NOTE: Dates indicate date of press releases
Kangaroo Baby Out - December 27, 1999
Asian Elephant Comes to Oregon - November 10, 1999
Head Start Day at the Zoo - May 14, 1999
Tiger Gets Dentist Visit - April 27, 1999
Exhibit Receives Major Foundation Support - March 30, 1999
Totem Pole to Rise - February 25, 1999
YOWEE
The tree kangaroo born at the Oregon Zoo over Mothers Day weekend is finally spending some quality time out of moms pouch. Keepers believe the baby is a female and have named her Yowee, after an aboriginal spirit that lives in the trees.
Blaze, the joeys mother, is 6 years old and went on exhibit last Dec. Nine-year-old Lombok is the father. Yowee is the first tree kangaroo born at the zoo. Successful breeding was eagerly anticipated as tree kangaroos are highly endangered and the pair are not well represented in the captive population.It is the second offspring for mom and the first for dad.
Tree kangaroo gestation is 45 days and the joey popped her head out after 22 weeks. Yowee should be weaned and permanently leave her pouch around 14 months--sometime in July.
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CHENDRA COMES TO OREGON
Two years ago, the zoo with the help of Enron, announced its intention to bring an Asian elephant to Oregon. Chendra, a six-year-old female elephant from Sabah, Malaysia, will be travelling to Portland next week to join the herd at the Oregon Zoo. The journey from Malaysia marks the culmination of more than two years of planning on the part of zoo officials, the Malaysian government, conservationists, and Enron, which has provided the funding for the research and travel arrangements.
Chendra's saga began three years ago when she and her mother were frightened away from a palm oil plantation in Sabah, which is on the northern part of the island of Borneo. Chendra sustained an injury to a front leg and was wounded in her left eye. Several days later, she was found wandering through the plantation showing signs of hunger. When her mother did not return, the calf was rescued by wildlife officials.
Chendra's leg wound was superficial. However, her left eye was permanently blinded and this, combined with her young age, made the orphaned calf a poor candidate for relocation and release to the wild. She has spent most of the past few years in rehabilitation facilities and has not had contact with other elephants.
In Portland, Chendra, will be joining five-year-old Rose-Tu, sixteen-year-old Sung Surin, and forty-four-year-old Pet. Keepers expect the Oregon Zoo elephants to quickly accept Chendra as one of their group, and that the two young elephants will especially enjoy each other's companionship.
It is hoped that Chendra will help the worldwide effort to save endangered elephants by diversifying the North American population. Without the introduction of new bloodlines, it is estimated that in just thirty years, no more elephants will be born in this hemisphere.
Chendra, whose name is short for Chendrawasih and means "flower of paradise," will begin her journey to Oregon next week with a truck ride from eastern Sabah to Kota Kinabalu, the capital city. On Nov. 19th, she will fly to Kuala Lampur, proceed on to South Korea and then to San Francisco. She will travel overnight by truck from San Francisco to Portland, arriving the morning of the 20th.
Chendras journey will be chronicled on the zoos web site, www.oregonzoo.org, with daily updates from Malaysia. On arrival at the zoo, Chendra will be housed in the elephant barn, where she will be kept apart from the other elephants for six weeks. This quarantine period is
standard procedure for any new animal to the zoo. After the first of the year, Chendra will be introduced to the other elephants. The zoo is planning a weekend-long party to celebrate her public debut in January.
Chendra's presence in Oregon marks the beginning of a long-term conservation partnership between the Oregon Zoo and Sabah wildlife officials. "It is hoped that both partners will share knowledge and resources that will benefit not only elephants, but other species native to Southeast Asia that are in need," said zoo director Tony Vecchio.
"The future of elephants is in peril, not only in range countries, but in managed populations in North America," said Vecchio. "It is only through cooperation and conservation programs like the one between the Oregon Zoo and the government of Malaysia that Asian elephants will survive."
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HEAD START DAY AT ZOO
On May 15, Portland area preschool children will get a look at many of the animals they have been learning about in the classroom when they attend Head Start Day activities at the Oregon Zoo.
This special day is sponsored by ARCO and Bank of America. Bank of America has provided additional support for the Zoo's Head Start Science Program in Portland-area schools. ARCO has made an additional donation to support the zoo's summer Insect Zoo project.
Head Start is a preschool program for low income families in which children learn classroom skills involving the humanities and science. Zoo volunteers participate in the classroom work by bringing small animals, birds and insects to school and helping the youngsters learn about them and the principles of animal conservation.
Karyn McGee, the zoo's youth volunteer coordinator, said the Head Start preschoolers and their families would receive coupons for free zoo tickets on May 15. In addition, they will see a free Birds of Prey show and each youngster will receive a free popsicle.
A special recognition ceremony will take place that day for zoo volunteers in the Head Start program, McGee added.
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DENTIST MAKES HOUSE CALL FOR TIGER TEETH
A Denver-based dentist, Dr. Jana Levin will travel to Portland this week to make a house call. Shell be performing root canals on Czar, the Oregon Zoos Siberian tiger.
Czar, who will be 15 years old in October, came to the zoo in May 1989. The 350-pound- feline returned last June from a six month stay at the Sacramento Zoo. He was moved during the heavy construction phase on the new The Great Northwest exhibit adjacent to his enclosure. The needed dental work on two of Czars canine teeth was discovered during a routine checkup.
Dr. Levin, DVM, AVDC, is a dental specialist and member of the American Veterinary Dental College. She is on the faculty of Colorado State University and works in private practice in Colorado, Nevada, and California. Dr. Levins faculty duties at CSUs School of Veterinary Medicine include teaching dentistry courses for veterinary students and continuing education courses for veterinarians and veterinary technicians.
Dr. Levin will be assisted by the Oregon Zoos two veterinarians, Dr. Mitch Finnegan and Dr. Lisa Harrenstien, and zoo veterinary technician, Margot Monti. The procedure is scheduled to last four hours. One or two teeth will be repaired, depending on what the doctors find and how Czar reacts.
A recent Associated Press story reported that a new survey found as few as 15 Siberian tigers are left in the wild in China. About 100 more Siberian tigers live in Chinese zoos and animal parks, which are trying to breed them to increase the population. The tigers also live in Russia, where there are believed to be about 380 in the wild.
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OREGON ZOO EXHIBIT RECEIVES MAJOR FOUNDATION SUPPORT
The Oregon Zoo Foundation announced today that three well-known Pacific Northwest foundations are supporting the zoos The Great Northwest exhibit with major grants. The Meyer Memorial Trust, Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation, and The Paul G. Allen Charitable Foundation have pledged a total of $475,000 to the project.
The Great Northwest exhibit will showcase the regions ecosystems, from the Cascades to the coastal waters. The projects first phase opened in September 1998 and includes a new entry village and mountain goats in an alpine habitat.
A $250,000 grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust will help with the construction of the main exhibit pool for Steller Cove, the second phase of The Great Northwest. This exhibit, opening in summer of 2000, will showcase Steller sea lions, sea otters, and other coastal marine wildlife.
According to Alice McCartor, program officer for the Meyer Trust, The Great Northwest exhibit will help children and families to better understand our environment and the issues we face as active stewards.
Steller sea lions are the largest member of the pinniped family--males can reach a length of ten feet and weigh more than 2,000 pounds--and are endangered along the western-most extent of their range, from the Gulf of Alaska to Russia. Mysteriously, 75% of these animals that once came ashore along this coastline have either died or disappeared over the past twenty years. The Oregon Zoo will be one of only six facilities in the world to maintain the Steller sea lion in captivity and seeks to add to the global base of knowledge about this imperiled marine mammal.
The Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation has donated $150,000 for the Cascade Crest exhibit. The Foundation has previously supported the zoo by sponsoring recycling stations and the zoo map.
The Oregon Zoos new Cascade Crest exhibit is an outstanding world-class presentation of a Northwest ecosystem, said Brad Lewis, recycling plant manager. As a company that has had its roots in the Northwest for 100 years, were extremely proud that Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation could help make the exhibit a reality.
The Paul G. Allen Charitable Foundation contribution of $75,000 will be used for general support of The Great Northwest exhibit. "This exhibit is a perfect example of the Zoo's importance as both a conservation and education facility. We are proud to back their efforts to educate the public about our region," said Executive Director Jo Allen Patton.
Additional exhibits will be added to The Great Northwest over the next three years. The project will be funded by a combination of public and private sources, including a $28.8 million bond measure that was passed in the fall of 1996 by voters in the tri-county Metro area.
According to Oregon Zoo Director Tony Vecchio, "These three gifts are a tremendous boost for The Great Northwest, a project that will be the most significant educational addition to the zoo in the last 40 years." "It will also strengthen the zoos role in conservation and research that will benefit endangered species of the Northwest."
The Oregon Zoo Foundation is the non-profit 501(c)(3) support organization for the Oregon Zoo. It can be reached at 503-220-4738.
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ZOO TOTEM POLE TO RISE
During the 1959 Oregon Centennial, a 50-foot animal totem pole was carved by noted Northwest Indian artist Don Lelooska Smith and his family as part of that year's celebration. On Friday, Feb. 26, at 8 a.m., the pole will rise again.
The totem recently received a much-needed restoration. The 50-foot Western red cedar pole was originally placed next to the zoo's railroad station. It remained there until the mid-1980s when it was moved to the new Cascades exhibit. When construction began for the Great Northwest exhibit, the totem pole was taken down again.
Over a year ago, zoo volunteer Bill Oberhue began a project to have the zoo's totem pole, which had deteriorated badly over the years, renovated and restored. Oberhue contacted the brother and niece of the late Lelooska who have taken over the family's business of making Indian masks and totem poles in Ariel, Wash. The brother is Tsungani Fearon Smith, the family's chief carver. Smith's daughter is Mariah Stoll-Smith Reese, who is executive director for the Lelooska Foundation.
The pole, heavily water logged, was moved out of the rain. After a drying process, it was thoroughly washed with detergents and soft brushes and then treated with alcohol to kill any bacteria. A lead cap was placed on top of the pole to prevent rain water getting down into it.
A colony of carpenter ants has been removed and the log was treated with wood preservatives, including linseed oil.
Smith has recarved the eagle's wings (the eagle tops the pole) and, along with zoo volunteers, has repainted the totems faces.
Oberhue reports that the pole is irreplaceable and well worth all the effort that is going into saving it. He says that totem pole makers today charge upwards of $2,000 a foot--making the zoo's totem pole worth around $100,000.
On Friday, Campbell Crane and Rigging Service will install the totem pole in its new location, near the site of the entrance to the Alaska Tundra Exhibit.
The eagle wings will be attached in a few weeks. Zoo volunteers and members of the Leloosaka tribe plan to hold a potlach in the spring to celebrate the completion of the project.
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