Ocelots Dinner Program - San Diego Zoo · an Ocelots grant award The special alpine tents provided by grant funds have been essential to withstand the harsh environmental conditions

Aug/Sept 2019The Oceletter

5:45 to 6:15 p.m. Check-in outside at main gate.6:00 p.m. Dining area open for seating selection.6:00 to 6:30 p.m. Cocktails and animal ambassadors. 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Dinner and program.

In This IssueHead Ocelot Report 2Mark Your Calendars 3San Diego ZooFood Wine And Brew Celebration 4A Review of Our Last Dinner Meeting 5Grants Program Update 8Opportunity Drawings 10Welcome to the Boutique 11Suka the Sitting Tiger 12Grants in Action 13About the Ocelots 17

Ocelots Dinner Program When: Thursday, August 8, 2019 Where: Hunte Pavilion, San Diego Zoo Safari Park Who: Mindy Albright What: It Takes a Village to Raise Babies

(Elephant Babies!) Our MissionThe Ocelots enthusiastically

support the efforts of the Zoological Society of

San Diego through active involvement, commitment to

education, and fund-raising.

Page 2Visit our website http://www.sandiegozoo.org/society/ocelots.html

Head Ocelot Report By Bill KolbHead Ocelot

Ocelots Grant Season has StartedIt is August already, which means the annual Ocelots grants activities have already started It takes a lot of work by many people to run the Grants Program The people involved are: the Grants Coordinator, Theresa Low, who is a member of the Steering Committee, the Adviselot, who is a member of the Zoo’s Development Department, the Grants Committee, the Ocelots Steering Committee and all the people at the Zoo, Park and Research Institute who write up and submit grant proposals

To get started, the Grants Coordinator writes a Request for Grants Proposal letter and an application form, which are sent out, via email, by the Adviselot to all San Diego Zoo Global departments no later than July 31st

Each departmental supervisor will send a description of each item they want the Grants Committee to consider, along with the cost per item, including shipping and sales tax There should also be an explanation of how each item will be used A spreadsheet listing all this information is sent to the Grants Coordinator via email The Grants Coordinator will check each request for completeness and create a master spreadsheet containing all the information for the Grants Committee’s evaluation

From September through December, the Grants Committee will meet several times to review all the grant requests received and make decisions as to which grants will be funded for the year This process is a little tricky since the Grants Committee will not know the exact number of dollars they have to spend until December 31st, the last day individual grants can be funded by an Ocelots member

At the January Steering Committee meeting the Grants Coordinator presents the grant funding recommendations made by the Grants Committee After review, the Steering Committee will vote to accept the Grants Committee’s recommendations, with or without modifications

Throughout the year, please read the Oceletter articles written by Theresa Low, the Grants Coordinator, for all updates regarding the Grants Program

http://www.sandiegozoo.org/society/ocelots.html


Contribute to the Oceletter!

We invite you to submit articles and photographs for

the Oceletter.

All content should be submitted electronically to the Oceletter Editor, Paul Brooks,

at [email protected].

Contact UsThe best way to reach a member of the Steering Committee is to use the following e-mail address: [email protected]. This e-mail account is monitored frequently, and questions can be routed to the member of the Steering Committee who should handle them.

The following people can be reached directly:Bill Kolb–Head Ocelot (619) 955-5006 [email protected] Theresa Low–Grants/Logo Wear (858) 391-8616 [email protected] Brooks–Oceletter Editor (619) 889-9051 [email protected]

Mark Your Calendars You won’t want to miss a single Ocelots event this year! Aug 8: Mindy Albright—Elephant Babies and the Herd. Photo Contest. Hunte Pavilion, Safari Park

Sept 7: Special Event at the Safari park with an elephant keeper, details TBD

Oct 10: Matt Kinner—Vet Services CT Scanner. Hunte Pavilion, Safari Park

Dec 12: Marcus Chischilly—Wounded Warrior Project. Hunte Pavilion, Safari Park

Please note that these dates, venues, speakers, and topics are tentative and are subject to change. There is construction scheduled for the Children's Zoo and our access to the Zoo Party Area (ZPA) may be affected. Our speakers are staff members of SDZG and their schedules may change necessitating a change in our programs.

Zoo and ParkHappenings

—Aug 18: Summer Safari ends at the Safari Park —Sept 2: Nite Time Zoo ends at the ZooSept 21: Zoo Food Wine and Brew Celebration —Dec 13: Jingle Bells begins at the Zoo

Be sure to watch

The Zoo: San Diego

on Animal PlanetAugust 10 at 8:00 p m

Check your local listing as times may vary depending on network

provider.


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mailto:kim%40bidermann.org?subject=

http://[email protected]

mailto:pbrooksphotos%40hotmail.com?subject=Oceletter


SAN DIEGO’S TASTING EVENTWildest Saturday, September 21, 2019

6:30 −10:30 p.m. at the World-famous San Diego Zoo

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Saturday, September 21, 20196:30-10:30 p.m.

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A Review of Our Last Dinner Meeting The evening began with the traditional animal ambassador greeting A stunningly sleek cheetah and an atypically adorable opossum entertained the crowd Kathy Morrison’s welcome included the news that our Adviselot, Jenny Kerch, will be leaving SDZG to join Mark Stuart and San Diego Foundation Sad news for the Ocelots, but an exciting opportunity for Jenny Joanne Leidenberger reported that the structures of the old Children’s Zoo have been demolished and one can see clear through to the fence on the outside Zoo boundary Demolition of the Zoo Party Area, if not yet accomplished, will happen soon, to make way for a new event area and catering kitchen The Development Department's Special Events Office has moved into the bun-galows next to the Volunteer Office, inside the fence across from Roosevelt Middle School’s large parking area Joanne announced that Jamie Rappaport Clark, President and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife, has been awarded the 2019 Conservation Award, which will be presented in August As Marcia also informed members in a recent email, Joanne invited members to help the Wildlife Conser-vancy in identifying burrowing owl photos If you would like to help, the website is: https://www zooniverse org/projects/sandiegozooglobal/wildwatch-burrowing-owl/classify Ollie Ryder provided an update on the Northern White Rhino Initiative Barbara Durant has been working with female rhinos on ovulation induction, artificial insemination (AI), and pregnancy recognition and monitoring Ovulation was successfully induced 21 times out of 25 tries Rhinos in the project have been trained to accept ultrasounds several times a week Work with the male rhinos has included semen collection and evaluation There are currently two rhinos at the Rhino Rescue pregnant through AI, and they are due later in the year Still to be determined are which surrogates will make the best mothers, and how to develop egg cells in the lab from other genetic material Kim Bidermann announced that the Steering Committee needs a new membership chairperson and candidates are being considered Theresa Low shared photos of various Grants items that have been gratefully received by SDZG employees Featured speaker Dean Gibson, Curator of Primates for SDZG, updated members on the Guassa Gelada Research Project in Ethiopia and the Masoala Red Ruffed Lemur Project, two beneficiaries of Ocelots grants The gelada research, which began in 2005, has been supported by SDZG since 2012, led by Peter Fashing, Ph D and Nga Nguyen, Ph D (Cal State Fullerton) Guassa, located on the eastern edge of the Ethiopian Highlands, is a windy and sometimes very cold region 3,200-3,600 m above sea level (ap-proximately 11,000 ft ) While this area of the country has some of the most rapidly disappearing biodiversity, Guassa offers a fairly pristine alpine ecosystem The satellite terminals that allow researchers to get email and send emergency communications are from

Dinner photos coutesy of Lonnie Kaufman


https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/sandiegozooglobal/wildwatch-burrowing-owl/classify


an Ocelots grant award The special alpine tents provided by grant funds have been essential to withstand the harsh environmental conditions in the field, and even these last only about one year There are approximately 185 gelada monkeys in the home range of the research project As researchers must monitor their subjects on a daily basis, they have learned to identify each individual They endure a climate where it can get quite cold at night, and fog may roll in for weeks on end Since weather monitoring began in 2007, it has been documented that the average temperature has increased by 1 5 degree C, which makes it more conducive for human development of the area GPS devices (another Ocelots grant award) provide data that can be entered into Palm Pilots This data includes life patterns of birth and death, and where the gelada sleep on cliffs at night for safety Researchers have studied the complex multi-level social structure, with a large herd made up of several bands, made up of several one-male units (OMU) They have looked at the feeding ecology to understand the nutritional needs of the gelada by collecting, weighing, and analyzing the various food sources for this monkey, using a scale funded by the Ocelots grants program Fifty-five percent of the diet is comprised of grasses, but their overall diet consists of 56 plant species and 20 invertebrate taxa In one observation the gelada gorged on passing locusts Fifteen births have been observed during this long-term study It was noted that birth is typically during the day, and during the colder months when grass is the greenest After giving birth experienced females take their babies and move away from the area where the birth occured The gelada are not the only mammals in this region of Ethiopia They share the environment with the Ethiopian wolf, the most endangered canid species, other canids such as the African wolf, and also with wild cats It’s been observed that the canids are more successful catching rodents when they live around gelada, but that there is a canid-specific tapeworm that can form cysts in the geladas It is suggested that feral dogs in the region were the initial carriers of the tapeworm that now affect the wolves One in three gelada adults are infected with the tapeworm cysts, and the mortality of those infected individuals is two to three times higher than uninfected gelada The other major natural threat to the primates is the leopard, which is fairly new to the area

Cont. from previous page



Cont. from previous page

The Red-Ruffed Lemur Project is an effort to study the population and genetics of that primate funded through fund-raising from the Africa Rocks construction Dr Timothy Eppley, Postdoctoral Fellow, SDZG Curators & Institute for Conservation Research, spends eight months of the year in the Masoala National Park region of northeastern Madagascar, in partnership with Dr Natalie Vasey (Portland State University), Dr Jorge Ganzhorn (University of Hamburg), and the University of Antanan-arivo, Madagascar Various additional species of primates, such as the white-fronted lemur, wooly lemur, and sportive lemur, as well as a variety of species of birds, are threatened by hunting and habitat loss in that area of the island nation Over the last four years the study has followed over fifty lemurs Travel to the region requires a plane trip, followed by a four to eight hour boat ride to the research area Days are hot and wet, and only slightly less wet during the two-month dry season In 2018 this project received archival radio collars through an Ocelots grant In addition to the 230 hours of data col-lected through those collars, researchers have collected fecal and blood samples They have studied habitat use, range, and reproductive behaviors, with movement for these activities made easier through the use of pruners also provided through an Ocelots grant Part of the study has included nutritional analysis, completed by drying and preparing 290 food items Seventeen sites have been selected and surveyed Scientists are looking at vegetation and human activities They are studying the genetics of individual lemurs through the collected blood and fecal samples to determine the genetic health of the population, with the idea that established corridors would allow for intermingling animals from various areas Thirty-two camera traps and battery packs, another Ocelot grant, are aiding in the collection of data A new project in this area is to look at the aye-aye population Currently it is believed that the population of this noc-turnal lemur is widespread but with low density, so camera trap data will provide crucial information as this project develops Following Dean’s comprehensive presentation, the evening concluded with the drawing of opportunity drawing tickets A variety of opportunity drawing options, in addition to the lovely baskets designed by Karen Power, will be offered at upcoming dinners

June 13 was a Wild Night Out at the San Diego Zoo Approximately 1000 guests attended a preview of Nighttime Zoo, complete with entertainment, adult imbibements, and interactive displays by veterinary services and the clinical lab Four Ocelots mem-bers staffed a prominently positioned table to spread the word about our vital organization We provided the basic mission of Ocelots and membership information, photos of various grant items we have funded, and information on how to donate to the grant fund through the online link to Ocelots The evening made it clear that most guests were unaware of opportunity to be-come Ocelots members, so all of us should spread the word to our fellow Zoo friends for this opportunity to have FUN support-ing SDZG



Grants Program Update

What are your summer plans? For our Grants Program, two important components oc-cur during the summer All 2018 grant awards had to be spent by July 31st bringing the 2018 grant cycle to a close On August 1st the 2019 grant cycle kicked off San Diego Zoo Global staff has an opportunity to respond to the call for grant requests during the month of August A new list of grant requests will be presented to you in October

Gardening on the Gorilla Roof On the morning of June 8th six lucky wom-

en ventured to the gorilla building rooftop to discover a special herb garden and three curious gorillas gazing up from the exhibit below With tools in hand, the group got to weed, water, and harvest Ocelot Shelley Weiss shared a bit about her experience

…thank you so very much for such an awesome morning with the Gorillas. I knew it would be amazing, but the experience far exceeded my high expectations. Can’t believe I was so lucky to win one of the very best Zoo experiences I’ve ever had. Big thanks also to Lori, who was absolutely awesome, as well as Nerissa who made it even more special by doing the food tosses while we were up there, as well as the interesting educational talk. Gorillas are my favorites (along w/Bonobos), and it was so very special to spend the morning on the roof w/the Bachelor Gorilla Boys. Also such a lovely group of ladies & so much fun garden-ing & picking herbs for our special primates. And biggest thanks of all to the Ocelots for providing this amazing opportunity. I’m so privileged and honored to be part of the group that does so much for our wonderful animal friends.

By Theresa Low Grants Coordinator



Primate Paintings At our June dinner two lucky Ocelots won paintings by capuchin Ozzie, the alpha male Keeper Leanne provided a brief update (below) on the capuchins and a few cute photos

Currently we have a busy troop of 14 Tufted Capuchins - 5 males and 9 females. Our youngest and most mischievous is our 10yr old Wylie. Our oldest residents are 35yrs old, both 2 wonderful mothers, Winnie and Lulu. The Capuchins and I are so grateful for our en-richment and equipment that has been received from the Ocelot fund. We have been able to create more advanced puzzles, feeders, enrichment, and add structures to their exhibit in the last few years. Thanks again for the support. Please stop by the exhibit any time to watch these busy bodies and minds in action.

See you at the Park on August 8th for dinner!

Donate to the Ocelots Grants Program online Do you know anyone can donate to our grants program at anytime online? Follow or copy and paste this link https://zoo sandiegozoo org/support-us/ocelots and scroll down to “Donate to Ocelots here” The process is a fast and easy way to support


https://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/support-us/ocelots


Opportunity Drawings

Opportunity Drawings – By the MonthAttending an Ocelots dinner is an all sensory satisfying experience Catching up with fellow Ocelots, getting amazingly (and safely) close to wonderful ambassador animals, savoring a dinner prepared just for you, hearing new and stimulating animal care and wildlife conservation information, and for a lucky few, winning a drawing…now that is an action-packed evening Take a look at what is hap-pening over the next few months:

AUGUST Sip, Sip, Hooray! Buy a $10 ticket for an opportunity to win a bottle of Wine for Conservation We’ll have both red and white wine prize options Each bottle will be expertly wrapped in conservation-themed decor - beautiful photos, fascinating conser-vation facts, and information about San Diego Zoo Global and Ocelots help for particular animal species through our grants program You can enjoy this Wine-Of-A-Kind experience for conservation at our August dinner!

AND A BONUS You don’t have to get into the water, but you won’t want to miss Ocelots Shark Tank! We want to check your pulse and introduce you to potential new items If your heart races, we know we are on to something good! Can you feel John Williams’ Jaws music score pulsing in your head? With luck, we’re gonna need a bigger boat…I mean table

OCTOBER We are honored to offer Suka the Sitting Tiger. This gorgeous wood intarsia piece, hand-crafted by Allan Price, was inspired by the very handsome Sumatran tiger born at the Safari Park in September 2015 Additional details and a photo can be found in this Oceletter. Tickets are $10 each

DECEMBER August also brings the first chance to purchase tickets for the grand Visit-A-Job drawing that will be held at our Decem-ber dinner This once-yearly drawing offers a lucky Ocelot member the chance to spend approximately 3 to 4 hours with an ICR, Park, or Zoo employee It is a wonderful experience to learn first-hand what working at SDZG is really like The winner need not be present to win, but must be an Ocelots member to enter. Tickets will be available through the December dinner and are $5 each or 5 for $20.



Welcome to the Boutique

Many of you know Karen Power and make a point to see what she has personally selected for the evening’s drawing For many years we have referenced these drawing items collectively as the “basket” drawing Good news! Beautiful things come in all shapes and sizes, not just in baskets We are excited to introduce the Boutique Opportunity Drawing

Within the Boutique, you will discover animal-themed arrangements, gorgeous hand-designed jewelry, and delectable treats A trunk-load of treasures will be waiting for you at our August dinner The featured items listed below are beautifully packaged and gift-giving ready!

Pachyderm Party gift basket

Elegant Elephant jewelry by Karen Power

Whimsical Elephant Planter filled with faux succulents

Tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20. Please plan accordingly - we can only accept cash and checks

With this variety of items available for the drawings there is an opportunity for every taste and interest to support our wonderful grants program which does so much to assist the various departments of San Diego Zoo Global

Opportunity Drawing items from the June Dinner Meeting



Suka the Sitting Tiger

Wood Intarsia

Artist Allan Price

This stunning piece was inspired by an amazing Sumatran tiger named “Suka” born at the Safari Park in September 2015 Hand-raised in the Animal Care Center, introduced to tiger brother Nelson to learn the tiger ways, and captured the hearts of many It’s very fitting “Suka” means “loved” in the Malay language

Intarsia is a woodworking technique that uses varied shapes, sizes, and species of wood fitted together to create a mosaic-like picture with an illusion of depth

The following woods were used to create Suka:

Aspen for the white parts African Mahogany for the brown parts Walnut for the log he is resting on Yellowheart for part of his eyes Ebonized Walnut for the black parts

Tickets are available for purchase - $10 each.

Drawing at the October 10th Ocelots dinner.

This is a shared opportunity with Ocelots and Volunteer ServicesSuka the Sitting Tiger measures 24” x 18”



Grants in Action

Zoo Orangutans – “Snack Shack”

Keeper Tanya shares this photo of Indah using the “Snack Shack” and writing, “Indah loves it!”.. These versatile hanging shelters can be used for foraging and sleeping sites and provides more places for primates to climb, swing, and rest ultimately increasing the complexity of the exhibit. For Indah, the Snack Shack is an excellent off-the-ground refuge from sun and rain.

Zoo Lion and Jaguars – Refrigerator and Freezer Units

Here are photos of our new fridge/freezer at our lion/jag building that were funded via Ocelots. I put Ocelots stickers on both. Please send a huge thank you to the Ocelots committee for funding these...a BIG improvement which will help the animals in the end! --Matt

These industrial units will be used for storing larger cuts of meat for lions and jaguars. This allows the animal care team to offer more choice and control to these big cats with the goal of reducing stereotypic behavior.



Zoo Tigers – Makita Drill, Reciprocating Saw and Accessories

Providing natural enrichment is a daily labor of creativity for the animal care teams. Keeper Aimee and Ocelot (and Volunteer) Tabby use power tools to prepare bones for the tiger boys. They will use these tools over and over. How to prep a femur bone for the tiger brothers: First they use the saw to cut down an area of the bone followed by drilling a hole so a shackle can be fitted. Once this is complete, the keepers attach the shackle to one of many rings in the exhibit. The tiger boys have hours of opportunity to gnash and tear at the bones and exercise their core muscles in the process by stretching and reaching for the bones.

Zoo Andean Bears – Custom Metal Basket

This grant award took a few turns and a chunk of time, but the end result was everything we hoped for! Andean Bear Alba is enjoying her elevated basket bed! HUGE THANK YOU TO OCELOTS!!!!!! --Gaylene

This custom metal basket is wall-mounted to give the bears a quiet, elevated spot to rest. The baskets are commonly used at rescue centers in Borneo with great success. In these photos, Alba demonstrates her nesting skills. Sweet dreams!



Zoo Grizzly Bears – Snow Day! (Photo credit Penny Hyde)

Ocelots first thank you message from a guest!

I can say that, without a doubt, that grant money was well spent! Scout and Montana had a blast playing in the snow and were so incredibly happy! They became animated and so playful with each other, like I’d never seen before! And, of course, all of us watching were thoroughly enjoying all the fun! Thank you, Penny

The May 7th Snow Day for our grizzly brothers, Scout and Montana, was a hit for both the bears and guests! Just when they thought spring had arrived, the bears entered their exhibit to discover it was cov-ered in 17 tons of snow. The snow provided these intelligent and highly curious bears opportunities to exhibit natural behaviors such as digging, wrestling, stretching, and lounging to keep cool. Ocelots extend a special thank you to Penny Hyde for the wonderful photographs.



2019 Ocelots Merchandise

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Promote Ocelots and Support the Grants Program

Owning and displaying Ocelots logo merchandise is a great way to promote Ocelots through recognition that facilitates educational opportunities regarding membership. Purchasing logo merchandise is another way for Ocelots to support the Grants Program.

Logo items also make great gifts for family and friends committed to saving species around the world!

(The polar bear and elephant enjoy enrichment items made possible through the Grants Program)


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Ocelots enjoy a special relationship with San Diego Zoo Global. While having fun at many educational dinners and other special events at the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, Ocelots raise money to support the

Ocelots Grants Program. Departments within the San Diego Zoo, Safari Park, and Institute for Conservation Research are eligible to apply for these grants.

About the Ocelots

Diego the ocelot, pictured above, was purchased for the

San Diego Zoo by the Ocelots in 2005. Diego is a working member of the Education Department!

Dafyd the ocelot, pictured above, lived at the San Diego Zoo

Safari Park in an enclosure funded by the Ocelots in 2011.

Documents

Ocelots Dinner Program - San Diego Zoo · an Ocelots grant award The special alpine tents provided by grant funds have been essential to withstand the harsh environmental conditions