Lake sturgeon photo by Julia Schlenker This article first ran in our ZooNooz April 2024 edition. Written by Pamela Reed Sanchez, President & CEO Seneca Park Zoo Society.   If you ever watched “The Zoo” on Animal Planet, you undoubtedly were introduced to Jim Breheny, Director of the Bronx Zoo. Jim, a former chair of the board of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), heads a fantastic organization known for its outstanding animal care, guest experiences, and conservation work. At one of the first conferences I attended in the Zoo world, Jim took the microphone, and said ..read more

March 2024 As the 2024 Solar Eclipse approaches, the Seneca Park Zoo is launching a project to understand better how animals react to the phenomena.  While zoo guests stroll the Zoo, observing how the animals respond, zoo staff will be collecting the sounds you can hear, and those you can’t.    Eclipse Weekend Schedule Staff will strategically be placing an open source audio recorder called Audiomoths (https://www.openacousticdevices.info/audiomoth) around the Zoo near the giraffes, zebras, elephants, snowy owls, cranes, sea lions, tiger, lions, baboons, wolves, and ..read more

This essay contributed by Tom Snyder, Seneca Park Zoo’s Director of Programming and Conservation Action, first appeared in our January 2024 edition of ZooNooz. Growing up surrounded by nature I was fascinated by the wildlife in forests, and dreamed of exploring remote, uncharted territories. The thrill of discovering the unknown captivates me to this day, and I’m lucky to have a job that includes such ventures, always with an eye to conservation of biodiversity. The role zoos play in conservation, is significant. Zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums are at the forefron ..read more

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December 4, 2023 Seneca Park Zoo’s southern white rhino ‘Jiwe’ has turned seven! As the second largest land mammal, he has tipped the scale at just over 4,000lbs and is still growing. Once full grown, he could weigh between 5,000 and 6,000 pounds. Their horns grow throughout their whole life, about 7cm per year. They are composed of keratin, the same substance as your fingernails and hair! Jiwe is great to work with. He engages with any kind of enrichment, and is an active participant in his training, especially when brushing is involved! This allows us to easily provide routine health care ..read more

December 4, 2023 Providing medical care to the animals at the Zoo is of upmost importance. Many animals require their own participation to receive vaccines, or treat a medical issue. It is less stressful to train an animal to participate in their own health care, before an issue arises. This is why we decided to train our resident rhino, Jiwe, for foot x-rays.  The biggest challenge was creating something that he couldn’t break! At 4,000lbs, and an eagerness to play with anything, our main goal was for him not to mess with the board and potentially break the x-ray plate. Luckily, one o ..read more

Domestic Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) Mammal Africa The Zoo is home to one domestic rabbit as part of our Ambassador Animal collection.  Animal Facts Brown coat, with black and gray sprinkled throughout. Their underside is paler gray. This color helps them camouflage within their environments. They have a short tail that has a white underside. The white undertail can serve as a beacon to warn other rabbits that a predator is there. Additionally, their tail can be used to confuse predators. The white tail will be a point of focus for the predator so as the rabbit zigz ..read more

Asian Spiny Toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus) Amphibian Asia The Zoo is home to three Asian common toad, also known as spiny toad. This species resides in our Ambassador Animal collection.  Animal Facts Asian common toads are stout, mid to large sized toads with a modestly sized head and short limbs. They have thick dry skin with prominent cranial ridges and protruding parotid glands that secretes their bufotoxin. Colors can be extremely variable from plain brick red to fully black, with the most common colors being pale yellow brown marked boldly with dark or reddish ..read more

Degu (Octodon degus) Mammal South America The Zoo is home to three degus in our Ambassador Animal collection. As such they are not kept in public view, but available for various programs, classes, ZooMobiles, birthday parties etc.  Animal Facts Degus have yellowish-brown fur on their heads and backs with lighter undersides. The fur above and below the eyes is also lighter, and their large ears are darkly pigmented and lightly haired. The tail is moderately long with a short, black tufted tip. Long, comb-like bristles project over claws on the hind feet. They have five ..read more

How do we recycle properly and why is it important? Recycling is an important, and practical step we can do in our day-to-day lives that helps protect our local environment, ecosystems, and promotes sustainability of resources. Here are some tips/information to use in your life: Refuse, reduce, reuse, and then recycle. You should refuse single use items to reduce how much waste you create and try to reuse items as much as possible before recycling or throwing them out. Do not bag recycling! Plastic bags are often non-recyclable. Additionally, they will get caught in the sorting machine ..read more