By David Kledzik, Reptile Department

Soon everyone will have a chance to meet our new and longest resident,a giant reticulated python from the Indonesian Island of Sulawesi, alsoknown as Celebes. National Geographic personality Brady Barr made aspecial appearance to help measure this snake and will include it on oneof his Dangerous Encounters episodes. Total length after repeated meas-urements was 21’ 9” long, making it one of the largest snakes in captivity.And as Brady said, "There are a lot of places that claim to have a 20-footsnake, but they'll never measure them with cameras rolling." Look for thissnake to be on display in the coming months.

By Geralyn Decker, Bird and Mammal Department

Let’s face it, weight management always seems to be atop concern for us humans, but what about the animalsthat live at the zoo? Do you think they make New Yearsresolutions to eat healthier and exercise? Taking careof ourselves is very important, and so is the health ofthe animals we care for at the zoo.Zookeepers play a very important role in keeping theiranimals healthy. Here are just a fewof the things that we do on a regularbasis: monitoring what the animalsare eating, how much they are eat-ing, and regular weight checks.Proper nutrition is the key, especiallysince many of our animals have spe-cial or unique diets. Food items aremeasured and tailored to a specificanimal as zookeepers prepare thedaily diets.So, how do we weigh our animals?One way is to train the animals tostep onto a scale. This is done bygetting the animal used to the scale,then training them to step up onto it.The Pygmy marmosets will jumpright on the scale when they see apiece of grape, one of their favorite foods. That grapeserves as a reward for properly doing what he/she wasasked to do. Most of the parrots are very willing tocome out onto our hands, so scale-training them is very

easy. Of course, some of the animals are more difficultto train than others. It is very important that the zookeepers maintain aweighing schedule. Animals, especially birds, hide theirsymptoms when they don’t feel well. Otherwise, preda-tors would take advantage of the situation. To help uspick up on the subtle signs of an impending illness,most of the birds and mammals are weighed on either

a weekly or monthly schedule. Ofcourse, if a certain animal appears“off” or is new to our zoo, we monitorthem even closer.How do we determine the properweight for our animals? By usingARKS, the zoo’s internal record keep-ing system. Over time, an individual’sweight can be graphed. An averageideal weight for that specific animalcan then be determined. Daily dietamounts are adjusted for that animalto keep it in optimum health. Gettingconsistent weights also helps us todetermine pregnancy due dates onthe mammals. Regular health care checks andannual exams by the veterinarian

allow the animals to enlighten and educate the visitor’slives, just as they do for us zookeepers everyday!

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By Gen Anderson, Bird and Mammal Department

The bird department at the St. Augustine AlligatorFarm has six species of gallinaceous birds within itscollection. The order Galliformes includes commondomestic fowl, pheasants, turkeys, and grouse.Currently the zoo houses a Spix guan, a Blue-billedcurassow, a Northern Helmeted curassow, pairs ofPalawan Peacock and Crested Fireback pheasants,and a flock of Helmeted guineafowl. These fancychickens have a high display value, relative ease ofhusbandry care, and many of them are endangered inthe wild. Almost all of our chickens live in mixed-species exhibits, coexisting with other types of animalsfrom the same region in which they occur in the wild. Aconspicuous group of birds, they tend to call often andare readily visible. In a zoo setting, these factors areideal, but in the wild this contributes to a rapid reductionof numbers by hunting.

After entering the zoo, the female Spix’s guan can befound in the very first exhibit, intermingling with flashytoucans, captivating primates, and exotic guineapig-like rodents. “Guanita” was found running aroundthe streets of Hialeah, just north of Miami, and capturedby the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. She iscurrently the only Spix guan held in any of the over 200AZA zoos in North America.

The newest addition to the bird department can beobserved just a little bit further down the boardwalk.Blue-billed curassows are critically endangered in thewild. Their Columbian habitat is being destroyed at arapid rate for agricultural purposes. Logging roadsthroughout the country allow for deeper access into the

forests resulting in an increase in hunting and egg-col-lecting for food. Our solitary female hatched last year.With only 24 birds in the country, the Alligator Farm isholding her until she reaches maturity (>3 years of age)and a suitable mate is chosen.

Within the Birds of Africa exhibit lives a raucous flockof Helmeted guineafowl. Common in both domesticsettings and the wild, these galliforms are often themost familiar to visitors. While the vultures and storksspend the majority of their days sun-bathing, theguineafowl add non-stop interest and activity to theexhibit by calling, foraging, and dust-bathing.

There is a lively exhibit next to the Toucantina snackbar containing New World monkeys, active rodents, anda Northern Helmeted curassow. Also a female,“Fritada” (which means fried food in Spanish) is abeautiful fowl originating from the montaine forests ofVenezuela and Columbia. Her jet black plumage andbulbous blue knob atop her head stop visitors in theirtracks. At this time, Fritada will not be set up forbreeding since she is not as genetically valuable asother females around the country.

Two pairs of galliforms remain: the Palawan Peacockpheasants that share an exhibit at the North end of thezoo with the Palm cockatoo, and the Crested Firebackpheasants, currently living behind-the-scenes.

Both species are set up to breed this year and, ifsuccessful, will be firsts for the Alligator Farm. In caseyou missed these birds on your last visit to the zoo,spend a few extra minutes at an exhibit and check outour chickens!

By Kevin Torregrosa, Reptile Department

Where are the snakes? This is one of the mostfrequently asked questions at the Alligator Farm. Well theanswer is; they have started their arrival. We have manynew additions to the zoo. No doubt that many people areaware of our new giant reticulated python, which made anappearance on CNN, but we have many other interestingresidents that will be on display soon.

For visitors of the Farm you may have noticed theconstruction taking place at the north end of the propertyacross from Maximo. Well this will soon be the home formany of our new arrivals. The new Komodo dragon willhave his home up there and so will many of his reptilianneighbors from that geographic range.

If you are worried about having to wait for theopening of the exhibit to see all of these beautiful andinteresting animals, then worry no more. Some of thesesnakes have now become new stars in our “Scales andTails” show. This has been a wonderful addition since itallows us to show off some of our new favorite species aswell as gives our guests a chance to see some animalsthat they may never have a chance to get that close toanywhere else.

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By Jim Darlington, Education Department

“What do you do when one of these critters gets sick?”That’s a question we often get from guests as they take inthe number of animals in our collection. I know they’reusually picturing our staff “Wraslin’” a big alligator into theback seat of a little Toyota and rushing to the local vet’soffice. Some guests enjoy that thought so much theyactually seem disappointed when we tell them about theveterinarians that come to our zoo about every other weekon average.

We have our vet list (patient list) and needed staff readyas the van from the University of Florida School ofVeterinary Medicine pulls in a service gate and all the vetsand vet students unload their bags, boxes and tools ofchoice. For some of the larger animals on the list we letour trained staff capture and restrain them in theirenclosure and the vets often do an examination right onthe spot. Often the animal in question isn’t the onlyconcern, but a whole host of other enclosure mates look-ing on. Is that a worried “I hope I’m not next” look in theireyes, or just hunger? This is a question we often get fromthe vet students during one of these procedures.

Many animals in the collection are simply removed fromtheir exhibit and taken to a special room behind thescenes that’s designed for these types of visits. Of coursewe call it our “Vet Room”. This room has been host to thesimplest examinations and even some minor surgeries.Skin, scales, feathers or fur….it doesn’t matter here!

In early January, Charlie and Linda, our two, almostancient, Spider Monkeys slept through their annualexams. Well, they slept with the help of pharmaceuticalsfrom one of the many containers brought by the vets, buttheir checkups went well. It turns out that Linda is a bitanemic, but in decent shape other than that. That’sespecially nice considering that she’s one of the oldestSpider Monkeys in captivity, approaching 41 years. Hercompanion, Charlie, has grown a bit of a low “pot belly”probably due to less exercise at his considerable age.He’s also developed some atrophy in some of hismuscles. This is not only due to being less active than heonce was, but I understand that as many animals get oldertheir testosterone levels decreases while estrogen levelsincrease making them a bit more mellow in their old age.Here’s to hoping the same thing will happen to me and Iwon’t develop into a grumpier old zookeeper!

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By Candace Donato, Reptile Department

The world’s longest lizard, the Crocodile monitor(Varanus salvadorii), can reach lengths of up to 14 ftfrom head to tail. They reach such great lengthsbecause of their extraordinarily long tail, which can beup to two thirds of their body length. They live high up inthe trees of New Guinea, an island north of Australia,and use their tails for balance. Crocodile monitors aretypically known to be very defensive, and will also usetheir tails as whips when they feel threatened. This isconsistent with the demeanor of two of the three moni-tors that are housed in off display areas of the St.Augustine Alligator Farm. Our largest male however,has quite the opposite personality. He is gentle and verycarefree. He can be touched and picked up and(although he does seem to become nervous when hisfeet leave solid ground) he never tries to bite his keep-ers. It is because of his gentile personality that I decid-ed to use him in our Scales and Tales show, but insteadof just putting him on a table and talking about him Iwanted to train him to give our guests an opportunity tosee some of these monitors’ natural behaviors such as

walking, climbing or even eating. He has 2 training ses-sions each week, once in an off-display area near hisenclosure and once during the show. His training ispretty simple, I use a clicker, a target stick (which con-sists of a small PVC pipe with one end colored green)and a few small meatballs as a reward. I first use theclicker to let him know the training session has begunthen I hold the target stick in front of him. When hetouches the colored end of the stick with his nose, I say“good boy” and give him his reward. Then I repeat thisprocess a few more times (or at least until I run out ofmeatballs). His training is still in its early stages andusually he won’t follow the target stick but monitors arevery intelligent lizards and I have no doubt that soon hewill be following the target stick wherever I lead.

Since the Crocodile monitor is only used once a weekin one show, most of our guests don’t get an opportuni-ty to see him, but in late May or early June, one or moreof our Crocodile monitors will be on display in our newreptile building.

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By Danny Lippi, Bird and Mammal Department

We’re expecting many new arrivals at the Alligator Farm in 2008 and the Bird andMammal Department is excited about its new Cassowary exhibit. Our Southern Double-Wattled Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius)is approximately half her adult size and every dayshe grows a little bit more. Cassowarys take about 2 years to reach adult size which can beover 5 feet tall and more than 120 pounds! Capable of running 30 mph, leaping 6 feet into the

air and striking with their 5 inch long mid-dle claw, the Alligator Farm needed alarge and strong enclosure to house whatmany consider to be the most dangerousbird on the planet. What is truly spectacu-lar about the new exhibit is that it enablesguests to view the Cassowary from aboveand from below as well as directly face-to-face through large, thick viewing glass.Lillipilli, as she is affectionately named,after a fruit that comprises a large portionof her diet in Australia, will be on displayalong with the new Komodo Dragon andthe Reticulated Python as well as manyother new and exciting species of animalsin the “Great Down Under” area of thepark in late Spring. See you there!

CONTRIBUTORS _____________________________Amanda Whitaker

Editor, Curator

David KledzikCurator

Gen AndersonAsst. Curator

Geralyn DeckerAnimal Keeper

Kevin TorregrosaAsst. Curator

Candace DonatoAnimal Keeper

Danny LippiAnimal Keeper

___________________________

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