Enrichment is an extremely important part of working with animals and is utilized every single day at the Zoo. What is enrichment? It is anything that encourages our animals to use their natural behaviors and abilities, while also providing mental and physical stimulation. This can be scents for the animals to explore, exhibit design that…
Month: March 2020
Meet your neighbors: the ring-tailed cat
by John Kiseda, Animal Curator In neighborhoods adjacent to the Franklin Mountains and its hillsides, consider yourself very lucky if get to see a delicate looking small mammal that appears cat-like. This is the ring-tailed cat, distinguished by it’s relatively large ears and a long bushy tail. Ring-tails are members of the raccoon family called the Procyonidae. With…
Meet Rowdy and Roxie!
When most people think of roadrunners, they probably think back their the Looney Tunes characters Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner, in which the coyote is forever trying to catch the Roadrunner as his next meal. There are scenes of Wile E. Coyote setting up traps using dynamite and painting fake tunnels on cliffs, but…
Join the Zoo in supporting Mexican wolf conservation efforts
The El Paso Zoo wants to encourage everyone to help us celebrate the return of the Mexican wolf to the wilds of North America. Since the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program was first approved in 1982, the El Paso Zoo and many other zoos and breeding facilities have played a very important role in helping to…
Celebrate Lobo Week – watch videos and learn more today!
This week is Lobo Week and we want to encourage everyone to help us celebrate the return of the Mexican wolf to the wilds of North America. Since the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program was first approved in 1982, the El Paso Zoo and many other zoos and breeding facilities have played a very important role…
The Bird with the mustache
Inca Tern Nesting on rocky cliffs in the wild, the El Paso Zoo’s Inca Terns show this same behavior by hanging out in the rock work upon entering the Aviary…. That is, until it is lunch time! Zoo keepers work with our Inca Terns to do “fly by feedings” in which our keepers hold up…
It’s Tucker and Tillie Time
Blue-tongued skinks Our relaxed reptiles, Tucker and Tillie, enjoy getting attention at our Zoo adventure programs where they meet students and teachers from around the Southwest. In the wild they might puff up and stick out their blue tongues to frighten unknown guests away but as education ambassadors they welcome your interest. There are over…
Meet our Sun City Sun Bear
Heliana You might have seen Heliana help predict the Sun Bowl winner at our annual event on our Facebook page but she is more than just a once a year star. She shines a light on the decreasing population of Sun bears in their natural habitat. Sun bears are listed on the Red List as…
March 25, 2020 Sofa Safari – update
In accordance with ORDER NO. 7 BY THE COUNTY JUDGE OF EL PASO COUNTY, TEXAS, Sofa Safari will be suspended to ensure the health and safety of our zoo staff. Our Education Team is still working on all kinds of ways to advance our conservation efforts online and through social media. Please subscribe and share…
The Role of Palm Oil Certification and Zoos
Converting Malaysia’s Palm Oil Landscape to Include Conservation by Robert Hii, friendsofborneo.org It has been a few years since the El Paso Zoo wrote to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board to encourage the latter to make Malaysian palm oil sustainable. Since then, a few notable actions have taken place in Malaysia. The Malaysian Sustainable Palm…
March 24, 2020 Sofa Safaris
Try today’s crossword puzzle. Tuesday, 10:00 AM Southern Three-Banded Armadillo Doctors recommend that we get a yearly physical and that is also true for our zoo animals. Today our beloved education ambassador, Tatu, a southern three banded armadillo will be having an annual physical. Find the video on our Facebook page. A is for Armadillo…
Meet your neighbors: gray fox
by John Kiseda, Animal Curator Depending on where you live in El Paso, there’s a medium- sized mammal called the gray fox that often wanders throughout our neighborhoods and yards. They ‘earn their living’, usually while most of us are asleep and mostly keeping out of trouble with us humans. If you’re lucky, you may…
Meet our Animal Curator
The El Paso Zoo Animal Curator, John Kiseda has been the Animal Curator at the Zoo since 1990 and is responsible for the daily oversight of the Zoo’s diverse animal collection. In this picture John is holding an Imperial Woodpecker at UTEP’s Centennial Museum. This woodpecker from the forests of northern Mexico is largest woodpecker…
March 23, 2020 Sofa Safaris
Today meet Stevie our Ossabaw Island Hog and our mountain lion cubs. Try today’s crossword puzzle Monday, 10:00 am Ossabaw Island Hog Color a wild hog Have fun with a word search puzzle Learn more about why it is important to preserve the Ossabaw Island Hog and how this historic species helped settle America at…
Meet your neighbors: desert mule deer!
by John Kiseda, Animal Curator, El Paso Zoo Depending on where you live in El Paso, there’s a large mammal that sometimes wanders into our neighborhoods, especially if you live near the Franklin Mountains, desert mule deer. Deer can be very active while we’re sleeping, but can also be active in the early evening and…
March 20, 2020 Sofa Safaris
10:00 am Indian Ornamental tarantula Color a desert tarantula online – save the paper Learn more about tarantulas Conservation: El Paso Zoo educators have teamed up with Zoo Keepers for many years helping to educate people about the value of invertebrates like the tarantulas who live with us in El Paso. Every year we host…
Bringing the Zoo to You!
Watch from the comfort of your couch Tune In! For the next three weeks, the zoo encourages fans at home to tune into the El Paso Zoo’s Facebook page every weekday at 10:00 am and 2:00 pm for Sofa Safaris! Sofa Safaris will be a chance to virtually meet a zoo animal and ask questions…
MARCH 19, 2020 Sofa Safaris
Thursday, 10:00 am Chinchillas Create chinchilla origami Color a chinchilla Conservation: Our Education Curator met Amy Deane of Save the Wild Chinchillas at a Zoos and Aquariums Committed to Conservation Conference. He says that you can help chinchillas by supporting this effort by visiting their website at https://www.savethewildchinchillas.org/or joining their Facebook group. The group is for all…
Meet Willie
Did you know that the El Paso Zoo has two collections of animals? The biggest one is our exhibit collection including animals of all sizes from spiders to elephants. We also have an Education Animal collection. These animals are used for up close and personal animal encounters at the Zoo including Zoo Adventure classes that…
SSA Round-Up Funds make a big impact at the Zoo
Service Systems and Associates (SSA) operates daytime visitor dining, catering and retail at zoos, museums, aquariums, botanical gardens and attractions. Here at the El Paso Zoo, SSA staff play a key role in helping the Zoo raise funds to support conservation efforts around the world. In 2019 SSA cashiers at the Zoo gift shop and…
Conservation Education 