On August 3rd, Greer and Thulani began nesting in an area provided to them to ensure a safe location for this endeavor. Greer (Mom) laid an egg on August 9th and another on August 12th. Thulani (Dad) watched closely at the entrance to the nesting chamber while Greer sat on the eggs to keep them warm and safe.

In the first few days Thulani and Greer maintained their post, with Thulani bringing fish to Greer so she could eat while incubating the eggs. Thulani, however, soon took turns with Greer, giving her a break to get up and move around and get food for herself. As the days went on, the penguins continued to share egg care duties even to the point of fussing over who was to do the sitting. Keepers started hearing peeping coming from the egg(s) on September 13th and the first egg was pipped (when a chick’s beak breaks a hole in the egg shell) the next day.

The first endangered African penguin chick hatched at Lehigh Valley Zoo occurred on September 16th and, like clockwork, the second hatched on the 19th.

Greer and Thulani continue their parental duties keeping the chicks warm and feeding them regurgitated fish as they ask for it.

In order to disturb the penguin family as little as possible during their initial bonding, Keepers waited until the second chick was hatched before weighing either of them to make sure all was going well. On its hatch day, the second chick weighed 70 grams (~2.5 oz.) while the one hatched three days earlier was already 151 grams (just over 5 oz.).

Ten days later they weigh 376.12 grams (13 oz.) and 520 grams (18 oz.), respectively.

Washington Post – Pennsylvania zoo introduces new additions to penguin colony

Lehigh Valley Live –  Meet the chicks: Penguins born at Lehigh Valley Zoo

WFMZ-TV – Meet the Lehigh Valley Zoo’s newest residents

July 20, 2016, Schnecksville, PA – Lehigh Valley Zoo is excited to announce the grand opening of its new turtle pond on Saturday, July 23^rd at 10:30 am.

The Zoo’s newest exhibit is a self-supporting pond where guests can view four Western pond turtles as well as other potential inhabitants such as frogs, toads, snails, and dragonflies. Various aquatic and wetland plants help create a complete ecosystem in and surrounding the pond area.

Western pond turtles are an endangered species and one of the initial four species chosen by the AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) for the SAFE Program (Saving Animals from Extinction). Major threats to this turtle species include habitat loss, predation, and disease.

According to AZA, over $600,000 has been invested into Western pond turtle conservation to date, and within that timeframe nine AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums participated in a variety of field conservation projects benefiting these turtles.

Zoo guests are invited to stop by the turtle pond on Saturday to see the newest additions to the Zoo family. The Zoo plans to add additional native turtle species to the pond in the future.

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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.

July 13, 2016, Schnecksville, PA – Lehigh Valley Zoo invites members of the press to attend our ground breaking ceremony and press conference for the construction of our new giraffe barn on Monday, July 18^th at 10:30 am at the Zoo. This ceremony marks the beginning of the building process for the giraffe barn, which will become the new home of two Masai giraffes slated to arrive at the Zoo this Fall. Zoo President, Melissa Borland, will hold the press conference and will be available to answer questions from members of the press at this time. The general public is also welcome to attend with paid admission.

The Masai giraffe is the largest subspecies of giraffe and the tallest land mammal.  There are fewer than 37,000 remaining in the wild, though recent reports of significant poaching and the bush meat trade would suggest the number is likely to be significantly less.  The primary threat to the Masai giraffe is habitat loss as a result of the expanding human population. In keeping with our mission to be a leader in conservation programs, Lehigh Valley Zoo’s aim is to safeguard a population of giraffes in human care alongside a sustainable population in the wild.

The Masai giraffes’ home at Lehigh Valley Zoo will feature opportunities for zoo guests to get up-close and personal with the animals, who are easy to interact with, through a feeding station that will be built into an elevated platform. This endeavor is a first step in a plan to expand and enhance the African trail section of the Zoo.

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

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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.

July 7, 2016, Schnecksville, PA – Lehigh Valley Zoo’s resident golden eagle recently welcomed a new roommate as a young bald eagle joined her in the Zoo’s North American section. This bald eagle—like many of the Zoo’s raptors—comes to the Zoo from licensed rehabilitators. It was originally taken in by the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, Missouri, where veterinarians diagnosed it with a fractured elbow. It was successfully nursed back to health but the injury was so severe it was unable to fly. Unflighted, it would be unable to hunt, making survival in the wild impossible. In such cases zoos can provide a safe, permanent home where medical and nutritional needs can be properly met.

Guests should know that at first glance, it may look like a second golden eagle has moved in—but don’t worry—even experienced birders can make such a mistake. That’s because bald eagles go through several color stages as they mature. At about a year old, their plumage looks very similar to a golden eagle, but it takes up to five years for bald eagles to develop their more recognizable adult coloring. As a bald eagle ages, its body color goes from mottled brown and white to a solid deep brown, its head changes from charcoal black to bright white, and its beak goes from black to yellow. Even its eyes change colors, going from dark brown as a juvenile to bright yellow as an adult.

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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.

June 30, 2016, Schnecksville, PA – Lehigh Valley Zoo and Pennsylvania Bat Rescue will release a rehabilitated Northern Long-Eared bat back into the wild on Thursday, June 30^th at 8:45 pm (weather permitting). The Zoo has teamed up with these local bat experts to assist and participate in their bat conservation, research and rescue programs. The bat is identified as one of several threatened species of bats in the area and was found at a bat box with a torn wing. The weak and injured bat was brought back to health through the dedicated and expert care provided at Pennsylvania Bat Rescue and is now ready to be returned to the wild.

As part of an ongoing partnership, Steph Stronsick of Pennsylvania Bat Rescue and a Lehigh Valley Zoo Keeper will be performing periodic releases of rehabilitated bats at the Zoo. “Bats are a crucial component of the local ecological systems and also our economy,” noted Rich Rosevear, Director of Animal Operations at the Lehigh Valley Zoo. “Bats are the only mammal that can truly fly and—in our area—they eat insects. With the capacity for an individual to eat as much as 1,200 flying insects an hour, they provide a natural control of pest insects.”

Since 2008, bats in Pennsylvania have been plagued with white nose syndrome, a fungal disease which attacks them during hibernation. There has been a 99 percent decline in the population of the six species of hibernating bats in Pennsylvania. The little brown bat was one of Pennsylvania’s most common species. It is now believed to be a 99.9 percent loss of this species due to white nose syndrome for which there is not a cure.

A team of specialists, including bat researcher Kate Harms of Rodale Institute, bat expert Karen Campbell and her students from Albright College, and bat rehabilitator, Steph Stronsick are working with Zoo staff to monitor bat species at Lehigh Valley Zoo and Trexler Nature Preserve. Kate is conducting a comparative study of bat activity in different landscape uses to develop organic insect pest management strategies. The project is supported by NE SARE and Ian Somerhalder Foundation grants. The team has done acoustic monitoring and investigated active roosting sites at the Zoo and Preserve. Monitoring will continue and enhancements for bat roosting will be discussed.

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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

It’s a time for hope and celebration at the Lehigh Valley Zoo— and for conservationists worldwide—as 25 scimitar horned oryx are reintroduced to their natural habitat in Chad, Africa after being extinct in the wild for almost 30 years.

As a longtime champion and award-winning participant in the mission for saving the scimitar horned oryx, a species of antelope, Lehigh Valley Zoo holds an active role in the preparation for this landmark event. Five oryx currently reside at the Zoo, including the two calves that were born there in the past year.

In fact, some lucky guests of the Lehigh Valley Zoo may remember the miraculous moment in April, 2015, when a scimitar horned oryx calf was born in front of onlookers at the Zoo’s Party for the Planet event. Along with being a rare and exciting moment for those present, the birth played a crucial role in a global effort to save a disappearing species.

In cooperation with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), Lehigh Valley Zoo manages the herd of scimitar horned oryx through the Species Survival Plan (SSP) Program. Originally a holding facility for the program, the Zoo sent a prime breeding male to another AZA zoo for breeding in 2010 as a recommendation of the SSP. That oryx has since sired more than nine offspring, and in 2013, Lehigh Valley Zoo brought in female oryx and became an additional breeding facility to help bolster the population.

The possibility exists that oryx born to Lehigh Valley Zoo oryx past and present may one day get to return to their natural habitat in Africa.

“Conservation and saving species from extinction are core ideals of Lehigh Valley Zoo,” said Richard Rosevear, general curator at the Zoo. “We are privileged to be part of a program that is

reintroducing a species, which was extinct in the wild, to its native range.”

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.

“We are so proud to have been a part of such a monumental, historical event,” stated Melissa Borland, Lehigh Valley Zoo President.  “Accredited Zoos play a major role in supporting the sustainability of endangered animals in the wild.  To know that such a global impact is being made right here in the Lehigh Valley is something I think we can all be proud of.”

An initial group of 25 scimitar horned oryx were initially released in March into a large fenced area at the Ouadi Rime-Oudi Achim Game Reserve in Chad and are being acclimated in that area for full release into the wild this Summer.

Of course, this does not mean that scimitar horned oryx are necessarily safely reestablished in the wild. “Reintroduced oryx will have to be monitored to see that the herds are self-sustainable and will have to be protected from poaching,” added Rosevear.

In all, there are expected to be 500 of these beautiful animals released into the wild over the next five years.

Lehigh Valley Zoo is pleased to announce that two penguin eggs have been laid and are being tended by our mating couple of African penguins, named Thulani and Greer, within the Zoo’s Jaindl Penguin Pavilion. This is an exciting and hopeful time for Zoo staff and conservationists worldwide, as this arrival of potential hatchlings marks a planned step in the endangered penguins’ Species Survival Plan (SSP).

As conservation programs, SSPs are designed to maintain sustainable populations in accredited zoos and aquariums and where there is need and suitable habitat, they also provide for reintroduction of species into the wild. As an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), Lehigh Valley Zoo is a cooperating facility for AZA’s SSP for the African penguin. All African penguins at Lehigh Valley Zoo are designated as part of this SSP, and Thulani and Greer were earmarked by the program for breeding based on their known genetics.

To facilitate the breeding process, “The Lehigh Valley Zoo Animal Care team established Thulani and Greer with a situation that would allow them to bond and then provided materials the birds would need for nesting,” explained Richard Rosevear, General Curator at the Zoo. “The pair did, in fact, mate and produce eggs. Animal Care monitors the birds to ensure they properly care for the eggs.”

African penguins are monogamous and typically mate for life—and these proud parents take turns with nesting duties and will also share in care of the hatchlings when they arrive. African penguin eggs have an incubation period of about 38 to 42 days and chicks are expected to leave the nest within 60 to 130 days.

“All is well and Thulani and Greer both tend the eggs,” reports Rosevear. “Thulani has brought food to Greer when she has stayed on the nest. The penguins will continue to be monitored through incubation and hatching to make sure the chicks’ care is maintained.”

African penguins are an endangered species and their populations have shown a sharp decline over the past 100 years. Penguin eggs are under multiple threats in the wild, including habitat destruction and nest abandonment. Without the conservation efforts of organizations like AZA and Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), penguin population numbers would continue to decline. AZA and 50 accredited zoos and aquariums collectively manage 800 African penguins in safe environments as an assurance population (to prevent extinction) and facilitate carefully planned breeding to bolster the population. SANCCOB efforts include the rescue, rehabilitation, hand-raising and release of abandoned, injured, ill or oiled African penguins, eggs and chicks.

While there are never any guarantees in these situations, the public is encouraged to check social media and the Zoo’s website for any announcements regarding the progress of these potential hatchlings. “We are hopeful that these are two viable eggs and that the Zoo will be able to announce good news in coming weeks,” stated Zoo President, Melissa Borland.

The Lehigh Valley Zoo recently welcomed another new addition to the family. A baby bison (calf) was born on the land surrounding the Zoo—the Trexler Nature Preserve—on the afternoon of May 19th. This joyous event not only intensifies the Zoo’s cuteness factor, but it carries unique significance because, only 10 days prior on May 9th, President Obama signed the National Bison Legacy Act into law. The Act names the American Bison as the national mammal of the United States and places it in the ranks of the Bald Eagle— as a symbol of our country and a major conservation success story.

The calf and mom are being monitored by Lehigh Valley Zoo animal care staff as they roam the hillsides of the 1,100-acre Trexler Nature Preserve which surrounds the Zoo property. Lehigh Valley Zoo is contracted by Lehigh County to care for the elk and bison in the Trexler Nature Preserve. Also included in the County’s contract with the Zoo are palomino horses, which reside within the Zoo.

When asked about the health of the new baby, Richard Rosevear, General Curator at Lehigh Valley Zoo, noted the following. “The bison are, essentially, a wild herd of unpredictably temperamental animals. The Zoo’s animal care team is watching the calf and mother closely to ensure that they are thriving in their natural wild habitat. Our goal is to allow the mother and herd to take care of the calf on their own. To date, the calf appears to be doing well.”

Bison calves can weigh up to 40 or 50 pounds at birth and adults can range between 1,000 and 2,000 pounds. In contrast to the dark brown fur of adults, bison calves have reddish fur and can walk and even run within three hours of their birth. The baby and mother can be seen with the herd in the Preserve.

“President Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt, along with Lehigh County resident General Harry C. Trexler, were the original conservation leaders. General Trexler had the conservation wisdom to protect the American Bison from over hunting and created the Trexler Game Preserve. From 1911 through today, our County has been home to a herd of bison. The calf is a reminder of how our County supports protecting species from extinction,” stated a County representative. He continued by urging the public to, “Visit the Zoo, drive through the beautiful Preserve, see the bison, and remember to bring your camera.”