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Written By: Zoe Glover |
 | Written By: Zoe Glover Zoo Educator Here at the zoo, we have domestic rabbits located in the farmyard area and a domestic rabbit in the education department. She, along with the other ambassador animals in the education department are handled by staff for programs and outreach, which helps to support our zoo mission in education and conservation. What is Lunar New Year? Lunar New Year is a multi-day celebration that is important in East and Southeast Asian Cultures and starts on the first day of the new moon until the arrival of the full moon. The purpose of the celebration is to honor “household and heavenly deities and ancestors.” [1] This year, Lunar New Year will start on January 23rd, 2023, and lasts until February 9th, 2024. |
 | Written By: Jim KnoxIf you were to ask most kids and adults the difference between tigers and lions, they would invariably respond that tigers are orange with black stripes and lions are tan or golden brown in color. They would then inform you that tigers live in Asia and lions live in Africa. Aside from some anomalies in coat color, they would be correct. It is also true that all the world’s tigers live in Asia. Lions, however, might surprise you. Although most of the world’s lions live in the eastern and southern regions of Africa, these great cats are more widespread than you might suspect, and they hide their secrets well. |
The Asiatic or Asian Lion (Panthera leo persica) is simultaneously a beast of legend and mystery. At a casual glance, this big cat is one in the same with its African cousins, yet a studious eye begins to tease out the subtle distinctions among these great cats. Unlike its better-known cousin, the Asian Lion typically sports a fine peppering of black or buff-gray spots in its coat. Aside from certain skull differences, males possess shorter, more sparse manes, rarely exceeding four inches in length, leaving their ears visible. All Asian Lions also possess a much larger tail tuft, a skin fold along their abdomen and typically attain smaller sizes than their African counterparts with males rarely exceeding 9.5 feet in length and 380 pounds in weight.
Written by: Zoe Glover
Zoo Educator
The Zoo recently celebrated National Bird Day, started in 2002 by the Avian Welfare Coalition, as a day to bring awareness to species that are at risk of becoming endangered or extinct due to habitat loss and climate change. You can help support birds by doing any of the following: learn about bird species local to your area, plant flowers and plants that attract birds, build birdhouses, or donate to or visit a zoo or aviary. Here is a closer look at some of the many fascinating bird species you can find at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo!
 | AFRICAN GREY PARROT African grey parrots are an endangered species mainly found in the lowland moist forests of central and West Africa, as well as the island of Principe. In their natural habitat, African greys are omnivorous, and mainly feed on nuts, fruits, leafy matter, insects, bark, and flowers. Social and chatty birds, they communicate within their flock using squawks, whistles, shrieks, and screams. The adult African greys have pale grey plumage, or feathers, with whitish edges on the head and neck and a prominent bright red tail. Juveniles, however, have a grey-tinged undertail with a bright red tip. Here at the zoo, we have Zari, our chatty Ambassador Animal, so be sure to look for her on programs! |
 | Written by: Lorraine Hillgen-SantaConservation Discovery Corps, Teen Volunteer My name is Lorraine Hillgen-Santa and I am going into my Junior year of high school at Choate Rosemary Hall. This year I joined Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo’s Conservation Discovery Corps. Conservation Discovery Corps, also known as CDC, is a program for high school students which allows them to spend time over the summer working with the Zoo both on and off grounds. Every new or “first-year” student goes through a training program on the weekends throughout the Spring. |
 | Written by: Jim Knox Curator of Education at Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo From Great White Sharks to Tasmanian Devils, when it comes to certain creatures, Hollywood has forever shaped our perception of the actual beasts with dramatic, or sometimes comedic flair. For one in particular, many doubt the actual existence of the creature behind the animated character, who is always one step ahead of its nemesis. |
| | Written by: Jim Knox Curator of Education at Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo “Can we pet him, Daddy?” my young daughters asked in near unison at the sight of the giant creature some yards away. “No girls. We’ll just watch him safely from here,” I responded in a hush so as not to startle the object of our amazement. Along with a growing caravan of onlookers, we sat quietly a few car lengths behind the huge animal, with the driver’s window cracked open, observing its every move. When the mountain breeze in the notch shifted, we could hear it munching on the undergrowth along the western shoulder of the ascending road. We were treated to a sight of the wild north country. We took in the enormous creature before us. It stood on four impossibly long legs, its blackish-brown barrel-shaped body dominating our field on view. With palm-like antlers crowning its head more than seven feet above the ground, we beheld New England’s largest land mammal. |
| | Written by: Jim Knox Curator of Education at Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo The frigid blast hit me the instant I stepped outside. While two degrees Fahrenheit was not surprising for a January morning in New England, it was bracing. Before I eased into the comfort of my warming car, I gazed around me, sweeping from north, to east, and then south. I thought of the Whitetail deer and the Red-shouldered hawks in the forest and wetland surrounding me and how they would need to eat to generate vital body heat to survive the freezing day ahead and even colder night to follow. I then thought of the countless woodland denizens who would sleep off the coldest and harshest months of the year, safe, secure, and warm…or at least relatively warm…beneath the frost line of the rock-hard ground. One among these creatures, a cousin from the far north, immediately came to mind. |
 | Written by: Jim Knox Curator of Education at Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo “Hey, what do you think about the new orangutan?” my friend asked. Knowing his sense of humor, I cocked my head and smiled, waiting for the punchline. “Go ahead…” I encouraged him to finish the joke. The roar of the crowd under the Friday night lights pulled us from our conversation to focus on the game. “Seriously. What do you think?” he asked earnestly, after the next set of downs. “I haven’t heard,” I responded in surprise. Now it was his time to smile. “You’re not kidding…” he replied. “Nope. Tell me. I haven’t read anything about it,” reflecting on an especially busy week gone in a flash. It was the fall of 2017. Our boys were good friends and teammates, so our friendship had grown as well, our conversations ongoing, wide-ranging, and always fun. Now confident neither was pulling each other’s leg, he began. I listened and learned of an amazing discovery. |
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