The Zoo (Bronx Zoo)

[Mongo Like Candy]

Tonight’s was a sweet episode. Willow the red panda has such a full and fluffy face; it’s all I can do not to reach through the TV screen and try to pinch those cheeks, at the risk of drawing back a virtual stump. 

Peaches the warthog is a character. His white whiskers on either side reminded me of my grandpa’s handlebar mustache. 

Quite the nice assortment of critters tonight!

[LittleIggy]

I wanted to play with Peaches! What a sweetie!

[possibilities]

Peaches was like an enthusiastic dog!

[2727]

I want to play with all of them, even the rhinos! It's been nice to see the other affiliated zoos and the aquarium this season.

Grapes are fine, but a superior species would need to target train me using pasta and ice cream.

[possibilities]

I have a soft spot for rhinos, too. They always seem like big, peaceful, herbivorous dogs.

[raven]

That was excellent.  I love watching how gentle the keepers are - the red panda ultrasound; filing the babirusa's tusks by giving him a massage; working with the rhino to help her acclimate.

I laughed at Jim's minor irritation at the name "Peaches" - I think there was a different animal's name he wasn't too happy with in a different episode too.  Peaches was so cute, I wanted to play with him too.

And burrowing owls!!  I could have watched a whole episode about them, watching the chicks make their way out into the world.

[Mongo Like Candy]

On 3/28/2019 at 7:27 PM, raven said:

the red panda ultrasound

That was amazing!  

I must admit, the whole target training thing is ingenious. There are days when my brain is so scattered from multitasking and from meds that I’d appreciate someone with a red ball on a stick telling me where to focus. 🤪

[chenoa333]

Animals are so much better in every way than most humans. Animals care, nurture, defend, teach wisdom, teach survival and all of those lessons come from the true, raw emotion of love. 💞

[jaimesommers]

On 3/28/2019 at 7:27 PM, raven said:

I laughed at Jim's minor irritation at the name "Peaches" - I think there was a different animal's name he wasn't too happy with in a different episode too.  Peaches was so cute, I wanted to play with him too.

I think Jim wasn’t thrilled about the name of Dinky the flamingo. I loved watching the keepers invent a leg brace and work with Dinky to rehab the injured leg. 

[eclectcmoi]

On 2/14/2019 at 6:45 PM, Pickles said:

The education woman’s voice kind of grates. She is married to the head zoo guy (Jim?). She is a little unique. She has said she relates more to animals than people. 

I had no idea she and Jim were married. She always wears something animal inspired too, either a print on her shirt, a necklace or earrings.  I think animals truly are her life.  

On 3/5/2019 at 12:53 PM, walnutqueen said:

No threads for them - yet.

Secrets of the Zoo on NatGeoWild is about the Columbus Zoo in Ohio.

Secret Life of the Zoo on Animal Planet is about the Chester Zoo in England.

Love both of those shows too! 

[Mongo Like Candy]

I had no idea, either!  She always seems to me to be a bit childlike, which may be a helpful attribute around some animals. Her devotion is sweet to see. 

The other zoo shows are fun, too - to see both the animals and their keepers. I did think the Chester Zoo show was a little heavy on the breeding activities, but that’s a big part of their mission. 

There’s also The Zoo, a series on Starz about the Dublin Zoo. 

Edited April 13, 2019 by Mongo Like Candy
So many zoo shows, so little time

[Mongo Like Candy]

I’m a little behind on watching and so just recently saw the episode with the Pallas’s cats at Prospect Park Zoo.  Ohmygawsh how fluffy are those critters?  And why is it that the amount I want to hug one is directly proportional to how likely it is to rip my face off? 

[Kitty Redstone]

Haha!  The looks the girl Pallas cat was giving her keepers was hilarious.  Bonding was not on her list of priorities.  She clearly did not want to play or have her box cleaned.  I wonder how long it took her to leave her niche and explore the new habitat?

[possibilities]

The bears in love were fun to watch this week.

[Pepper Mostly]

On 4/2/2019 at 8:23 PM, Mongo Like Candy said:

That was amazing!  

I must admit, the whole target training thing is ingenious. There are days when my brain is so scattered from multitasking and from meds that I’d appreciate someone with a red ball on a stick telling me where to focus. 🤪

Years ago, there was a show called "Moorpark 24/7" which was about an exotic animal training program at a Moorpark College in California. It was really fascinating, the students came from all kinds of backgrounds and perspectives, and you got a great overview of what being an exotic animal trainer/keeper was like. That's where I learned about target training. There was a great segment where the teacher sent one of the students out of the room, had the rest pick a task they wanted her to perform, then let her back in and see if she could (take off one of the students' hats and put it on herself) just by the class using the clickers. It was really interesting!

Here's a book I read by someone who did the program:

https://www.amazon.com/Kicked-Bitten-Scratched-Lessons-Trainers/dp/0143111949

[possibilities]

Clicker training is awesome. I used it to train a foster cat with anxiety, so she became a relaxed love muffin. Karen Pryor has books about how to do it with your family pets.

[kwnyc]

We have been head-over-heels with The Zoo since we found it. We ended up joining the Wildlife Conservation Society, and I bought my wife a Personal Animal Ambassador Adventure for her birthday! Kathleen (Jim's wife) conducted the meeting, and my wife got to meet Dave the Kangaroo and several others. In the meantime, I was wandering the zoo and ran into Jim himself, who is now a bit of a celebrity with people wanting to take selfies with him!

One of my friends has a job in the Development (fundraising) department, and he says it's the most amazing office to work in every day: he said "no one is watching the presentation in the conference room when a baby gorilla is on the other side of the glass wall waving." He said he has his favorite animals, and likes to visit them, and often sees the keepers and other staff in the employee dining room.

[2727]

How fun, @kwnyc! Thanks for sharing.

I've never actually taken a selfie but would have to figure it out if I ran into Jim, Juan, or Susan. (Even though she would hate it. Heh.)

[LittleIggy]

Those rats were so cute! 

Those zookeepers sending the giraffe away to the Bronx Zoo were more stoic than I would have been. I would have been bawling my eyes out.

[Yeah No]

On 4/12/2019 at 12:17 PM, eclectcmoi said:

I had no idea she and Jim were married. She always wears something animal inspired too, either a print on her shirt, a necklace or earrings.  I think animals truly are her life.  

I knew they were married but what I'm realizing is her last name appears in different places in the zoo so I think she might come from a family with history there given the title of the "LaMattina Wildlife Ambassador Center", plus a man with her last name is also one of the producers of the show.

[Kohola3]

I just stumbled upon this show while channel surfing.  When my new shelter dog, who had apparently never seen a TV, was transfixed with animals on the show I started to watch.  What a great show.  I love the keepers so much, their love for their charges is wonderful to see.

It's hard to see bad outcomes for some of them but it's also realistic.  I cry along with them!

[walnutqueen]

4 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

I just stumbled upon this show while channel surfing.  When my new shelter dog, who had apparently never seen a TV, was transfixed with animals on the show I started to watch.  What a great show.  I love the keepers so much, their love for their charges is wonderful to see.

It's hard to see bad outcomes for some of them but it's also realistic.  I cry along with them!

@Kohola3 - if you and your rescue doggie liked this, you might also want to check out Secrets of the Zoo on NatGeoWild about the Columbus Zoo, and The Secret Life of the Zoo on Animal Planet about the Chester Zoo in England. 

We talk about these and other animal shows over on the Veterinary and Animal Rescue Shows forum.

[Kohola3]

24 minutes ago, walnutqueen said:

The Secret Life of the Zoo on Animal Planet about the Chester Zoo in England. 

I love that one as well.  Love they opening when the keeper says that the giraffe is "so nawty".  Hee!

Don't bet NatGeoWild so out of luck on that one.

I cannot watch animal rescue shows, they make me cry.

[possibilities]

I usually don't have issues with the names given to the animals, but calling the binturong "Kevin" struck me as either funny or terrible. He didn't act like a Kevin! I don't even know what I mean by that. He was adorable, though. I wanted to know more about him. They didn't really tell us much about the species.

[walnutqueen]

4 hours ago, possibilities said:

I usually don't have issues with the names given to the animals, but calling the binturong "Kevin" struck me as either funny or terrible. He didn't act like a Kevin! I don't even know what I mean by that. He was adorable, though. I wanted to know more about him. They didn't really tell us much about the species.

It appears that "Kevin" may be a popular name for a pet.  That Hawaii vet, Dr. Buckeye Bottoms, has a dog named Kevin, and the bearded dragon shop mascot on Scaled is also named Kevin.

[Kohola3]

On a shallow note, Bill the snake guy is yummy.  

The episode where the cobra came back out of the bag head first made me scream out loud.  Scared the dog.

[2727]

2 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

The episode where the cobra came back out of the bag head first made me scream out loud.

The crocodile handlers were amusing to watch (from my couch): "Back out! Back out!"

The female croc was all, "Fuck you guys and the target you rode in on. I'd rather scavenge food from the bottom of the tank."

My online research this week was "do crocodiles eat fish?" Turns out yes, so I'm left wondering how they co-exist with ones in their pool.

I was also left worrying how many times plexiglass can be sanded before it becomes too thin to be viable!

[possibilities]

I had the same question about the sanding! Sometimes they really don't answer my most pressing questions.

Maybe they only eat some types of fish? Or are the fish there as sacrificial/natural partners?

So many questions this week!

I also wanted to know if the heart problems in the male "monkeys" was new, or if it has always happened, and if it happens in the wild also, and if they know why it's only the males.

Also, with other animals, they can find out if they're pregnant by testing, but with these they were saying they had to wait til it's very far along, and just observe the chest coloration?

SO MANY QUESTIONS!!

Edited April 29, 2019 by possibilities

[Pickles]

PAMELA the crocodile! Love the names they give the animals.

[Kohola3]

34 minutes ago, Pickles said:

PAMELA the crocodile! Love the names they give the animals.

Love the names too but wasn't it Priscilla to go along with the male, Elvis?

[Pickles]

2 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

Love the names too but wasn't it Priscilla to go along with the male, Elvis?

Gosh, I thought it was Pamela last night--in the big tank that they had to leave, so the glass could be smoothed out.

[Kohola3]

1 minute ago, Pickles said:

Gosh, I thought it was Pamela last night--in the big tank that they had to leave, so the glass could be smoothed out.

You're probably right. I was talking about the one that they were having to X-ray for her eggs.  I have some on DVR that I'm working my way through so I was probably thinking about the wrong crocodilian.  (See what I did there?  Showing off how much I am learning!)

[LittleIggy]

The crocodile is Pamela.

Gore the gelada and I take the same beta-blocker med! 😆

No mention that binturongs smell like popcorn? 🍿 

[walnutqueen]

10 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

No mention that binturongs smell like popcorn? 🍿 

That was perhaps the coolest thing I never knew before!

[LittleIggy]

4 minutes ago, walnutqueen said:

That was perhaps the coolest thing I never knew before!

I learned that from someone on the Tonight Show with zoo animals years ago. 

[Yeah No]

5 minutes ago, walnutqueen said:

That was perhaps the coolest thing I never knew before!

I've known dogs that smell like popcorn.

I thought perhaps they named him Kevin as a joke after Kevin Torregrossa, the reptile keeper.  Hee!  😉 

[possibilities]

On 4/29/2019 at 9:57 PM, Pickles said:

Gosh, I thought it was Pamela last night--in the big tank that they had to leave, so the glass could be smoothed out.

I thought her name was Pamela, too. I don't know why that didn't strike me as funny, when naming the binturong "Kevin" did.

52 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

The crocodile is Pamela.

Gore the gelada and I take the same beta-blocker med! 😆

No mention that binturongs smell like popcorn? 🍿 

I didn't hear them say that about popcorn! That is cool.

Gelada! That's the name of the "monkey" species-- I couldn't remember. Cool you share meds with this week's star.

Edited May 1, 2019 by possibilities

[raven]

OK, I'm glued to my seat to see if these various big cats will open the box or not!

[Yeah No]

OK, I know we're getting pathetic when Mr. Yeah No waves a frying pan at me and says, "Target!", then gives me a kiss and presses a clicker when I touch it!  I DIED laughing!!! 🤣

[Kitty Redstone]

One of my cats gets the same big-eyed look as that snow leopard when given a bit of chicken. 

So much cuteness and beauty on the show tonight!

[2727]

If I ever turned dumb and wanted to own an exotic pet, it would be a red panda. That face!

[Kohola3]

12 hours ago, 2727 said:

If I ever turned dumb and wanted to own an exotic pet, it would be a red panda. That face!

I know, right?  Absolutely adorable!

I really enjoyed watching the trial with the lions and snow leopards.  Very interesting and I'd like to see more of that kind of thing.

[walnutqueen]

2 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

I know, right?  Absolutely adorable!

I really enjoyed watching the trial with the lions and snow leopards.  Very interesting and I'd like to see more of that kind of thing.

And why, oh why, did I KNOW the snow leopards would ace that "test"?

Interesting that this episode had a juvenile Komodo Dragon to be feared, when over on another Zoo show Komodo Dragon sisters were caressed and halter trained.

[LittleIggy]

The female snow leopard won! You go girl! 😆 I was impressed with the ones who figured out how to open the chain pulling door.

Red Pandas are the proshest things! I want to boop their noses.

Edited May 7, 2019 by LittleIggy
Boop not book

[Reality police]

On 5/1/2019 at 12:35 AM, walnutqueen said:

That was perhaps the coolest thing I never knew before!

I saw it on Dirty Jobs. Mike was at a animal rescue and the bearcat they had was actually named Popcorn. 

[LittleIggy]

Loved how the itty bitty baby bison charged at the keepers! She was spunky. Glad she got such excellent care and got better.

[possibilities]

I was bummed that there wasn't a new episode this weekend, but I watched an old one from season 1 that I hadn't seen already.

They were taking cheetahs on leashes around the zoo, getting them comfortable being around people so they could be used in their species ambassador education programs. Apparently they are much less aggressive than other Big Cats, and if you raise them from when they're babies, it is safe to have some direct contact. They house them with dogs as companions.

That has to be amazing, to be one of the keepers in the cheetah program!!

Edited May 20, 2019 by possibilities

[Kohola3]

6 hours ago, possibilities said:

That has to be amazing, to be one of the keepers in the cheetah program!!

Weren't they gorgeous?  I would love to see one up close.

[Pickles]

Is this season over now and the Aquarium show has taken its spot?

[walnutqueen]

On 5/19/2019 at 10:04 PM, possibilities said:

They were taking cheetahs on leashes around the zoo, getting them comfortable being around people so they could be used in their species ambassador education programs. Apparently they are much less aggressive than other Big Cats, and if you raise them from when they're babies, it is safe to have some direct contact. They house them with dogs as companions.

That has to be amazing, to be one of the keepers in the cheetah program!!

On 5/20/2019 at 4:24 AM, Kohola3 said:

Weren't they gorgeous?  I would love to see one up close.

I'm lucky enough to live near the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park (renamed the Safari Park, but I'm old school).  Back when I still had a disposable income, I was a regular visitor, and was able to meet & greet cheetahs, among other very cool critters, many times.  They are beautiful and absolutely amazing cats.  Long ago, before the handler could restrain him, one of those beauties licked my neck.  A highlight of my life.