The Oceletter. June/July Ocelots Dinner Program

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The Oceletter June/July 2018 Ocelots Dinner Program When: Thursday, June 7, 2018 Where: Zoo Party Area, San Diego Zoo Who: Bruce Rideout What: Conserving the Rimatara Lory Our Mission The Ocelots

2 Mark Your Calendars 3 Meet Your Steering Committee. 4 Pet Photo Contest Results. 4 A Review of Our Last Dinner Meeting. 5 Ocelots Grants Program. 7 Opportunity Baskets.

1 The Oceletter June/July 2018 Ocelots Dinner Program When: Thursday, June 7, 2018 Where: Zoo Party Area, San Diego Zoo Who: Bruce Rideout What: Conserving the Rimatara Lory Our Mission The Ocelots enthusiastically support the efforts of the Zoological Society of San Diego through active involvement, commitment to education, and fund-raising. In This Issue. Head Ocelot Report. 2 Mark Your Calendars 3 Meet Your Steering Committee. 4 Pet Photo Contest Results. 4 A Review of Our Last Dinner Meeting. 5 Ocelots Grants Program. 7 Opportunity Baskets. 9 Bath Time Elephant Intarsia Wood Art. 9 A Home For Hobbes. 10 Ocelots Photo Contest. 11 About the Ocelots. 12 5:45 to 6:15 p.m. Check-in outside at main gate. 6:00 p.m. Dining area open for seating selection. 6:00 to 6:30 p.m. Cocktails and animal ambassadors 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Dinner and program.

Page 2 Head Ocelot Report By Bill Kolb Head Ocelot Zoo and Park Photographs Wanted Kathy, our Vicelot, would like all our members to send her your photos taken at the Zoo or Park.

2 Page 2 Head Ocelot Report By Bill Kolb Head Ocelot Zoo and Park Photographs Wanted Kathy, our Vicelot, would like all our members to send her your photos taken at the Zoo or Park. The photos should be of animals only, not people. Kathy would like to use your photos as part of the dinner slide show she puts together. If Kathy can collect a large number of photos she will be able to make the dinner slides shows more interesting by frequently changing the mix of photos she uses. Please send your photos to kdmusc@gmail.com. The Ocelot Steering Committee The Ocelots are a very unique zoo organization because we have a somewhat independent Steering Committee that makes the decisions required to keep all of our activities organized and on schedule. The Steering Committee is made up of a total of twelve members. Eleven are volunteers from the Ocelots general membership and one is a Development staff member, our Adviselot. A Steering Committee member will typically serve for three years. However, some members serve for longer and some for shorter periods. When Steering Committee members leave the Steering Committee new committee members are recruited and vetted by our nominating committee. The Past Head Ocelot chairs the nominating committee. The Nominating Committee will start its work in the late Spring/early Summer. So, this is the time of the year when we usually have Steering Committee vacancies. If you have any interest in learning more about the Steering Committee and perhaps volunteering to become a Steering Committee member in 2019 please contact Kim Bidermann by phone (619) (H), (619) (C), by at kim@bidermann.org, or at one of our events.

3 Page 3 Mark Your Calendars You won t want to miss a single Ocelots event this year! June 7: Zoo Party Area. Bruce Rideout Lory Conservation. August 9: Zoo Party Area. Russ Van Horn Andean bears. Photo Contest. September: Special event at Walkabout Australia Details TBD October 11: Hunte Pavillion. Maggie Reinbold Community based conservation. December13: Zoo Party Area. Nicholas Pilfold Leopards. Holiday Dinner. Dates, locations, speakers, and topics are tentative and subject to change. Contribute to the Oceletter! We invite you to submit articles and photographs for the Oceletter. All content should be submitted electronically to the Oceletter Editor, Paul Brooks, at pbrooksphotos@hotmail.com. Contact Us The best way to reach a member of the Steering Committee is to use the following address: ocelotsbymail@yahoo.com. This account is monitored frequently, and questions can be routed to the member of the Steering Committee who should handle it. The following people can be reached directly: Bill Kolb Head Ocelot (619) kolb@prodigy.net Theresa Low Grants/Logo Wear (858) lowtm@earthlink.net Paul Brooks Oceletter Editor (619) pbrooksphotos@hotmail.com

Page 4 Visit our website http://www.sandiegozoo.org/society/ocelots.html Meet Your Steering Committee Your 2018 Steering Committee is pictured here.

4 Page 4 Visit our website Meet Your Steering Committee Your 2018 Steering Committee is pictured here. From Left to right they are: Helene Hoffman Events Coordinator Theresa Low Grants Coordinator, Logo Wear Chris Campbell Check-in Coordinator Laura Swauger Events Assistant Kathy Morrison Vicelot Jan Billington Membership Coordinator Bill Kolb Head Ocelot Marcia Schofield Treasurer Kim Bidermann Past Head Ocelot Paul Brooks Oceletter Editor B.J. Phillips Secretary Move your cursor over the names to see larger photos Pet Photo Contest Results The Ocelots Pet Photo Contest was held at the April dinner meeting. This year we had 18 entries, and while most photos were of cats and only 3 of the photos were of dogs, 2 of the 3 winners were photos of dogs! The winners were: 1st place Lori Vallier 2nd place Nick Monroe 3rd place Sharyn Daly Lori Vallier 1st Place Nick Monroe 2nd Place Sharyn Daly 3rd Place

Page 5 A Review of Our Last Dinner Meeting.. Enthusiastic trainers Kristin and Samantha greeted the members with a golden eagle, a bat-eared fox, and a serval.

For those unable to sample the more exotic entrée, there will be an opportunity to taste a jackfruit dish at the food truck when Walkabout Australia opens.

5 Page 5 A Review of Our Last Dinner Meeting.. Enthusiastic trainers Kristin and Samantha greeted the members with a golden eagle, a bat-eared fox, and a serval. Some members enjoyed the traditional beef entrée for dinner, while the more adventurous opted for the jackfruit vegetarian meal. For those unable to sample the more exotic entrée, there will be an opportunity to taste a jackfruit dish at the food truck when Walkabout Australia opens. Kathy Morrison welcomed new members and reminded the group of the various opportunity drawings that raise funds for the Ocelots Grants. Theresa Low showed photos of the live fish enrichment for the polar bears, one fulfilled grant request that will be offered a total of five times this year. She also showed a photo of Mary the elephant with a sturdy plastic ring used for enrichment, another grant fund purchase. Mark Stuart shared the exciting news that Ocelots have received a second estate donation of $100,000 from Aunt Bette for our 2018 grants program. This was a big surprise to everyone since Aunt Bette s estate had already donated $100,000 to last year s grants. Elizabeth Bette Ruth Wallace was aunt to members Karen and Jim Power. Ollie Ryder reminded us of the important contributions of Dr. Kurt Benirschke, founder of the SDZG Frozen Zoo. The featured speaker, new San Diego Zoo Safari Park Director Lisa Peterson, spoke on Celebrating the Past-Crafting the Future. She highlighted various aspects and achievements at the Safari Park; conservation, adventure, stewardship, and the opportunity to thrive. The first, conservation, is exemplified by the California condor project. From just 22 individuals in the wild in 1982, there are now over 450 condors, with about 273 flying wild in and near release areas. Secondly, the Safari Park provides adventure to many guests through the various tours designed to develop a sense of involvement. The model for the third aspect, stewardship, is the elephant herd at the park, which started with the small group from Swaziland. There have been nine births to expand this herd so far, with two new births expected later this year. The opportunity to thrive, the next highlighted aspect of the park, is invaluable to a healthy animal. The development of the cheetah run illustrates one way that animals are provided with opportunities for natural behavior. Finally, for guests, perspective, experience, and wonder can be found in a variety of ways at the Safari Park. For example, the Roar & Snore provides shared personal experiences to connect to conservation.

6 Page 6 Cont. from previous page Lisa touched on the re-branding of the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in 2011, explaining that the goal was to encourage guests to spend an entire day at the facility, which provides opportunities to share the conservation message. She also mentioned that the new Watering Hole at Kijami Point Overlook has become a popular destination. Lisa updated us on the progress of the new Walkabout Australia exhibit. We learned that acclimatizing the new kangaroos has been more of a challenge than expected, as they are not that food motivated. Various other animals are already on site or are arriving shortly. It is hoped that the platypus will arrive sometime in mid Keepers first need to travel to Australia to learn the care of that animal and also how to raise yabby, the species of crayfish that is the main food for these creatures. Lisa concluded with a brief glimpse of the future. She suggested that the Butterfly Jungle might be in a different location, that the Lion Camp is due for a revamp, and that the Asia portion of the Safari Park will once again be shared with the public.

Page 7 Ocelots Grants Program By Theresa Low Grants Coordinator Greetings dear Ocelots, We are receiving updates from many of the grant recipients!

7 Page 7 Ocelots Grants Program By Theresa Low Grants Coordinator Greetings dear Ocelots, We are receiving updates from many of the grant recipients! In this issue of the Oceletter, two specific funded grants for enrichment items are being highlighted. The first being live fish for our polar bear trio! This story began over a year ago with the keepers brainstorming what behavior they wanted to elicit... hunting! Polar bears are hunters. Getting live fish enrichment required months of collaborative work to establish a welfare protocol for handling the fish! A portion of the fish protocol includes: Variety of fish Source supplier Acclimation procedure prior to release Temporarily adjusting the pool s ozone level Providing a place to hide / escape Care plan if injured Needless to say, the keepers efforts are stimulating natural behavior in our polar bears. Yes, they do hunt underwater with their eye open. Yes, they catch and sometimes release the fish. And yes, some fish are carried ashore and stashed in a den or snow pile. As far as the added palm branch hideout for the fish, it too becomes added enrichment for the bears! The second awarded grant is an enrichment ring for our Zoo elephants. Elephants have eight major muscles on each side of their trunk. The trunk is strong enough to push down trees and nimble enough to pick up a single raisin. This new enrichment ring allows the elephants to exercise a wide variety of muscle movements to include grabbing, holding, picking up, reaching, pulling, pushing and throwing! The elephant trunk is vital to their survival from eating and drinking, socializing, and trumpeting away its foes. Thank you for supporting the Ocelots Grants Program. Your dollars make a difference every day!

8 Page 8 Visit our website What s in YOUR Trunk? Here s one of the enrichment devices offered to the elephants thanks to Ocelots! The elephants have never had an enrichment item like this in recent memory. Other facilities utilize this item, and we think it would be a good addition to our enrichment rotation to further engage the elephants in foraging behavior and exercise. Elephant photo courtesy of Zoo Elephant Care Team Fish Tales Told Here Live fish have been approved and provided to the polar bears recently to encourage their natural hunting behavior. The recent trial was extremely successful and led to the bears racing around the exhibit hunting the fish. This GRANT will provide ~5 rounds of live fish enrichment for the polar bears. Bear photos courtesy of Helene Hoffman Using her claws. Enjoying her catch. Tail first. Love my fish. Happy bear!

Page 9 Bath Time Elephant Intarsia Wood Art By Allan Price 27 x 37 Bath Time is an elaborate example of scroll saw Intarsia--basically a jigsaw puzzle with many different types of wood selected for

9 Page 9 Bath Time Elephant Intarsia Wood Art By Allan Price 27 x 37 Bath Time is an elaborate example of scroll saw Intarsia--basically a jigsaw puzzle with many different types of wood selected for their natural wood grains and colors to create a picture, like a wood wall quilt. It took Allan Price over 6 months to create Bath Time and won two top awards at the 2017 San Diego County Fair: 1st Place Scroll Saw Club Award and 2nd place SD Fair Award. Allan Price is the father of Ocelot Suzanne Price. He generously created and donated this art piece especially for the Ocelots. A limited number of tickets are available for this one-of-a-kind piece of art. Ticket sales will be limited to 100 tickets and can be purchased for $25 each. Tickets will be sold starting at the February dinner with the drawing at the June dinner. Opportunity Baskets Tying into the elephant theme with "Bath Time" finding it's owner at the June dinner meeting, the gift basket is: All About Elephants with amazing and unique elephant items. The jewelry offering is a beautiful rose quartz elephant necklace. The third item is an awesome 30 inch metal crane sculpture from India.

10 Visit our website Page 10 A Home For Hobbes HOPING FOR A FOREVER EXISTENCE Take a walk on the wild side adopt a tiger and share tales with your friends about saving and protecting this critically endangered big cat. Meet Hobbes: Chuff, chuff! I am full-grown, leash trained and house ready. My striped coat is as soft as any plush animal can be. If you are looking for a best friend, let it be me! Adoption is by a special drawing at our August dinner. Tickets available now: $5 for 1 ticket or $20 for 5 tickets Opportunity Baskets from the April Dinner Meeting Yellow Bird Susho won by: Monica Gattra Blue Butterfly earrings, scarf, and Pandora style bracelet won by: Elizabeth Tainer Spring is Here Gift Basket won by: Elizabeth Getzoff

11 Page 11 Ocelots Photo Contest We will be holding our annual non pet photo contest at our August dinner. The photo contest is always a lot of fun and also raises money for our Grants Program. Entry Instructions: 1. Photos must be original prints of ANIMALS IN THE WILD, on exhibit at the SAN DIEGO ZOO or SAFARI PARK, or on exhibit at ANY OTHER ZOO. 2. Photos of domestic animals or pets WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. 3. Photos should not be larger than 5 x 7 inch prints. 4. The entry fee is $10 per photo. There is no limit to the number of photos you can submit. 5. Please PRINT YOUR NAME on the back of each photo you submit. 6. Send your photos with payment no later than Wednesday, August 1, to: Marcia Schofield, P.O. Box 686, Solana Beach, CA Checks should be made payable to ZSSD Ocelots. Contest Procedure: 1. Photos will be displayed between 6:00 and 6:30 p.m. at the August 9 dinner. 2. Each dinner guest will receive two voting tickets to vote for their top choices. 3. A prize will be awarded to each of the three photographers receiving the highest number of votes. No more than one prize will be awarded per photographer. 4. Please submit all questions to ocelotsbymail@yahoo.com

Program. Departments within the San Diego Zoo, Safari Park, and Institute for Conservation Research are eligible to apply for these grants.

12 About the Ocelots Ocelots enjoy a special relationship with San Diego Zoo Global. While having fun at many educational dinners and other special events at the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, Ocelots raise money to support the Ocelots Grants Program. Departments within the San Diego Zoo, Safari Park, and Institute for Conservation Research are eligible to apply for these grants. the ocelot, pictured above, Diego was purchased for the San Diego Zoo by the Ocelots in Diego is a working member of the Education Department! Dafyd the ocelot, pictured above, lived at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in an enclosure funded by the Ocelots in 2011.

Page 2. Head Ocelot Report

Page 2. Head Ocelot Report The Oceletter Feb / Mar 2018 Ocelots Dinner Program When: Thursday, February 8, 2018 Where: Hunte Pavillion, San Diego Zoo Safari Park Who: Ronald Swaisgood, Ph.D. What: Restoring the extinct-in-the-wild