How Do You Look in Yellow?

By Ann Geiger, Education Director

Who are those people in yellow? They are Sacramento Zoo volunteer educators and are an important part of the Zoo experience!

The Sacramento Zoo is taking applications for the 2011 Docent Training class until January 9, 2011. Zoo Docents are volunteer educators who have a love for wildlife and enjoy people. Docents conduct tours and station talks at the Zoo and with additional training, docents can also participate in live animal presentations, both on and off-site.

An orientation meeting will be held on January 8, 2011 and the training class will begin on January 15th. The mini-course in Zoology runs every Saturday through mid-March. Visit the Docent webpage for more information or email the Education Department or call (916) 808-5889 for an application.

Volunteer of the Year

By Lisa Hetherington, Education Manager

On Friday, October 29th the 10th Annual Volunteer Spirit Award luncheon, celebrating a decade of volunteer spirit, was held in the Sacramento Grand Ballroom. The Volunteer Spirit Awards is Sacramento’s largest volunteer recognition ceremony based solely on the volunteers who change and improve our community.

One of our own Zoo Teen Volunteers was nominated and we are thrilled to announce won “Volunteer of the Year” 2010. Kristen who has logged more than 300 hours in the past two years is the first youth to win the award!

Three cheers for Kristen, you are “Wildly Inspiring” and we are so proud you are a part of the Sacramento Zoo family!

Zoo Teens are out in the zoo every weekend with activities for visitors. Stop by and see Kristen and the rest of the Zoo Teens to become wildly inspired!

It Was a Wild Affair!

By Jaime Wilson, Zoo Blog Keeper

The first Saturday in October, the Zoo hosted its 15th Annual Wild Affair gala and fundraiser. The night was filled with elegant décor, delicious food, mouth-watering cocktails, high-energy bidding on auction items and behind-the-scenes animal tours led by our very own zoo keepers.

What was the best part? Spending the evening with our generous donors who have put us a step closer to SPLASH! The North American River Otter Habitat Renovation and Expansion project. We couldn’t do it without you!

And speaking of thank yous, we have so many more!

• Dave Bender of CBS 13: Our enthusiastic host and talented auctioneer!


• Patrick Mulvaney of Mulvaney’s B&L and Culinary Specialist: Chef and his team prepared a delicious Farm-to-Fork style dinner highlighting the best foods our region has to offer and some really delicious fruit infused cocktails.


• Ed & Jessica Goldman: The ever talented father and daughter team who rewrote and recorded songs for “My Fair Otter”, a zoo-themed take off on “My Fair Lady”.


• Steve Ayers (Honorary Event Chair) with Armour Steel & Iron Mechanical: The title sponsors of Wild Affair and partners in improving the Zoo!


• US Bank, McGuire Hester, Wells Fargo: Generous sponsors that helped us put on a great event!


• Village Nurseries: Who created a “River Runs Through It” entrance to our event tent with hundreds of beautiful flowers, plants and trees.


• Tobey Oxholm from Drexel University: He sold raffle keys like a champ and gave our Development Director a run for her money!


• Our dedicated volunteers: It’s beautiful because of you! From centerpieces to hanging butterflies, we can’t thank you enough.


• The Zoo Staff: Not only did they dress up as animals for the “My Fair Otter” show, they made the costumes, choreographed the moves, led the tours and made it all happen in a way that makes it look effortless! They put on one heck of a party!

We hope to see you at next year’s Wild Affair on October 1, 2011!

Here is a slideshow of highlights!

Piles of School Supplies!

By Jaime Wilson, Zoo Blog Keeper

The Zoo is collecting school supplies in the month of August to help kids in the community and last week, we received a huge pile of them!

Target is sponsoring three free-admission days in August and the donations of school supplies on the first day was just fantastic! Thank you to everyone who came out to the Zoo and generously brought supplies. And Thank you to Target for making such a great event possible for the community. They even had their staff on hand to do free crafts with the kids!

Target Free-Admission Days continue on Monday, August 23rd & Monday, August 30th from 9 am to 4 pm. The Zoo is collecting new, unwrapped school supplies through the end of the month.

Zoo Teen & Owl Cupcakes

By Jessica Hinton, Teen Coordinator

Monica Nordstrom, a second year veteran of the Zoo Teen Program, is the creative genius behind the impressive burrowing owl cupcakes created for the 2009-2010 end of the year Zoo Teen party.

Monica is a highly involved Zoo Teen - she was a Mentor during training, she is the program’s Vice President and was voted the “Career-Corner Queen” for her exceptional articles written for the Zoo Teen Monthly Newsletter.

Monica one day hopes to become a veterinarian and her favorite thing about volunteering at the zoo is being involved in the community & helping the public to better understand conservation concepts.

When asked why she chose to make burrowing owl themed cupcakes for the Zoo Teen party, she replied “I had gotten the newsletter and read that we had owl chicks and I got really excited. I find owls fascinating and thought that bringing the cupcakes would be a cute way to celebrate their arrival with the Zoo Teens. I got the idea for making the mini cupcakes because of the babies. I was really happy about how they turned out and glad that everyone enjoyed them.”

We are so thankful for volunteers like Monica who not only work hard, but also bring enthusiasm and excitement to the Zoo everyday. Thank you!

A Tale of Two Docents

By Ingrid van Dijk & Judy Wheatley Maben

Ingrids's Story
I came to the zoo docent orientation out of curiosity and somewhat of an interest in becoming involved. During the course of the morning some of us attending were sitting around chatting and getting to know each other as women do.

In the course of the conversation we talked about where we live and upon hearing where I lived Judy mentioned that she used to be a science teacher at the local high school there. I perked up and then really looked at her name tag. I recalled a biology teacher named Judy but the last name was different. I blurted out the last name I remembered and she just stared at me in surprise. That had been her last name back then! So here we were, 30+ years later, teacher and student meeting up again in another "classroom"! We had a great time sharing our memories of those times. I brought in my yearbook and we both had some good laughs!

It just goes to show that you never know where you path might cross with someone from your younger years. It was great to have this common bond of interest in science still connecting us. Our time in the docent training program has been a chance to get to know each other on a new level: as equals rather than student-teacher.

Judy's Story
I think I have always been interested in animals, but it was a report on the flamingo for a high school biology class that really got me hooked. Who wouldn’t be charmed by a big orange bird that stands on one long, skinny leg while eating with its head upside down? And so I became a biologist, although most of my study subjects in college were nasty parasites. But when I started teaching high school I realized I needed more information about natural history and began taking classes at ARC and prowling around the Sacramento Zoo.

Becoming a zoo docent when I retired from my third career seemed natural. And more classes on animals…an added plus! One of the first ladies I met in the docent class looked me over carefully and asked if I hadn’t been a teacher at Cordova High School, where she had gone to school. Ingrid was in my teaching partner’s class, not mine, but we all were together on most days of lectures and labs. I was amazed she recognized me all these years later, in spite of age lines and blond hair that didn’t used to be blond.

Granted it is a small world, but it was an extra pleasure for me to learn that someone who had been in our biology program still retained a curiosity about animals and science, and had a desire to help others appreciate nature. Getting to know Ingrid as a “grown-up” has been a delight.

AmeriCorps - Behind the Scenes

By Christina Vuong, AmeriCorps Volunteer

An AmeriCorps NCCC Team's Perspective

How many of us can say that we have fed red pandas grapes? Or got "kissed" by a giraffe? Or been in an exhibit with lemur tails dangling in our faces? For two wonderfully exhausting weeks in January 2010, a team of ten AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) members have shadowed zookeepers and maintenance staff in various animal care and groundskeeping areas. We performed tasks ranging from preparing animal diets, hosing down animal dens, pulling out cattails around Lake Victoria, laying down sod in a new tortoise exhibit, moving dirt into the chimpanzee exhibit, raking, and planting trees.

Sure, the work was not always glamorous, but it afforded us an intimate look at zoo operations that few get to experience. We had fun commiserating over the worst animal poop to scoop (FYI it was a tie between the giraffe's and snow leopard's) and the grossest duty (scooping up dead crickets). Being able to offset some of the tedious cleaning labor zookeepers had to do daily allowed them extra time to focus on animal enrichment and training. For example, with the extra manpower in accomplishing routine tasks, hoofstock keepers were able to work on coaxing a shy giraffe to the viewing platform to prepare her for upcoming feedings from the public.

Working at the Sacramento Zoo posed challenges to each of us not only physically, but mentally. One Corps Member who shall remain unnamed, was deathly afraid of snakes, even as they were safely in their cages. For him, working in Reptiles forced him to confront his fears, even if it was only for a few seconds at a time as he was cleaning the glass windows.

We quickly came to the conclusion that zookeepers have the strongest (or the worst, as one zookeeper quipped) backs of any profession, from all the time they spend bent over and shoveling. We were impressed by the labor of love which they carry out, 365 days a year.

For one Corps Member in particular, Finley Janes, her time at the Zoo solidified her interest in pursuing animal science as a course of study in college. She rattles off the different animals she learned about each day. "I love the zoo so much!" Finley's infectious enthusiasm carries over us all.

We were privileged to be working alongside staff so dedicated to the comfort and well-being of the animals and zoo visitors, and who were so willing to share their knowledge and humor with us. It was an adventure through and through. Although our team was assigned to the Sacramento Zoo for only two weeks, we certainly look forward to coming back and volunteering when our team is stationed in the Sacramento area. And we certainly will be there to see the new anteater baby come springtime!

Thanks for a wonderful time!

AmeriCorps NCCC is part of AmeriCorps, a network of national service programs created to improve the environment, enhance education, increase public safety, and assist with disaster relief and other unmet human needs. The Pacific Region campus, located in Sacramento, Calif., serves Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and the Pacific territories. The Sacramento campus is one of five campuses in the United States; the others are located in Denver, Colo., Perry Point, Md., Vicksburg, Miss., and Vinton, Iowa.

NCCC members must be 18-24 years old and must complete at least 1,700 hours of community service during the 10-month program. In exchange for their service, they receive $5,350 to help pay for college or to pay student loans. AmeriCorps is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service. For information about applying to an AmeriCorps program, call 1-800-942-2677 (1-800-94-ACORP) or visit the website at www.americorps.gov