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Zoo revue
Page 4 University Dally Kansan, August 19, 1982
This giraffe is one of four of her species who call the African Veldt at the Kansas City Zoo home.
Feering over the rail, these zoos-goers get a first-hand look at animals in a nearly-natural habitat in the Kansas City Zoo's Tropical Rain Forest exhibit.
Lenny, the male Siberian Tiger relaxes during the heat of the day in his cage at the Kansas City Zoo
City zoos offer new sights
The giraffe leaned its head over a chain-link fence until the set of 'large, brown eyes blinked about ten feet above the two small boys, whose mouths hung open.
The three looked at each other and then the giraffe walked away slowly to munch on some fruit.
Each year, hundreds of thousands of people, young and old, 'walk' along the blacktop which leads to a large park.
The Topeka Zoo, Sixth Ave. and Gage Street,
and the Kansas City Zoo, in Swoto Park, near
I-435 and Gregory Blvd. are open every day yearround.
The animals are housed in areas that associate them with their natural habitats. Names like The Cat Walk, Discovering Apes and Monkey Island identify the animals' location in the parks.
Currently, the zoos are renovating facilities and building new ones for an array of animals.
"People will get into an immediate taste of animals when they eat," Clarke said. "I think they feed the zoo."
The Topeca Zoo is also redesigning the layout of the park so the zoo will be more accessible to visitors.
Clarke explained that the Topaka Zoo refers to itself as the "World Famous Topaka Zoo" because of the success the zoo has had in breeding animals.
"In 1971, the Topeka Zoo was the first zoo in the world to successfully hatch and raise the Ameri- can golden Eagle," Clarke said. The zoo once held a few tiger cubs, six, born and raised in a Zoo.
The Topeka Zoo's star attraction now is an oakman named Djikara. Jim who likes to
One of Jim's paintings was submitted in a statewide competition, Clarke said, and the judges, unaware that Jim was an orangutan, awarded first prize to the watercolor. It was titled "Train From Tokyo," and was named by the staff at the zoo.
Jim, who has been on the cover of Science Digest, has a number of paintings hanging in the gallery.
The Kansas City Zoo has also drawn media attention in recent months with the outbursts of Casey the elephant. Casey has attacked his trainers twice this year, Blakely said.
Bull elephants are dominant animals in nature, Blakley said. Casey's trainers dominate his life by always being in physical contact with him, and this was one cause for his problems.
Casey will live in a new building, funded by friends of the Zoo, a volunteer organization, for 15 years.
"It would make us feel more comfortable to have him in the new facility," said Mike Blakeley.
a curator at the zoo, "Casey will be able to do what he wants."
A hydraulic gate will let Casey in or out so the trainers can feed him or give him medical attention with minimal physical contact. Outside, the elephant has access to a pool to blink. Blackly said.
Zoos often loan animals to other zoos. The animals are most often used to increase the variety and popularity of animals available to visitors. Blakely said.
The animals are also used for breeding purposes, to help prevent declining species and to keep from importing wild animals, Clarke, of the Topeka Zoo, said.
Two Indian lions have been loaned to the Kansas City Zoo, one from Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago and the other from the San Diego Zoo.
The Kansas City Zoo has also loaned two white-gloved gibbons to the Topeka Zoo, which live on Glenview Avenue.
"It's our newest exhibit," Clarke said. "It's
beautiful a great thing for the exhibitions. The
gibbons."
The two zoos cooperate a bit, Clarke said. The renovation and rebuilding processes Clarke admits are not complete.
The zoos are easily accessible to residents of Northeast Kansas and Clarke, said "offer a wonderful chance to see animals up close instead of in a book, especially for children."
Marcia Scarlett serves refreshments to children at the Kansas City Zoo's Zoo School. The Zoo School sessions are each one week long and concentrate on teaching the children about the animals in the zoo.
Story by Jeff Taylor Photos by Susan Page
This shy Tamaran is one of the four that reside in the trees at the Kansas City Zoo's Tropical Rain Forest.