The link to the right will take you to a one stop synopsis for all my SFZoo related sites, including A San Francisco Zoo Crime, which details the saga about the Zoo revoking the Memberships of myself and my friend Lee.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
the end
i am sad to report that the bear birthday party was the last time lee and i will be making enrichment toys for our zoo friends.
the current carnivore (cats and bears) curator (not keepers) has recently created unnecessary obstacles that have made it impossible to continue. one of the things she recently said was, "i have no interest in celebrating birthdays." for me, this is a completely disrespectful statement regarding acknowledging and celebrating not only the lives of these wonderful animals, but for those without which none of the zoo staff would have a job. who doesn't like birthdays? miserable people, that's who.
each time we had enrichment "toy" day, visitors were drawn to it. people love seeing the animals have fun. unfortunately the zoo management see's no value in such activity. the animals are given daily enrichment in a variety of different forms, but seemed to look forward to saturdays when we would arrive with toys! saturday toy days became known to regular visitors who like us and the keepers, got great joy out of seeing the animals have fun with this type of enrichment, which the lion house keeper calls "high yield" enrichment. enrichment we create brought excitement with different shapes and color stimulation and creates an energy level much like in the wild. who would want to take that away from these animals? miserable people, that's who.
it saddens both of us, as this was something we found great joy in doing for our zoo friends. for me, it was incredible to see a big cat or bear playing with something i made. seeing little annie bear carry one of my toys to her bed and add it to her nest is beyond words. the joy that it brought to their day is priceless. to see animals smile like they all have done while playing with enrichment toys we've made makes me cry.
thank you to everyone who enjoyed this blog and to those who came out to join the fun in person.
the current carnivore (cats and bears) curator (not keepers) has recently created unnecessary obstacles that have made it impossible to continue. one of the things she recently said was, "i have no interest in celebrating birthdays." for me, this is a completely disrespectful statement regarding acknowledging and celebrating not only the lives of these wonderful animals, but for those without which none of the zoo staff would have a job. who doesn't like birthdays? miserable people, that's who.
each time we had enrichment "toy" day, visitors were drawn to it. people love seeing the animals have fun. unfortunately the zoo management see's no value in such activity. the animals are given daily enrichment in a variety of different forms, but seemed to look forward to saturdays when we would arrive with toys! saturday toy days became known to regular visitors who like us and the keepers, got great joy out of seeing the animals have fun with this type of enrichment, which the lion house keeper calls "high yield" enrichment. enrichment we create brought excitement with different shapes and color stimulation and creates an energy level much like in the wild. who would want to take that away from these animals? miserable people, that's who.
it saddens both of us, as this was something we found great joy in doing for our zoo friends. for me, it was incredible to see a big cat or bear playing with something i made. seeing little annie bear carry one of my toys to her bed and add it to her nest is beyond words. the joy that it brought to their day is priceless. to see animals smile like they all have done while playing with enrichment toys we've made makes me cry.
thank you to everyone who enjoyed this blog and to those who came out to join the fun in person.
bear birthday party!
a five bear birthday party! circumstances out of our control caused us to sadly miss getting to make special enrichment toys for all the bears on their actual birthdays ;( wishbone turned 24 on october 25th, pike 28 on november 25th, ulu reached a milestone 30! (read her story listed in the related sites post) on december 19th and the grizzly sisters turned 8 on january 1st! ... I'm happy to report that was have finally commenced having a grotto-wide bear party! these wonderful friends didn't care that the celebration of their life was belated, they had a great time playing with all their birthday toys! ... ... all the bears partied with three tier bday cakes with their ages at the top, made of boxes assembled and reinforced with paper mache, mache balls and party bags! ... pictured: cakes by kim. (more toy pix coming soon)
see photos of all the fun here:
grizzly girls, kiona and kachina!
grizzly girls, kiona and kachina!
http://gooberssfzoofriends.shutterfly.com/5627
polar bear, pike!
http://gooberssfzoofriends.shutterfly.com/5538
andean bear, wishbone!
http://gooberssfzoofriends.shutterfly.com/5413
polar bear, ulu!
http://gooberssfzoofriends.shutterfly.com/5378
you can also read about ulu's milestone here:
bearbirthdays.blogspot.com
polar bear, pike!
http://gooberssfzoofriends.shutterfly.com/5538
andean bear, wishbone!
http://gooberssfzoofriends.shutterfly.com/5413
polar bear, ulu!
http://gooberssfzoofriends.shutterfly.com/5378
you can also read about ulu's milestone here:
bearbirthdays.blogspot.com
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