"Wrapping up" another great year with more Holiday enrichment content! 😊🎁🌟 Big thanks to the wonderful keepers for capturing these sweet moments...Enjoy!
You're going to want to rotate your phone for this one...😉🔄✨☺️
Zoo EDventures: Rounding Out 2024
Whew – 2024 came and went in a flash! Please join us as we show you around some (warm) indoor spaces at the Zoo and share a couple of our favorite clips. Did you have a favorite this year? Tune in and see if we match! Happy holidays to you all, and we can’t wait to see you in 2025!
Welcome to ASMR with George! 🔊 Red ruffed lemurs are frugivores! They eat mostly fruit but have also been known to enjoy nectar, flowers and leaves. 🍃 🌺 But did you know they are also important pollinators?! They move pollen from flower to flower as they go around drinking the nectar. They are also vital seed dispersers in Madagascar! 🇲🇬 🌱 Unfortunately, lemurs are among Earth’s most endangered animals with 94% of their species threatened. 📉
Take a peek below the surface and watch our puffins in action! ✨ These skilled swimmers use their wings to “fly” underwater, diving deep and darting through the currents with ease. 🐧💦 Did you know puffins can dive up to 200 feet and flap their wings underwater like they’re flying?
Move over Winnie, there’s a new baby baboon in town and his name is Edgar! Our Hamadryas baboon habitat is action packed! Come see this little dude in action at your next visit, isn’t he adorable?! 🥰🌿
Fun Fact: Most species of geckos don’t have eyelids. 👀
So, they must find other methods of keeping their eyes clean! Geckos will lick the transparent scales protecting their eyes called, spectacles, essentially acting like a windshield wiper to keep their eyes clean and free of debris. The more you know… 🦎
Have you ever seen an animal display a “flehmen response”? It’s quite adorable! ☺️
When an animal encounters a new scent, it might display a "flehmen response"—a curious behavior where it curls its upper lip and opens its mouth slightly. It is commonly seen in horses and cats, and even our bull elk, Tommy! He’s got some fresh compost! This behavior allows him to deeply inhale the smell, using a special organ in his mouth called the vomeronasal organ (VNO). The VNO is highly sensitive to pheromones and other chemical signals, helping him "taste" the scent. It’s nature’s way of getting a closer look at a new smell!
Fighting for the last Deviled egg like…🍴
📸 Shoutout to Keeper Jocelyn for this awesome video of our baby Chuckwallas chowing down on some lettuce! 🥗
That feeling when you can't button your pants after your Thanksgiving meal vibes 😝
To Do Today:
1. EAT 🥧🫐🥬🥩🍠🍴
Happy Birthday Anana! 💖🥳 Today marks Anana’s 2️⃣5️⃣th Birthday, a wonderful milestone for the Zoo’s beloved polar bear. She and her twin brother were born in Rochester, NY at Seneca Park Zoo. Anana arrived at the North Carolina Zoo in 2014 from Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, IL. As polar bears are solitary animals, she is currently the Zoo’s only polar bear and she continues to thrive! Anana is described by her keepers as the ultimate princess! 👑
