ZtoU Spring 2012

ZOOFUTURES

CONSERVATION

ADOPT AN ANIMAL

ZOOKEEPERS’ CIRCLE

UPCOMING EVENTS ZtoU ZtoU brings you news about issues important to the Cleveland Zoological Society and people, like you, who support us.

Cleveland Zoological Society3900 Wildlife WayCleveland, Ohio 44109-3132

ClevelandZooSociety.org

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s work, at all levels, is founded on science – the systematic study of the natural world. The scientific method stands at the core of the Zoo’s conservation, education and research programs. Signifi-

cant to the Zoo’s work is instilling a sense of personal responsibility and encour-aging respect for animals and our shared environment. Exhibits, education initiatives and conservation programs empower visitors of all ages to make changes in their lives that will have a positive impact on our natural world. Dr. Kristen Lukas, Curator of Conservation and Science at the Zoo, shares her story of encouraging the next generation of conservation scientists.

Walking down cold, brightly lit corridors, I feel like a student again as I make my way to 305 Clapp Hall at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). Still a little out of breath after descending five flights of stairs from my office in Millis Science Center, I have butterflies in my stomach and a lump in my throat. I look to my left and right, perusing research posters hanging on white tiled walls describing what I presume to be impressive scientific feats. Expert voices echo from inside each room, ascending and descending as I make my way through the building. Continued on pages 4-5

ZtoU SPRING 2012 02 WHAT’S NEW AT THE ZOO? Inside Information

03 ADOPT A MEERKAT! Mob Rules!

04 FROM THE FIELD Creating Tomorrow’s Zoo Scientists

07 IN THE CIRCLE Behind-the-Scenes Tours and SO much more!

08 WHAT’S THE BUZZ? Dates to Remember

2 ZtoU Spring 2012 ZtoU Spring 2012 3

The next time you visit African Elephant Crossing you’ll see our brand new meerkat mob. The two males and two females came to Cleveland from the Red River Zoo in Fargo, North Dakota. Want to join the new mob? Adopt a meerkat today and you’ll help provide the best possible food, care and environment for our meerkats, as well as the thousands of other animals that call our Zoo “home.”

ADOPT A MEERKAT FOR jUST $75, AND yOUR gIFT PACKAgE WILL INCLUDE:

•“Official ZooParent” collectible key chain•A collectible plush toy•Personalized adoption certificate•Color photo of a meerkat•Fun fact sheet all about meerkats•Invitation to ZooFriends’ Night 2012 - a fun VIP family event (mailed separately)

•Name recognition on ClevelandZooSociety.org

Upgrade to the $100 level, and the Zoo-Parent will receive all of the above bene-f its, a terrif ic T-shirt or tote bag and recognition on Zoo grounds.

Mob rules at the $250 adoption level and the ZooParent will receive all of the great benefits above as well as an exclu-sive invitation for two (16 years & older) to go on an amazing behind-the-scenes tour of African Elephant Crossing, home to our meerkats.

Don’t miss out on this great gift idea – Adopt a meerkat today!

Do you know someone who digs meerkats? Adopt a meerkat for someone special and help celebrate some of our Zoo’s newest residents.

Adopt a Meerkat!MOb RULES!

What’s New at the Zoo?INSIDE INFORMATION

MARy MCMILLANDirector of Finance and Operations

Spring is just around the corner and the Zoo is getting ready for another wonderful season of family fun. The animals of African Elephant Crossing, The RainFor-est, Wolf Wilderness, Australian Adventure and the entire Zoo are enjoying the longer days and extra sun that herald the return of spring. Give yourself a “spring break” and come down for an hour or for a day — there is always something new to see or do at your Zoo.

MISSION DRIVENWe are delighted to present a new mission, jointly held by Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and its advancement partner, the non-profit Cleveland Zoological Society:

We create compelling experiences that connect people with wildlife and inspire personal responsibility for conserving the natural world.

“This new mission is a concise takeaway from our two-year strategic planning pro-cess,” said Zoo Society Executive Direc-tor Liz Fowler. “The shared mission is the lens through which all projects, large and small, will be viewed as we work to con-tinually improve our Zoo.”

ThE AyE-AyES hAVE IT The Primate, Cat & Aquatics Building has a new resident and she is one of the strangest looking creatures you may ever see — Caliban the aye-aye. Endemic (the state of being unique to a defined geographic location) to Madagascar, aye-aye are the world’s largest nocturnal primate. They also have an unusual method of finding food – tapping trees to find grubs, then gnawing holes in the wood and inserting its narrow middle finger to pull the grubs out. It is possible that the animals common name, aye-aye, derives from “heh heh,” which is Malagasy for, “I don’t know.”

DEVELOPING OUR COMMUNITy The Zoo has a long history of providing top-notch Conservation Education learn-ing opportunities for our community. The continuum of Zoo learning opportunities, available to students in kindergarten through graduate school, helps contribute to a highly competent workforce by laying a foundation for scientific thinking and critical analysis. In 2012, the Zoo and Zoo Society will launch a Zoo Education & Workforce Development committee to focus on communicating the importance of Zoo education programs in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The committee will be co-chaired by Zoo Society Trustees Dennis Burnside of Mohr Partners and Mike Vaughn of Lubrizol Corporation. To learn more about how your company can be a part of shaping minds for our future, email [email protected] or call (216) 661.6500 x4420.


From the FieldCREATING TOMORROW’S ZOO SCIENTISTS

DR. KRISTEN LUKASCurator of Conservation & Science, Cleveland Metroparks ZooAdjunct Assistant Professor, Case Western Reserve University

DR. ELENA HOELLEIN LESSPostdoctoral Fellow in Conservation Medicine

Dr. Elena Less with a gorilla in the Primate building

As a result of our fusion, graduates of the Zoo-Case program are poised to compete for jobs in academia or in zoos. Both partners benefit: the university attracts talented students interested in specializing in organismal biology; and the Zoo increases its scientific productivity and capacity for meeting its diverse research needs.

Continued from page 1

I feel like a student again – but this time, I am the professor, and my aim is to inspire future zoo scientists.

The f irst day of school is always exciting, but as a full-time Zoo employee I was espe-cially thrilled to be back in the classroom. My friend and colleague, Dr. Mark Willis, was on sabbatical so I had the opportunity to teach an Animal Behavior course in the biology department, where I have an appointment as adjunct assistant professor.

Teaching is just one of the many ways the Zoo and CWRU have leveraged overlap-ping interests and complementary resources since 2003, when we established a formal partnership in research and graduate stu-dent training. Through the Zoo/CWRU relationship, we provide unique professional development and research opportunities to those enrolled in the graduate program in

biology at CWRU while increasing scien-tific capacity at the Zoo.

Four PhD students are jointly employed at the Zoo and CWRU so they develop a strong scientific foundation while learning to apply science in a zoo setting. They receive top-notch academic training at CWRU while conducting non-invasive sci-entif ic experiments that address applied research questions of interest to the Zoo.

Most research focuses on animal behavior, health and welfare but some work centers on human dimensions and urban ecology. In addition to the doctoral students, Mas-ter’s and undergraduate students also con-duct research at the Zoo. Students are advised by four staff scientists: Dr. Pam Dennis, Veterinary Epidemiologist; Dr. Chris Kuhar, Curator of Primates and Small Mammals; Dr. Mandi Vick, Associ-ate Research Curator; and myself, Curator of Conservation and Science. This past fall semester, we graduated our first PhD stu-dent: Elena Hoellein Less.

I met Elena Less in the spring of 2005 after she arranged a meeting to discuss her inter-est in zoo science. A recent Mount Union College graduate, she was enthusiastic, eager, and sincere – I liked her immediately. Although her lifelong dream was to work with marine mammals, I convinced her gorillas were just as exciting and she agreed to collect data at the Pittsburgh Zoo as part of a multi-institutional study of male gorilla behavior. She entered the PhD program in fall 2005 and soon began a number of stud-ies focused on topics such as the response to death in gorillas, tool use in gorillas, polar bear behav ior and red ruf fed lemur

behavior. Over the next few years, she developed independent research interests in the area of gorilla behavior and health and launched her PhD project in 2008.

Dr. Less’ dissertation work focused on def ining gorilla obesity and improving gorilla health and behavior through nutri-tion. Concerned obesity was a risk factor for heart disease – the leading cause of death in zoo-housed gorillas – she developed a body mass index (BMI) for gorillas by correlating physical measurements with body fat mark-ers, such as leptin. Her research produced reference ranges for healthy gorilla weights that now allow zoo managers to make more informed healthcare decisions.

She also found a relationship between obe-sity and the amount of fruit and starch fed to gorillas. Zoos with gorillas at risk can now target certain dietary practices to reduce weights and improve gorilla health. The Zoo’s gorilla group (and groups at four other zoos) was placed on a new diet lower in sugar and starch, and higher in fiber and volume. This menu was formulated to encourage more natural behavior and be heart-healthy, as both of our gorillas were recently diagnosed with cardiac disease.

After a year on this diet, the Zoo’s gorillas are now spending 50-60% of their time feeding (comparable to wild gorillas) and no longer exhibit regurgitation and reingestion (R&R), an undesirable behav-ior in zoo gorillas. This is the first scien-tif ic evidence that a healthier diet can eliminate R&R. Our gorillas also each lost 40-70 pounds and have lower serum levels of cholesterol and insulin. This work w i l l be used by veter ina r ians and

researchers to examine relationships between obesity and the development of diseases such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes in the gorilla population.

Since successfully defending her PhD the-sis in October 2011, Dr. Less has been working as a post-doctoral fellow in conser-vation medicine under the guidance of Dr. Dennis. Their work focuses on diagnosing insulin resistance, a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, in several primate species. Insulin resistance is linked to obesity and diet in humans and her unique experience makes Dr. Less poised to examine both obesity and diet as potential risk factors for insulin resistance in primates. Because her PhD work revealed that insulin resistance may actually be a signif icant issue in the zoo gorilla population, it stands to reason that this condition may be under-diagnosed in many other primate species, as well.

The Zoo/CWRU partnership represents a dynamic interface of basic and applied sci-ences where new ideas coalesce. It is a bit of a sweet spot, where the fringes of two dis-tinct communities overlap. Zoos are not traditionally seen by those in academia as science-based organizations and zoo con-servation and science programs are often operated as tangential to more recreational or educational aspects of a zoo’s mission. As a result of our fusion, graduates of the Zoo/CWRU program are poised to compete for jobs in academia or in zoos. Both partners benefit: the university attracts talented stu-dents interested in specializing in organis-mal biology; and the Zoo increases its scientif ic productivity and capacity for meeting its diverse research needs.

An additional benefit is that CWRU faculty members have the opportunity to go to the Zoo to work on research projects, while Zoo staff scientists, like me, have the opportu-nity to spend time teaching and working with students on campus at CWRU.

I finally arrive at the classroom door and enter this space of promise. Looking around, I see twenty faces eagerly settling in and wonder if the next Dr. Elena Hoel-lein Less is sitting before me. I can’t wait to get started.

“Good morning, everyone,” I announce. “Welcome to my Animal Behavior class. My name is Kristen Lukas and I am the Curator of Conservation and Science at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Who in here hopes to have a career in zoo science some day?” Sev-eral hands shoot up with enthusiastic determination…

and we begin.”


In the Circle2012 bEhIND-ThE-SCENES TOURS

TARA TURNERDirector of External Relations

$250 AND AbOVE

SUMMER KICKOFFMay 15 (family-friendly)

Bring the kids along to celebrate the beginning of summer and catch up with all that there is to see and do at your Zoo!

BREAKFAST WITH THE ANIMALS July 24, 26 & August 1 (family-friendly)

Enjoy a buffet-style family breakfast then head over to the Primate, Cat & Aquat-ics Building to learn about the Zoo’s enrichment program straight from the keepers. Afterwards, make your own enrichment item to take home! Limit of four attendees per family, appropriate for children ages 6-12.

FLORA & FAUNA OF THE RAINFOREST October 9, 11 & 17

Meet some of the Zoo’s outstanding hor-ticulture staff and learn about the plants that make The RainForest so lush. Then, go behind-the-scenes and check out the Zoo’s collection of cold- blooded animals that live in The RainForest.

$500 AND AbOVE

SUMMER KICKOFFMay 16 (adults-only)

Celebrate the beginning of summer and catch up with all that there is to see and do at your Zoo!

AN AUSTRALIAN ADvENTUREJuly 18

Go behind-the-scenes in one of the Zoo’s most popular attractions and enjoy delicious dishes courtesy of Outback Steakhouse.

TIgERS & BEARSSeptember 18, 20, 25 & 27

Visit the holding area facilities for the tigers and bears, then go on an informative and entertaining walking tour of North-ern Trek with one of our Zoo’s knowl-edgeable education docents.

ZOO HISTORy TOUROctober 2 & 4

Learn about the fascinating history of our Zoo straight from Zoo Director Steve Tay-lor, then hop on a tram and take a guided tour as he discusses the Zoo’s new strategic plan for the future Zoo.

gARDEN PARTy WITH POTTINg

DEMONSTRATION

June 19 & 21

Tour the gardens of the Sarah Allison Steffee Center for Zoological Medicine then receive a hands-on potting demon-stration from one of the Zoo’s expert hor-ticulture staff.

$1,000 LEVEL AND AbOVE

gORILLA DIETS WITH DR. KRISTEN

LUKAS & ORgANIC FOOD TASTINg

April 24 & 26

Meet Curator of Conservation & Science Dr. Kristen Lukas and hear about our gorillas and the Zoo’s efforts to keep them healthy. Also, enjoy an organic food tast-ing prepared by Aramark Executive Chef Vinnie Gaikens.

AFRICAN ELEPHANT CROSSINg TOUR September 11 & 13

Watch the keeper staff of African Ele-phant Crossing as they do a training ses-sion with our elephants then visit the life-support system of this amazing $25-mil lion exhibit. Also, visit the Kgotla and talk with one of the Zoo’s education specialists.

gIRAFFE, WINE TASTINg & BOTANICALS Aug 14, 16 & 22

Get up close and personal with our terrifi-cally tall friends in the Zoo’s Africa barn. Then, tour the public greenhouse with the horticulture staff and enjoy an informa-tive wine tasting.

$2,500 AND UP

CURATOR BREAKFAST & WALK April 12, August 9, November 8 & December 6 (Invitation Only)

Enjoy a light breakfast, then take an exclu-sive walking tour of the Zoo with one of our curators. Two adults, age 21 & over.

- or -

PRIvATE gOLF CART TOUR (Invitation Only)Go behind-the-scenes and see your favor-ite area of the Zoo with a Zoo Docent. Tours must be scheduled at least two weeks in advance. Up to six people, age 6 & over.

$5,000 AND UP

BENEFACTORS’ DINNER October 16 (Invitation Only)

Join us for a special evening of insider news and great conversation with the Zoo’s

Director and talented curators, while enjoy-ing a gourmet dinner and specialty wines. Two adults, age 21 & over.

Invitations for the breakfasts and golf cart tour will be mailed in March. Tour invita-tions are non-transferable.

ADDED VALUE FOR ALL ZOO VIPS!As a ZooKeepers’ Circle Member, you’ ll also receive invitations to join us for...

ZOOFRIENDS’ NIgHT July 11 (family-friendly)

In appreciation of our special ZooFriends, you are invited to a fun-filled, after-hours party at the Zoo. Talk with docents and keepers and enjoy a summer evening at the Zoo.

THE DAvID STEFFEE ADDRESS IN vETERINARy MEDICINE May 8 ($500 members and up only)Discover the Sarah Allison Steffee Center for Zoological Medicine and enjoy a pre-sentation by R. Eric Miller, DVM/DACZM and Senior Vice President and Director of Zoological Operations for the Saint Louis Zoo. Dr. Miller is also Direcor of the Saint Louis Zoo’s Wild Care Institute.

ZooKeepers’ CirCle RECEPTION

November 14, 2012 ($1,000 members and up only)Join us for a special evening at the Zoo as we give thanks to our most generous supporters.

Thank you for your loyal and generous support! Please note the specific tour benefits that are available at your level of giving. Zoo-Keepers’ Circle members at the $250 level may enjoy two tours a year; those at the $500 level and above may attend four tours (except for the $1,000-level tours); and $1,000 level members may enjoy up to six tours (from any level) per season. All tours start at 6:00 PM (except where stated) and last approximately 90 minutes; light refreshments will be served. Tour dates are subject to change and will be updated at Events.ClevelandZooSociety.org.

ONLINE TOUR REGISTRATIONTo Register for a tour, visit Events.Cleveland-ZooSociety.org on May 12, 2012, May 31, 2012 or Aug 29, 2012. Sign up begins at 8:30 a.m.

Thanks to all of our VIP ZooKeepers’ Circle members for a fabulous 2011! For the first time in the Zoo Soci-ety’s history, the program reached more than 1,160 member households. 2012 will be even better, and we have created a tour schedule guaranteed to amaze, entertain, and bring you up-close and personal with our fascinating animals.

NEW!

NEW!

Meet your best Friend

JUNE 9

INSIDE INFORMATION

ZippityZooDoo June 8, 2012 6:00 p.m. - Midnight

An evening of entertainment. An evening of elegance. An evening with l’éléphants. Come dine and dance under the stars at this year’s ZippityZooDoo. Your wild night in “Paris” will include hors d ’oeuvres, haute cuisine, and a fabulous silent auction (or fabuleux aux enchères, as they say in French). Individual reservation and tables of 10 available. For more information visit ClevelandZooSociety.org

What’s the buzz?2012 DATES TO REMEMbER

Design: Nesnadny + Schwartz, Cleveland + New York + Toronto | Contributing Photographers: Roger Mastroianni and Dale McDonald; all other photos courtesy of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

ZtoU is an exclusive publication of the Cleveland Zoological Society for those who advance our mission of promoting the conservation and propagation of wildlife—particularly endangered species—through support of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Thanks to you, we are able to advance our Zoo to the top tier of zoos nationally, and strengthen our commitment to research and environmental education. For more details about all our events, please visit ClevelandZooSociety.org

The FSC® logo identifies products that contain wood from well-managed forests,certified in accordance with the rules of the Forest Stewardship CouncilTM.

Soy-based inks; elemental chlorine free, acid-free, recycled and recyclable paperswere employed throughout this publication.

Mother’s Day

MAY 13

Earth Day Coalition “EarthFest”

APRIl 22

Photo Safari

APRIl 1 - NOVEMbER 1

Father’s Day

JUNE 17

twilight at the Zoo August 3rd, 2012

Join us for the city’s largest fundraiser and a celebration of Cleveland’s vibrant music scene! Wind your way through the Zoo enjoying the rhythms of 18 bands playing Motown, rock, salsa, swing, country and blues. An assortment of complimentary food, Samuel Adams beer, Twisted Tea, Jacob’s Creek wine, and soft drinks will also be available. 21 and over. eTickets on sale May 1st. Members get $5 off general admis-sion in May. Visit ClevelandZooSociety for more information.

Documents

ZtoU Spring 2012