RIP my precious Friends ...

You will be forever loved
and
   You will be forever missed ...

Tunya

Bubsy

Mashaki/Gene

Note:   There were major errors in the Zoo's Press Release for the passing of Gene.  For more information, please read my blog post:

http://sanfranciscozoofails.blogspot.com/2012/02/what-is-wrong-with-san-francisco-zoo-pr.html


Just four days later we have now lost another precious friend....

Orkney

I made a Memorial video for each friend.

For some time I have wanted to use my many photos of my precious Zoo Friends to make each one a video montage.  As of yesterday, I have lost four Zoo friends in 5 weeks.  Its heartbreaking.  As I look for photos I shed many tears.  I didn't think I'd be making Memorial videos, but when I saw some news photo's of Gene (Black Rhino) and they weren't even him, I needed to.  Here's my tribute to these amazing beings.

RIP Tunya, Bubsy, Mashaki/Gene, Orkney and Wishbone  XO.

Tunya http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND_IbYiXtXk

Bubsy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ1tCfRVcpo

Mashaki/Gene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcLNZCWEXYY

Orkney http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raFI1xdu_bY

Wishbone http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZCUaZyJ7SY

And this past Monday we lost yet another precious friend, 

Wishbone.  RIP my sweet boy Bear.  XO

I am having a hard time with this, so it may be a bit on Wishy's tribute video
(done and link is above with others), but he will have one!
Please read my final post on my blog dedicated to him
http://projectgetwishbonegrass.blogspot.com/2012/03/rip-wishbone-sfzoo-bear-dies-after.html

Thank you to all who love these Zoo friends.

Monday February 27, 2012 - Happy International Polar Bear Day!

Well, it was Polar Day but I didn't get any good snaps of the Polars ;(  

see Saturdays post for your Polar fix for today!  

I did get some cute Grizzly pix :)

Kachina eating and playing with her bone :)

Silent Knight posing in the sun :)

Little Henry daydreaming or looking for Mermaids :)

Jahari woke from a nap when he heard me go by talking to myself!

Leanne relaxing and saying hello!

Amanzi greets me with some eye contact too!

Jahari getting ready for a just woke up yawn :)

Sukari smiling :) (front) and Amanzi (back)

Suki says hi!

Manzi sitting pretty :)

Jahari standing tall :)

Three Lions enjoying the day in Grotto A :)

Saturday February 25, 2012 - Happy Bear Day!

Monday is actually International Polar Bear Day, but today my friend Lee and I wore cute pins to celebrate our Polar friends, Ulu and Pike and our Andean Bear friend Wishbone!

American Pelican

Henry 

 Silent Knight

Pike after playing in the meadow :)

Ulu smiling :)

Ulu having a bag lunch!

Pike and her bag lunch!

Hi Pike!

Maggie having some browse :)

Tallulah and Cobby

Thursday February 23, 2012 - Snow Dancing Mates :)

Male and Female Snow Leopards Rigel and Niya, are getting to know each other, AND loving it! LITERALLY!  Rigel has been at the Zoo since May 2008, but Niya has only been here about two months and they have only been spending time together for eight days, when this footage was taken.  They are reccomended for breeding, so with all the mating attempts Sir Rigel has been making, we just may have some snow babies soon!

you can view two video clips of the mating game here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g84ceqG60Oc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zixLxSV5Qts

Wednesday February 22, 2012 - Easter Polar Bunny Water Ballet!

Lucky me :)  As I walked up to see Pike, she was having a good ol' time in her pool with her Easter Bunny!  How did I know this was an Easter Bunny?  For Easter 2010 my friend Lee brought four Easter Bunny stuffies to the Zoo for Ulu (Polar Bear), Padang (Sumatran Tiger) and Tony (Siberian Tiger). This was one of them.  (I also saw the another in the meadow for Ulu and one in Padang's bed :)   At that point those were our three Zoo friends who we knew liked the stuffies :)   I've never seen Pike with one, but now we know!  She lovzes them!  ... Before the Carnivore (mainly Bears and Cats) Curator manifested a personal aversion to both Lee and I, we were happily (and honored) doing fun things for the Animals, which included making Enrichment Toys (thebigcatnip.blogspot.com) and bringing stuffies, blankets, pillows and other items for fun and comfort.   Then she single handedly put a stop to the Animals fun.  Very sad as we were the only ones who were making them toys on a weekly basis, even though they have a paid staff person who is supposed to do this.  Over a year since our last effort, only on a few holiday events have the Animals gotten Enrichment Toys.  :(  ...  There isn't an outting to Target or Michaels craft store that I don't see things that would be fun for our Zoo friends.  If priorities and not personalities were the norm among management level Zoo staff, more of the Animals would be having fun most everyday, like Pike did today.  All it took to bring this joy, was a Bunny that cost ten bucks. 

My battery was running out but I caught a very short clip of the fun on video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUqZWoR2QXo

you can also view photos of ulu with her easter bunny from 2010

http://gooberssfzoofriends.shutterfly.com/1208

Saturday February 18, 2012 - Ostrich feeding!

Today we were scheduled to go to an event called Donkeys and Donuts, but that was cancelled due to low attendance :(  Who wouldn't want to have Donuts with Donkeys?   Anyway, we were given the option to switch it out for the weekly (Sat AM) Early Bird Tour, which included feed the Ostriches!  We have been lucky to feed some of our great Zoo friends in the past,  Goober the Bairds Tapir (met my Goob twice!), Ulu the Polar Bear, Giraffes, so adding the Ostriches to those great experiences was a cool opportunity.  I had no idea they let people feed them!   They seemed to like meeting folks and came out, one lady at a time doing a morning greeting dance :)

 Grant greeting us!

 Three ladies, Grant, Timmy and Sally 

(order of how they came out)

 Neck feathers are incredible up this close!  Like fur :)

 

Capture of the day!

Me and Miss Ostrich!

Lee and Miss Ostrich!

My fancy Ostrich pin for the occasion!


You can view a video clip of the greeting dance here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytBqTt0PX4U
&
the Gorilla Troop as they descend into their grotto in the morning :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TUWA4M_9gc

Wednesday February 15, 2012

Today was the first day that all three Lions were outside in their yard together.  They had been visiting mesh to mesh and in different introduction configurations and yesterday were allowed full access to eachother under supervision in the Lion House.

Three Lions out in the yard together :)

 Amanzi seemed to be enjoying her alone time!

Amanzi still nappin' while Sukari shares a moment with a Black Phoebe :)

Jahari went inside.  When I circled around to the Lion House, Sukari was inside too.  She must have pushed past him, since he didn't leave the cave.  I think he was sticking in the middle to please both ladies.  Sukari sat in front of the cave entrance right next to him.

I have three video clips of their interactions on my youtube channel :)

http://www.youtube.com/user/leo811sf