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APRIL 2015
VOLUME 28•EDITION 4
Spring (and Butterflies) is in the Air!
March 22 marked the return of Butterfly Kaleidoscope
presented by Citizens Energy Group. If you haven’t made
your way to White River Gardens yet this year, make sure
you immerse yourself in the beauty of butterflies as these
wonderful winged insects are back in the Hilbert
Conservatory. We've transformed the indoor gardens into
a tropical paradise to bring you butterflies in a way that
you've never experienced them before!
As you walk through the warm, aromatic indoor garden,
nearly 40 species of butterflies will flit nearby — and one
might even land on you! Each day, new butterflies, like
the blue morpho, monarch and great owl, will be released
Photo by Warren Lynn
from the chamber. Come to one of our scheduled releases
and watch them take their first flight! Learn about the amazing metamorphosis of these creatures — from egg
to larva to pupa to butterfly. Feel the soft flutter of their wings as they float by on their way to take a drink of
nectar from stunning glass feeders hand blown by Gloria's
Garden Glass. Don't forget your camera to capture the
stunning colors and delicate details of these fascinating
creatures! Children will love the new interactive butterfly
building station, where they can build a giant replica of
these interesting insects.
A dazzling array of colors will fill every corner of the
conservatory in this show, making you believe that you
are walking into an immense glass kaleidoscope. A
breathtaking mobile of giant proportions will twirl
overhead as a rainbow of light shimmers in through
stained glass panels. These translucent, jewel-toned panels
will mimic the butterflies as they float on the air currents
high in the air in the Conservatory.
There are still opportunities to assist in the Butterfly
Kaleidoscope exhibit as a Gardens Naturalist. If you’re a
current Naturalist, you can take the upcoming Gardens
Photo by Kerrie Best
biome training. If you’d like to join the Naturalist
program, make sure you attend the Naturalist 101 training from 6-8pm on Wednesday, April 8, in the Polly
Horton Hix Institute for Research and Conservation. Please RSVP to Adam Garrett at agarrett@indyzoo.com
or by phone at 317-630-2041.
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Special Event and Weekly Mascot Shifts Available!
Two Mascots and one Guide are needed from 8-10am on April 18 for
Race for the Cure.
One Mascot is needed from 8:30-11am on April 25 for the Indiana
Children’s Wish Fund Airplane Pull at Indianapolis International Airport.
Two Mascots and one Guide are needed from 6-10am on May 2 for the
500 Festival Mini Marathon.
One Mascot and one Guide are needed from 9am-2pm on May 9 for the
500 Festival Kid’s Day.
Shifts for both Mascots and Mascot Guides are now available from
Photo by Adam Garrett
10am-1pm on Saturdays and Sundays to greet guests upon their arrival at
the Zoo. If you’ve completed Mascot training, you can sign up for shifts on Volgistics.
If you’d like to participate as a Mascot or Mascot Guide and haven’t completed the required training, you can
still join us in the Polly Horton Hix Institute for Conservation and Research for Mascot and Mascot Guide
training. Training will be held from 6-8pm on Monday, April 27. No need to RSVP.
Zoo Ambassador Training
When guests visit the Indianapolis Zoo, we want them to have the best experience possible. Every visit –
whether from a member who visits multiple times each year or an out-of-state patron visiting for the first time
– begins in the same place: the Entry Plaza. To help make all Zoo guests feel welcome during the busy spring
and summer seasons ahead, we’re on the lookout for Zoo Ambassadors!
As a Zoo Ambassador, you will greet Zoo members and guests and provide a friendly, one-to-one presence as
they arrive. You will help ensure ticket pricing options are transparent and encourage families to explore
membership options. Zoo Ambassadors will also help direct visitors – those with prepaid online tickets or
memberships – to the appropriate entry points and offer directions as needed. If you are interested in becoming
a Zoo Ambassador please attend one of the following training sessions in the Hix Institute or the Hulman
Riverhouse:
 Thursday, April 9, 6-8pm (Hulman Riverhouse)
 Saturday, April 11, 1-3pm (Hix Institute)
Please RSVP to Alicia Cornett at acornett@indyzoo.com or by phone at 317-630-2059.
Zoopolis 500
While May in Indianapolis is known for a certain auto race,
there’s another race that’s equally as big. Zoopolis 500 presented by
the American Dairy Association Indiana features the fastest
radiated tortoises from the Zoo’s collection! Make your way to
Dean’s Arena from 11:30am-12:30pm on Wednesday, May 20, for
the greatest spectacle in tortoise racing and cheer on your favorite
competitors as they race their way to victory lane.
Two Deserts Naturalists are needed from 10am-12:30pm to share
turtle and tortoise artifacts. Four volunteers are also needed from
10am-12:30pm to help with an interactive game and photo
opportunities.
Photo by Liz Findley
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Abracadabra - Geraniums!
Volunteers from the Herb Society
of Central Indiana are responsible
for the Sunken Garden in the Polly
Horton Hix Design Gardens at
White River Gardens. Each year
Photo 2 by Nina Evans
they dig some of their plants in the
fall to overwinter in our
greenhouse. And each year they
Water well! Keep the potting mix
start some plants doing softwood
moist, but not soggy all throughout
cuttings, using soft-stemmed new
your growing adventure. (photo 3)
growth to reproduce plants they
like. The volunteers were here on a
cold day at the end of February to
take some scented geranium
(Pelargonium spp.) cuttings. Here
are the basic steps:
Step 1: Cut 4-inch sections of soft
stem ends from your healthy parent
plant. Remove the leaves from the
lower end of the stems so that there
are just two to four sets of leaves
Photo 3 by Nina Evans
remaining (photo 1).
Keep the cuttings in a bright spot
without direct sun. You might want
to put them in a “mini greenhouse,”
such as a clear plastic bag, to
increase the humidity. Don’t seal it
so tightly that there is no air
exchange, though.
If you decide to re-pot, check for
good root growth by very gently
pulling on each stem. If you feel
good resistance, you can carefully
Photo 1 by Nina Evans
remove your “babies” and plant
Poke holes in a free-draining
each into a larger pot. The rooted
soilless growing mix and place your plants will do fine without extra
cuttings into the holes, making sure humidity from now on.
the leaf stems are above the mix
Note: Don’t be too disappointed if
level (photo 2). If you start several not every cutting is successful.
cuttings in a single pot, position the Geraniums are relatively easy to
cuttings so the leaves don’t touch. start this way, but there are always
some losses!
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Geraniums aren’t frost tolerant.
So you should wait until after the
middle of May to put your new
plants outdoors after hardening
them off (letting your new plants
get used to the outdoors a little bit
at a time for a few days).
Enjoy the plants you have grown!
Nina Evans, Horticulture
New Faces in Forests
Take a quick stroll through
Forests and you’ll notice some new
faces. Two endangered Amur
tigers, Luka and Maxim, are among
the Zoo's newest additions.
Born at the Peoria Zoo, the 2-year
-old brothers came to Indianapolis
in mid-January and are now making
their homes in the Tiger Forest
exhibit. It's easy to tell that Luka
and Maxim are brothers, not only
from their looks but also their
personalities. They have very
similar fur markings, but Luka has
slightly larger cheek stripes and
Maxim often sticks out his tongue.
The two make a great pair and are
often seen lying on the same rock
or playing in the water together.
Even though Luka and Maxim are
new to the Zoo, they are making
themselves right at home.
Photo by Melanie Laurendine
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The porcupines have not yet been
introduced to our female warthog,
Lily, and won’t be until her litter of
piglets leave for another institution.
African Crested
Sexually mature females give birth
Porcupines, “Spiny Pigs” to one litter of one to four young per
year. The gestation period is about
and “Porcupettes”
112 days. The young, called
The word “porcupine” comes
porcupettes, are well-developed,
from the Latin porcus for pig and covered with soft, sensitive bristles,
spina for spine, hence "spiny pig." and have white stripes on their sides.
However, the African crested
The young leave home for the first
porcupine is a species of rodent in time at about two weeks of age, as
the Hystricidae family, and is not their quills begin to harden and their
related to the pig at all. The
stripes eventually fade. Weaning
porcupine is native to hilly, rocky occurs within six to eight weeks
habitats in sub-Saharan Africa,
after birth and the porcupettes begin
North Africa and Italy and
to eat solid vegetable matter. They
occupies natural shelters among
will remain near their mother, and
roots, rocks and holes and burrows then in their family group, for
made by other animals or by
several months before going off to
themselves. It is the largest rodent find mates of their own. The African
in Africa, averaging about 44
crested porcupine reaches sexual
pounds.
maturity during its second year.
At the Zoo, our resident African
In the wild, owls, leopards and
crested porcupines are Peter and
pythons are natural predators of the
his daughter, Piper. Peter was born porcupine. The porcupine warns
June 1, 2004 and Piper July 24,
potential enemies to back away by
2009, both at the Central Florida
clicking its teeth, stamping its feet
Zoo. They arrived at the
and growling or hissing. More
Indianapolis Zoo in early 2011.
impressively, it raises its quills and
Porcupines can live up to 20 years vibrates specialized quills to
in human care.
produce a rattling sound.
Porcupines are herbivores and eat
roots, tubers, bark and fallen fruit.
Peter and Piper are very food
motivated — fresh logs and
branches are kept in their enclosure
at all times so the porcupines don’t
start chewing on everything else.
They get along with male warthog
Kazi on exhibit, but can be
territorial with him if he strays too
close while foraging. Keepers have
had to pull multiple quills from
Kazi’s snout over the past three
years they’ve been together!
Photo by Paula Susemichel
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If the porcupine chooses to attack, it
runs backward until it rams its
attacker with its most heavily armed
hindquarters. Scales on the quill tips
lodge in the skin of predators like
fishhooks and are difficult to
remove. Quill lengths vary on
different parts of the body, from 1 to
12 inches on the back. New quills
grow in to replace lost ones.
African crested porcupines are not
considered threatened as a species
but are overhunted in some areas.
Farmers tend to view them as
agricultural pests because the
porcupines dig up cultivated root
crops, such as cassava, potatoes and
carrots. Hunters and farmers smoke
them out of burrows or use dogs to
hunt them. Porcupines are hunted
for their meat and quills, which are
used in some cultures as ornamental
talismans.
The key to keeping the African
crested porcupine off the threatened
list is providing education on
sustainable practices for agricultural
and settlement growth. Support
programs that train local
communities on best practices,
incentivize conservation agriculture,
and set aside land for wildlife.
Finally, if you did not make it past
the elephant exhibit this winter, you
missed this frozen waterfall!
Linda Daley
Photo by Paula Susemichel
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44
Volunteer Milestones
As mentioned in last month’s Zoosletter, many of you reach important milestones in your Zoo volunteer career
throughout the year. Each quarter, we’ll post these milestones. Last month we shared years of service reached in the
first quarter of 2015. This month we are recognizing those individuals who reached the 100 and 250-hour mark.
Congratulations to everyone on their accomplishments!
100 Hours of Service
Amy Allen
Austin Barker
Laura Compton
Kelly Griese
Kimberly Runnels
Megan Schoonaert
Crystal Wise
250 Hours of Service
Heather Abel-O’Neill
Desiree Brandon
Robin Meyer
Anthony Pedevilla
Holly Stephens
Sue Terhune
Volunteer Appreciation Week
Thank you to our amazing Volunteers for all your hard work and dedication to the Zoo! This month, we’re celebrating
National Volunteer Appreciation Week! Stop by Volunteer Services after your shift April 12-18, between 11am and 2pm
for your special treat. Additionally, we’re drawing Adult Volunteer names each day to win a variety of prizes! Volunteer
Appreciation Week culminates with the annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner on Monday, April 20. Invitations were
sent to volunteers with 25 or more hours served in 2014. If you received an invitation, don’t forget to RSVP to Kristin
Kraemer at kkraemer@indyzoo.com or 317-630-2193 by April 13.
2015 500 Festival Training Series, presented by OrthoIndy
During select Saturdays prior to the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon, 500 Festival Training Series events will
take place near the Zoo. Access to the Zoo may be limited during these runs so please plan on arriving for your volunteer
shift accordingly:
April 11 — 8am 500 Festival Training Series
April 18 — 8am Race for the Cure, Zoo may open late
May 3 — 7am Mini-Marathon, Zoo may open late
2015 Elegant Vintages International Wine Auction
The 2015 Elegant Vintages Wine International
Auction is in the books and was another great success
for the Zoo! Featuring selections of fine and rare wine
from around the world, this elegant, black-tie optional
event includes both live and silent auctions. Auction
lots often include many non-wine items such as unique
gift packages, magnificent dinners, luxury get-aways,
fine jewelry, original art, sports memorabilia, one-of-akind sculptures, behind-the-scenes tours at the Zoo and
more!
This was another smooth event for the Institutional
Advancement team thanks to the awesome group of
volunteers who donated their time to help out.
Haley Fennell, Special Events Coordinator
Photo by Ashley Couch
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Volunteer Zoosletter
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20 Christy McAfee
22 Earth Day
APRIL
Flower: Sweet Pea
Birthstone: Diamond
Tiffany Devlin
23 Karine Huys
Benjamin Smith
24 Amy Allen
Chelsea Wilbur
25 World Penguin Awareness
Day
Photo by Jackie Curts
1
Teagan (f) ring-tailed lemur
(2013)
Jesse Claprodt
Allison Will
2
Beth Cate
Judith Palmer
Jill Ann Roush
3
Riley Rae (f) ring-tailed
lemur (2013)
4
5
Rosanne Bonjouklian
6
Clarence (m) ring-tailed
lemur (2000)
Heather Abel-O’Neill
Heidi Christiansen
Phil Dant
7
8
9
Bob Peale
Lisa Wade
Celeste Berry
Diane Donnelly
Quinn (f) ring-tailed lemur
(2013)
Shannon Gaughan-Kelly
David Thomas
Volunteer Zoosletter
Photo by Jackie Curts
10 Odai (m) Guinea baboon
(2005)
Julie Adams
11 Phineas (m) desert tortoise
(1974)
Cindy Mast
12 Erin McCrea-Gantz
13 Kristie Williams
14 Maki (f) ring-tailed lemur
(2014)
National Dolphin Day
Sherri Shahadey
15 Roberta Keil
Anita Vancil
16 Matt Brubaker
17Bat Appreciation Day
Richard Schonberg
18 Jean Macdonald
Alise Vuskalns
19 Matt Holley
Brien Krieger
Photo by Don Reynolds
28 Fran (f) white stork (1985)
Andrea (f) Amur tiger (2008)
Karen Rose
29 Jim McGee
Sonya Schkabla
30 Debbie Freeman
Animal Fact
The bald eagle, whose name
derives from the conspicuous
appearance of its white-feathered
head, has been the national bird of
the USA since 1782. The only
eagle solely native to North
America, the bald eagle has been a
protected species since 1940.
From “Smithsonian Animal: The
Definitive Guide” edited by David
Burnie and Don E. Wilson
7
Editor: Adam Garrett
Reporters: Linda Daley, Nina Evans, Adam
Garrett
Photography: Kerrie Best, Ashley Couch,
Jackie Curts, Nina Evans, Liz Findley,
Adam Garrett, Melanie Laurendine, Warren
Lynn, Don Reynolds, Paula Susemichel
To Contact the Volunteer Office:
Phone: 317-630-2041
Kristin Kraemer: 317-630-2193
Fax: 317-630-2031
E-mail: kkraemer@indyzoo.com
agarrett@indyzoo.com
volunteer@indyzoo.com
Save The Dates
Power Recycling Weekend presented by Ingram Micro — April 11-12
Volunteer Appreciation Week — April 12-19
Volunteer Appreciation Dinner — April 20
Zoobilation — June 12 (Zoo closed)
New Volunteers
Neil Alwardt
Wanda Atwater
Ashley Batchik
Jim Borthwick
Heidi Boyle
Julianne Boyle
Jordan Brown
Sue Burn
Sara Bushong
Austin Campbell
Qiujia Chen
Andrew Cohee
Katelyn Creigh
Wayne Davis
Ashley Duty
Elizabeth Gomez
Alison Hernandez
Joan Hilber
Alyssia Hill
Ashlyn Hughes
Megan Klomp
Volunteer News ....................... 1
Heather Light
Erica Marks
Donna Minton
Your Chance to Help ............... 2
Margaret Palicka
Marilyn Pate
Molly Quella
Collections News ................... 3-4
Laura Randall
Maxine Randolph
Desirae Rhodes
Ericka Scheck
Bill Smith
Leslie Soper
Jane Testa
Mitchell Wehrle
Rhonda Weinzapfel
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Special Reports ...................... 5-6
Birthdays ................................... 7
Announcements ........................ 8
Emily Wilson
Volunteer Zoosletter
1200 West Washington Street
P.O. Box 22309
Indianapolis, IN 46222-0309