A Visit To The Zoo
It seems that some things were just meant to be. When I gave a pint of blood last summer, I had no idea that one of the perks would be two free tickets to the Toledo Zoo, on Sunday, November 14, courtesy of the St. Vincent Mercy Medical complex. This was a real coming together of events since our grandson, Jacob, from California, is visiting us for two weeks. To make this event a party, we also invited our friend from China, Jing Wang, the subject of last week’s column. Again we were fortunate in the weather, although there was a bite to the wind.
We were again impressed by the “face lift” that the Toledo Zoo has installed during the last few years. No longer do visitors walk through a damp echoing tunnel under the Anthony Wayne Trail. We proceeded past the Bald Eagle exhibit over the trail. The walls of the walkway are cleverly imprinted with paw prints of various animals. Our eager youngest visitor led us past these at a gleeful gallop.
With the wind we appreciated the exhibits inside buildings. The new Aviary, which won the American Zoo and Aquarium Association Exhibit Award, is outstanding. This award is given for outstanding dedication to conservation issues and construction of exhibit space replicating species’ natural habitat. No doubt the educational, hands-on room, the bird “hospital” and the areas where the birds can fly free over the heads of the visitors were some of the reasons for the award. Jacob used so much of his film in the Aviary that he had none left for the tigers or the apes.
In spite of the wind and the temperatures in the 50’s, the monkeys and orangutans in the Primate Forest were outside. The chimpanzee was inside watching his own TV. The gorillas were inside. There has been a flurry of excitement and crisis in the primate department recently as the veterinarians tried desperately to save the life of a baby gorilla, Sindiswa, that had become unconscious. They had to tranquilize the mother to take the baby from her arms. The other gorillas caught the mother’s panic and they were in an uproar, hooting in fear.
A neonatal specialist from the Toledo Hospital is called in to help the veterinarians. It was determined that the baby gorilla was severely dehydrated and had a bacterial infection. Dr. Cameron, a specialist in pediatric neurology at Children’s Neurology Center was called in and he offered the first glimmer of hope that the baby gorilla would live. She was given her name, Sindiswa, which means “saved from death”.
When gorillas are captured in the wild, many adult gorillas lose their lives trying to protect the young gorilla that is finally captured. Thus, zoos around the world try to mate their gorillas. The Toledo Zoo has had remarkable success. From the pair Porta, captured in l957 at the approximate age of three, and Togo, captured in l957 at two years, several generations have been born. Seven offspring have grown to maturity. Sindiswa is the great-granddaughter of the original pair.
We spent about a half an hour watching the gorillas and taking pictures. One male is friendly to visitors on the other side of the glass and makes faces as if he were trying to communicate. Many efforts are being made to preserve the habitat of gorillas in the wild. According to the interpretive section of the primate exhibit, we can help by reducing waste, use of tropical woods, reusing materials, and recycling.
We moved on to the hippos which have their own huge outside pool. Visitors can sit on benches inside and see them swim by under water. The leopards, giraffes, rhinos, and lions were all outside in the African Savanna. The two female elephants, Rene, and Rafike were not there. They had gone courting to visit Jack in the Pittsburgh Zoo. I wonder if they traveled by airplane or by train? We had to see the fish since there are such avid fishermen in the family. Did you know that the largest sturgeon ever caught from Lake Eire was seven feet, four inches long and weighed 258 pounds? The salt water exhibits of octopus, chambered nautilus, and sea anemones were worth several minutes.
November is a surprisingly good month to visit the Zoo. Although the petting zoo is closed, and the concession stands, except for the Carnivore Café, the crowds are much smaller and the animals are more active.
Starting on November l9, the “Lights Before Christmas” will be turned on Monday through Thursday from 5 until 8 PM and Friday through Sunday 5 until 9 PM. More than one million lights on shrubs, trees and one hundred images make a spectacular display. On December 8th, there will be an Ice Before Christmas Sculpting Competition. On December 1, 15, 22, and 29, there will be Ice Sculpting Demonstrations.
On January 7, 2000, visitors can test their survival instincts at the newest exhibit, Arctic Encounter. They will be greeted by harbor seals and their cousins Grey seals in their 210,000 gallon swimming hole cooled by a raging waterfall. Visitors will have an opportunity to come nose-to nose with a polar bear from inside the man-made polar den- set at a “warm” 55degrees F. The polar den inside the center has two windows looking directly into the polar bears’ den in their pool.
One way to go to the zoo is to travel up Route 23 above Fostoria, then Route 6 to Route 199 into Perrysburg. Continue across the Maumee River into Maumee and take Route 24, also the Anthony Wayne Trail, east to the zoo. For more information, call (419) 385-5721.
- Mary