Happy Birthday Sukari! - Past Party Pix

You might see I have three posts in draft. I started them last weekend and never finished.  As I've written often, writing about the Zoo is energy sucking, so I do alot of putting it off.

I jump ahead today, as I have been thinking about this Beautiful Lady's Birthday all week.  During the week I asked if she would get a Party, but no one knew.   I hope she got some special treats today.

Happy Birthday Sukari! 

I Love You Lady!

I Love Celebrating all the Animals Birthdays!  I have Loved Suki since the moment I saw her, and she has always held a special place in my heart. Most of you know, in 2010 my friend Lee and I made Enrichments for the Big Cats almost every weekend for ten months, and on occasion for the Bears.  One of the most satisfying Enrichment Events we did was for Sukari's 8th Birthday.

I tweeted a photo of it earlier today and then started to tell this story to my Facebook Friends.  A bit through, I decided to make it a post, because it meant so much to me.

Our Enrichment for her 8th Birthday in 2010 was instrumental in helping her come out of her shyness. Brought to the Zoo in 2009, Suki was still hiding in the quarantine and cave areas, eight months after arriving.  We barely saw her!  The Keeper (Barb) wasn't sure she would even come out to participate in the fun, as until then, all the Enrichment Toys we had made, she had quickly snatched and brought to quarantine room, or not touched til after hours.  I said, no worries, we can just try.  

My idea for Suki's Ice Cream Social developed.  A Grotto-wide celebration for all the Big Cats!  I made Lion sized Ice Cream Cones, and Party Bags for all the Cats.  Lee made Suki's Birthday Cake and Mache Balls for Skylar/Leanne, Ming Wah and Rigel (Snow Leopards).

The wheels were turning about how to get Sukari to enjoy her Party with Tunya!  That night I thought the best plan might be to place her her Cake in front of one of the cave doors.  Since she would be sitting in the cave while Barb set-up, when Barb opened the door to let her in, she would most likely flee to the other side.  So, my idea was to open the door opposite of the one where the Cake was, so that when she fled to the other cave she would see the Cake in the doorway!  The plan worked exactly how I imagined!  Putting her Cake there was just the thing to intrigue her curiosity so much she couldn't resist! Shy Girl stuck her head in the doorway, just enough to grab her Cake, and bring it into the cave with her!  She wrangled the whole thing through the doorway!  Tunya was behind her and they both disappeared into the cave.  I ran out and round to the yard, and by that time they each had half the Cake!  She sat with him and they both had big fun together!  It was so wonderful to watch!   After a bit, Suki noticed the top tier had fallen off.  She went over and got it, proudly strutting away carrying it across the yard in her mouth!  She was so Happy and so was I, to see her like this!  It was amazing to see her so comfortable.  This was the first time we were really able to see her being herself and it was a beautiful thing!  It was a turning point for her and I was happy to be a part of it.

Here's the photo I tweeted, a screen-cap of some of the photos from the sequence I just described.

Too view the whole series of Sukari and Tunya and the Birthday Cake, visit this link
Sukari's Birthday Bash!
https://gooberssfzoofriends.shutterfly.com/2610

Links to Pix of other Cats enjoying Enrichment Toys for Sukari's Birthday!
Suki's Ice Cream Social
https://gooberssfzoofriends.shutterfly.com/2499
More Suki's Ice Cream Social
http://thebigcatnip.blogspot.com/2010/08/mix-it-up.html

Link to my Enrichment Blog
http://thebigcatnip.blogspot.com