Zoo

Hi everyone! Caleb with the Elephant Care Team here, once again! August 12 is World Elephant Day, an international event dedicated to preserving and protecting the world’s elephants. Around the world and throughout history, elephants have been held in wonder by humans. Prominent in literature, films, pop culture, and more, elephants are one of the most recognizable and beloved animals on the planet. 

But why? And why do we celebrate World Elephant Day?

Dating back to the Stone Age, our relationship with elephants is ancient. Early cave drawings depict humans facing ancient mammoths and straight-tusked elephants, both of which are extinct. Ancient civilizations integrated elephants into their folklore and religion. Even today, some cultures honor elephants and treat them with great respect. Over centuries, elephants were brought into human care and became instruments of war, machines in forestry and agriculture, and objects of religious significance. In the late 1700s, African and Asian elephants were brought to the United States and have since become staples within modern zoos. However, in the wild, due to increased poaching of elephants for their tusks and habitat loss, elephants face rapid population declines and rely on conservation efforts in the wild and in human care to survive.

Our history and connection with elephants go beyond awe and wonder. In many respects, an elephant’s life history is very similar to that of humans. Young elephants, like humans, are born after a lengthy gestation period and remain close to their mothers for over 10 years. Long childhoods associated with learning, tool use, complex social structures with extended families, the ability to occupy a wide range of habitats, minimal predators, relatively naked skin, cardiovascular diseases, arthritis, and longevity are a few of many biological similarities between elephants and humans. By studying elephants, researchers may even extend their knowledge of other long-lived mammals, like humans.

We have only begun to understand elephants: their behavior, their role in the ecosystem, and specifically, what we need to do to ensure elephants’ survival. Elephants are keystone species, meaning an ecosystem largely depends on them and would be drastically changed or even destroyed if they went extinct. Whether it’s dispersing seeds via their waste, distributing and recycling nutrients, providing watering holes by digging up the ground, or creating new habitats by converting woodlands to grasslands for other species, the list of an elephant’s role in its environment is endless. They are vital components of their ecosystems and will continue to be necessary for generations.

Zoo Atlanta is committed to the survival of elephants. In addition to providing superior care for African savanna elephants at the Zoo, we support the conservation of African savanna elephants in the wild through our partnership with Conservation South Luangwa in Zambia. We invite you to join us on Friday, August 12, at Zoo Atlanta as we celebrate the world’s largest living land animals and unite to ensure their survival for generations!

Caleb U.
Keeper II, Elephants

Rebecca Young,
Associate Curator, Ambassador Animals

Craft cocktail series is back for one more installment on August 12  

WHAT: Zoo-goers ages 21 and up who missed the June and July installments of Zoo Atlanta’s all-new craft cocktail series have just one more opportunity to experience Savanna Nights with the third and final event of the summer on Friday, August 12, 2022.   

 Guests will enjoy tastings of imaginative, wildlife-inspired craft cocktails immersed in the unforgettable backdrop of Zoo Atlanta’s African Savanna, home to African elephants, giraffes, zebras, ostriches, warthogs, meerkats, and southern white rhinos. As Savanna Nights highlights the wildlife of the African Savanna, other zones of the Zoo will not be open; activities will be concentrated on the African Savanna.

Adding to the vibes of the casual evening will be live music from Ben Wade Band; special Keeper Talks for a deeper dive into animal care; and wildlife viewing until dusk on the African Savanna. Food truck bites from Tex’s Tacos, The Fresh Truck, and Gotta Have It Catering will be available for purchase.

Tickets include six complimentary cocktail flight tasting tickets redeemable for one four-ounce tasting of each available cocktail. Beer, wine, and mixed drinks will also be available for purchase.

Tickets are $35 for Zoo Atlanta Members; $40 for non-Members. Get tickets or learn more about featured cocktails, music, and food here on zooatlanta.org.

Savanna Nights is open to ages 21 and up only; guests under 21 will not be admitted.

WHEN: Friday, August 12, 2022, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

WHERE:               
Zoo Atlanta
800 Cherokee Avenue S.E.
Atlanta GA 30315  

CONTACT:         
Rachel Davis, Director of Communications
404.624.2812 – office 
404.309.2238 – cell
[email protected]

Gavin Johnson
Public Relations and Communications Specialist
404.624.5980 – office
[email protected]

Craft cocktail series is back for one more installment on August 12  

WHAT: Zoo-goers ages 21 and up who missed the June and July installments of Zoo Atlanta’s all-new craft cocktail series have just one more opportunity to experience Savanna Nights with the third and final event of the summer on Friday, August 12, 2022.   

 Guests will enjoy tastings of imaginative, wildlife-inspired craft cocktails immersed in the unforgettable backdrop of Zoo Atlanta’s African Savanna, home to African elephants, giraffes, zebras, ostriches, warthogs, meerkats, and southern white rhinos. As Savanna Nights highlights the wildlife of the African Savanna, other zones of the Zoo will not be open; activities will be concentrated on the African Savanna.

Adding to the vibes of the casual evening will be live music from Ben Wade Band; special Keeper Talks for a deeper dive into animal care; and wildlife viewing until dusk on the African Savanna. Food truck bites from Tex’s Tacos, The Fresh Truck, and Gotta Have It Catering will be available for purchase.

Tickets include six complimentary cocktail flight tasting tickets redeemable for one four-ounce tasting of each available cocktail. Beer, wine, and mixed drinks will also be available for purchase.

Tickets are $35 for Zoo Atlanta Members; $40 for non-Members. Get tickets or learn more about featured cocktails, music, and food here on zooatlanta.org.

Savanna Nights is open to ages 21 and up only; guests under 21 will not be admitted.

WHEN: Friday, August 12, 2022, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

WHERE:               
Zoo Atlanta
800 Cherokee Avenue S.E.
Atlanta GA 30315  

CONTACT:         
Rachel Davis, Director of Communications
404.624.2812 – office 
404.309.2238 – cell
[email protected]

Gavin Johnson
Public Relations and Communications Specialist
404.624.5980 – office
[email protected]

Sounds like a bad 80s hair band, but it’s something far worse

There are some things that are plainly true even though we don’t think about them often or ever. Coke tastes better out of glass bottles. S’mores aren’t ever as good as you remember them being when you were a kid. If you’re wearing a white shirt and have a meeting after lunch, you will spill your lunch on your shirt. And the less you have of something that you need, the more precious those few things are. This is true for lots of things: money in your bank account, friends, toilet paper in a pandemic, and it’s especially true for animals that are endangered or worse, critically endangered. When this happens, we call it an extinction vortex. Enter the golden lion tamarin.

Golden lion tamarins are small, fascinating primates found only in the Atlantic Coastal Forest of Brazil. They get their name from their yellow to orange fur and the fact that it is thick and long around their heads and resembles a lion’s mane. In the late 1960s, a census was taken of wild GLTs, and the estimated wild population was fewer than 200 individuals. Thanks to the efforts of conservation organizations and the international zoo community, including Zoo Atlanta, the wild population is now around 2,500, with another 400 to 500 in zoological settings.

Golden lion tamarins are a model conservation story.  Their success is one of my favorite things to talk about when guests ask me, “Why do zoos matter?” If it weren’t for zoos, golden lion tamarins and many other species would be extinct in the wild or completely extinct.

Golden lion tamarins are primates, just like humans. Like humans, they are prone to diseases such as yellow fever. In 2019, a yellow fever outbreak reduced their wild population by at least a third. Such a reduction can be cataclysmic for an already small population. Zoo Atlanta’s conservation partner, the Golden Lion Tamarin Association, worked to vaccinate wild golden lion tamarins.

Within the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), we work with what is called the Species Survival Plan® (SSP) for individual species of animals. Not every animal you see in the Zoo has an SSP, but most species that are vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered do. To simplify what an SSP does, it is kind of like a zoo matchmaking service where experts track genetics of members of a species that are in zoological settings, and try to match those genetics and animal temperaments with other members of that species at other zoos. This helps us to have sustainable, viable populations within zoos. Working with the SSP to keep zoological populations healthy now and for future generations is important to sustaining a small population of animals, no matter the species.   

As we look to bolster future populations of other animals including golden lion tamarins, we can use a One Health approach to see how all life is connected. Ecosystems live harmoniously in a sometimes complex but fragile balance, and the decimation of certain populations can have major implications for the ecosystem. Tamarins are seed dispersers, helping to spread the growth of plants around the forest, bringing life, oxygen, and habitats to many other species. Without them, the forest would suffer.  We can see the same thing in our own state where gopher tortoise populations are shrinking, and their burrows provide shelter for hundreds of animals during wildfires. Without gopher tortoise burrows, we could lose many other animals because they won’t be able to use those burrows during a fire.

Through small actions like supporting native plants and wildlife in your backyard and continuing to support AZA institutions like Zoo Atlanta, you can help to be a part of supporting the growth of these small vulnerable populations of animals, both where you live and around the world, to avoid the extinction vortex.

Zach Stich
Public Programs Coordinator

Hornbills are a fascinating group of birds. While these long-beaked animals might superficially resemble toucans, the hornbill family (Bucerotidae) is not closely related to the toucan family at all!

The hornbill family contains a diverse number of species, three of which are housed here at Zoo Atlanta. While many Asian species subsist on a diet of fruits and insects, the African species (the ground hornbills) spend most of their time walking on the ground and are strictly carnivores. Regardless of what they eat, all hornbills have poorly developed tongues, so rely on a feeding mechanism called “ballistic transport,” in which food is tossed from the tip of the beak into the back of the throat.

The “horns,” or casques, of hornbills are actually extensions of the upper beak and are just as diverse as hornbill species themselves. The casques of ground hornbills are small and poorly developed compared to other hornbills. In rhinoceros hornbills, the casque is immense and extends nearly as far forward as the upper beak but is almost entirely hollow on the inside! Helmeted hornbills have casques that are almost completely solid and resemble ivory in texture.

So, what is the purpose of those impressive casques? The answer is that nobody knows for certain! In some species like the helmeted hornbill, the casque is thought to be used in combat, as these birds often engage in a behavior called aerial jousting. In other species, the purpose is less clear. Hypotheses range from use as an ornamental structure (for example, attracting a mate), reinforcement of the beak for high impact pecking behaviors, or use as a resonance chamber to help vocalizations carry farther.

Despite the beauty and impressiveness of the casque, problems can arise from this structure. Traumatic injuries, infections, and even cancers have all been described in the casques of both wild hornbill species and hornbill species in human care. As their care team, our job is to monitor these animals closely for any signs of things out of the ordinary.

So, what do you think the hornbill’s horn is for? Next time you’re at the Zoo, take a close look at all the different magnificent hornbill species that we care for here and decide for yourself!

Sam G.
Keeper I, Birds

Partnership with Golden Lion Tamarin Association is a continuation of a conservation success story

ATLANTA – August 2, 2022 – On Golden Lion Tamarin Day, Zoo Atlanta announces a substantial new commitment to the Golden Lion Tamarin Association (Associação Mico-Leão-Dourado – AMLD) to protect the tiny icons of Brazil’s Atlantic Coastal Forest.

Zoo Atlanta and AMLD have a long history of partnership, dating to the 1980s. The fact that the golden lion tamarins exist in the wild today is owed largely to the work of these organizations and the international zoo community.

“The golden lion tamarin is a model story of the role of accredited zoos and aquariums in conservation,” said Raymond B. King. “Like the California condor and others that almost disappeared from the wild, golden lion tamarins are a species that would likely not be here today were it not for partnerships with zoos like Zoo Atlanta.”   

Found only in this coastal rainforest, a little over 40 miles northeast of Rio de Janeiro, golden lion tamarins are named for their striking orange color and lion-like manes around their faces. Adults weigh only around 1.3 pounds. By the 1970s, habitat loss and the pet trade had reduced the wild population to only around 200 individuals. Conservationists swiftly acted to develop a comprehensive program to include habitat protection and restoration; translocation of individuals to safer habitats; educational outreach; and cooperative breeding programs in zoos. Importantly, in the 1980s and 1990s, golden lion tamarins born in zoological care, including tamarins from Zoo Atlanta, were introduced into the wild in Brazil. The introduction of these individuals helped to bolster the wild population, which now numbers around 2,500 and which resulted in a conservation status change from Critically Endangered to Endangered.

“While we celebrate successes like these, as with any other conservation project, this important work must be allowed to continue in the long term,” said Jennifer Mickelberg, PhD, Vice President of Collections and Conservation and the International Studbook Keeper for golden lion tamarins. “Even as we speak, new threats to this species demand our immediate attention.”

Despite successful efforts to set aside, preserve, and protect wild habitat, a 2019 yellow fever outbreak decimated the wild golden lion tamarin population by at least a third. AMLD, a non-governmental organization based in Brazil, worked with partners to vaccinate wild individuals and to work with the local human populations impacted by the outbreak.

“The Golden Lion Tamarin Association has demonstrated for 30 years that successful and sustainable conservation programs are those which have a multi-faceted approach that includes not just habitat preservation, but also community engagement, education, population management based on science, and partnership with other organizations,” Mickelberg said. “Zoo Atlanta is very proud to support an organization that exemplifies the fact that when approached correctly, conservation efforts can and do work.”   

Zoo Atlanta is home to eight golden lion tamarins and has seen several important breeding successes over the years. The most recent of these are twins Ipa and Nema, born in 2021. Tune in to Zoo Atlanta Facebook and Instagram on August 2 for a special Golden Lion Day social media takeover featuring members of the Zoo’s tamarin population.

The partnership with AMLD is a commitment which strongly aligns with Zoo Atlanta’s Conservation Strategic Action Plan, which guides and enhances the Zoo’s efforts both locally and globally. The plan focuses on five primary goals through which Zoo Atlanta works to make a demonstrable, meaningful impact by committing resources, both financial and professional; leading and supporting conservation initiatives based on science; educating and empowering people to take conservation action; amplifying the Zoo’s conservation impact through collaboration; and developing, enhancing, and expanding Zoo Atlanta’s sustainability programs and practices.

Zoo Atlanta has an already considerable commitment to saving species and their habitats around the world. A partnership with Conservation South Luangwa, a Zambia-based nonprofit protecting African elephants and other species impacted by wildlife trafficking, was announced in 2018. Zoo Atlanta has contributed over $16 million in direct support for wild giant pandas. As one of only a select few zoos to contribute $10,000 a year to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) Ape Taxon Advisory Group, the Zoo is a Platinum Supporter of a collective effort to preserve wild ape populations and to increase and sustain financial support from zoos for their conservation. Zoo Atlanta provides pro-bono headquarters space and resources for its longtime partner in gorilla conservation, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International. Additional efforts include but are not limited to programs supported by the Zoo’s Mabel Dorn Reeder Conservation Endowment Fund and its Quarters for Conservation initiative, which contributes 25 cents of every general admission ticket to projects for wildlife.

Visit zooatlanta.org/conservation to learn more about conservation work at Zoo Atlanta.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Rachel Davis
Director of Communications
404.624.2812 – office
404.309.2238 – cell
[email protected]

Gavin Johnson
Public Relations & Communications Specialist
404.624.5980 – office
[email protected]

The paper is published in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) by the same Georgia Tech team that authored a study last summer about how elephants use their trunk muscles to inhale food and water.

“When people extend their tongue — a muscle-filled, boneless tissue similar in composition to an elephant’s trunk — it stretches uniformly. We expected the same when we challenged an elephant to reach for food,” said Andrew Schulz, the study’s lead author and a Ph.D. student in Georgia Tech’s George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. He and the team filmed two African savanna elephants reaching for bran cubes and apples at Zoo Atlanta. 

“But when we looked at our high-speed camera footage and plotted the trunk’s movements, we were surprised. The top and bottom weren’t the same at all,” Schulz said. 

After seeing the video, Schulz stretched the tissue of a dissected elephant to better understand the skin’s elasticity. That’s when he found that the top of the skin, which is folded, is 15% more flexible than the wrinkled bottom side. It’s also when the team realized they weren’t just seeing muscle movement on the video. They were also tracking a thick sheet of skin.

“Flexible skin folds are the elephant’s innovation,” said David Hu, Schulz’s advisor and a professor in the Woodruff School and the School of Biological Sciences. “They protect the dorsal section and make it easier for the elephant to reach downward, the most common gripping style when picking up items.”

The Georgia Tech study also found that an elephant trunk differs in another way from other boneless, muscle-filled appendages found in nature, such as squid and octopus tentacles. Instead of extending evenly, an elephant telescopically stretches its trunk like an umbrella, gradually lengthening in waves.

An elephant first extends the section that includes the tip of its trunk, then the adjacent section and so on, gradually working its way back toward its body. Schulz says the progressive movement towards the base is intentional.

“Elephants are like people: they’re lazy,” he said. “The section at the end of the trunk is 1 liter of muscle. The section closest to its mouth is 11-15 liters of muscle. An elephant will first stretch the end of its trunk, then the adjacent section, because they’re easier to move. If an elephant doesn’t have to work very hard to reach something, it won’t.”

Schulz said he had to rely on a drawing from 1908 when learning about trunk anatomy because scientists and engineers haven’t done much research on the biomechanics of elephants during the last century. Part of his curiosity of elephants is based on helping them; he thinks a better understanding of the animals will lead to better conservation efforts. As a mechanical engineer, Schulz also sees the applications of robotics.

“Soft robotics created with biologically inspired design are always based on muscle movement. If they were wrapped with a protective skin, like an elephant’s muscle-filled trunk, the machines could apply larger forces,” he said. “Last year we learned that a trunk is a multi-purpose, muscular hydrostat. Now we know that skin is another tool at its disposal.”

Citation: Andrew Schulz, Madeline Boyle, Colin Boyle, Sophia Sordilla, Catalina Rincon, Scott Hooper, Catie Aubuchon, Joy S. Reidenberg, Clair Higgins, and David Hu. “Skin wrinkles and folds enable asymmetric stretch in the elephant trunk,” PNAS, July 2022.

The work was supported by the Army Research Office, an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capability Development Command’s Army Research Laboratory, under contract number 295 W911NF-12-R-0011. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the sponsoring agency.

Check out the original article here!

Hey all! Seasonal Primate Keeper Sam here to talk about our ringtailed lemurs and a natural behavior called “stink fighting.” We have two ringtailed lemurs here at the Zoo, males Julius and his half-brother, Neal. You can visit them as you are walking through The Living Treehouse.

Ringtailed lemurs sometimes find themselves competing for food, territory, or even a potential mate. Male ringtails have scent glands on their wrists and shoulders and will use these in a way to resolve conflict that doesn’t involve any potential injury. A “stink fight” occurs when a male who is feeling threatened secretes a clear liquid through the glands on his wrists. He rubs his tail between his wrists and then proceeds to wave his tail through the air to distribute the smell. They will continue with this behavior until one lemur decides to give up and run away. Luckily for us, research hasn’t shown if the odor can be detected by the human nose.

So next time you find yourself peering down into the lemur habitat, check out our ringtails and see what they’re up to!

Samantha L.
Seasonal Keeper, Primates