Zoo animals stay busy during closure
Zoo residents receive extra enrichment opportunities during COVID-19 closure
Sequoia Park Zoo in Eureka remains closed to the public amid the COVID-19 crisis, but life inside the gates remains busy with not only daily animal care, but lots of extra attention and activities for zoo residents.
“The zoo animals are doing well and enjoying spring, but most are wondering where their adoring fans went,” said Amanda Auston, animal curator, in an email interview with the Times-Standard.
“The river otters — three brothers, Etu, Takota and Toblerone — and the blackheaded spider monkeys, Jake and Candy, especially miss interacting with visitors, and will be glad when we are allowed to reopen,” Auston said. “The animals in the Barnyard area — Grover the goat and miniature horses Star and Lucky especially — are also missing all their friends who come to pet and brush them daily.”
During the temporary closure, animal care staffers are on hand every day tending to the zoo’s residents — all the while following safety and health guidelines.
“They have been diligent to follow safety procedures to protect each other by rearranging shifts to allow for more distance in work areas, using masks and gloves where necessary and disinfecting surfaces,” said Sequoia Park Zoo Director Gretchen Ziegler. “Further precautions are taken to protect primates and otters, which appear to be susceptible to this virus, to ensure their safety.”
In addition to animal caretakers, Ziegler says a few educators are on the grounds providing virtual field trips for schoolchildren around the country. Construction has also started on the “Redwood Sky Walk” project, she said.
“Groundskeepers come in less frequently to deep clean, maintain lawns and prepare for eventual reopening,” Ziegler added.
As of yet, there’s not a solid reopen date for the zoo, she said.
“Once the county officials give us the green light, we will announce our plans for when and how you can visit us again,” Ziegler said.
She added: “Everyone here at the zoo is eager to open our gates and welcome guests back. That includes our animals, who miss observing and interacting with people. … It has been lonely and surreal without the people to whom Sequoia Park Zoo belongs — our generous and supportive community.”
In anticipation of the eventual reopening, zoo staff are busy putting into place more safety measures, Ziegler said, including hand sanitizers, barriers around areas where social distancing will be difficult and more.
“We have been refining our plan for reopening the zoo as new information becomes available, and are getting some good ideas for creative solutions from zoos in other states that have already been allowed to reopen,” Ziegler said. “The zoo profession is wonderfully collaborative in this way, helping all facilities succeed. Zoo staff are hard at work preparing the zoo to be a safe experience for all, including our susceptible animals such as primates and otters.”
In the meantime, employees are keeping the animals entertained with extra enrichment opportunities, Auston said.
“The miniature horses go
for regular walks around the zoo to visit the otters and the monkeys,” she said. “The Barnyard animals are going out to the peccary yard for some fresh spring grass. The spider monkeys even got to FaceTime some spider monkeys at another zoo, which was as much for the keepers as it was for the monkeys. Two of our Chacoan peccaries turned 20 years old recently, making them some of the oldest peccaries in the country. We celebrated with a birthday party. All the animals are getting extra attention and activities from their keepers while we are closed.” (To see a video of peccaries Greg and Ian celebrating their birthdays, go to www.facebook.com/ SequoiaParkZoo.)
The otters at the zoo are fed four to five times a day, both in their exhibit area and in a behind-the-scenes resting area, Auston said. To add fun and foraging opportunities to their day, staffers hide the otters’ food around their exhibit, in their pond and in toys.
“The red pandas are crepuscular, meaning they are most active in the morning and evening,” Auston said. “Therefore, we feed them their fresh cut bamboo,
along with specially formulated biscuits, at the beginning and end of the day. The bamboo is placed in many locations around their exhibit daily, which gives them the opportunity to forage like they would in the wild. The bamboo is donated by locals who have an abundance in their yards and (is) supplemented with bamboo we grow on zoo grounds. … If you have extra bamboo in your yard you’d like to donate, please contact lmiller@ci.eureka.ca.gov.”
Auston continued: “The spider monkeys now have both their exhibit, the primate shift enclosure and what was previously the gibbon exhibit all to themselves. This provides keepers many opportunities to place food all around their exhibits, give them different toys and food puzzles daily and new ropes and climbing opportunities.”
During the COVID-19 closure, the zoo’s biggest challenge is the deepening budget crisis, made severe because of the shelter in place closures, Ziegler said.
“About 20 percent of our operating budget is offset through admissions, memberships, programs and re-
tail sales. The rest is provided through the city of Eureka’s general fund, which comes primarily from sales and tourist tax revenues. These have taken a massive hit since March, and we are expected to have to make deep cuts to our budget for the upcoming fiscal year and probably beyond. Challenges with workflow for those working from home are real, too, but these pale in comparison to the budget issues we will be facing.”
To stay connected with the community for now, zoo staff and the Sequoia Park
Zoo Foundation marketing team are sending out regular zoo-related posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram including “some very cool videos of the animals doing their thing,” Ziegler said.
“Meanwhile,” she said, “our website is undergoing a complete overhaul and will be loaded with lots of great information and content soon.”
Established in 1907, Sequoia Park Zoo is the oldest zoo in California and one of the smallest accredited zoos in the country. For more information about supporting Sequoia Park Zoo by becoming a member or making a donation, go to sequoiaparkzoo.net.