2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999

NOTE:  Dates indicate date of press releases

Teacher In-Service Day - October 6, 2000
Penguin Plight at the Oregon Zoo, July 3, 2000
Endangered Cat Moves Into Renovated Exhibit - April 6, 2000
Zooscope Debut - February 9, 2000

ZOO INVITES TEACHERS TO FREE TEACHER IN-SERVICE DAY

Portland, Ore.Teachers, have you ever wanted to go behind the scenes at the zoo and come nose to nose with bears, penguins, rhinos, hippos and sea otters? If the answer is yes, then register for the Oregon Zoos FREE Teacher In-Service Day, Friday, October 13, from 9 a.m. to noon and learn all about the zoos many animals.

Teachers can take a fun-filled field trip, receiving free zoo curriculum, while learning more about how they can achieve state benchmark standards by working collaboratively with the zoo.

From touring the animal care facilities and watching the popular Birds of Prey show, to exploring the new Steller Cover exhibit, teachers will be taken on an educational adventure that will reveal new teaching possibilities. Teachers will go behind the scenes and view a variety of fascinating animals including wolves, rhinos, hippos, bears, sea lions, sea otters, beavers, river otters, penguins and mountain goats, plus view rare bird species found in the zoos Center for Species Survival. Once they have experienced these animals firsthand, theyll be able to take these experiences back to the classroom. In addition, teachers will receive a discount in the Cascade Outfitters gift shop, meet the zoos dedicated education staff, as well as educators from other environmental groups.

From 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., teachers can participate in an optional workshop entitled Suitcase for Survival, where theyll explore a new hands-on discovery kit that features bones, pelts and confiscated animal items. The kit focuses on the importance of stewardship of endangered species and the challenges these species face from illegal poaching. Once teachers have attended the workshop, they can borrow the kit free of charge.

Past workshop participants have seemed to enjoy our hands-on approach to science, said Roger Yerke, education manager. Throughout the process they learn about the importance of conservation and the nature of scienceits strengths, weaknesses and surprises.

The Oregon Zoo hosts over 180,000 schoolchildren, teachers and families each year through 1,327 educational programs. To register for the Oregon Zoos FREE Teacher In-Service Day, Friday, October 13, from 9 a.m. to noon, please call 503-220-2781.

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PENGUIN PLIGHT FOLLOWED CLOSELY AT THE OREGON ZOO

The Oregon Zoo Animal Management staff is following the plight of the penguin population off the coast of South Africa in the aftermath of the recent oil spill. While the Oregon Zoo's Penguinarium houses Humboldt penguins rather than the African species, there is still much concern.

"If this spill had taken place off the Peruvian or Chilean coast, it would have the potential to wipe out the entire wild Humboldt penguin population," said Mike Keele, Assistant Zoo Director.

Staff at the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds has already rescued approximately 2000 birds since the disaster struck. SANCCOB sends regular updates by e-mail to the zoo, which are posted on the zoo's website located at www.oregonzoo.org.

The zoo would like to be able to send bird keepers to assist with the rescue efforts, however the costs of such an endeavor prohibit that type of involvement at this time.

Individuals interested in learning what they can do to help the penguins can log onto SANCCOB's website found at www.uct.ac.za/depts/stats/adu/. An application form to adopt a penguin can be accessed by clicking on "What is New".

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ENDANGERED CAT MOVES INTO RENOVATED ZOO EXHIBIT

An endangered Amur leopard will be moved to a newly renovated exhibit at The Oregon Zoo. The nine-year old male will live in a thickly planted habitat in the zoos former feline building.

Amur leopards are critically endangered; it is thought that there are as few as 60 left in the wild and an estimated 64 in captivity in North America. A Population Management Plan (PMP) has been established for this subspecies of leopard. The PMP is a cooperative effort among zoos and other captive animal facilities to monitor the status and plan breeding of the current captive population.

This basically is the beginning of the return of many big cats to the zoo, said Zoo Director Tony Vecchio. Exhibiting these animals is also a direct response to the publics overwhelming request to see them, he added. Vecchio said that he regularly asks groups to which he speaks as well as the general public what animals they want to see at the zoo. Big cats, primates and reptiles head the list, he said.

Vecchio gathered a group of zoo staff to design and build a feline habitat and determine the appropriate species to exhibit. The group decided upon Amur leopards because of their endangered status.

A second Amur leopard will join the male, named Frederick, in a few months. His sister will soon arrive from the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado to begin a 30-day quarantine period. The pair will not be bred.

We are very fortunate to be able to provide a home for these animals, said Animal Collection Manager Chris Pfefferkorn. Being deeply committed to species conservation, we felt that the Oregon Zoo could help significantly by providing excellent housing for animals whose numbers are desperately low, he added.

The new exhibit features a number of trees and logs, many of them jammed together high above the exhibit floor. Leopards are somewhat arboreal by nature, said Jon Brangan, exhibit manager, and like to perch in trees way up high. The entire exhibit is designed to simulate the landscape of their wild environment as closely as possible.

The leopard will have his own small pool, and the visitor viewing area will feature a tempered half-inch glass window reaching to ground level where Brangan said, people will be able to go face to face with him. A special innovation for the exhibit is a small covered hut designed for children, where they can view the leopards at their level. A heated pad will be placed directly in front of the viewing area where the animals will likely lie down during cold days.

Of all cats, leopards have the largest distribution. They formerly ranged throughout almost all of Africa and large part of Asia, from Turkey and the Middle East to Indonesia and Russia. The Amur leopard has the most northern distribution of the eight subspecies of leopard. Named after the Amur River on the border of northeast China and southeast Russia, Amur leopards once roamed a much wider area. Their numbers have declined because of human encroachment and poaching.

Like their African cousins, the Amur leopards have a yellowish, tawny coat with many spots that are widely spaced rosettes with thick borders. The Russian leopards, however, have a more intense coloring and longer fur, an adaptation for surviving in their normally cold and snowy areas.

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VOLUNTEERS AND TECHNOLOGY BRING OREGON ZOOS SCIENCE EDUCATION PROGRAM TO THE WORLD

PORTLANDThe Oregon Zoo is coming to a screen near you. ZooScope, the Oregon Zoos innovative science education program, is leaping to the internet at http://zooscope.oregonzoo.org.

A $40,000 grant from Intel's Getting Intel involved in Education (GiiVE) made it all possible. A group of dedicated Intel employees, working with zoo educators and volunteers, have taken an on-grounds zoo program and made it available to students and teachers around the world.

Originally called ZooWatch, the program debuted in spring 1997 and gave zoo visitors the opportunity to collect animal behavior data. For example, at the elephant yard, participants could record Rose-Tu's behavior to chronicle changes in her socialization pattern as she matures.

The ZooScope web site will provide real-time images from four animal exhibits that allow young researchers to collect data on-line. In addition, the site features an "Ask the Scientist" section, ideas for individual observation projects, and complete teacher curriculum with correlates for state benchmarks.

ZooScope focuses on studying animal behavior, but the larger objective is to bring the zoo to the classroom and give students the understanding of, and practice in, the scientific process.

Tony Vecchio, Oregon Zoo director, notes that "This kind of science education, which combines learning with children's natural curiousity, can spark a love of science at an early age. We are grateful to Intel for making this program available to children everywhere."

Intel has awarded GiiVE grants at its sites around the United States. The grants are meant to promote the best new ideas for improving education. Teams of Intel employees developed and submitted ideas at each site that were aimed at spurring learning in math, science or technology; or enhancing learning through the use of technology.

Gerry Lukos, a librarian at Intels Jones Farm campus, led a team of six employees in winning the ZooScope grant proposal. Lukos and other volunteers have committed to donate more than 1000 hours to the project. Lukos says, "Going for the grant was a wonderful opportunity to bring together the zoos role in science education and Intels mission of funding science education projects in the community."

Intel volunteers are available to visit schools in a 50-mile radius from Portland and demonstrate the ZooScope program. For more information, classroom teachers can call the zoo at 220-2781.

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