Since its construction in 1974, the Lehigh Valley Zoo has attracted admirers of a wide array of animals, big and small.
It is now home to nearly 300 animals representing more than 100 species — from otters, sloths, snakes and turtles to bobcats, camels, kangaroos and ostriches.
The roster of residents continues to grow with the zoo’s first hatching of penguin chicks in September and the expected arrival of two Masai giraffes, another zoo first, next year.
The additions are significant for a variety reasons, including an expected attendance boost and conservation efforts.
The African penguins, which are native to Namibia and South Africa, are endangered.
Their numbers are declining due to several factors, including development, oil pollution and a reduction in the penguins’ food supply because of to commercial fishing.
“This is a big deal not only for the zoo, but also for African penguins in general,” says Melissa Borland, zoo president and CEO.
BirdLife International, a group that tracks worldwide bird populations, estimates the African penguin worldwide population to be around 26,000 breeding pairs, and between 75,00 and 80,000 total birds.
The zoo’s breeding of parents Greer (mom) and Thulani (dad) was an important step in the endangered species’ survival plan.
“When we first got [African penguins] at the zoo about eight years ago, they were only classified as vulnerable,” says Richard Rosevear, the zoo’s director of animal operations. “Their population is down almost 90 percent since the early 1900s. There used to be millions of them.”
The chicks, which will be named by the public by nominations and voting, hatched three days apart — a male on Sept. 16 and a female on Sept. 19.
So as not to disturb the penguin family during their initial bonding, keepers waited until the second chick hatched before weighing of the small birds.
On its hatch day, the female chick weighed 70 grams (about 2.5 ounces) while the male chick hatched three days earlier was 151 grams (just over 5 ounces).
Most adult African penguins top out at seven to 10 pounds, Rosevear says.
“After the chicks were born, the parents took good care of them and were very attentive,” he adds. “At first, they fed the chicks regurgitated fish and then eventually, they fed them whole fish. Once they reached whole fish, we started feeding them.”
In the wild, African penguins eat a marine diet consisting of about 25 species of fish, crustaceans and squid.
At the zoo, they are fed previously frozen herring, smelt, sardines and capelin twice daily. A vitamin is provided to each penguin to compensate for nutrients that may be lacking in their diet.
Held in stalls inside the exhibit’s Jaindl Penguin Pavilion until they can learn how to swim, the chicks are fed three times a day in accordance with their weight that day, keeper Elizabeth Bernardo says.
Rosevear estimates they should be able to swim and join the 14-bird colony outside sometime in December. But even if that is the case, the public may not be able to see them on certain days, because the penguins are brought inside when temperatures fall below freezing.
If temperatures are between 32 and 35 degrees, the penguins are given access to the exhibit’s building, which is kept at around 65 degrees and features swimming and dry areas.
African penguins are generally friendly toward the zoo’s keepers, who they’ve acclimated to, but “some staff could show you scars,” jokes Rosevear, referencing the birds’ razor-sharp beaks.
Some interesting facts about African penguins: their lifespan in the wild is about 20 years; they can stay under water about 15 minutes; they have about 70 feathers per square inch, which gives them insulation and an almost “waterproof suit;” and they make a loud sound reminiscent of a donkey bray, which led to their nickname “jackass penguins.”
The two young Masai giraffes, which are coming from Kansas City Zoo, originally were expected to join Lehigh Valley Zoo’s lineup this summer. But delays associated with the 23-foot-tall barn’s construction pushed their tentative arrival date back to late May 2017.
“We found some piping that we had to reroute,” Borland says. “As a result, the completion date was moved back into the colder months. And giraffes cannot be transported in temperatures below 55 degrees.”
Last December, the zoo started a capital campaign to raise $700,000 for the giraffe exhibit.
It has raised around $500,000 through private donations and community initiatives such as a Jingle for Giraffes coin collection campaign, Jeans for Giraffes company dress-down days and an Adopt-a-Giraffe program that comes with a plush giraffe and children’s passes to the zoo.
The barn, which will feature two bedrooms and a day room where visitors can see the animals during inclement weather, is about 50 percent complete.
“It may or may not be finished by the end of the year,” Borland says. “We’ve slowed it down because now we’re waiting for the spring. There’s no reason to rush the contractors.”
As has been the case at other zoos, the addition of Masai giraffe, the tallest land mammal, is expected to boost attendance at the Schnecksville zoo. There are fewer than 37,000 of the giraffes remaining in the wild.
Zoo officials expect the giraffe exhibit to draw an additional 60,000 visitors in the first year, generating about $400,000, Borland says.
According to Alan Sironen, a member of the Zoological Association of America’s board of directors, giraffes have been responsible for a 5 percent attendance jump at the Dallas Zoo in Texas, and 10 percent increase at the Central Florida Zoo near Orlando.
“The take-home message is that [giraffes] can be revenue generators,” says Sironen, owner of Zoo Consultants International, an Ohio company specializing in animal exhibit planning and transportation.
The year-round giraffe exhibit will be phase 1 in a three-year plan to expand the zoo’s African offerings, which already include zebras and a few other species.
The expectation is that increased attendance from the giraffes will help fund phase 2, a lion exhibit. Phase 3 would introduce other African animals such as hyrax, wildebeests, leopards and Aldabra tortoises.
Over the next 10 to 15 years, Borland says there are plans to revitalize the entire zoo, including updating the Australian exhibits and opening an Asian area with snow leopards, primates, red pandas and Komodo dragons.
610-820-6597
LEHIGH VALLEY ZOO
*What: A 29-acre zoo in the center of the Trexler Nature Preserve. It is home to nearly 300 animals representing more than 100 species, from camels and ostriches to kangaroos and zebras.
*Where: 5150 Game Preserve Road, Schnecksville
*When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily
*How much: Admission: $10; free, under age 2.
*Info: 610-799-417; lvzoo.org
