Categories
Category: Environment
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RIP Thinker
If you’ve seen my photo titled The Thinker you’ve seen our zoo’s favorite chimp, Cinder.
Cinder suffered from a hereditary disease that caused her to lose her hair when she was young, though her health was good despite the loss. She’s a sweet tempered girl, and one of my favorite photo subjects, because her hairless state provides visual access to her fascinating physiology. Cinder also has the most expressive face.
Cinder and seven other of her chimp family members caught a cold last week. According to a press release, she looked like she was improving Sunday morning, and her appetite had returned. However, she collapsed, suddenly, Sunday afternoon, and couldn’t be saved.
I’ve spent hours in her company, sharing glances through glass, across the fields outdoors, her posing for many photos. I’m really going to miss my Thinker.
Categories
The Language of Flowers
Recovered from the Wayback Machine.
Yesterday I took what will most likely be my last photographs of the annual orchid show at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Though the flowers still charm, trying to focus all my attention through the lens while simultaneously avoid stepping on an elderly man, or rambunctious child, has proven too much and I decided yesterday the pictures taken will be my last.
The Missouri Botanical Gardens is celebrating its 150 year anniversary, and the show is focused on the Garden, itself, rather than on some whimsical tale or story. I think better of the show for returning focus to the Gardens, and for its simple and elegant design. In particular, I liked the foyer decoration this year, with its emphasis on Victorian and turn of the century gardens and flowers, centered on a collection of tussie mussies and an antique book the Garden people pulled out for inclusion in the show: the handmade booklet titled, “The Language of the Flowers”, given as a gift from husband to wife. The front of the book contains a lovely little poem, perfect for Valentine’s Day
There is a language ‘little known,’
Lovers claim it as their own.Its symbols smile upon the land,
Wrought by nature’s wondrous hand;And in their silent beauty speak,
Of life and joy, to those who seek.For Love Divine and sunny hours
In the language of the flowers.
Though the sophisticate may find the poem overly simple, he or she may change their mind when they look at the book where the poem is contained, and at the page after page of flower names and their meaning, all written out in the gift giver’s best copperplate, and each hand decorated.
The language of flowers had its roots throughout history, but in Victorian times, flowers and their meanings formed a new language, a secret form of communication between friends, lovers, and would be lovers. One could not say, “I love you” to a maiden, but one could imply his love with a gift of red roses. Whether the rose had its thorns or not provided a separate message, as did the number of petals and leaves. Gentlemen would send entire bouquets of different flowers, all combined to create a complex message, and a favorite parlor game was trying to decipher the message so given. What an elegant form of communication.
In the language of the flowers, an orchid means beauty and refinement, so my gift of beauty and refinement for you.
Categories
Babies
The St. Louis Zoo had an exceptional year when it came to zoo babies. As a Christmas treat, I give you the cute, the furry, the frolicking, and the fun.
Kalama was born in August, 2008. There are now only 2,200 Grevy’s Zebras in the wild, but there’s a healthy population in zoos. The same can also be said of our next baby, a giraffe who was famous literally from birth.
Typically giraffes will give birth in private, but not this time. This little guy was born in June, in front of an audience of hundreds. There’s even a YouTube video of his birth.
The St. Louis Zoo giraffes share an enclosure with Speke’s gazelles and the zoo’s sole ostrich. The ostrich and the baby have had a fascination each other from the beginning, and will take turns following each other around the enclosure. However, both are motivated by curiosity, not friendship, as the ostrich will peck at the giraffe, and the giraffe kick at the ostrich. However, neither hurts the other and they do seem to keep each other entertained.
Domestic asses are common, but wild asses are critically endangered. That’s why the zoo’s breeding program is so important. And successful, too! The zoo didn’t have one Somalia Wild Ass baby this year, it had three, including this little one, born in June.
The President of the zoo, Dr. Bonner, wrote that one of the problems the zoo has with the Somalia Wild Ass is their name— leaders of school groups aren’t sure about saying their name because of the negative connotations associated with “ass”. After reading this, every time I stop by the enclosure I chant, “Say it loud, say it proud: Ass! Ass! Ass!”
I have not been kicked out of the zoo. Yet.
The stars this year at the zoo have been the five Amur tiger cubs born April 28, and named Peter, Ivan, Andrea, Zhanna, and Tikva. The two males and three females have consistently been a hit with the crowds, and no wonder: they’re fascinating to watch. If you’re not familiar with Amur tiger, this species was originally named the Siberian tiger. They’re the largest cat in the world, and one of the rarest, so these five babies were greeted with relief, as well as delight.
The cubs’ Mom, Kalista is a first time mother, but has proven to be exceptional— managing to care for her rather large brood with only a small assist from the veterinary staff for a couple of the lower weight cubs.
Then there’s Sofiya. Sofiya is an Amur Leopard cub, the rarest cat in the world. She was a twin, but her brother did not survive birth. In addition, first time mother, Mona, rejected her daughter, and so Sofiya was hand raised by zoo staff.
Sofiya is lovable and charming, playful and clever. She’s fearless and funny, and astute and will stalk birds flying overhead and enamored photographers with equal enthusiasm.
Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year.
Recovered from the Wayback Machine.
The St. Louis Zoo is a favorite place of mine, but the web site for the Zoo doesn’t provide all the back stories to the animals. Or at least, not as many as I would like.
Happily, I spotted a story on the Amur Tiger cubs’ father, Khuntami by Dr. Jeffrey Bonner, in St. Louis Today—the latest in a year long series on the Zoo. I asked the St. Louis Today for links to the other articles, and the site was kind enough to link the others in.
This is a wonderful series, which I now see is also linked more prominently at the Zoo site. What I especially like about the series is that it focuses on the Zoo’s conservation efforts, rather than the “entertainment” items, so many other zoos feature so prominently. For instance, the Amur tiger cubs are winners with the public, true. How could they not be? What’s more important, though, is that the Amur tiger is one of the rarest cats in the world, and these five tiger cubs are especially critical for the program to save this endangered cat. The cubs’ father, Khuntami, was born in the wild, and orphaned as a cub. His genetic contribution to the Amur Tiger breeding program has been invaluable in the desperate attempt to save this beautiful cat.
But yeah, OK, they are cute little buggers.
