sorry, there will be no further updates

i am sorry for not updating this site since august. i have been conflicted whether or not to continue to update and have decided not to.

i love my zoo friends and will continue to post photos of their cuteness on my shutterfly photo site (link on left bar), but i feel my original mission to educate and endear people to the animal residents only, helps an organization who doesn't see the need for such help. zoo management does not value this kind of outreach and has never acknowledged what i've tried to do here. i still feel my mission is desperately needed for the zoo to thrive, but the zoo has a staff who should be facilitating this aspect of outreach.

do not misinterpret, i still love these animals and visit them at least 3 times a week. if anyone who follows this blog has any questions about an animal, you can contact me thru this website and i will be happy to answer your questions.

thank you to all the visitors to this blog. viva goober and all his friends! i love you!

visit my other zoo friend sites!

learn more about the zoo residents enrichment fun here:
http://thebigcatnip.blogspot.com

see more photos of the zoo residents here:
http://gooberssfzoofriends.shutterfly.com

video clips of the zoo friends here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/leo811sf

read more about padang and her milestone birthday here:
http://tigerbirthday.blogspot.com

photos from padangs party here:
http://padangsparty.shutterfly.com/

read more about ulu, her milestone birthday and her bear friends birthdays here: http://bearbirthdays.blogspot.com

we got em', flamingo chicks!

i was told by a keeper on thursday that two of the ten ( i think) eggs had, i forget the term he used, pinned/pinged? (the day before) which means they had just broken the shell in preparation to emerge from the egg. from then, it should be about two days before the chick will fully hatch. that put babies for friday. the flamingos were my first stop today, as i must see babies! and yippee! i got to see one for a bit before the parent say down to cover it. this one i saw well is the one on the front nest, but there is another one the back nest, that i caught a glimpse of on the way out. ... these are the first baby flamingos since 2003 (i believe), and first i've ever seen! so pretty exciting! welcome precious cuties! ... check the photosite (link at left) for more pix, including updated photos of them at five days and another new baby!

new babies on the island!

three twelve week old male penguin chicks, who were hatched on penguin island, have finished socialization and fish school. last week they took their big boy march along the parade route in their honor, that led them back to the island! pictured are each one of the chicks a week later. the one with the red band is named floyd, the black banded will be named by an auction winner, and the one with the grey band will be named by a zoo member (from a contest). ... to see photos and some video clips of the parade, please visit my photosite and youtube channel (links in the left column on this page).

capy happy!

two year old capybara sisters (ria and kyme) born at the san diego zoo are now living at the puente! after losing our lottie last year, the puente has been missing cute little capy faces. the girls seem to be adjusting well and will at some point be introduced to the anteater couple who also make the puente field their home. i hope it all works out, it will be a joy to watch them all out together. i especially can't wait til the sisters have access to the field AND the pond, as i've seen capy's swimming in video's and would love to see them enjoying the pond. will be interesting to see what the swan's have to say about that! ... welcome sisters!

happy birthday goober!

today was goober's 16th birthday! my friend nica and i went to the zoo today to wish him a happy day! goober was happy to see us and loved our song for him! check out his big smile! he was saying "thank you for the birthday wishes! i am the goober-licious!" love ya sweet goob! ... when we arrived for our second of three rounds of goob bday greetings, the zoo camp gal brought over a card the campers made for goober and the keeper was putting it on display!

happy belated birthday! sukari!

african lion sukari recently had her first birthday as a resident of the sfzoo. she turned eight years old on june 23rd. the big cat keeper enjoys celebrating the cats birthdays, so special treats were given to her and her companion tunya (and all the other cats too!) last saturday. her birthday came during a time when she and tunya were separated due to her new birth control implant needing to take effect, so her celebration came a bit after (so they could enjoy it together), but still with a whole lot of fun! ... you can see more pix from the bash on the photosite > http://gooberssfzoofriends.shutterfly.com/2610

july birthdays

sorry for the delay to anyone who is following the blog closely. the month of july was the birth month for many of our zoo friends. luckily with the cooperation of her keeper, sumatran tiger leanne's seventh birthday was celebrated! you can see photos from all the fun on the photosite (link at left). before leanne's party i went by and wished cobby a happy birthday! and when i went to the family farm they had a birthday sign up for my fav little girl on the farm, ginger. ... happy belated birthday shout-outs to, those whose birthdays as far as i know, went publicly (and even i missed some) unrecognized, mishaki, bwang, slash, pokemon, busby and oscar jonesy! ... i personally think its a shame that with reaching the milestone 55 years old and having the moniker of oldest male chimpanzee in captivity in north america, his birthday went unrecognized. to me the residents are the zoo. without them there would not be one. plain and simple. they should be celebrated.

sweet tony

last tuesday, sweet tony joined his sister emily and his companion tatiana, where i'm sure they are playing in a meadow in the afterlife. ... i could write alot on tony as he was one of the dearest zoo friends i've come to know. those who haven't had the opportunity to really know a non domesticated fur friend, have no idea how special they can be. tony was i would imagine, like no other tiger. he had a truly sweet nature to him. he seemed to love everyone and love life. he was always happy and chuffed at his keepers and his neighboring tigers, even when one might be in a mood and sass back at him. he would just seem to smile and continue on his way. one fond recent memory, my friend and i were talking with his keeper and tony come to the mesh between us to be included in the conversation. he was making eye contact as he always did, and stood there as if he had something to add to the chat. i know from experience that he most surely did, even if we couldn't hear his thoughts. ... this big guy was a sweetheart and you could feel it from him. i think if you went in with him, he would let you sit down bedside him and brush him. he had that kind of gentleness about him. ... i miss you tony tone tone. you will always be in my thoughts and heart. love to you and see you again in another lifetime.

birthdays!

happy belated birthday to sam, the herd's male giraffe! he turned eight years old on friday (6.11). i love this pic of him i snapped last year, becuz he looks so much like his son dozer! ... today the fishing cat girls angelfish and goldfish celebrated their seventh birthday! this pic is of goldfish that i took this past wknd. angelfish still lives up at the fcc, while goldfish and their brother sunfish (who's from another litter and bday is in september) have completed their move to their new enclosure. ... happy bday to all three of you cuties!

baby face!

one of the emperor tamarin pairs have twins born last saturday! i was lucky to not only get to see these babies riding on one of the parents back, but the parent came up to the window as if to show us the babies! soooooooo cute! got some decent snaps too! in case you can't tell the babies are so small, their head is probably not even the size of a half dollar. precious baby faces.

monkey business

i heard about this from a primate keeper before the monkeys had arrived at the zoo. i am so happy they were saved! and look forward to seeing them live a new happy life!

Zoo saves monkeys from euthanasia

By: Kamala Kelkar
Examiner Staff Writer
June 3, 2010

Monkey business: Squirrel monkeys can live into their late 20s, and they survive on fruits, nuts and sometimes small animals. (Getty Images file photo)

SAN FRANCISCO — Twenty monkeys who spent their lives undergoing behavioral testing at Stanford University are about to learn what normal monkey life is at the San Francisco Zoo.

The squirrel monkeys are among a group of 59 that needed homes after Stanford lost grant money and asked the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which accredits zoos for their commitment to wildlife, to help find them homes.

Now, the 3- to 5-pound monkeys are nearing the end of their mandatory quarantine before they can join the other animals at the zoo.

"They were in a research facility where they do not allow anything that can’t be sterilized and didn’t have any natural elements," -primates curator Corinne MacDonald said. "We’re slowly introducing them to natural things. They’re loving it."

The entire group has been spread out among at least six other zoos.

"Part of it is capacity. We want to make sure we have appropriate habitats and natural social groupings," zoo association spokesman Steve Feldman said.

San Francisco Zoo officials and the association would not disclose details about the monkeys’ testing or their living situation at the campus, and college officials declined to comment.

However, zoo officials did say it was a matter of life or death for the monkeys, which are most commonly found in the Amazon Basin. They were on the brink of euthanasia because the research facility lost its funds.

Feldman said it took more than a year to coordinate.

When MacDonald feels they are ready to revel in trees and dirt, the monkeys will temporarily live in the Primate Discovery Center.

In the meantime, the zoo will use a $250,000 donation specifically for the monkeys to extend an outdoor exhibit at the new South American Tropical Rainforest Aviary that’s still under construction.

"It’s actually unprecedented for this kind of a transfer," MacDonald said.

If they’re able, the monkeys may eventually coexist at the aviary with the world’s largest rodents, capybaras.

source:
San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Zoo-saves-monkeys-from-euthanasia-95469744.html#ixzz0pqMe6T8v

happy birthday orkney!

who wouldn't want to wish the happiest seal out there a BIG happy birthday!? my friend hazel and i went to the zoo today to do just that! ... the list i have shows today being orkney's 48th bday, but theres a discrepancy between the list and what's posted at his enclosure. i talked with the keeper and he did indeed come to the zoo in 1970 at approx. one year old, so that would make him 41 today! the date, june 1st, might be the day he arrived. ... happy birthday orkney!!! i hope you got some special fishy treaties today! i love ya cutie! ... chk out the video clip i got of him today, having fun swimming in his pool! > http://www.youtube.com/user/leo811sf

...would also like to mention three may birthdays that didn't get individual posts. all the residents are valued and deserve acknowledgment of their bdays! i just don't know these individuals well enough to know whether photos of their groups are indeed of them, my bad.

sauna, the female lion macaque, celebrated her 22nd birthday on may 14! ... winnie, the female patas monkey, turned 5 on may 22nd! ... kaliandrah, the female koala had her 10th birthday may 30th! ... happy belated birthday girls!

prince charles

in keeping with my black and white theme, i'd like to post about one of my childhood favorites, prince charles. sadly he is no longer with us. i've missed him ever since the visit i returned and he wasn't there. he was the only zoo animal i knew by name. i still remember seeing him standing near the edge of the moat in the corner grotto where he lived. he was really something to see. i think as a white tiger ( he was a bengal) he was just so striking and different (back in my day) which is probably why he was a fav and why i remember him so vividly. ... when i started this blog i looked online for information about him and couldn't find any. one zoo friend showed me two items in the gift shop that have his photo. one is a book mark and one is a photo of him and his sister, who was an oranger. most of the photo items in the gift shop are not of our zoo animals, but this one photographer i think provides his photos of animals to such items, so we are lucky! i had seen the items but never knew it was prince charles. ... recently i found these great photos of him posted on flickr. the photos were taken in black and white and everything but prince charles was hand tinted. the photographer was kind enough to let me post them on my blog. ... i mentioned him to the bigcat keeper not long ago and she refered to him as "charlie"! so she knew him. i will try to get some more info on him soon, so please check back for that! for now, please enjoy these great photos of magnificent charlie!

thank you to gayle alstrom for sharing her photos! she was a friend to the zoo residents when she lived in san francisco years ago. you can view her other vintage sfzoo pix and other great captures here > http://www.flickr.com/photos/gayle_alstrom/
and follow her adventures since she left the city here >http://gaylealstrom.wordpress.com/

either my research skills are crappy (i don't think so!) or this one slipped by me, ... copied in part from > http://pjdesigns.com/pj/charley.htm

"Born at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1981, Prince Charles and his normal-colored sister, Whiskers, arrived at the San Francisco Zoo in 1982, to much fanfare. At the time, "Charley," as he is known by his keepers, was one of only 52 white tigers in the world, and was the first exhibited in the western United States."

i found it totally cool that he was the first exhibited in the west! i was right, in my day there just weren't that many and even finding photos of them wasn't easy since there was no internet! ... now that i have his sisters name i want to research her!

black and white

two pairs of gorgeous birds you will meet at the zoo are the black swans and the american white pelicans. the swans live on the west side of the pachyderm building. they are two females named sydney and sheila and they will greet you with a high pitched honk as you walk by! i am told by a keeper that they like seeing people, so i'm happy that this path was re-opened after being closed. my route is from the chimps down their path to the cats and its always nice to hear them greet me! ... the pelicans live on the pond just past the tropical aviary building. both are wild born and came to live at the zoo as rescues. angel who has been living at the zoo over forty years! is missing one wing and devil, who is nineteen, is missing part of a wing. they are never far from each other and one of the most beautiful sights is seeing them glide across the lake in the sun to their beach.

happy birthday gauhati!

gauhati is celebrating his fifteenth birthday today! happy birthday gauhati! i hope there was a special treat in your day! someday i would like to know the hoofstock keepers well enough to be able to bring prizes and treats for their special occasions! i love the birthdays and want them all celebrated! ... gauhati is a big fav of mine! he is just plain cute! he makes the cutest faces when he's eating and his body armor is gorgeous! next time you visit him, take a good look at it.

you can read more about gauhati in this post:
http://gooberssfzoofriends.blogspot.com/2009/07/gauhati.html

lucy

another friend who lives in the ARC that came out for a visit was lucy the opossum. how cute is this face? its very sweet looking i think and she seems kinda shy. her little ears, nose and feets are precious! you know i had to give them alittle touch! not sure you can tell from the photo, but she has longer hair than ones i've seen before. i'm not sure if that's a different breed, but will check and post that info. as well will clarify her other details soon.

sassafras

i first saw a photo of her online and was like what is that? (prehensile porcupine) and where can i see such cuteness?! since then i have been trying to meet sassafras for over a year! finally the other day when i got to go behind the scenes at the ARC i was able to! sassy lives in the ARC and is there when they are open to the public which is usually only 1p-2p on the weekends. i've gone and she's either in her little hut or out for a show or in the zoo mobile. i caught a glimpse of her from afar twice last summer, but this time i got to see her cuteness face to face! she is precious! its that nose, she is just adorable! she was having some nice coconut treats and was quite content with anything while that was part of the deal :) ... thankx to al for bringing her out!

inti

yesterday i was lucky enough to get to meet inti the bobcat! i have a photo from several years ago that i have always had in mind and wondered "what happened to that bobcat?" cuz i haven't seen him in as long and even then it was from a distance as he wasn't on exhibit. then recently someone mentioned him and i realized he still lives at the zoo. he lives in the ARC behind the scenes area of the zoo. yesterday a docent friend who also volunteers in the ARC mentioned he was moving to a reserve up north and i asked if she could take me to see him. YES she can! (thankx jane!) what a beauty! and a sweetheart! very friendly, in fact when we walked away from him for a few to see some of the other animals who live back there, he followed us along the fencing like, "where are you going?" soooo cute! ... inti was born in captivity, 5.10.02 and was hand raised. he came to live at the zoo as a kitten. prior to the tatiana event he was able to be taken out of his fenced in area, but since has not been able to. just another negative effect in the wake of a situation caused by evil troublemakers. the move is possibly in response to that change so he can be in a place where his enclosure is bigger and he can run about and even meet other bobcats! i wish i had met him sooner, but would be sadder when he leaves if i had gotten to know him better. it was a treat to meet him and i hope to visit him again before his move. ... i took a bunch of pix of him, couldn't get enough! these are some of the best ones, though he's so gorgeous they are all good! the one where he's getting a snack, that's a bit of coconut!, the one that looks like he's getting cranky, is from a yawn in motion, and the belly in the air, tunyaman pose is precious! it was a flirty stretch and roll :) will upload the rest to the photosite soon.

june birthdays up!

check the calendar part of the photosite, direct link
> http://gooberssfzoofriends.shutterfly.com/calendar

... archive photo from wishbone and annie's 22nd birthday in 2008!

happy birthday ming wah and rigel!

today was the female snow leopard ming wah's eighteenth birthday! i made some birthday themed enrichment prizes for both her and the male snow leopard rigel. the information i had didn't have rigel's birthday listed, but i found out last week that his bday was in april. so i combined the celebration to include them both! i was lucky that the keeper put stuff out while i was there so i could see ming wah get the goods! she and rigel share the enclosure but not at the same time. she is out during the day and rigel has access in the evening. ... ming came out and went right for the popper! a party favor painted with balloons that the keeper put food in. then she sat down and stared at rigel as each other is visible from yard to night quarters. after about a half hour she jumped down to get some water and spotted the paper mache cupcake. she went for it, it was scented and also had food inside. she rubbed her face on it a bit and was done. it was time for a nap! when i returned about an hour later the cupcake was on its side, so it got more action at some point ;) ... some kids even sang happy birthday to her! ... my fav pic if the one of her showing her teeth (i think it was part of a yawn)! i just love her expression there :) ... hope you enjoyed your birthday fun ming wah and rigel! happy happy bday! to you both! ... thankx to hilary for putting out the goods!