held near the zoo until 3 PM each day. 
The wool was provided courtesy of our
Tunis sheep.  Our sheep are sheared twice
a year by keeper staff.

For a full listing of activities,
      see our website at
http://www.brookgreen.org/HarvestHome2010.cfm

International Vulture Awareness Day

September 3, 2011 is International Vulture Awareness Day. Zoos worldwide are sponsoring events and activities to educate their guests about the decline of several endangered species of vultures in the wild. Vultures are not the most glamorous of birds, though their soar through the sky is beautiful to watch. They serve an important purpose for us as the clean up squad for dead animal carcasses. Brookgreen Gardens is joining a long list of zoos that will be participating in this day by providing educational information and signage along the trail at the Lowcountry Zoo, including an artifact station in the Large Raptor Aviary, home to 3 rehabilitated Turkey Vultures. There will be volunteers circulating through the zoo to answer questions and direct you to the raptor exhibit.

For more information on International Vulture Awareness Day, or to find a zoo in your area that is participating, you can check out the website http://www.vultureday.org/2011/index.php . We hope you will come out and check out the zoo on Saturday and learn something about vultures.

Alligator Update

Our zookeepers and Curator of Animals have been working with our zoo alligators.  The alligator exhibit holds one male alligator, and two new female alligators.  The male is over 12 feet long, and the two females are each about 6 feet long.  This is one of our females, and she is adapting to her new home very well. 

Zoo staff are training her to touch her nose to the end of a target pole.



Look at those beautiful eyes! 

Did you know...It is illegal to feed a wild alligator in South Carolina.

Male alligators can reach 15 or 16 feet long and have very large teeth!  We certainly do not want them to associate people with free food.  It is never a good idea to approach or try to touch a gator.

Whispering Wings

Here are some photos from our Butterfly Experience:



Queen



Mexican Bluewing



Monarch that just emerged inside the Pupae Viewing Window.



Buckeye













Otter Triplets Update

Our otter pups are just starting to swim,

and they started playing with solid food on May 12th.

Enjoy this video!

Meet our 2 New Baby Goats

Our new little male

Our new little female will be on exhibit soon.

Our main herd is doing well in the new exhibit.

They get along well with the swan, geese and turkeys.

Baby Otter Triplets

Here are some recent otter photos!

March 11, 2011

April 6, 2011 - It's hard work to mother triplets!

April 7, 2011 - Eyes just opened within the last three days.

April 7, 2011 - Vet Exam

Happy zookeepers!  Our otter is a very good mother.

Spanish Goats are on Exhibit

Our Spanish Goats have joined our turkeys, mute swan, and Canada geese on exhibit.



This is one of our mother goats with her twins - a boy and a girl.



Finding lots to eat!



The herd mainly stuck together while exploring the exhibit,
and the goats are very vocal when seperated.






 









New Baby Otters!!

We are thrilled to announce our new otter triplets!

The three otter pups were born to one of our females on Wednesday, March 2nd.  The first pup was born overnight or early that morning, and the other two were born later in the morning.  It seemed like every time we looked, there was an additional baby!

Zoo staff was prepared for this pregnancy.  The hormone testing that we did in October (see the blog from that month) revealed that our otter was either pregnant or had a false pregnancy.  It was fortunate that we were prepared, as she gave birth a whole week early!

Our female otter was hand-raised, so keepers were unsure whether she had enough mothering skills to take proper care of her babies.  We watched as she kept her pups warm and encouraged them to nurse. 

The zookeepers have to be very careful when they are checking on the pups.  It is very important to keep the mother stress-free, or she could abandon the pups.  For that reason, the mother and the pups will be off exhibit for now.  Once she teaches the pups how to swim (a behavior that they always learn from their mother), we will consider putting them on exhibit.

Our veterinarian was invited to examine the baby otters on their second day.  All three pups appeared very healthy, and each are a wonderful weight for a newborn otter.  This pup was 136 grams which is about one-third of a pound (4.8 oz).  The vet and zoo staff made the decision to let the pups be mother-raised unless we see signs of neglect.

Each pup was microchipped.  The chip can be scanned and allows staff to identify each pup. 

All three pups are believed to be male.

We are very excited about our new zoo animals, and we hope to post many more pictures as the pups grow and learn about their new home!

Whispering Wings Butterfly Experience

Our Butterfly Experience opens for the year on April 1, 2011.

White Peacock

Queen

Hairstreak

Valentines for Animals

This year, we are decorating the zoo for Valentine's Day! 

We would love for you to join us on February 14, 2011.  

We will be giving the animals Valentine's-themed enrichment.  Here are

some examples from years past:

Paper bags filled with diet items.

Popsicles with Jello shapes inside.  This is one of our female otters.

Meatball "cupcakes" for our birds of prey.

We look forward to seeing you at the zoo!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays from the animals of the Lowcountry Zoo!

(All photos taken on December 25, 2010)

        Otters and Treats for Otters.

A Barred Owl and a Red-tailed Hawk 

Yummy mealworm treats for Chickens

Happy Holidays from Drifter, Elvira, Gambler and Sarah!