We have an exciting event happening at the Museum in less than two weeks. Since most of you who read this Blog are interested in animals, our animals, and animal keeping, this event might be perfect for you. On Monday, December 1 from 7-9pm you can join us for A Night Among Wolves with Helen Thayer. Helen is an amazing woman who has walked across the Sahara, trekked to the magnetic North Pole, and lived with indigenous people of theRead more
Posts tagged: #animals
She’s here!
Our female red wolf arrived on grounds around 6:00 this evening. It took her a few minutes to come out of the crate, but she finally did. She slowly searched through her new surroundings. You can see her above in the dark in the side cage. Kristen, Cassidy, and Brad (who filmed the event) went to get her (Continental flight 1850 nonstop from Houston to Raleigh-Durham). We’ll post more about her in the future, and you’ll get to see Brad’sRead more
Creature Feature: Beaker the Opossum
Opossums are some of the most popular animals we have available for use in programs or at birthday parties. As with other animals you have read about such as Silkie Chicken and Ball Python #1, we also have opossums that live in our Education Holding Room (EHR) behind the scenes. We usually have 2 or 3 at one time, but right now we only have 1 living off-exhibit, whose name is Beaker (we also have an opossum living on exhibitRead more
female wolf coming this week!
Our female red wolf is coming!Paperwork has been going back and forth, along with phone calls, faxes, and emails with the curator at the Texas Zoo. We’re getting all the logistics dealt with to get our female red wolf, #1227, to Durham. Thursday afternoon we’ll pick her up from RDU airport. She’s on a non-stop flight from Houston. Sorry, no pictures of her yet, but I do know she is about 55 pounds and was born on May 5, 2002.Read more
Big Word of the Month: Genetic bottleneck
Biologists use the term “genetic bottleneck” to refer to a period in which population numbers drop dramatically. The name comes from the shape of the graph used to illustrate the phenomenon. Such an event could occur due to disease, lack of food, or rapid climate change. In the recent history of the world, human decimation of species has also led to population bottlenecks. The reduction in genetic diversity that results from a bottleneck can remain for hundreds of generations andRead more
update: wolf 1369
We have the wolf in the side cages- the area to the right when you are looking in the exhibit. You can see what the area looks like in the photo below. This morning, around 6:00 I checked on him and he was wet, a bit skittish, but okay. He’ll spend today in this area as well while we watch his behavior, give him a flea treatment, and put the last few touch ups on the fence (this wolf hasRead more