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 BPZOO Provides Home to Orphaned Black Bear Cubs 

 BPZOO Provides Home to Orphaned Black Bear Cubs 

BPZOO Provides Home to Orphaned Black Bear Cubs

New Bedford, Massachusetts: The Buttonwood Park Zoo has a deep, rich history of caring for black bears and is once again providing a home for an adorable pair of cubs recently orphaned in the wild.

BPZOO has been without black bears since last September, with the passing of 23-year-old Toby. He, along with two females Amy and Ursula, had lived at BPZOO since 2000.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game contacted BPZOO in late June, inquiring if there was space for two cubs who had been orphaned because of bear/human conflicts in Homer and Eagle River in Alaska.

“Providing a home to orphaned, non-releasable wildlife is paramount to our mission,” said Zoo Director Gary Lunsford. “Given that BPZOO has been caring for black bears since our inception in 1894, we jumped at the opportunity to work with officials in Alaska to provide a forever home to these cubs in need.”

The two cubs, an approximately eight-month-old male, and a seven-month-old female, arrived at BPZOO the last week in August and are currently quarantining under the watchful eyes of BPZOO vet staff.

“We are already getting a clear picture of their individual personalities,” said BPZOO Veterinarian

Emmy Budas. “He is the sweet and gentle type – gently taking treats from us, while she is showing us her sassy side. Both cubs are eating well and appear to be in excellent health.”

After spending time getting to know their personalities, zookeepers and veterinarian staff carefully considered names for the cubs. With a nod to their Alaskan homeland, the male cub has been named Moose, the official state land mammal, and the female Oona, named after an inland lake, not far from Juneau.

Moose and Oona will remain in quarantine for approximately 30 days to ensure they are in good health and to give them time to adjust to their new environment.

Black bears have been making local headlines this summer, spotted lumbering through towns on the South Coast and South Shore. As their natural habitats here, and in Alaska, continue to shrink, bear/human conflict increases with detrimental implications for the animals. The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, or MassWildlife, offers a variety of resources on their website to prevent conflicts with black bears, including limiting food sources, protecting pets, crops, bees, and livestock with electric fences, or removing bird feeders.

“We look forward to introducing the new bears to the community,” Lunsford said. “We expect this will happen sometime towards the end of September. In the meantime, please do your part to keep bears wild. You should never feed or otherwise approach a wild bear. Be respectful of nature so that we can protect it together.”

About Black Bears

American black bears are one of eight species of bears found around the world. Common across North America, they are currently present in 40 U.S. states, 12 provinces and territories of Canada, and 6 states of northern Mexico. Loss of habitat and unregulated hunting resulted in the extirpation of black bears across large portions of their range by the early 1900s. While the loss of forest cover has eliminated black bears from many areas, their numbers are increasing. Climate change seems to have enabled black bears to range farther north. American black bears are the smallest of the three bear species in North America, ranging from 200 – 600 pounds, with males being significantly larger. The average life expectancy for American black bears is 20 years.

A Gift That Lasts All Year! 

BPZOO Memberships make a perfect gift for the animal lover in your life.

Elephant Appreciation Day

Elephant Appreciation Day

JOIN US FOR A BIG CELEBRATION

Elephant Appreciation Day at BPZOO is happening on Sunday, October 1st, 2023, and we welcome you to join us in honoring and celebrating Ruth and Emily!

Can you believe that Ruth is turning 65 and Emily is turning 59!? Stop by the Asian elephant habitat for educational activities from 11:00 am – 2:00 pm, with a Happy Birthday sing-a-long & special enrichment happening at 1:00 pm.

Did you know – Ruth and Emily are among the oldest Asian elephants in North America? It is an honor and a privilege to provide a home for these beautiful elephants and we welcome the community to join us in honoring them!

If you would like to bring Emily and Ruth a special treat, donations of unopened packages of unsalted shelled peanuts, yogurt-covered raisins, and dried fruit will be accepted on their behalf.

The Asian elephants you know and love living in zoos and human care serve as ambassadors to inspire people to care about their preservation.

Asian elephant numbers are 10 times lower than those of African elephants. Worldwide, the estimate is that only 40,000 – 50,000 remain. Lack of habitat, competition for resources, and development have left about a third of all Asian elephants reliant on some form of managed care. We need to find ways for humans and elephants to peacefully coexist to save the species. AZA facilities and affiliated conservation organizations are doing just this, in order to ensure this magnificent species will remain for generations to come!

You can make a donation in their honor that goes directly towards Asian elephant conservation.

 

BPZOO is dedicated to protecting wildlife and wild places.

International Red Panda Day

International Red Panda Day

BPZOO CELEBRATES INTERNATIONAL RED PANDA DAY 

Join us for International Red Panda Day at the Zoo on Sunday, September 17th to learn about our red pandas, Jacob, Marie, and the cubs and raise awareness about this beautiful, yet endangered species.

Here is the schedule of all the fun:

🐾 11 am – 2 pm: Face Painting, Activity with a BPZOO Educator, and Raffle Tickets for Red Panda Painting

🐾 11 am: Painting with the Pandas

🐾 12 pm: Cubs’ Gender Reveal

🐾 1 pm: Cubs’ Name Reveal

🐾 2 pm: Red Panda Keeper Chat and Raffle Drawing

Let’s see how much we can raise for red pandas! Donate to the Zoo’s conservation donation fund during your visit and be entered into a raffle to win a Red Panda Painting! For every $5.00 donation, you’ll receive one raffle entry. These donations must be made in person on September 17th to be entered.

What are we doing to protect this endangered species?

BPZOO is proud to partner with the Red Panda Network, the world leader in efforts to protect red pandas and their habitat, as a Reforestation Sponsor. Our most recent donation of $5,000 will support the land purchase, reforestation, and the salary of a local land steward for one hectare of red panda habitat in the Panchthar-Ilam-Taplejung (PIT) corridor in eastern Nepal: a critical location for red panda conservation that has been heavily fragmented and degraded by deforestation.

Red pandas are unique, important and unfortunately endangered. There may be as few as 2,500 red pandas remaining in the wild. Red pandas are a flagship species. Their conservation has landscape-level impacts, and like an umbrella, the entire ecoregion — its forests and wildlife — are protected when red pandas are conserved.

 

BPZOO is dedicated to protecting wildlife and wild places.

BPZOO Welcomes Two Endangered Red Panda Cubs

BPZOO Welcomes Two Endangered Red Panda Cubs

We Welcome Two Endangered Red Panda Cubs

New Bedford, Massachusetts: The Buttonwood Park Zoo is proud to announce the birth of two red panda cubs, the second successful litter in BPZOO’s 129-year history.

two new baby red panda cubs born May 2023
red panda cubs born may 2023 at buttonwood park zoo

Red Panda cubs at 9 days old

BPZOO’s female red panda, 5-year-old Marie, gave birth to two cubs on May 27, 2023. The cubs underwent initial health screenings at 3 days old and with one weighing in at 58 grams and the other at 125 grams. Marie, now a seasoned mom, is spending time behind the scenes bonding with the cubs. Mom and babies are all doing well.

The cubs will remain in the nest box, which is inside the red panda’s night house, for approximately the next two months. Red pandas are born with their eyes closed and they typically open somewhere between day 17 and 19; now 30 days, both cubs’ eyes have opened, and they have begun to explore the nest box. The cubs will venture outside when they can safely navigate the perching in their habitat.

The cubs will remain with Marie for at least a year.

BPZOO is offering a unique opportunity to glimpse behind the scenes at these adorable babies with a series of photos and videos available through the “Red Panda Pals” program. For a $50 donation, participants receive exclusive content, have the chance to submit a name suggestion, a limited-edition symbolic adoption package, and a chance to meet the cubs once they join their parents in the outdoor habitat. A portion of the proceeds from this program will support BPZOO’s global red panda conservation efforts.

Jacob, BPZOO’s 6-year-old male red panda, and Marie were brought to New Bedford based on a recommendation as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan (SSP), which the Buttonwood Park Zoo is actively participating in. The goal of the SSP is to cooperatively manage animal populations to ensure the sustainability of a healthy and genetically diverse population while enhancing the conservation of this species in the wild.

BPZOO is a Partner in Conservation with the Red Panda Network by helping in their campaign to Plant a Red Panda Home in Nepal. Once restored, the critical forest corridor that connects Nepal and India will be part of the Panchthar-Ilam-Taplejung Red Panda Protected Forest in Eastern Nepal: the world’s FIRST protected area dedicated to red panda!

About Red Pandas

Red pandas, Ailurus fulgens fulgens, live in high-altitude temperate forests of Nepal, northeastern India, Bhutan, and part of China. Listed as Endangered by the International Union of Conservation of Nature, the global red panda population has declined by 50% over the last 20 years. Primarily threatened by habitat loss, red pandas are also susceptible to climate change, poaching, livestock herding, and disease. It is estimated that there are less than 10,000 and as few as 2,500 red pandas remaining in the wild. Currently, there are 240 red pandas at 85 AZA-accredited institutions that are working together to save this endangered species.

Primarily bamboo eaters, red pandas need to eat 20-30% of their body weight each day due to the high amount of indigestible fiber present in bamboo. Thanks to the success of the Zoo’s Community Bamboo Program, the red pandas, elephants, and others enjoy various species of bamboo harvested from private landowners throughout the community.

A Gift That Lasts All Year! 

BPZOO Memberships make a perfect gift for the animal lover in your life.

BPZOO Participates in National Waterfowl Conservation Efforts

BPZOO Participates in National Waterfowl Conservation Efforts

BPZOO Participates in National Waterfowl Conservation Efforts

3 Trumpeter Swans started the next leg of their journey towards

re-introduction to the wild   

New Bedford, Massachusetts: Any regular visitor to the Buttonwood Park Zoo knows that no trip is complete until they have the opportunity to feed the ducks. Twenty-five cents per handful, these dispensers, perched along the long wooden bridge just inside the Zoo, are playing a major role in waterfowl conservation across North America.

Most recently, BPZOO participated in a comprehensive reintroduction program between Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited zoos, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and The Trumpeter Swan Society, by caring for a trio of young swans from 2021 until early spring 2023. Now fully grown, they were ready to begin the next leg of their journey towards reintroduction – a “soft release” in a protected area in Idaho. During this phase of the program, they will join with other zoo swans to become less habituated to humans and more acclimated to the wild environment. In 2024, the entire flock, or bevy, will be tagged and released in south central Oregon.

Once hunted almost to extinction – by the late 1800’s Oregon had lost all its trumpeter swans – a shift towards conservation and the dedication from so many agencies and facilities has made trumpeter swans a success story in several states where they once flourished long ago.

“BPZOO is proud to have played a role in the saving of this species,” said BPZOO Director Gary Lunsford. “Our participation in this conservation success story was made possible by the generosity of the many, many families over the years who have supported wildlife conservation through their visit to BPZOO.”

In addition to providing funding to waterfowl conservation efforts, BPZOO participates in the AZA’s Species Survival Plan (SSP) for Trumpeter Swans. The goal of the SSP is to cooperatively manage animal populations within AZA accredited zoos to ensure the sustainability of a healthy and genetically diverse population while enhancing the conservation of this species in the wild. The three trumpeter swans who briefly called BPZOO home, will hopefully contribute to a growing bevy in the wild.

Photos courtesy Zoo Idaho
Party for the Planet

Party for the Planet

Funded by:

Saturday, April 22nd, 2023

10:30 am – 2:30 pm

Free with Zoo Admission!

It’s a party for the planet, come celebrate with us!

Party for the Planet is the largest combined Earth Day celebration in North America! More than 100 AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums across the country celebrate with activities, giveaways, and special events.

Join us at the Buttonwood Park Zoo on Saturday, April 22nd from 10:30 am to 2:30 pm, when we will offer our visitors the opportunity to explore, learn, and play with us during this free-with-admission event. Over 20 local organizations and businesses are coming together to celebrate green, sustainable living, and teach us how to make choices that will ensure the health of our planet for generations to come. Don’t forget to bring in any unwanted electronics (see details below).
 
The Zoo will have live music, a raffle, fun games, face painting, an ambulance on site, Earth Day-inspired enrichment demonstrations with our animals, and so much more!

Spring into Action by tracking the monarch butterfly migration north from their overwintering grounds in Mexico to coastal California through the United States and Canada. To capture how monarchs recolonize the breeding areas, report the first sightings of adults, milkweeds, and eggs and larvae to Journey North. Already seen your “first” spring observations? No problem! Please report all observations after these “firsts” to Journey North as well. Tag AZA during registration by adding AZA Party for the Planet in the comment section of your report.

Create Pollinator Spaces in your backyard! AZA is partnering with The National Wildlife Federation to expand native habitats across AZA-accredited facilities and their members. NWF’s Certified Wildlife Habitat® program helps to create and restore habitat and wildlife populations. Turning your yard, balcony container garden, work landscape, or roadside greenspace into a Certified Wildlife Habitat® is fun, easy, and can make a lasting difference for wildlife. Spring into Action with AZA and NWF in creating native habitats near you!

Electronic Waste Drop-off

Members of the community can also bring in any unwanted electronic items to drop off with the amazing team from UMass Dartmouth during Party for the Planet hours, regardless of whether or not they choose to then enter the Zoo. All E-Waste donations will receive one free child admission per party/family into Party for the Planet! Items that can be dropped off include:
  • Batteries (alkaline, car, boat [lead-acid], and rechargeable)
  • Printers
  • Computer or TV monitors ($20 fee for a tube [non-flat] variety)
  • Desktop computers
  • Laptop computers
  • Phones
  • Tablets
  • Scanners
  • Fax machines
  • Cellphones, Blackberries, Palm Pilots
  • Stereo equipment (receivers, turntables, amplifiers, speakers)
  • Household appliances (toasters, toaster ovens, microwaves, blenders, clock radios, mixers, George Forman Grilles, etc)
  • Other consumer electronics