Niabi Zoo Red tailed Hawk with breakfast rat in the snow
*Whole Prey Warning*
Neither snow storm or cold temps will stop our friend the Red tailed hawk from enjoying his breakfast rodent. He takes the time to stabalize his prey with one foot and slowly consume almost all parts of the protein meal....great for withstanding the cold temps and keeping his muscle packed body warm.
Video and breakfast courtesy of Grace W
Niabi Zoo Aldabra consuming nutritious greens from an enrichment device
MMMM...Delicious Greens! Aldabra Tortoises are both grazers and browsers! They are gut fermenting herbivores with a large fermenting gut. They seek grasses and leaves, consuming some invertebrates along the way, which serves as a bit of protein (Eskildsen et al., 2004). In their wild diets they spend time in areas with a high amount of calcium and other trace elements (Highfield, 2000).
Here at the zoo our lovely Aldabra couple have a balanced diet of pellet made specially for land tortoise, various leafy greens and other produce (such as sweet potato, carrot, parsnip to name a few) along with browse branches and grass hay.
Video courtesy of Sammi T
Niabi Zoo Throwback Thursday; Ms. Eevie, Pallas's Cat on surveillance
Throwback Thursday!
Ms. Eevie is famous for coming right out in the open to check out who is out and about in the zoo. She is curious and has a keen eye for anything and everything going on around her.
Niabi Zoo American Red Wolf gnawing on a deer leg
American Red Wolves are the most endangered canid in the U.S. Although the exact diet of this amazing species varies depending upon availability of prey, it usually consists of a combination of white-tailed deer, raccoons and smaller mammals such as rabbits, rodents and nutria. This wolf is an opportunistic feeder and can travel upwards of twenty miles a day or more to find food, which can be consumed at a rate of two to five pounds daily. (USFWS)
We got a sneak peek at Niko, Wolf enthusiastically gnawing on one of his deer legs. We are so happy to have of our neighboring Deer Processing company donate legs for our very own Niko and Rojo.
Video courtesy of Niabi Carnivore Team
Niabi Zoo Prairie Dogs on a snowy day
Snow-Dogs?? Many of the Prairie dog town members were out and about after a recent snow, still ensuring they are nice and fortified and a bit round and portly for colder weather days to come.....
Niabi Zoo Wolf's Guenon foraging
Foraging for many of our animal family is the exact way they would seek out and obtain their daily diet in their wild spaces.
With our Wolf's Guenon, Azul for example you can see him illustrating just that....foraging for his pellet and produce components in their habitat lawn. He is a Class1A Foraging champion!!
Sloth Encounter
🎁 GIFT IDEA: SLOTH ENCOUNTER! 🦥
Experience a close-up encounter with our sloth at the Biodiversity Hall (by appointment only).
Are you interested in booking an Animal Encounter with Monique or purchasing one as a gift? Visit our website for details! https://www.niabizoo.com/education/animal-encounters/
Niabi Zoo breakfast time
**WHOLE PREY ALERT**
No more bowl! Creating choice, change and complexity for our animal family is key to an over all good well-being and catalyzes species typical behavior. Activating cognitive, physical and sensory activities through the use of an enrichment device versus a bowl is key. Here we see our Painted Dogs receiving whole carcass rabbit, both in their habitat but also inside a "wholey ball", You can see this kid working to obtain his rabbit in the ball, even though there are two other rabbits easily attainable on the ground. You got this kiddo!! (he did eventually obtain the rabbit in the ball)
Giraffe Encounter
MEET OUR GIRAFFE AT HIS LEVEL!
Head behind the scenes to learn about his natural history and current conservation status. Celebrate any occasion or make a dream come true with our keepers as you learn what it takes to care for our gentle giant here at Niabi Zoo. Get a look at his specialized care equipment, witness training techniques, and enjoy the chance to feed our giraffe in a face-to-face experience! Book your unforgettable encounter today, available all year long!
Pricing, hours available and more: https://www.niabizoo.com/education/animal-encounters/
Niabi Zoo Yellow Backed duiker with whole produce
Yellow backed duiker, Dasher believe it or not can be a carnivore when he wants to (we have witnessed him consuming a wild rabbit). This forest dwelling ungulate typically consumes a wide range of leaves, bark and grasses as their primary diet. They also seek out seeds, roots, shoots, fruits, fungi and flowers and even invertebrates like maggot (yikes).
They are more efficient at digesting poor quality food than most other duiker species. This allows them to eat large, low quality foods such as fruit.
Here we see Mr. Dasher with a whole squash! For a grandpa duiker he is living large with his daily, fresh diet.
Video courtesy of Kristina S
Niabi Zoo Mkat Monday...really need a nap......
Meerkat Monday!
No time for cyber Monday...just time for a nap!
Niabi Zoo Rock Hyrax leaf green meal
Make sure to get all daily allotment of leafy greens like our friend the Rock Hyrax. Offering approved browse branches is one of the pillars of our overall animal welfare program, including all aspects of biotic and abiotic wellness--achieving our goals of elevated well-being.
Browse branches allow us to offer natural nutritional elements to enhance our animals base diets. He sure makes those leaves look yummy! Video courtesy of our Niabi Zoo Team.
