Hats to support the cause!

After watching the Royal Wedding I became fascinated with Fascinators (those little wacky hats)! I thought it would be fun to make one. My friend Lee thought so too, so I suggested we make them in honor of the Snow Leopards Birthdays which were in April and May. It was fun and we wore them on the female Ming's bday last month.

I decided to make one in honor of this cause and wear it every visit til Wishy gets some grass. Its covered in dry Dill, and adorned with a photo of Wishbone (backing is Black flocking), leaning on a log, with his (former) Enrichment Toys around him! I love it! The Dill idea really rocked as grass! Lee also made a great one, with a clay sculpture of Wishbone and a Beehive! It has little Bee's fluttering about the Hive and Flowers. Finished with a big fancy Tulle Bow! It looked great! We looked great! Alot of people stopped us to ask about our "hats", as well passers-by would shout out "Great Hats"!

No matter what, given an event, we try to celebrate our Zoo Friends and show up festive! And for this cause, festive and raising awareness was a winning combination!

Photos: Me wearing my Fascinator in front of Wishbone's Grotto. Wishy in the background eating an apple while sitting next to his piece of sod. Lee's Fascinator up-close :)

I took a Video clip of Wishbone wishing for more grass and getting a snack. We love precious Wishy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr2khpBdVZ8

AND if you haven't signed the petition yet, please join the over 650 who have and do so today! Remember your name can be withheld! http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/project-get-wishbone-grass-andean-bear-lives-on-concrete/

UPDATE 12.8.11

Please view the video on the last post projectgetwishbonegrass.blogspot.com

If you support this crusade, please email San Francisco Zoo Director Tanya Peterson - tanyap@sfzoo.org

UNTIL , has inched its way in. Literally!

wish box with a couple inches of sod?

So, a friend of mine sent me this photo, taken Monday (6.6.11). This wooden box has been in Wishbone's Grotto for at least a year and has some wood chips and play items in it. The Keeper's often put some of his food and Acacia browse (shown) in it. He sits both in and out and snacks.

If you take a look at the upper left hand corner of the photo, there is curiously what looks like a few inches of sod thrown in. I'm not quite sure what to make of this. I have to admit my first reaction is to laugh as my mind doesn't put it past the Zoo to think this can be considered "Getting Wishbone Grass." I surely hope this is some kind of sampling, that was left over from a test they have done in preparation for landscaping some kind of grassy play are for him. Because the only thing that could play on this amount of grass is his big toe!

Project Get Wishbone Grass is meant to get the Zoo to bring a decent sized grass area to his existing concrete Grotto. It should at least cover 1/4-1/3 of the ground area. In my opinion the ideal place for it would be the opposite corner to his nest area. Either how it is constructed in the Grizzly Grotto, or even a slightly raised area, with a mesh bottom for drainage purposes. A few inches of sod thrown in his box is not acceptable, as a solve to this issue.

A BIG Thank You to all who have signed the Petition. If you haven't, please visit the site and sign! It only takes a few minutes, to help bring awareness to an issue that could bring Wishbone a lifetime of comfort!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/project-get-wishbone-grass-andean-bear-lives-on-concrete/

UPDATE 12.8.11

Please view the video on the last post projectgetwishbonegrass.blogspot.com

If you support this crusade, please email San Francisco Zoo Director Tanya Peterson - tanyap@sfzoo.org

The final post on this situation, until...

I wanted to make a post to conclude this series, since the way the blogs are set-up, they post the last first.

Please note to get all the details of this plight, please at least start by reading the second post, Project Get Wishbone Grass, which details what the situation is.

I have made a petition for this situation, as a friend pointed out, if I'm goign to call it a "Project" it needs goal backing. Please help in this goal by signing the petition. Its not for me, its for Wishbone! ... Note that the Petition site asks for an address, but you can make one up. I don't expect anyone to use their physical address online.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/project-get-wishbone-grass-andean-bear-lives-on-concrete/

Thank you, and let's hope the San Francisco Zoo Management hears the plea of not only our voices, but of Wishbone's by proxy.

UPDATE 12.8.11

Please view the video on the last post projectgetwishbonegrass.blogspot.com

If you support this crusade, please email San Francisco Zoo Director Tanya Peterson - tanyap@sfzoo.org

Past Efforts Fade

I want to post two snips of articles that pertain to this issue. These articles noted that the Meadow Grotto that is between the two Polar Bears Ulu and Pike was intended to be used by all the Andean Bears and Polar Bears on rotation. That would be great if that was still in practice. Why did these efforts fade? No public attention? Laziness? OR as stated in a published comment by former (!) VP Bob Jenkins, "Its what they know and are used to" !!! Unbelievable!

The photo I took of Annie and Wishbone is from 2007, I don't know how often they were rotated into the Meadow after it was made in 2002, but I have not seen them in in there since I have been visiting on a regular basis, over three years now. As well, I rarely see Pike getting to use the Meadow. The last time was for the Christmas Snow Day Media event. Otherwise, she too lives on concrete. Her concrete home is the Grotto's next to the Meadow, so her situation is an easy fix, just open the gate. Although I think both Polar Bear Grotto's that are exclusively concrete, could also use a grass patch on their concrete floors, for when they are alternating the use of the Meadow, there is a Meadow between them, so their situation isn't as dire as the Andean Bear, who is two Grotto's away from the Meadow and has not seen it in years. His experience on Grass is akin to someone who lives in the desert taking a once in a lifetime vacation to the beach.

Ideally, Wishbone, Ulu and Pike would rotate the Meadow AND each have a small patch of grass in their concrete grotto's.

Snip taken from the full article (4.17.02) that appears here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/04/17/BA175482.DTL

"Uulu, 21, had lived all her life at the zoo on concrete in one of the zoo's Depression-era bear grottoes. Last year, after the death of a Kodiak bear, the zoo decided to replace the concrete in the Kodiak grotto with thick grass and clover and to let Uulu share it with two other polar bears and the zoo's two spectacled bears."

Snip taken from the full article (3.9.10) that appears here: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/zoo-tries-avoid-bear-blues

"After touring the grottoes with a carnivore keeper, Stephens and Spinelli recommended that the zoo rotate the bears throughout the exhibits, ..."

The article also makes question of relocating and cost of new enclosures. Neither are needed. I am not an advocate for relocating any of these Animals. They are seniors and have lived here most of their lives. Moving them would be detrimental to their mental and physical health, even within the Zoo itself. There is no need to build new enclosures at this time, when all that is needed is landscaping added to the existing enclosures.

I have to add in light of this, in my opinion its curious and negligent on the part of Sally Stephens who I have made aware of this issue to not bring this up at the Joint Zoo Committee Meeting, which she holds a seat and attends every month. I would have hoped she would be the one to be proactive about this situation. As well in my opinion, she should have been regularly asking for a status update on the Pike's Meadow rotation.

I thought it was the responsibility of Board Members and Committee Members to guide Zoo Management by questioning what they are doing. If not, what is their purpose?

WISHBONE NEEDS GRASS! MAKE IT HAPPEN SAN FRANCISCO ZOO!