Annual Report 2007 - Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo

More documents

Recommendations

Info

A Work in ProgressTampa’s Lowry Park Zoo has laid thegroundwork for the future developmentof the Zoo’s animal collection with the goal of creatingone of the most significant living collections of any zoologicalgarden. Like the master plan for the Zoo itself, the animalcollection plan maintains a long-term perspective while balancingrealistic financial needs.The Zoo’s collection philosophy is based on exhibiting speciesnative to Florida, species endangered or threatened in the wild,and species from habitats similar to our own, primarily Africa, Asia,Australia, and increasingly central and South America. As the Zoo’scollection continues to grow, sustainability is vital. Zoologicalgardens play an ever-increasing role in the sustainability matrix ofresearch, biology and captive propagation. As a facility accreditedby both the Zoological Association of America (ZAOA) and theAssociation of Zoo’s and Aquariums (AZA), we contribute at alllevels and provide unique opportunities for educating our visitorsand colleagues about the species under our stewardship.In 2008, the Zoo has many acquisitions on the horizon. We arescheduled to receive a group of 40 lesser flamingo, 14 great whitepelicans from Tanzania, and a pair of endangered Fiji-bandediguanas in an effort to support the U.S. conservation objectives forthese species. The Zoo has also begun the process to acquireQueensland koalas and Matschie’s tree kangaroo from Australia.Later this summer, the Zoo will be introducing Thomson’s gazelleinto the African elephant exhibit and adding new gazelle andantelope species to the Safari Ride over the next year. All of thesespecies will be new to the collection in support of our goal ofhaving the most important collection in any zoological garden.Long range plans call for inclusion of gorilla and bonobo (pygmychimpanzee) to expand our diverse primate collection. In thecoming years, as the Zoo’s collection continues to grow, access toadditional land will become key to sustaining populations of largebreeding herds. Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo would welcome theopportunity to develop a 2,000 acre off-site conservation facilitythat would effectively increase the usable space in our zoologicalgarden. Such a facility would dramatically increase the Zoo’scollection sustainability and place our Zoo in the top 10 facilities inthe country with increased capacity to manage collections.BONOBO (PYGMY CHIMPANZEE)(Pan paniscus)Range: Africa – only in Zaire.Habitat: Dense forests.The bonobo is more slender than the common chimpanzee.Bonobos are active from dawn to dusk and live in a fissionfusionpattern: a tribe of about a hundred will split into smallgroups during the day while looking for food, and then comeback together to sleep. They sleep on trees in nests theyconstruct. Unlike common chimpanzees, who are known tohunt monkeys, bonobos are primarily frugivores, although theydo eat insects and have been observed occasionally catchingsmall mammals such as squirrels and duikers.LESSER FLAMINGO(Phoenicopterus minor)Range: Africa, India and Pakistan.Habitat: Lakes, marshes, estuaries, swamps and other bodies of water.The lesser flamingo is the smallest and most numerous flamingo,numbering up to two million individual birds. In Africa, where they aremost numerous, the lesser flamingos breed principally on the highlycaustic Lake Natron in Northern Tanzania. Like all flamingos, they lay asingle chalky white egg on mounds they build of mud.This species feeds primarily on Spirulina, a cyanobacteria which growsonly in very alkaline lakes. Although blue-green in color, the bacteriacontains the photosynthetic pigments that gives the birds their pink color.Dr. Larry Killmar, director of collections, examines an Africanelephant in Swaziland Africa, prior to transport to the U.S.WESTERN LOWLAND GORILLA(Gorilla gorilla gorilla)QUEENSLAND KOALA(Phascolarctos cinereus)Range: Coastal regions of eastern and southern Australia.Habitat: Scrubland and eucalyptus forests.The koala lives almost entirely on eucalyptus leaves. This islikely to be an evolutionary adaptation that takes advantageof an otherwise unfilled ecological niche, since eucalyptusleaves are low in protein, high in indigestible substances, andcontain compounds that are toxic to most species. Likewombats and sloths, the koala has a very low metabolic rate for amammal and rests motionless for about 18 to 20 hours a day, sleepingmost of that time.Koalas do not drink water because they get all of the water they needfrom eucalyptus leaves.“Koala” is the Aborigine word for “no water.”Range: Parts of Angola, Cameroon, Central AfricanRepublic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo,Equatorial Guinea and Gabon in Africa.Habitat: Primary, and secondary forests andlowland swampsGorillas, the largest of the living primates, are closelyrelated to humans and are considered highly intelligent.A few individuals in captivity have been taught asubset of sign language.Silverback males are the strong, dominant troopleaders. Each typically leads a troop of 5 to 30 gorillasand is the center of the troop’s attention, making allthe decisions, mediating conflicts, determining themovements of the group, leading the others tofeeding sites and taking responsibility for the safetyand well-being of the troop.Page 13Page 14
A Look AheadA young white tiger cub receives a check-up from Zoo Veterinarian, Dr. David Murphy.Safari LodgeA recent $1 million gift from theBank of America Charitable Foundationhas provided the momentum for the Zoo to beginconstruction of the “Safari Lodge,” a new 17,000 squarefootclimate controlled facility to accommodate specialevents, seasonal restaurant operations and meeting space.The spectacular new facility will be situated within theSafari Africa habitat area, among a variety of Africananimals including meerkats, warthogs, zebra, giraffes,elephants and more.The Safari Lodge will have a “great hall,” with 11,000 squarefeet of dining/meeting space with the ceiling toweringmore than 23 feet at its tallest point. An elevated annex ofapproximately 3,000 square feet will have views of thegiraffe and zebra habitat. The exterior architecture willreflect different parts of South Africa, and the interior willbe designed to look like the courtyard of an African village.The Safari Lodge complex will include adjacent airconditioned restrooms and an outdoor plaza. The lodge ispart of the Zoo’s master plan for full development of the11-acre Safari Africa habitat area. Naming opportunities arestill available!For more information,contact development at813-935-8552 ext. 376.Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo was awarded an Anchor Award witha $1 million grant from the Bank of America CharitableFoundation for construction of a new “Safari Lodge.”From left to right: Bill Goede, Bank of America Hillsborough CountyPresident; The Honorable Pam Iorio, Mayor of the City of Tampa;Fassil Gabremariam, Chairman of the Board of Directors of theLowry Park Zoological Society; Joe L. Price, Bank of America ChiefFinancial Officer; and Lex Salisbury, Zoo President/CEO. Additionalmajor funding was provided by Hillsborough County Board ofCounty Commissioners, State of Florida Division of CulturalAffairs, Cultural Facilities Program, The Ferman CommunityPartnership, Bill and Kellie Blanchard, Crowell and Joann Dawkins,John and Susan Touchton, and The Jeld-Wen Foundation.Today, employees of theLowry Park Zoological Society bring togetherthe knowledge, experience, determination, andbusiness skills to operate the 56-acre facility at Tampa’sLowry Park Zoo for the benefit of more than 2,000 animalssafeguarded here. Our commitment to the welfare andcare of the animals at the Zoo is second to none.To support that commitment, the Zoo is developing plansto establish a Center for Disease Control quarantinecomplex and new LEED certified animal hospital. The Zoo’sexisting veterinary clinic functions as an “all in one” facility,with office space, record keeping, surgery, treatment,laboratory, pharmacy, storage, quarantine, animal holdingand treatment areas in a shared space of approximately 800square feet. Although the Zoo has doubled in size sincereopening its doors to the general public in 1988, and thecollection has grown to 2,000 animals, veterinary facilitieshave remained the same.The proposed facility would be designed to accommodatenew animals and areas of the Zoo that did not exist in1988 such as the entire Safari Africa habitat and WallarooStation areas. The current “all in one” concept would giveway to dedicated areas such as surgery, treatment,radiology, clinical pathology, animal holding, and necropsy-- all under one roof. Positioning the new hospital at theZoo’s perimeter would allow for additional use as aquarantine complex.A new veterinary hospital and quarantinecomplex at Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo willprovide the medical facilitiesurgently needed toaccommodate current needsand safeguard the currentcollection, whilesupporting future growth.Page 15
Page 1 and 2: Lowry Park Zoological Society of Ta
Page 3 and 4: New Happenings and MilestonesTampa
Page 5 and 6: Learning Comes NaturallyZoo School
Page 7: Conservation ShowcaseTampa’s Lowr
Page 11 and 12: Events and DonorsZoo BooSelect Date

Annual Report 2007 - Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?