ZOO MANAGEMENT ARTICLES

Understanding Python Mating: The Role of Pelvic Spurs

If you ever need a reminder that snakes have a sense of drama, spend a breeding season watching a male python pursue a female twice his size. For all our talk about reptiles being “cold” or “simple,” nothing about their courtship behaviour is either of those things. And recently, inside the Indian Rock Python enclosure…

Innovative Nesting: Burrowing Behavior of Rose-Ringed Parakeets

If you ever need reminding that birds are far more inventive than we give them credit for, spend some time watching rose-ringed parakeets in a large, mixed aviary. They may look like cheerful green blurs with predictable habits, but beneath that familiar exterior sits a very adaptable little mind. And earlier last year, in the…

Zookeepers: The People Who Actually Run the Zoo

Most visitors think zoos are run by directors, veterinarians, or occasionally by whatever animal happens to be the most visible that day. In reality, the zoo runs on a far less glamorous unit of energy: zookeepers. They arrive before the gates open, leave after the crowds thin out, and spend most of their working hours…