Carousel Works’ work at the Kansas City Zoo

According to the Sacramento Zoo email newsletter, the Zoo is planning to add a carousel by next spring.

Yes! A carousel at the Sacramento Zoo! Well, not quite yet… By next spring, we will have a beautiful carousel located in our shaded Redwood Grove area (where the Magellanic Penguin temporary exhibit was previously located). This carousel will feature 32 carefully hand carved animals from the skilled craftsmen at Carousel Works – maybe your favorite animal will be one of them!

The carousel is being crafted by Carousel Works out of Mansfield, Ohio. At approximately 300 feet apart, I’m going to make the bold proclamation that this carousel and the one at Funderland are the two carousels in closest proximity to each other in the entire world. Prove me wrong. Roadside carnivals don’t count.

Give… us… nametags…

Checking out the Zoo yesterday with my mom and my daughters I realized something about zoos that for some reason I’ve never thought of before: they never show the public the animals’ names. I’m positive that the zookeepers know each animal’s name, and granted it would be difficult to explain which zebra is which, but wouldn’t it introduce an extra element of fun to the proceedings? “Ooh that one must be Sally, because that stripe below her ear has a little crook to it”…

Is this something you see at other zoos? The new penguin exhibit does show the names for each bird, and it is extremely difficult to tell them apart. But it is fun and the names are cute. I’m telling you, this could be a hit.

Continue reading “You can call me Betty (Giraffe)” »

There’s not much I can say to introduce this, save that it was an email to us Sacramento Zoo members and I thought it would make a great start to the week for all of us:

Greetings Zoo Members!

Looking for something to do on Valentine’s Day? Check out SWING WITH
YOUR SWEETIE AT THE ZOO on Wednesday, February 14th from 6 pm to 9 pm.

Treat your sweetheart to a unique evening of fun, fur and feathers as we
transform the Kampala Lounge into the rockin’ swing era of the 40’s!
Join us a Coconut Mary’s for a swanky reception and buffet dinner. Then
travel to the Jungle Room where Zoo Keepers give up the little known
secrets of some very sexy, saucy wildlife!

This event is adult in theme; only 21 years of age and over will be
allowed to attend.
Single tickets are $40 and couples tickets are $70 for Zoo Members.
Contact the Membership Office at (916)808-5888 or use the link below to
RSVP, for more information and for a full menu:

This was taken earlier today by my soon-to-be 4 year old daughter, who has become something of a shutterbug. Her eye for composition and humor is actually kinda freaky-good. Look forward to more Sacramento shots by the second-youngest of the CoolDMZ household.

I haven’t seen the Zoo’s new veterinary hospital yet, but my wife and daughters saw it yesterday, the day after its grand opening. As you can see from the thumbnail image (all I could find), it is a rustic building in the middle of a jungle-like setting. Mrs Cool caught a glimpse inside the open door, though, and spied a fully stocked operating room with an empty operating table, which put her immediately in mind of a certain TV show about people who are Lost on an island. That tall shaggy-haired orangutan better watch out, because Pickett has got that gleam in his eye…

Despite the fact that I blog here every day under a geeky fake name, CoolDMZ and Mrs Cool do not dress in costume for Halloween (although if I did, it would be BSG related). We’re planning to take the girls (both “nice” witches) in a little loop around the hood and then we’re going to hit the church event and then maybe Boo at the Zoo. I also understand there is an event at IKEA which is a little too weird, although most IKEA product names would make great candy names (”dude you totally scored some EKTHORPE!”) and we got invited to Midtown Safeway (by a clerk who was inviting everyone, but still, partay!!)
Continue reading “Tricks and/or treats” »

My wife reports that the Sacramento Zoo has posted a sign banning the use of roller shoes. Those of us who are grumpy old people in 30 year olds’ bodies applaud the Zoo for taking such a pointless stance. Next stop: boys’ hair must be cut above the collar?

The Bee reported today that the Sacramento Zoo will include lessons on evolution as a part of their ongoing lecture series. Opponents voiced their concern for a lack of “alternative theories” and preferred for zoo docents to educate visitors by simple pointing and saying, “Look at the pretty animal that Jesus made for you.”

Here is the schedule of events:

* Feb. 22: “Science and Non-Science: The Truth Behind Intelligent Design,” on why intelligent design is fundamentally nonscientific, and flaws in intelligent design arguments, by Maureen Stanton, professor of evolution and ecology at the University of California, Davis.

* March 22: “The Hard Evidence For Evolution,” on how fossil finds support evolutionary theory, by Richard Cowen, paleontologist and UC Davis professor emeritus of geology.

* April 26: “History of Evolutionary Thought,” on the people, politics and debate of the 19th-century era when Charles Darwin published the seminal book on evolution, “The Origin of Species,” by Robin Whittall, zoo education director.

* All lectures are on Wednesdays from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Admission is $8 for members, $9 for the general public. Teachers may qualify for discounted admission of $5. For more information, call (916) 264-5889 or see www.saczoo.com

Jimmy, the Sac Zoo’s rare and endangered golden-bellied mangabey, has died.

But, who was Jimmy? Even the Zoo isn’t entirely sure:

According to the zoo, golden-bellied mangabeys are considered endangered. There are only 19 golden-bellied mangabeys in North American zoos. Little is known from the wild about these primates. They believe the primates only live naturally in a small area in Democratic Republic of Congo.

Not to make little of the loss to the Zoo, but CBS13’s online write-up of the story sounds too much like a Seinfeld bit.