The Greenville Zoo’s female Schmidt’s red-tailed guenon, Charlie, received a hormone implant that will remain effective for an average of 2 years. Hormonal contraception is one of the ways zoos can manage their captive collections The implant minimizes potential side effects and facilitates a quick return to fertility once it is removed. Charlie may be deemed a candidate for a breeding program later in life, but right now is housed with direct relatives. Primate keeper, Dindy McDaniels, has been training with the guenons for this procedure weeks in advance so that the day the implant was injected, it was simply a routine exercise.
January 21, 2022, the Greenville Zoo celebrated National Squirrel Appreciation Day! Squirrel Appreciation Day takes place in January because that's when food sources for squirrels are at their lowest. Enjoy these nut-burying, scampering animals respectfully and with consideration. We recommend celebrating by providing a treat for these furry native critters, then visiting the zoo to see if you can spot our squirrelly visitors along the zoo’s pathways.
Ziggy the common kingsnake passed away of natural causes after 19 years of service at the Greenville Zoo. Ziggy started off as an ambassador animal educating the children of Greenville. During his later years he retired from teaching but remained on exhibit in the Ektopia building. Even though Ziggy was considered common by his species name, he was anything but to his keepers and many admirers at the zoo. Rest in peace.
The Greenville Zoo education department attended the Regional AZA education Conference hosted virtually by Zoo Knoxville and North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. These professional development-based conferences focused on using empathy-building skills to connect people to animals, developing more inclusive programs for those with disabilities, and micro-expression training focusing on reading clients’ expressions ‘above the mask line’. The team is eager to implement these new skills into their educational programming.
This week the Greenville Zoo’s docent-run ‘Tell me about it Tuesday’ program will be focusing on the Harris’s Hawk, one of the newest avian species we acquired at the zoo. Docents volunteer for this weekly chat program that centers on conservation messages and species information. Different species are highlighted every Tuesday. Come visit us on Tuesdays between 10:30 AM and 12:30 PM to learn more about the Greenville zoo’s amazing creatures and say hello to our dedicated docent staff.