Zoo honors volunteers with President's Award
Courtesy of Tom Gillespie
North Carolina Zoo
Posted 3/6/2008
ASHEBORO, N.C. -The North Carolina Zoo has awarded 109 volunteers with the President's Volunteer Service Award, a national honor offered in recognition of volunteer service.
“Arnie Culbreth, a volunteer at the North Carolina Zoo, stamps a visitor’s hand with a bear-paw facsimile at his information table during the zoo’s Bear Week events.” (Caption and NC Zoo photo by Tom Gillespie)
Established in 2003, the award is given annually to individuals, groups and families who have met or exceeded requirements for volunteer service and have demonstrated exemplary citizenship through volunteering. As one of thousands of certifying organizations participating in the award program, the N.C. Zoo confers the award to recognize the outstanding achievements of its volunteers.
The zoo has a long history of volunteer service. During 2007, more than 280 volunteers committed more than 35,500 hours serving as exhibit interpreters, wildlife rehab volunteers, “kidZone” play guides, zoo hosts, gardeners, retail volunteers and more.
“In his 2002 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush created the USA Freedom Corps and called on every American to make a lifelong commitment to volunteer service,” said Toy Jarrett, the zoo’s volunteer services coordinator. “The President’s Volunteer Service Award recognizes individuals and families who have answered that call.”
“Volunteers are an integral part of the N.C. Zoo,” Jarrett added. “And as a certifying organization for the award program, the N.C. Zoo is proud to be aligned with this prestigious volunteer award. We are especially proud of our volunteers, who have made volunteer service a central part of their lives. These award recipients are role models for all Americans.”
The award is issued by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, a group created by President Bush to recognize the valuable contributions volunteers are making to our nation. Chaired by two-time Super Bowl champion Darrell Green, with former U.S. senators Bob Dole and John Glenn as honorary co-chairs, the Council comprises leaders in government, media, entertainment, business, education, nonprofits and volunteer service organizations, and community volunteering.
For more information about volunteering for the N.C. Zoo, contact Toy Jarrett at 336-879-7712 or complete an online application at www.nczoo.org/volunteer. For more information about how to qualify for the President’s Volunteer Service Award and to find out how to identify additional volunteer opportunities in this area, visit www.PresidentialServiceAwards.gov or call 1-866-545-5307.
N. C. Zoo veterinarian and family reported safe
Courtesy of Rod Hackney
Public Relations Manager for the North Carolina Zoo
ASHEBORO-Dr. Mike Loomis, chief veterinarian for the North Carolina Zoo, along with his wife and several family members and friends, were reported to be safe in Cameroon Thursday as they made plans to leave the country amidst civil strife that has raged in the west African nation this week.
For more than 10 years, Loomis has made regular trips to Cameroon as the head of a scientific project aimed at saving the country’s dwindling elephant population. The zoo vet has been in Cameroon since January 7 to continue work on the project, but also opted to take a couple weeks of vacation during the trip. During his time off, Loomis, an Asheboro resident, was joined in Cameroon by his wife, Glenda, his brother and sister-in-law, Stephen and Jeanne Loomis of Connecticut, his sister and brother-in-law, Jim and Karin Davies of California, and a third couple, Jack and Janet Sauer, also of Connecticut.
At least seven people have been killed after riots and looting broke out in several of Cameroon’s largest cities this week. According to wire service reports, the protests have been sparked by fuel price increases that have led to strikes by truckers and taxi drivers. Correspondents say protesters are also angered by suggestions that Cameroon President Paul Biya may attempt to amend the constitution to extend his 25 years in power. Police have battled protesters and demonstrations at major road junctions with widespread looting by armed youths, according to international news sources.
But all eight members of Loomis’ group were reported to be safe Thursday in a hotel in the coastal resort town of Kribi in Southwestern Cameroon, according to Mark MacAllister, coordinator of online learning for the N.C. Zoological Society, the zoo’s non-profit support organization. MacAllister has remained in contact with Loomis throughout his trip via cell and satellite phone in order to post regular field reports on the elephant project for the society’s educational Web site “Field Trip Earth.” (www.fieldtripearth.org)
“They're holding together fine,” said MacAllister, who spoke with Loomis early Thursday. “Mike said things got pretty tense on Wednesday, but they seemed to have improved today and they don't feel specifically in danger.”
MacAllister, who is coordinating flight arrangements for the group to leave as soon as Friday, said Loomis has also been in contact with the U.S. Embassy in the Cameroon capital of Yaounde.“The embassy folks know where they are and may give them an escort to the airport from Kribi,” MacAllister added.
Loomis‘ wife and the rest of the group will be leaving immediately, although the zoo vet is considering remaining and returning to the field depending upon developments over the next few days, MacAllister said. Loomis, who has served as the N.C. Zoo's chief veterinarian for 23 years, was originally slated to remain in Cameroon through mid-March.
The 58-year-old zoo vet has devoted a great deal of time and effort over the past decade to the Cameroon elephant conservation project, which partners the N.C. Zoo and Zoo Society with the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Cameroon Ministry of Environment and Forests. The project utilizes satellite tracking collars installed on elephants to identify the migration routes of herds in several areas of the country. The effort has been credited with drastically reducing the number of elephants and humans killed due to conflicts with farmers and villagers in the migration routes.
Polar bear back on exhibit
Photo courtesy of Tom Gillespie and the N.C. Zoo
Courtesy of Tom Gillespie
North Carolina Zoo
ASHEBORO, N.C. - Off exhibit for five months due to construction, Wilhelm the polar bear is back on view at the North Carolina Zoo.
The construction was part of a larger project that included a new shade awning installation for the adjacent sea lion exhibit. During part of the construction, the park’s male and female sea lions were temporarily moved into the polar bear exhibit and Wilhelm was taken to an off-exhibit holding area.
The sea lions’ habitat is now also completed and the sea lions, along with Wilhelm, are in their original, renovated exhibits.
NC Zoo celebrates 'Year of the Frog' with 'Leap Day' activities
Courtesy of Tom Gillespie
North Carolina Zoo
ASHEBORO, N.C.-In an effort to increase the public's awareness of the plight of frogs and other amphibians throughout the world, the North Carolina Zoo will celebrate "Leap Day" at the park on Friday, Feb. 29 (Leap Day), March 1 and March 2. The event is part of the larger Year of the Frog initiatives planned at other locations throughout the United States and Canada.
The weekend activities will include frog crafts for kids, a scavenger hunt through the zoo for frogs in the zoo's collection, a listening station for visitors to hear many of the calls of North Carolina's frogs and another station to determine how far visitors can jump. All activities will run from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. each day at Junction Plaza. Visitors can pick up scavenger hunt question lists at the North America entrance; the hunt will go on throughout the zoo.
Additionally, the N.C. Zoo Society has begun a year-long "Adopt-a-Frog" program, similar to their other animal adoption programs; see details on their Web site at www.nczoo.com.
For several decades, there has been an alarming decline in amphibian populations on every continent. A summary of recent field studies confirms that 2,469 of the known 5,787 amphibian species (43 percent) are in trouble. Thirty-two percent of those (1,856 species) are considered threatened, and 168 species have recently disappeared and are now assumed to be extinct.
During the event, guests can also visit the park's two exhibits in the R.J. Reynolds Forest Aviary featuring small, colorful frogs native to tropical Central and South America.
The first exhibit features poison dart frogs--three of about 247 known species of poison dart frogs, with new species being discovered regularly. The frogs on display in the Aviary range in size from just less than an inch to about an inch and a half in length.
The second of the two new exhibits features Panama golden frogs, which range in color from a brilliant gold to a pale, greenish yellow. Now believed to be extinct in the wild, they were found in Panama and were culturally significant to the people of Panama, who considered them symbols of good luck.
The two frog exhibits in the Aviary run through normal zoo winter hours: 9 a.m.- 4 p.m.
