Saturday June 27th was a busy day at southern Michigan’s Binder Park Zoo.  The annual 5K Cheetah Chase had eager runners passing giraffes early in the morning and later in the afternoon I made a presentation about America’s Best Zoos with a signing afterward.  Fortunately, the weather was near perfect and lacked the humid bite so often a daily requirement for Midwestern summers.

In between the events were plenty of visitors enjoying the beautiful day the best way possible – touring the excellent zoo!  Battle Creek, Michigan is hardly on the short list of places expected to see a well executed re-creation of an African savanna, but the fictional Zuri National Park serves as the medium to transport guests from an American forest to an open East African plain.  On top of the 18 acre main antelope filled expanse, winding paths stroll past monkeys, birds, wild dogs, and African farm.  Got lots of great pictures, especially of the giraffe-human interaction, so here’s a few.

P.S.  Forgot two blog links last time.  Even though they are in my blogroll, I think they deserve a noteworthy mention.  First, Paul Becker is working on a project examining the sociology of zoos.  As he and his wife Cathy visit zoos, they write about each experience with insightful and honest observations.  Read them here – Animal Ruminations.
Second, who doesn’t love baby animals?  I mean seriously, is it even possible to say “ugly” and “baby animal” in the same sentence?  For all the cute and cuddly faces Zoo Borns is the place to be.

Wild Africa's Monkey Valley is home to colobus and black mangabeys

Cooled rocks, plenty of shade, and several misters keep the cold weather cats cool in the summer

Many zoos now offer giraffe feedings, but only a couple are in the same league as Binder Park's

An impressive set of horns awaits at the African farm

Every spring or fall, Brookfield Zoo hosts a series of lectures. The latest series: Making Natural Connections perked my interest, so I purchased a ticket to each of the three talks. The connections in question where those of children, and each speaker discussed at length the importance of children developing a healthy and consistent relationship with nature.

The first lecture was by Richard Louv, whose book, Last Child in the Woods uses the phrase “nature deficit disorder” to characterize the drastic shift of nature’s presence in young children. Last Child is a wonderful read, even if you don’t have children. I highly recommend picking it up.

In April, Dr. Ruth Wilson addressed how the aforementioned “disorder” adversely affects kids and ultimately our planet. Her research made it abundantly clear the importance of creating a strong ecological identity at a very young age.

Finally, Dr. Robin Moore and Dr. Nilda Cosco, co-founders of North Carolina State University’s Natural Learning Initiative spoke on creating child friendly nature spaces. Citing several case studies, including Brookfield’s own Hamill Family Play Zoo (a stunning, revolutionary idea), Dr’s. Moore and Cosco identified the aspects of public spaces which help create the natural sense of wonder in kids.

Even though the series focus was not directly on zoos, there is a direct connection to why zoos are so important. Education is at the forefront of a zoos purpose, and not just teaching about animals, but all facets of nature. Quite a bit of perspective gained from three angles of the same issue.

After the final lecture, I had the great honor of presenting a book to Dr. George Rabb. As longtime head, Dr. Rabb brought Brookfield into prominence as one of the world’s foremost conservation organizations. Despite knowing him personally only through a couple brief encounters, it is amazing how much he has impacted my life.

As for the actual visit to my beloved Brookfield, it was partly saddened by the loss of Affie. Brookfield certainly has a history of iconic animals – Ziggy the elephant, Samson the gorilla, Cookie the cockatoo, and Olga the walrus – and Affie belongs near the top of that list. Just one month shy of her annual public birthday celebration, Affie passed away. It comes at an unfortunate time since the zoo is nearly finished with an expanded outdoor elephant yard, serving as the new space until the completion of the future Elephant Trails project. Nevertheless, Brookfield remains a magical place for any visitor and a leader in conservation education in world zoos.

Here are a few photos from the day!