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You are here: Home / Archives for The Louisville Zoo

Animal’s Paint at the Louisville Zoo and You Can Buy Their Artwork!

May 11, 2009 by Joi Sigers Leave a Comment

Mikki Paints 2

Holding the paint brush steady, Mikki gently touches the canvas adding her final stroke and smearing orange paint through vibrant green. Mikki has been painting more than 15 years and has painted more than 200 works of art. She is no ordinary artist, though. Mikki is a 9,000-pound female African elephant who uses her trunk like a hand to hold a paint brush to create her masterpieces.

Visitors to the Louisville Zoo can now get their very own Mikki masterpiece at the Zoo’s new Nature’s Gift Shoppe located inside the African Outpost restaurant. This store features works of art by some of the Zoo’s most popular animals (elephant Mikki, gorilla Jelani and orangutan Segundo).

Keepers at the Louisville Zoo strive each and every day to enrich the lives of the animals for which they care. In order to do so, they add interesting activities like painting to the animals’ daily routines. Enrichment activities are fun for everyone – animals, visitors and keepers. With our animal art enrichment, animals are given nontoxic, environmentally-safe materials and the option to paint if they choose to do so (and positive reinforcement for a job well done!).

The new store also features fair-trade products from around the world from South America to Asia including hand knit animal finger puppets from the Andes Mountains in Peru, handmade baskets from Bangladesh and tree-free paper journals from artists in India.

There are also sheep wool toys, purses, booties and baby hats that are made in Mongolia with proceeds going toward the Snow Leopard Trust and improving the livelihood of the impoverished families who live in the region. The new store also carries elephant-friendly ivory products (which look like ivory but come from the tagua nut that grows from a type of South American palm tree). Other available items include Himalayan jewelry, natural seed jewelry from artists in Antigua, hand woven pillows and purses from India and much more.

The sale of these fair-trade products helps people in developing countries move toward economic self-sufficiency and stability.

Prices for the one-of-a-kind animal artwork range from $25 for a 5-inch-by-7-inch painted canvas to $250 for a 20-inch-by-30-inch painted canvas, and fair-trade products start as low as $1.

Proceeds of animal art purchases benefit the Zoo’s animal enrichment programs and conservation efforts. Nature’s Gift Shoppe is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

MEET THE ARTISTS!

Mikki
Female African elephant Mikki was born in 1985 and arrived at the Louisville Zoo on July 28, 1987, from the wild.

She became a mom in 2007 to Scotty, the Zoo’s first elephant born in the Zoo’s 40 year history.

Her favorite activity besides painting is eating!

Mikki has been painting more than 15 years and has painted more than 200 works of art. She uses her trunk like a hand and holds a paint brush to paint her masterpieces, which are always a rainbow of colors.

Jelani
Jelani, a blackback gorilla born at Lincoln Park Zoo in 1997, arrived at Louisville Zoo in 2002. Jelani currently resides with three other blackbacks – Bengati, Kicho and Cecil. He is a laid-back individual, but enjoys rough play and daring antics at times. He enjoys the company of all of the blackbacks of the group, and he can often be seen playfully chest beating with one hand when interacting with other group members.

Jelani has been finger painting for more than four years. His keepers say it is an outlet of his artistic expression and that it is enjoyable enrichment for Jelani.

Segundo
Segundo is a 21-year-old male Sumatran orangutan who was born at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas. He has been at the Louisville Zoo for about 12 years.

You can tell Segundo apart from our other male orangutan at the Louisville Zoo because Segundo doesn’t have a throat sac. It was removed when he was about 15 years old due to air sacculitis, an infection within an orangutan’s air sac. Segundo was only the fifth orangutan in North America to undergo a throat sac removal.

Segundo is quiet and shy and likes to hang out and spend time with his keepers. His favorite foods are ripe pears and believe it or not, lima beans!

Segundo really enjoys painting, but once he begins, watch out – he likes to not only paint the canvas, but the walls and everything near him.

Click on each of the thumbnails to see the larger versions. I would love to fill our entire home with these beautiful pieces – I’d have an animal’s painting in each room. The Louisville Zoo is beyond amazing the things they have to enrich their animals’ lives never ceases to amaze me.


Jelani's Painting
Mikki Paints
 

***
The Louisville Zoo, a non-profit organization and state zoo of Kentucky, is dedicated to bettering the bond between people and our planet by providing excellent care for animals, a great experience for visitors, and leadership in scientific research and conservation education. The Zoo is accredited by the American Association of Museums (AAM) and by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). For more information, visit www.louisvillezoo.org.

The information and pictures are courtesy of the Louisville Zoo and I’d love to thank them for sharing.

Filed Under: The Louisville Zoo Tagged With: Louisville Knetucky, Louisville Zoo, The Louisville Zoo

Happy Birthday, Timmy!

January 9, 2009 by Joi Sigers Leave a Comment

Timmy, The Louisville Zoo Gorilla

Happy Birthday, you living doll! The gorgeous western lowland gorilla pictured in this post is the oldest male gorilla in North America. His name is Timmy and I’m beyond mad about him. He’s the pride and joy of The Louisville Zoo and he’s having a birthday – He’ll turn 50 on January 17th. Is that a milestone or what?!

From The Louisville Zoo:
Timmy, a western lowland gorilla, will be celebrating his special milestone indoors at Louisville Zoo’s Gorilla Forest on Saturday, January 17.

The party begins at 11 a.m. when Timmy will be given a custom-made ice sculpture cake created and donated by Galt House Hotel and Suites Executive Chef Brian Riddle. Other gorillas will also be celebrating the momentous occasion with special treats, and gorilla keepers will be available throughout the day to interact and take questions from guests.

In celebration of Timmy’s milestone and the Zoo’s recent announcement as the No. 1 zoo in North America for cell phone recycling efforts in 2008, visitors and families who bring and donate an old cell phone to the Zoo during the month of January and February get a special discounted admission rate of $5 per person. Zoo members as well as children 2 and under enter free.

“We hope people will come out and celebrate with us,” Gorilla Forest Supervisor Roby Elsner said. “Timmy is definitely special, and this day is an important testament to the wonderful care our animals receive at the Zoo.”

Louisville Zoo’s award-winning Gorilla Forest is on the forefront of gorilla management and meets the demographic trends of current gorilla populations like geriatric gorillas.

“With the extraordinary care our animals receive, the Zoo has an important role to play in caring for an increasing number of aging gorillas” Elsner said. “Gorilla Forest is a great home for Timmy because this unique facility allows close keeper contact with him all day long and the freedom for him to make choices about his environment that can increase his comfort, like staying inside or going outside.”

Born in 1959, Timmy is a laid-back silverback adored by female gorillas in his group which currently includes Paki, Mia Moja and Kweli. Before arriving at Louisville Zoo in 2004, Timmy lived at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and Bronx Zoo.

The Louisville Zoo has a total of 11 gorillas including Helen, 51, who is the third oldest gorilla in North America (there is a tie for first at age 53), and Timmy who ties for the fourth oldest gorilla overall in North America. There are a total of 355 gorillas currently housed in 52 Zoos in North America (168 males and 187 females).

Click the pictures below (as well as the one at the top) for larger versions. When cropped, they make gorgeous wallpapers for your computer’s desktop. I love having Timmy look over my work – but my cat Alexa isn’t too sure what to make of him.

The bottom picture might be my favorite – love that face!

Timmy, The Louisville Zoo Gorilla
Timmy, The Louisville Zoo Gorilla

Happy birthday, Timmy and congratulations to the Louisville Zoo for being such an exceptional zoo. We’re very fortunate to have the Louisville Zoo… as are the animals!

Filed Under: Events, Louisville, The Louisville Zoo Tagged With: Louisville, Louisville Kentucky, The Louisville Zoo, Timmy the Gorilla

The Louisville Zoo Gets Top Honors

January 5, 2009 by Joi Sigers Leave a Comment


Please click for the larger version.
Forgive the city of Louisville if it gets the big head, but things are totally going their way lately (including the amazingly close ballgame yesterday!).

The latest accomplishment? The Louisville Zoo was recently recognized as the No. 1 zoo in North America for cell phone recycling efforts in 2008 by ECO-CELL, North America’s premiere cell phone recycling program.

“This is a great mark of distinction,” Louisville Zoo Director John Walczak said. “More than 100 zoos in North America participate in ECO-CELL’s recycling program and to be No. 1 speaks to the Louisville Zoo’s leadership in areas of conservation and preservation, which are at the heart of our mission. It is also evidence of our community’s growing support for conservation efforts.”

In 2008, ECO-CELL diverted 4,000 pounds of toxic cell phone batteries, 35,000 cell phones and 6,000 pounds of cell phone accessories from landfills. The Louisville Zoo helped in that effort by collecting more than 4,400 old cell phones from visitors and businesses in 2008.

ECO-CELL recycles phones that are deemed end of life, and reuses other phones by either providing them to charities for emergency 911 uses or reselling them to refurbishers, who in turn sell them to emerging markets where the cost of a new cell phone is often prohibitive.

ECO-CELL gives the Zoo anywhere from 45 cents to $15 per phone donated, depending on the type. Since 2003 ECO-CELL has given the Louisville Zoo more than $15,000 which helps support the Zoo’s conservation programs.

For anyone who loves gorillas like I do, you’ll be interested to learn that recycling cell phones also helps save the world’s precious gorillas.

Cell phones contain a metallic ore called Coltan, a mineral that is refined into a heat-resistant powder that holds an electrical charge. The powder, which regulates voltage and stores energy, is essential for coating components of cell phones and other modern devices such as laptops, pagers and PDAs. Coltan is found in the Congo of central Africa, home to endangered lowland gorillas. Forest habitats are being cleared and gorillas, along with other rare animals, are being killed for bushmeat, a negative side industry of ore mining. The United Nations has reported that in the past five years, the eastern lowland gorilla population in the Congo has declined 90 percent because of these destructive activities. By reducing the demand for Coltan, gorillas and their habitats have a better chance for survival.

If you have an old cell phone lying around  – maybe you got a new one for a holiday gift – bring it to the Louisville Zoo and help protect gorillas and their habitat. Make sure your service is disconnected and your phone is cleared of all its data, then drop it off at the designated cell phone donation box at the Zoo’s entrance. Organizations and groups are also encouraged to collect old cell phones and bring them to the Zoo. Pick-ups can be arranged for large donations, and/or a free Louisville Zoo donation box can even be requested through ECO-CELL and placed at your business for collections. For more information on these options, call ECO-CELL at (888) 326-3357.

For more information on ECO-CELL, visit www.eco-cell.com. For more information on the best zoo in the country, visit www.louisvillezoo.org.

Filed Under: Louisville, The Louisville Zoo Tagged With: Louisville, Louisville Kentucky, The Louisville Zoo

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