Happy Easter from the Volcano Rabbit

Since today is Easter we shall do a special posting on the Volcano Rabbit, the Easter Bunny's cousin.

The Volcano Rabbit lives in the mountains of Mexico. It lives on the slopes of old volcanoes and is the second smallest rabbit. They are critically endangered mostly because their habitat is disappearing and they are hunted as pests. There are different breeding programs for them like Jersey Zoo in the UK and the Chalpultepec Zoo in Mexico City. They feed on green leaves in Zacaton grasses. (Zacaton is connected sinkholes in Mexico.)

Are you amazed at all the animals in the world? Are you surprised by how many are endangered?

People of the Forest

We recently went to the Greenville Zoo, and took this video of Bob, the baby Bornean Orangutan. Orangutans are our closest relatives with 97 percent of the same DNA! Orangutan means people of the forest.

The Bornean Orangatan is highly endangered and the Sumatran Orangutan is critically endangered. Logging and mining is wiping out their habitats. It's hard to believe but poaching baby orangutans is also a big problem. Some scientists think they'll be extinct in five or ten years!!!

Some people are trying to save them like this Orangutan Conservancy. Do what you can.

Meet the Animals at NC Zoo

Last summer I visited the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro. It's huge-- more than 500 acres. It took us six hours to see everything.

The habitats are really nice. It has an Africa exhibit and a North America exhibit.

Like many good zoos it is helping endangered animals and plants. The NC Zoo has been reintroducing the endangered Red Wolf to parts of North Carolina, and other conservation projects.

If you can't visit or want a quick tour, here's my video. I hope you like it.

Endangered orangutan baby born

Zoos do a lot of good work trying to save endangered species.
A orangutan named Nyaru was born recently at the zoo in Perth Australia. That's really good news because orangutans are critically endangered. These beautiful primates are being wiped out because of poaching and habitat loss. Click here to read about Perth Zoo and what they are doing.

Orangutans are one of our closest relatives. They have almost the same DNA as people. And they have the intelligence of a six year old. They are the largest tree living mammals in the world. It seems unbelievable that they are being wiped out.

Tell other people about saving endangered animals. There are lots of places you can send money to help, like Perth Zoo and this Orangutan Conservancy. And please vote for people who care about the earth and all the animals.

Invasion of the Naked Mole Rats

Riverbanks Zoo has a dozen new residents. Twelve naked mole rats from the Roger Williams Zoo in Rhode Island. I've seen Naked Mole Rats at the National Zoo in Washington before, and they were running fast through the tunnels in the small mammal house.

These are very strange looking rodent-mammals that are found in the sub-Sahara of Africa (that's the part of Africa that's south of the Sahara Desert).


Mole Rats have been made popular bythe show Kim Possible. That's on Disney Channel. Click here to watch a video of the Naked Mole Rat Rap.

And guess what? Nature is doing a program tonight all about ugly animals like the naked mole rat. Watch a video here.

Naked Mole Rats are very famous now! Stop by Riverbanks and check out them out. Let me know what you think-- cute or funny looking?

Welcome to My 50th Post!

Today I'm celebrating my 50th post with

one of my favorite subjects: zoos!!!

I've been to some really nice zoos. The first zoo I ever went to was the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. My favorite animals were the elephants and the cheetahs.

Next, I went to a smaller zoo, the Natural Bridge Zoo. They had lots of farm animals and llamas and alpacas roaming around. But truthfully, the habitats could have been better.

Next, I went to the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk Virginia. I remember the elephant demonstration the most.

Riverbanks Zoo is the zoo I live closest to, and the one I've been to the most. I have some videos of it posted on this blog. I've met the director and top zookeeper, Satch Krantz, who has worked there since the opening in 1974. He's done a great job adding new animals and exhibits. We're lucky to have Riverbanks in South Carolina. Everyone should visit it and join.

Recently I visited the North Carolina Zoo. It was very huge, and I like the buffalo and the chimps. They are getting ready to open"Watani," a huge new elephant and rhino exhibit.

And while I was on a trip to New York City, we stopped at the Central Park Zoo. It was small, but it had red pandas, and it was in a really cool setting surrounded by tall buildings.

Zoos are great. They are fun to visit. They teach us about nature and animals and help save endangered animals. Help me celebrate my 50th post by going to the zoo. What zoos have you been to?

Benjamin-- The Last Thylacine

Benjamin was the last known thylacine. He died on September 1936 at Hobart Zoo in Tasmania. Have you ever heard of a thylacine?

Thylacines were carnivorous marsupials, also know as Tasmanian tigers-- but they were not real tigers. They were not wolves either. They were most likely related to kangaroos and other marsupials, and found mostly in Australia and Tasmania.

The same year Benjamin died, thylacines became protected species, but it was too late. They are believed to have gone extinct.

This part is sad. Benjamin died of neglect. It was too hot during the day, and he had no shelter during cold nights. (Hobart's Bengal tiger died the same way, the same year). When Hobart Zoo closed in 1937, no buyers wanted their lions. It was the Great Depression, and there wasn't money for animals. And so, the lions were shot. Very sad, isn't it? That is what I read in a book about Hobart Zoo. That's why I really appreciate the good zoos I've seen-- zoos that do a really good job of caring for their animals.

The thylacine was a beautiful and mysterious animal. And now it's gone forever because of hunting and ignorance. I hope we can do better for today's endangered animals.

Here is a video of Benjamin, the last thylacine.

Go Binturongs, go!

My dad was reading the newspaper and saw a team called the Bearcats . So many teams are named for animals we know well-- tigers, eagles, falcons, bulldogs-- but my dad was curious to know what exactly what a bearcat was. A bear? A cat? Niether! It is known as a binturong, and here is what it looks like:

They live in Asia, and can be vicious if cornered. One interesting fact is they smell like buttered popcorn! They are "vulnerable" due to habitat destruction and poaching. I think I saw one at the Virgina Zoo a long time ago around 2000. They are related to the civet. Here is what a civet looks like:

If I Ran the Zoo

Zoos have been around since ancient Egypt in 1500 BC. I really like zoos because they protect threatened and endangered species. And they give you a chance to see many different animals from all over the world.

Zoos also help scientists study animals up close. And when people see the animals at the zoo, they can't help but care more about them. And if they care about them, they'll do more to help save the animals.

Here's some video from my recent trip to Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, South Carolina.


What zoos have you been to? What are your favorite animals?

Chimpanzees-- So Like Us

Seeing the chimpanzees was one of my favorite things at the North Carolina Zoo. They are our closest relatives. They make tools, have close families, and even fight wars. Here's some video for you to check out (we're still learning to post video here).

I read Jane Goodall's book, The Chimpanzees I Love. She has an amazing story to tell. She started studying chimps in Tanzania in 1960 and taught us all about them. Here also is a film clip that shows how chimps have been so misunderstood.

Chimps are endangered, and could be extinct in the wild within 15 years! What are we doing to our planet? Do you think chimpanzees are worth saving? Please spread the word and do something to help.

Candidates, zoos and travels

It's been a busy few weeks...I visited the North Carolina Zoo. It was HUGE! Great habitats for the animals. They have chimps, rhinos and polar bears. When I have time I'll post some video I took.

And I went to the Central Park Zoo in New York City! The zoo was small, but nice. Central Park was huge, and New York City was colossal!

And my You Tube question was on CNN during the debate last week. Maybe you saw it. They showed it in the very beginning. The candidates didn't answer it, but the guy on TV said he liked my enthusiasm. But I wished they answered it so more people could understand about endangered animals. Maybe I'll try the next debate.

My favorite animals at the Central Park Zoo were the red pandas! They are related to raccoons, not to the giant panda. Red Pandas are endangered-- only 2,500 left in the world!

Giant Panda

Everyone loves pandas. The zoos in the U.S. with pandas are National Zoo in Washington D.C., Zoo Atlanta, San Diego, Memphis Zoo. I've seen the pandas at the National Zoo and Zoo Atlanta-- they were very cool. You can hear what one sounds like here, or check out a panda cam and videos here.

Pandas are very endangered. There are only about 1,600 in the wild, all in China. About 150 are in zoos-- mostly in China. They eat bamboo. In Chinese they are called "Giant Bear Cats." Aren't they amazing?

Baghdad Zoo Hero-- Exclusive Interview!

In an earlier post I wrote about the Baghdad Zoo. I also did a post about a book on the rescue of its animals, and then a post on how it might be made into a movie.

Well, I just did an e-mail interview with the hero who saved Baghdad Zoo, Lawrence Anthony. He's the guy on the left. Here it is:

I live in Columbia South Carolina USA. I have a blog about animals and wrote about you on it twice.
Thanks for your letter and your support on your blog. It is much appreciated.

You must be very brave! What was the scariest part of saving the zoo?

The scariest part about being in Baghdad was the war going on around us, especially in the beginning before the end of “major hostilities.”

When will the movie come out?

As regards to the movie, I believe it is a slow process but from what I have been told it is now under way. You could follow the progress like I do with a Google alert for “Good luck Mr Anthony.”

Have you seen any Rhinos where you live at Thula Thula (South Africa)?

We have Rhino on Thula Thula which I see regularly when I am out in the reserve.

Have any animals ever wandered into your house?

We often have animals wander into our garden, and on occasion we take in abandoned or injured animals and release them once they have recovered.

Congratulations on your book and movie.
Thank you. Please let me know what you think of the book if you read it.

Baghdad Zoo the Movie

I wrote about the rescue of the Baghdad Zoo animals in an earlier post. I was very happy to get two comments from people who have been to that zoo! Read their comments if you would like to know what they saw at the Iraq zoo. And guess what? I just found out Disney might make a movie about it!

Lawrence Anthony is brave, and he did a good thing. The rescue of the zoo is a really interesting story that should make a good movie. But I think it will have sad parts because of the war, and this tiger who got shot by a drunken soldier.

Click on comments and tell me what you think about the Iraq zoo and the upcoming movie.

Meerkats and gorillas and grizzly bears, oh my!

Have you ever heard of the Riverbanks Zoo? I've mentioned it in some of my postings.

When I first visited five years ago, I thought it was a really good zoo. There have been lots of changes since then. The polar bear is gone, and that's probably good since it's so hot in South Carolina, and he's at a colder place now. And the rhino is gone too. But Riverbanks keeps getting better, with the grizzly bears, the koala, the gorillas, the elephants and the bird house.

I once had a private tour of the elephant house from zoo director Palmer Satch Krantz II, and met Tumpy the Elephant. And I also met a diver as he dove into the fish tank.

I like the way the grizzlies walk around. The meerkats always seem hard at work. I like to see the hippo come up for air.

You can see animals at Riverbanks you might never get a chance to see. It's educational. And when people see them, I think they'll like animals more, and feel like they want to save them. Why do you like zoos?

Saving the Baghdad Zoo

We were driving in our car and heard this amazing story on the radio about the zoo in Iraq. Listen to it if you can. It made me feel sad for the animals in the Iraq zoo. Lots of animals must have died. I thought the man who saved the animals was very brave. It reminded me of all the crazy things going on over there. If he and the American soldiers worked to save animals way over in Iraq, we should try to do more to save animals here!

Here are two lion cubs found in Iraq. What are your comments?

Good Earth Day!

I had a good earth day. We went hiking at Harbison State Park where we saw a beaver by the river! It's the first time I've seen a beaver in the wild.


Then we went to Riverbanks Zoo and looked at everything. We watched elephants spray water on themselves. We saw some cute wallabee joeys. They also have many endangered species like the VERY rare bali mynah, grizzly bear, Siberian tiger, and the Western lowland gorilla.

My mom and sister planted wildflowers and worked in the garden. What did you do? Click on "comments" and tell me.

The Sad Story of the Thylacine

Have you ever heard of the Tasmanian Devil? How about its long lost relative, the Tasmanian Tiger, or Thylacine? If you think tasmanian tiger is related to a tiger, you're wrong. It's not a tiger.

The thylacine lived in Tasmania and Austrailia long ago. When dingoes appeared, most thylacines in Australia disapperaed. But in Tasmania, where there weren't dingoes, they survived until settlers arrived.

Settlers and farmers killed the thylacines because they looked even scarier than wolves, and they thought they would kill their livestock. Unfortuatley, they were nearly wiped out. They lived for a while in zoos in London, Bronx Zoo New York, Washington D.C., and Hobart in Tasmania. Hobart Zoo was where the last thylacine died in 1936.

We're pretty sure they're extinct, but there have been unconfirmed sightings. If there was a confirmed sighting I would feel really, really happy. I saw a mounted thylacine at the Natural History Museum in Washington, DC, but I would love to see a real one. For more information, check out the Thylacine Museum. Below is the last known video of a thylacine.

Have we learned anything from the thylacine? Can we stop the extinctions?