San Francisco Zoo & Gardens

More Big Game treats with red panda, Little Mebo, scoring some snacks!

The Big Game is this weekend and our meerkats got into the football spirit, playing like the champions they are!

Today is both Armadillo AND Hedgehog Day, how lucky are our Animal Rescue & Conservation Center is home to some amazing ambassadors of each! Maisie is a 3-banded armadillo, Chester is our 9-banded armadillo, and Aloe is a hedgehog.

Here’s what happens to a snowman in California – it becomes partially melted because of the sunny weather! Greater one-horned rhino Gauhati didn’t seem to mind, as he first investigated the oddly shaped snow creature, then proceeded to use his prehensile lip to see what all the fuss was about!

Your mid-week snack attack, courtesy of black-and-white ruffed lemur, Mojito

See if you can spot someone hiding in plain sight!

Some big birthdays celebrated this past week! Female hyacinth macaw Beyoncé turned 8, while Nigerian dwarf goats, half-brothers Mica and Onyx turned 3! Their caretakers presented delicious treats on their special days!

On this Penguin Awareness Day, Megan, the primary caretaker of our Magellanic penguin colony, shares some recent vids; be sure to stay thru to the end! We love how she interacts with them! You can see them daily at Penguin Island, with two feedings daily, at 10:45 a.m. and 3 p.m.

To top off a big three-day holiday weekend with epic crowds, we celebrated the sweet 16th birthday of Camilla! (She thought everyone came out just to wish her a happy birthday!).

Rolling also helps to stretch their back and spine muscles, and even to scent mark. Sometimes it is just the case of playtime or enjoying themselves!

📷: Steve Franks

Ahhh! There’s nothing like rolling around on your back in a pile of leaves!

Bajkit, our female Przewalski’s horse, recently turned 25 years old! Horses often roll on their backs to scratch themselves, or self-groom, like a natural dust bath.

📷: Steve Franks

Jimmy G striking an elegant, regal pose.

The snow leopard’s gray fur with dark spots and rosettes offers natural camouflage in this species’ rocky terrain and snowy landscape. At the Zoo, you sometimes have to take a closer look to find our pair!

#sfzoo #Caturday

After Ida enjoyed her favorite leafy greens, she moseyed on over to Earl’s platter. But, he then decided that he wanted to see what she left behind on her platter! (Oh, those tortoises!)

We are celebrating both of our Aldabra tortoises 11th birthdays today! Ida turned 11 a few days ago and Earl’s birthday is today!

They were treated to a special platter of their diet, and if you look close enough, you can see their names spelled out.

Finger-licking good! Today marks female Coquerel’s sifaka Karen’s 15th birthday! And how about that decadent heart-shaped cake made with leafeater biscuits, peanut butter glazed icing, sprinkled with crushed walnuts & almonds!

She also received a new pink monkey toy (Neil likes it too!).

A happy 50th birthday to Henry! Henry is a red-footed tortoise, and resides in our South American Tropical Rainforest and Aviary.

His birthday “cake” was made up of his favorite fruits on a bed of dandelion greens and Belgian endive. Look how excited he was! Yum!

Check out that form! Our giraffes received new enrichment – a barbell! Similar to a barbell, the “weight plates” are instead containers stuffed with hay and browse. Do you think they’re contenders for the Olympics?

Last week’s rainy weather washed out female Western lowland gorilla Monifa’s 28th birthday celebration, so her caretakers threw an epic party today!

The winter wonderland theme featured snowflake decor, ice treats and more! Happy belated birthday Monifa!

📷: Andrew Nesheiwat

Judy’s face! She is our cover girl of the week!

📷: Steve Franks

Boop! Opossum Dozer is quite the charmer! Come see him, his bro Hank the Tank or newcomer Tux, our young skunk at Critter Hill in front of the Animal Rescue & Conservation Center, daily at 10:30 a.m & 3:30 p.m.

They also have a prehensile tail, and their general resting posture is coiled with their head in the center, like you see here.

Come see Bert and Spot the next time you visit our South American Tropical Rainforest & Aviary!

Check out 11-year-old brother and sister emerald tree boas, Bert and Spot, looking cozy and sharing a tree branch together! We thought this pic might elicit some “likes!”

These beautiful snakes are distinguished by their bright green color with white zigzags and a cream-colored belly.

Utilizing positive reinforcement and setting up a positive environment for each animal voluntary weigh-ins become a part of everyone’s regular routine.

Like our animals the scales we use come in a variety of sizes and shapes. The most specialized scale is a giant one to accommodate our rhinos!

You may ask, how do you get an animal to stay still on a scale? Our behavior team works with animal caretakers to teach animals to step onto a scale and remain still until an accurate weight can be obtained.

Current accurate weights are especially important if an animal becomes ill because some medication dosages are determined by how much an animal weighs.

Animal care staff, working with zoo nutritionists and veterinarians, create nutritious tasty diets to prevent animals from becoming overweight or underweight. The ability to obtain regular weights informs us if an animal needs a diet adjustment or may have an underlying medical issue.

The holidays may be over, but what remains might be what’s on so many New Year’s resolution lists – weighing in and losing some of that cookie weight!
For our Zoo animals, we weigh everyone on a regular basis, as it is an important part of their health care. (More)

We’re officially in the new year, and have just one more celebration to share! Our chimps, Twiggy (aka Connie), Gombus and Michael were treated to their favorite juice presented in champagne flutes! Can’t get better than that!

#sfzoo #chimp #nye

We are all Cecil on New Year’s Eve!

Michael has the right idea after indulging over the holidays - keeping it healthy!