Fun Flamingo Facts

 Flamingos are one of the worlds most recognized birds - even if you have never stepped foot in the ocean! The long curvy necks, backward-bending knees, yellow and black bills - and of course their distinctive pink color make this tropical wading bird a favorite of zoos (and lawns) everywhere. But more on that later.

There are six different species of flamingos however, it takes a expert eye to tell the species apart. The Andean, puna, Chilean and American flamingos are all residents of South America. Both the lesser and greater flamingos are found in large numbers in Africa. During the breeding season, greater and lesser flamingos regularly migrate to the Middle East. Near the Mediterranean greater flamingos can be found in the wild along the southern Mediterranean Sea.

Adult flamingos stand four to six feet tall and weigh between four and eight pounds. This surprising lack of body weight is needed for the birds to be able to take flight.

The feathers under their wings, known as flight feathers, are black however, these feathers can only be seen when the birds are flying.

Flamingos feed in muddy flats and shallow water stirring up mud with their long legs and webbed feet. Reaching down, they bury their bills (and sometimes their entire head) into the water gathering up a scoopful of mud and water. A flamingo's beak is designed to remove food before the liquid is expelled.  

One of the questions we are often asked is why do flamingos stand on one leg? Scientists have offered a number of theories but even the experts remain stumped as to why flamingos prefer standing on one leg. You can read several of the ideas here.

Did you know that a flock of flamingos is called a flamboyance? They find safety in numbers, which helps protect individual birds from predators while their heads are down in the mud. In the wild, a colony can number up to several hundred birds. You can see this on a smaller scale at the flamingo exhibit at Wildwood Wildlife Park. The different species of flamingos have their own distinct communal mating rituals. You can read about the individual mating dances here.

The flamingos signature pink color is derived from beta-carotene found in the crustaceans and plankton the birds feed on. Flamingos in zoos will turn white if their diet is not supplemented with live shrimp or flamingo chow that contains the carotenoid pigments.

Known as the seventh species of flamingos, the plastic lawn flamingo (Phoenicopterus plasticus) was introduced in 1957 by Don Featherstone and soon became an American cultural icon. In the 21st century the plastic lawn flamingo was considered endangered. Efforts continue today to revive the art form and in 2009, Madison, Wisconsin, named Phoenicopterus plasticus the city's official bird.

Phoenicopterus plasticus photo by Flickr user Kim Kruse

Zookeeper Appreciation Week: Jolie Femme Sasha et Féroce Lloyd

Our final salute to the hard working compassionate zookeepers at Wildwood Wildlife Park is Sasha Busjahn who has chosen the Greater Grison to highlight and imitate. Lloyd's favorite spot to sleep is inside a log; when Lloyd was off exploring Sasha crawled right in to see how comfortable it really is but we don't think she will be stealing his sleeping spot any time soon! 

Greater grison's are mustelidae, a family of carnivorous mammals that include the badger, mink, otter and wolverine.

Greater grison's have a long body which resembles the honey badger. Greater grison's don't ever have to worry about being confused for a honey badger since the two of them will never meet each other: the honey badger lives in Africa, while the greater grison lives in Central and South America. The "grison" part of the name is an English variation of the word "gris" which is French for the color gray. Like its relative the honey badger, the greater grison is very temperamental. It is unknown if any creature outside of humans hunt them.

Greater grison's are gray in color with a black muzzle, throat, chest and underside. They have a white "U" shaped marking that runs around the top of their head tapering off near their shoulder. Greater grison's sleep during the day, hunting during the night, dawn and dusk.

Greater grison's are found in a wide range including savannas, grasslands, rainforests and evergreen forests. They prefer to live near water choosing to make their home in rocks, under tree roots or in vacated burrows. Greater grison's eat whatever is available: small mammals, birds and their eggs, lizards, amphibians, and fruits. In some areas, grisons are trapped for body parts and for the pet trade.

Grisons are agile runners, swimmers and climbers communicating by a variety of snorts, screams, barks and growls. Breeding occurs in Late August, early September and the female grison will give birth to 2-4 young. 

Zookeeper Appreciation Week: Hanging with the Sloths and the Black & White Ruffed Lemur

We are pleased to introduce Wildwood Wildlife Park's newest zookeeper Marisa Levin. She may be new to the park but it didn't take her long to select her favorite animal for National Zookeeper Week: the sloths. Sloths spend a lot of their time sleeping so it is only natural that Marisa would demonstrate how relaxing and comfortable a sloth's favorite sleeping spot is! 

Sloths are tropical mammals that live in Central and South America. A sloths long arms allow them to spend most of their time hanging upside-down from trees. They use their huge hooked claws to hang onto branches while munching on leaves that other animals can't reach. As you can imagine, a sloth's long claws make walking on the ground difficult, which dictates that they spend their lives in the tree tops of the tropical rain forests. It may surprise you to learn that sloths are excellent swimmers! From time to time they will drop down into the water from their treetop perches. 

It can take up to one month for a sloth to digest one meal. The sloth's diets consist of tough leaves that are difficult to digest. Their leafy diet isn't very nutritious and do not get much energy from it. This may be why sloths are so slow!

Sloths both mate and give birth to their young in trees. Courting starts when a female yells a mating scream letting the males in the area know that she's ready to mate. Males will fight for her by hanging from branches by their feet and pawing at each other. After 5-6 months females will give birth to a single baby. Babies cling to their mother's belly for several weeks after birth, and will remain by their mother's side for up to four years. These drowsy tree-dwellers can sleep up to 20-hours a day and when they are awake they barely move at all!

While four of the sloth species range over large portions of norther South America and are common in protected areas, two species of the three-toed sloths, the maned three-toed sloth and the pygmy three-toed sloth are listed as endangered species on the IUCN Red List.

Wildwood Wildlife Park's zookeeper Brooke Rose is showing off her balancing skills as she recreates the amazing climbing ability of Wildwood's male Black and White Ruffed Lemur, Bobby. Brooke has been here at Wildwood for 6 years! 

Populations of wild ruffed lemurs are critically endangered in Madagascar, which is the only place lemurs are found in. This species is endangered primarily due to the loss of habitat as the forests are cleared for logging and farming. The name “lemur” means “ghost “ in Latin. The first people to hear their loud calls thought they were ghosts in the forest. Lemurs have a wide range of vocalizations.

Black and white ruffed lemurs live in social groups made up of many males and many females, who are in charge. They live primarily in trees are are excellent climbers and jumpers. 

Ruffed lemurs are frugivores, eating mainly fruit, but also eat edible plants and flowers. The black and white ruffed lemur is one of only two types of lemurs to build nests for their young. Females typically have 2 babies, though they can have as many as six. Unlike other lemurs, the babies stay in the nest while the mother looks for food and if the mother needs to move them, she carries them in her mouth. Other lemur species continually carry their young on their backs. 

Zookeeper Appreciation Week: Cute as a Coati

Thursday's zookeeper of the week is Melanie Czajkowski who is about to celebrate her first year as a zookeeper at Wildwood Wildlife Park. To commemorate National Zookeeper Week, Melanie has selected as her favorite park resident the coatimundi.

The coatimundi or coati is a medium-sized mammal found only in North and South America and are members of the raccoon family.  Coatis have a slender head and as you can see, a slightly turned-up nose. This feature is part of the reason why it is given the nickname 'the hog-nose raccoon.' Additionally they have a very long tail and often hold the tail erect; using it as a way of keeping troops of coatis together while walking or foraging in tall vegetation. The tip of the coatis tail can be moved slightly, just like a cat.

Coatis are active day and night and feeds on lizards, fruits, nuts and seeds, insects, birds eggs, rodents and small reptiles. A forest dweller and an agile tree climber when the coatis is on the ground, its short forelegs give it a bearlike gait.

Females and their young travel in bands but males are solitary. Males join the band only during the mating season, typically at the start of the rainy season, when there is an abundance of food. When the female is ready to give birth she will leave the band of coatis to build a nest in the trees or on a rocky ledge, where she will give birth to 2-7 kits. The female and her young will rejoin the band when they are about 6 weeks old. 

Coatis communication using chirping, snorting, or grunting sounds. The also use postures to convey simple messages. In her photo Melanie has chosen a favorite posture of our one-year old coatis: the adorably cute tactic of begging the zookeepers for their favorite food of grapes and mealworms.

Thank you Melanie for sharing your love of animals and for highlighting the coatimundi.

A Rainbow Colored Surprise

It isn’t often that we are truly surprised - but last week while making our rounds we were surprised to discover Rainbow Boa babies! Rainbow Boa’s are one of the few species of snakes who give live birth rather than laying eggs. Snakes give birth from 2 to 20 babies; within two weeks of age the babies begin eating a diet of small mammals.

Rainbow Boa’s are a species of non-venomous constrictor that are found in South America. They are known for their attractive iridescent sheen on their scales. Like most Boa's they have heat-sensing pits on their faces that allow them to detect the body heat of their warm-blooded prey. 

Rainbow Boa’s are nocturnal and spend time during the daytime basking. They are active at dawn and dusk and feed on small mammals, birds and lizards.

Announcing Our Newest Arrival!

We can hardly contain our excitement! On Sunday, August 12th, we welcomed our newest baby ... a Hoffmann's two-toed sloth.

According to Wildwood's animal curator/director the baby is nursing, clinging well and appears healthy. Newborn sloths use the stomach of their mother as a cradle and snuggles into the well camouflaged cuddly fur. As a consequence, the baby is very difficult to photograph. The little sloth measures just under 8-inches and weighs less than a pound. Can you see the baby, cradled under the mother's chin?

The long, coarse hair of the sloth protects them from sun and rain. Their fur, unlike other mammals, flows from belly to top, not top from belly, allowing rainwater to slide off the fur while the animal is hanging upside down.

Hoffmann's two-toed sloth is found in the rain forest canopy in two separate regions of South America. Sloths are slow moving animals; the Hoffmann's two-toed sloth gets its name from the two toes on their forefeet. The toes end with long, curved claws that they use to hang upside down, almost completely motionless. Sloths sleep in this position for a minimum of 16 hours a day! As you can guess, they spent most of their time in trees, although they may travel on the ground to move to a new tree. They are strictly nocturnal, moving slowly through the canopy for about eight hours each night. In the wild, they are solitary and aside from mothers with their babies, it is unusual for two sloths to be found in a tree at the same time.

The name "sloth" means "lazy," but the slow movements of this animal are actually an adaptation for surviving on a low-energy diet of leaves. Sloths have very poor eyesight and hearing, and rely almost entirely on their senses of touch and smell to find food.

We don't know the gender of the baby as yet and the development of the new baby is almost as slow as their every day lives! The sloth offspring won't attempt the two-toed upside down "hang" until they are 6-month old!

Come and see the newest addition at the park; you will find them located in the reptile/primate building in the main park.

Wildwood Welcomes Baby Capybaras

These two adorable Capybara babies are the newest editions to our Wildwood family who arrived on March 4, 2011. 


Some of our visitors think Capybaras look like large, hairy pigs! Capybaras are the largest rodents in the world whose diet consists mainly of grass and aquatic plants.


Capybaras can run very fast and are excellent swimmers; you can see their webbed feet in the photograph. Did you know Capybaras can dive in the water and have been known to remain underwater for as long as five minutes?


Adult Capybaras can be as long as 4 feet and weigh more than 100 pounds. These little ones have a lot of growing to do before they are that big! They weighed about 2 pounds when they were born and will be full grown by the time they are 18-months old.


Capybaras live in South America which is where they got their name which means "master of the grass." They don't dig burrows like some rodents but they like to make beds in the shallow dirt.


Bibliography:
Internet: http://nationalzoo.si.edu; www.switcherroozoo.com