Tatu the Giraffe 

Lehigh Valley Zoo’s mission is to help save species from extinction through animal conservation leadership and to provide leadership in conservation science by celebrating, studying, and protecting wildlife and their habitats. Since 1980 there has been a 40% drop in the giraffe population and giraffes are considered an endangered species. The primary threats to the Masai Giraffe is habitat loss as a result of expanding human populations and poaching. “Offering space and expert animal care to Tatu is another way our zoo participates in the international effort to protect this endangered species” said CEO/President Melissa Borland.

Lehigh Valley Zoo is located at 5150 Game Preserve Road, Schnecksville, PA 18078.

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About the Lehigh Valley Zoo:
As a member-supported non-profit organization, Lehigh Valley Zoological Society was founded in 2004, but as a treasured community landmark, the Zoo’s history spans over a century. Founded in 1906 by General Harry C. Trexler, a local industrialist, the Lehigh Valley’s Trexler Game Preserve has educated and entertained more than five million people.

Accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the Lehigh Valley Zoo hosts year-round, family-friendly events and activities, educational programs, and camps. With a mission to create a safe, engaging and enlightening wildlife experience for guests of all ages, the Zoo demonstrates leadership in the cultural, scientific and conservation communities. To learn more about Lehigh Valley Zoo, we invite you to visit our website, www.lvzoo.org, or follow us on Facebook.

Significant step in strategic goal of supporting global wild animal conservation

Schnecksville, PA – The Lehigh Valley Zoo announced today that it achieved a milestone in its long-range strategy of supporting wild animal conservation around the world by donating $11,152 to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. Lehigh Valley Zoo was able to make this donation because of the community’s outpouring of support for Murphy, the Lehigh Valley Zoo giraffe, and our guests’ love of this endangered species. Over 17,000 people experienced the Masai Giraffe feeding deck in its first three months of operation. Giraffe feeding ticket sales for June, July and August 2017 were tabulated – 100% of June proceeds and 10% of July and August proceeds comprise the funds for the $11,152 donation to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. Moving forward, 10% of the monthly feeding ticket sales will continue to be donated to giraffe conservation efforts.

“Our strategic plan is to safeguard wild animals in our care alongside supporting efforts to sustain endangered animals in the wild”, said Lehigh Valley Zoo president Melissa Borland. “We celebrate that Lehigh Valley Zoo guests enable us to contribute to the critical work of saving wild giraffes.”

As a thank you for helping make this donation to giraffe conservation possible, the zoo announced that free giraffe conservation pins will be given to the first 700 zoo guests on Saturday and Sunday, October 7th & 8th.

Since 1980 there has been a 40% drop in the giraffe population and giraffes are now considered an endangered species. The primary threats to the Masai Giraffe is habitat loss as a result of expanding human populations and poaching. The Giraffe Conservation Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Africa that monitors and tracks giraffes in the wild, educates local governments and citizens on ways to protect the giraffe’s environment, and campaigns globally to raise awareness regarding the giraffe’s endangered status. Thomas Leiden, President, Giraffe Conservation Foundation USA, upon receiving the donation wrote back, “Please thank everyone for their dedication and hard work to save giraffe in Africa. This donation will make a difference.”

Lehigh Valley Zoo is located at 5150 Game Preserve Road, Schnecksville, PA 18078.

Pictured from the left:  Janice Kavounas, Tricia Reed and Melissa Borland.

      Coldwell Banker Heritage Real Estate is a local, family owned and operated real estate company doing business in the Lehigh Valley, Pocono, Bucks County, Berks County and New Jersey areas for 40 years. This year, in addition to residential and commercial marketing/sales, relocation services and property management, they have ventured into supporting a different kind of home – the home of the Bobcat at the Lehigh Valley Zoo. Pictured above are Janice Kavounas, VP of Operations and Tricia Reed, Allentown Office Manager presenting Melissa Borland, President/CEO of the Lehigh Valley Zoo with their first donation as a result of a completed transaction through the Lehigh Valley Zoo Affinity Group at Coldwell Banker Heritage.

The Lehigh Valley Zoo is a non-profit organization located in the heart of the Trexler Nature Preserve in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Its core purpose is to help save species from extinction. They are accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the international organization that sets the highest standards for zoos and aquariums.  The Lehigh Valley Zoo works with the Species Survival Program (SSP) and AZA which allows them to provide quality care to many endangered species as well as share their resources and important conservation messaging with both their guests and in the field.

      Coldwell Banker Heritage Real Estate’s involvement with the zoo began with a phone call from Doreen Carl, Development Director of the Lehigh Valley Zoo. Doreen was on a mission seeking sponsors to support the zoo.

In addition to sponsoring the home of the bobcat, Janice Kavounas introduced the zoo to a new avenue for the generation of funds through the Coldwell Banker Heritage Affinity Program. Kavounas states, “Our Affinity Program is really a great opportunity for all non -profit organizations! It is very simple. Any organization with a 501(c)(3) status can become a member of our Affinity Program. As a member of our program, when the organization refers anyone to us for listing or selling real estate, we promise a donation in the amount of 20% of our income on the sale when the transaction closes.”

So, if you would like to support the zoo and you or someone you know has a need to sell or buy real estate, call Annette Roll, Director of Relocation Services at 610-398-3744 or email her at annette.roll@cbheritage.com. Simply state that you would like to buy or sell a property through the Lehigh Valley Zoo Affinity Group.

If your organization would like more information on how you can become a member of the Coldwell Banker Heritage Real Estate Affinity Program, contact Annette Roll. She will be happy to discuss the program with you.

Don’s plight was brought to the attention of the African Penguin Species Survival Plan (SSP) program which is charged with maintaining a genetically healthy and sustainable population of the species in zoos and aquariums. During their breeding and transfer planning Don’s situation was considered and it was decided to send her to Lehigh Valley Zoo where she would have an opportunity to become part of a new colony and, perhaps, find a companion.

Happily for Don, that is exactly what happened. After a brief period when the penguins were unsure of a stranger in their midst, Don became an accepted member of the Lehigh Valley Zoo colony. She, also, gained a regular companion in Clytee, a male penguin. This is an ideal situation since Don and Clytee are a possible breeding pair as determined by the African Penguin SSP program. The two will soon be encouraged to nest and, hopefully, produce some penguin chicks.

Penguins, Thulani and Greer hatched the first two endangered African penguin chicks at Lehigh Valley Zoo in September, 2016. The Zoo has hopes Don and Clytee will be every bit as successful.

African penguins are an endangered species due to loss of habitat and nesting sites, oil spills and decrease in food supply from overfishing. Lehigh Valley Zoo participates in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) African Penguin SSP program which recommends scientifically determined breeding and transfer of the birds in order to maintain a healthy genetic and sustainable population. Lehigh Valley Zoo is in support of African penguins in the wild and cooperates with AZA’s SAFE (Saving Animals From Extinction) Program, which has selected the African penguin as one of its signature species, to ensure its continued existence.

As a member-supported non-profit organization, Lehigh Valley Zoological Society was founded in 2004, but as a treasured community landmark, the Zoo’s history spans over a century. Founded in 1906 by General Harry C. Trexler, a local industrialist, the Lehigh Valley’s Trexler Game Preserve has educated and entertained more than five million people.
Accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the Lehigh Valley Zoo hosts year-round, family-friendly events and activities, educational programs, and camps. With a mission to create a safe, engaging and enlightening wildlife experience for guests of all ages, the Zoo demonstrates leadership in the cultural, scientific and conservation communities. To learn more about Lehigh Valley Zoo, we invite you to visit our website, www.lvzoo.org, or follow us on Facebook @LVZOO.

Fortunately, there was a population of scimitar horned oryx in zoos. These animals were selectively bred in the Species Survival Plan program to help provide genetically healthy animals to reintroduce in the wild. A group of 25 oryx were initially released in a large fenced area this past March in the Ouadi-Rimé Ouadi-Achim Faunal Reserve in the African nation of Chad. After a period of adjustment and having radio collars checked, the oryx were released to the open reserve. The herd was monitored and found to be adjusting very, well even having several births, so a second group of 23 oryx was released in January. It is planned to eventually establish a herd of 500 animals.

The Zoo’s ongoing efforts with the scimitar horned oryx were recognized on a global level in 2015, as the Zoo received Top Honors in the International Conservation Award for AZA Zoos Giving Voice to the Sahara: Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF) as a model for a zoo-driven conservation movement. This annual award recognizes exceptional efforts toward regional habitat preservation, species restoration and support of biodiversity in the wild. Lehigh Valley Zoo was proud to share in this award with 52 other zoos who are united under that mission. Conservation and saving species from extinction are core ideals of Lehigh Valley Zoo,” said Richard Rosevear, Director of Conservation and Animal Welfare at the Zoo. “This is our fourth oryx calf born at Lehigh Valley Zoo and we are privileged to be part of a program that is reintroducing a species, which was extinct in the wild, to its native range.”

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As a member-supported non-profit organization, Lehigh Valley Zoological Society was founded in 2004, but as a treasured community landmark, the Zoo’s history spans over a century. Founded in 1906 by General Harry C. Trexler, a local industrialist, the Lehigh Valley’s Trexler Game Preserve has educated and entertained more than five million people.

Accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the Lehigh Valley Zoo hosts year-round, family-friendly events and activities, educational programs, and camps. With a mission to create a safe, engaging and enlightening wildlife experience for guests of all ages, the Zoo demonstrates leadership in the cultural, scientific and conservation communities. To learn more about Lehigh Valley Zoo, we invite you to visit our website, www.lvzoo.org, or follow us on Facebook @LVZOO

Lehigh Valley Zoo participates in the Prehensile-tailed Porcupine Species Survival Plan (SSP), which is a cooperative, inter-zoo program coordinated nationally through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). SSPs are designed to maintain genetically diverse and demographically stable captive populations of species. This birth is the result of a recommended breeding between Jasmine and Quill, who are genetically valuable within the North American captive population.

Prehensile-tailed porcupines are primarily arboreal (tree-living), nocturnal animals native to Central and South America with an excellent sense of smell and hearing. Prehensile-tailed porcupines are born with their eyes open and a functional, prehensile tail. A baby prehensile-tailed porcupine looks very different than its parents. Its fur is copper red in color unlike the adults’ dark brown and black fur. One thing they have in common, however, is quills. Porcupettes are born with quills, but the quills are soft when they are first born but harden quickly, immediately preparing it for protection from predators. The prehensile-tailed porcupine differs from the North American porcupine (one of the North American Trail species at the Lehigh Valley Zoo) as they are smaller, more arboreal and have a long prehensile tail to help them navigate through the forest canopy.