Snacking for Two

The Denver Zoo's tamandua, Winnie, is expecting!  The zoo highlighted the upcoming birth by showing off Winnie getting her ultrasound, with complimentary snacks for the mom-to-be!  95% of the comments on social media are some variation of women asking, "Why didn't I get snacks during mine?" - a fair question, to be sure.  And don't mom and dad look so proud of themselves, too?

Species Fact Profile: Malayan Flying Fox (Pteropus vampyrus)

                                               Malayan, or Large, Flying Fox

                                               Pteropus vampyrus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Range: Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Myanmar, Malayan Peninsula), Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Timor, and adjacent small islands), Philippines

Habitat: Tropical Rainforest, Mangrove Forest

Diet: Flowers, Nectar, Fruit

Social Grouping: Small groups of one male and several females and their young, but may congregate in colonies of 10,000-20,000 animals

Reproduction: Gestation period 180 days.  Births primarily occur between March and April, with seasonality varying somewhat across the range.  Usually give birth to single offspring, born fully-furred, with eyes open, and already 1/3 the size of the mother.  Young bats are nursed with two nipples near the armpits, cradled by the mother with her wings.  Males do not assist with rearing the young.  The young carried by the mother for the first few days, then left at the roost while the mother goes to forage.  Young are weaned at 2-3 months old

Lifespan: 15 Years (Wild), 30 Years (Zoo)

      Conservation Status: IUCN Near Threatened, CITES Appendix II

• One of the world’s largest (possibly the largest) living bat species.  Head-to-body length 27-32 centimeters.  Wingspan of 1.5 meters, forearm length 18-22 centimeters, body mass 0.6-1.1 kilograms.  Long, pointed ears and dog- or fox-like face and head.   Wings are short, rounded on the tips, allowing them to fly slowly, but with great maneuverability.  Males are slightly larger than the females
• The head and upper body in adults are covered with a dark mantle, color ranging from red to black, turning gold or orange in the males during the breeding season.  Remainder of fur is brown or black with a scattering of white hairs.  Juveniles are almost uniformly dull gray-brown.  Fur is longest on the mantle.  Males tend to have thicker, stiffer fur than females, as well as neck tufts.  Wing membranes are only haired near the body
• May fly up to 50 kilometers in a single night while foraging.  Circle trees in the air before landing – usually land on the branch tips in an upright position, then drop into an upside-down position to feed.  They do not echolocate, instead relying on sight and smell to find fruit.  
• Capable of eating half of their body weight daily.  Likely to be important pollinators and seed-dispersers for many trees within their range, as they are one of the few frugivores large enough and mobile enough to transport seeds and pollen considerable distances throughout the forest
• May drink seawater to obtain salt, other minerals absent from their very sugary diets
• Capable swimmers, using their wings as flippers; sometimes seen crossing rivers.  May fly across short spans of ocean to feed on nearby islands.  
• Spend much of the day hanging upside down from branches (especially from emergent trees) with its wings wrapped around the body, often restless until mid-morning.  If the bat becomes too warm, it will unwrap itself and fan itself using its wings    
• A natural reservoir of the Nipah virus, which has crossed over into (potentially fatal) humans and pigs.  Captives maintained in research labs have tested negative for the antibodies against the virus for several months before testing positive again, suggesting that the virus can maintain itself in flying foxes after periods of remission
• Genus name Pteropus translates to “wing foot.”  Species name is in reference to vampires, though this species does not feed on blood
• Seven subspecies recognized, sometimes each listed as a separate species;  the most threatened is P. v. lanensis, of the Philippines
• Primary threat is loss of habitat due to deforestation.  Hunted for bushmeat in parts of their range, such as Peninsular Malaysia, unlikely to be sustainable (hunting has more the doubled in recent years).  Some cultures believe that their meat has curative or medicinal properties, can treat asthma.  Most effective protection strategy so far appears to be protecting colonies on small, easy-to-monitor islands. Also persecuted by farmers who consider them agricultural pests.  Some farmers may use flapping or whirring devices, bright lights to discourage them from feeding on their crops

From the News: Man Killed by Lion After Breaking Into Zoo Enclosure

Man Killed by Lion After Breaking Into Zoo Enclosure

A 19-year old Brazilian man with a deep love of animals and a history of mental issues was killed this week after he deliberately climbed into the lion exhibit at the Arruda Camara Zoo Botanical Park.  During public hours, in front of a crowd that begged him to stop, Gerson de Melo Machado climbed a fence, then lowered himself into the exhibit, where a lion was watching and waiting.  The video of the incident is out there, but I've opted not to share it here.

It's difficult to say if this was a suicide, or if the young man was expecting a different outcome.  He previously had been caught trying to smuggle himself onto a plane to Africa so that he could be among animals.

My deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Machado, as well as all of the zoo goers and staff who had to witness this tragedy.  The zoo has confirmed that the lion, which, of course, was behaving as one would expect of a lion, is safe and unharmed, and euthanasia was never considered.

Building a zoo exhibit that keeps animals in is, in all reality, not that difficult.  Building one that prevents casual, accidental entry by humans is also feasible, though mistakes do happen, especially when barriers are reduced to improve accessibility of the exhibit and viewing of animals; think a child getting dropped by mistake into an open-moated enclosure.  But building an exhibit that prevents any possible access by a very determined person who wants to get in/access the animal no matter what?  That's a lot trickier, probably only possible if every exhibit is completely enclosed in glass or acrylic.

The zoo remains temporarily closed while a security review is carried out.

A Rainy Day

The older I get - and especially the longer I worked in zoos as a keeper - the more that I came to hate rainy days.  I don't like being cold and wet, and the rain, especially the heavy storms, made such a mess, and literally made everything harder and worse.  Well, almost everything.

If there's one thing I came to appreciate about rain, it was the cleaning powers.  Yes, I know I also just said that the rain makes a mess, and it does, especially when drains clog up and things start to flood.  But one thing rain does especially well is clean things that are hard to reach and hard to scrub off.  I'm especially thinking of perching in some of our larger bird exhibits.

Every once in a while, a fit of ambition would hit me, and I'd laboriously haul a ladder from aviary to aviary, haul in a big bucket of warm soapy water and a scrub brush, and then spend the day either trying to bring the bucket up the ladder with me, spilling half of it in the process, or make countless trips up and down.  This would be all in the name of scrubbing off the bird droppings... but usually it just ended up looking white and smeary.  Now, a good, slow, steady soaking rain, on the other hand, can really clear things off... without me having to do much.

I sometimes wonder if custodial staff feel that way about some of the stains around zoo grounds in the public areas.

Rain also other benefits for the animals, in moderation.  It's enriching, changing the environment, creating new mini-water features for animals to bathe in, changing the smell and feel of the exhibit.  It can let birds preen their feathers and get themselves clean.  Even just forcing the animal to make a decision about whether it wants to be out in the wet or dry under shelter (and the animals should all have the freedom to make that decision) is empowering for them.  For that reason, some indoor zoo exhibits, especially rainforest buildings, also give their animals mock rainstorms.

But from an employee perspective, all I can say is, at least it gets some of the tough stains up.