The signage for the San Diego Zoo’s newly opened Reptile Walk.

To celebrate July 4th, I decided to take a trip to the San Diego Zoo to experience the opening day of their new Reptile Walk area. While there, I tried to remember what I had done on July 4th the previous year. Oddly enough, I did the exact same thing. I went to the zoo that day to take photos of the zoo’s old reptile and amphibian houses for a post about their collection of tropical frogs. Strange how things work out. Anyhow, read on to view the slideshow of the zoo’s newest attraction.

Construction on the new and improved Reptile Mesa has been ongoing for the past several months. The area can be easily overlooked if you don’t have a map in front of you because it sits behind the reptile house and Wegeforth Bowl.

Here are the basics of the overhaul. The three old, dated reptile and amphibian houses that lined the northern border of the mesa have been removed and replaced with two new, open-air structures: amphibians and California native species in one, aquatic turtles in the other. The new structures nestle up against the sides of the existing center island-style iguana and agama enclosures. A new Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis) pond has been added between the two new houses. The final change I noticed was the addition of at least four Johnston’s crocodiles (Crocodylus johnstoni) in the old gharial pond.

For more particulars, enter the slideshow:

Zookeeper Kelli balances a female New Guinea stick insect while pointing out the males on display.

The Garden Festival was a recent weekend-long event at the San Diego Zoo to bring the flora and fauna of our backyard into the spotlight, hosted over Mother’s Day weekend. There where many booths lined up along Front Street that were offering gardening tips, hands-on demonstrations and special sales. Special behind-the-scenes experiences offered tours of the zoo’s extensive collection of vegetation from around the globe. The zoo also decided to organize a tweet-up for their loyal Twitter followers, but what was the subject matter?

Read on to find out.

The Garden Fest Tweet-Up was all about insects, of course. Insects are an integral part of the Earth’s ecosystem and without the work they do our plants, as well as our planet, would die off. To mark the occasion, the insect house zookeepers introduced us a to few of their most fascinating specimen.

The tweet-up naturally took place in the Spineless Marvels insect house in the Children’s Zoo. To avoid repetition, this post will also count as the promised final part of the comprehensive guide to the Children’s Zoo that I began late last year. Click to read Pt. 1 – Animals and Pt. 2 – Activities.

Yours truly temporarily hijacks the zoo’s Tweet-Up sign.

Spineless Marvels is tucked along the far edge of the Children’s Zoo, which is located in the southeast corner of the zoo, and the bottom left corner of your zoo map.

One of the best things about the insect house is the tank design. The hardscapes are finely handcrafted and detailed, while the accompanying plant life is varied and nicely conceived. You will notice a big difference between these modern environments and the older tanks in the nearby reptile and amphibian houses. (Similar work is also on display in Elephant Odyssey.) Another great feature of the insect house is its constant evolution. New species are frequently rotated in, with the latest example (as of press time) being the colorful Gecarcinus quadrates, or red land crab, a terrestrial crustacean native to Central American rain forests.

Fun fact: The African whip spiders (Damon variegatus) on display are featured in the film version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which Mad-Eye Moody uses to demonstrate the three unforgivable curses.

A jumping stick from Peru makes its home in Spineless Marvels.

Among the many residents of Spineless Marvels is a honeybee colony, katydids, mantises, beetles and a very large bird-eating spider. The inhabitants are broken into four different categories based on their behaviors and tendencies: decomposers, gardeners, pollinators and predators. Surprisingly, the most numerous category is predators, which includes the mantises, white-spotted assassin bugs, a few aquatic species and more.

Due to the amount of tweet-up attendees, we were split into two groups to allow the two keepers, Kelli and Paige, to work with smaller groups. First up for us was Kelli, who was handling two species of walking sticks. One was a larger green jungle nymph (Heteropteryx dilatata) from Malaysia. The second was a smaller brown New Guinea stick insect (Eurycantha calcarata) from Papua New Guinea. Both were females, she explained, because the males are unsavory little creatures that will spray an odor similar to a skunk. I’ll pass on that, thanks. Kelli allowed them to climb around on her hands and arms and let interested parties feel their spiny exoskeletons while she explained their natural camouflage techniques.

Zookeeper Paige explains the complex social interactions of the San Diego Zoo’s leaf-cutter ants.

Next up was Paige, who gave us the intriguing low-down on the impressive leaf-cutter ant (Atta cephalotes) display. The zoo’s colony of leaf-cutters is completely self-sustaining, save for emptying the waste area and providing vegetation for harvesting. The colony started in 2006 with only a queen and few hundred worker ants and has since grown into the hundreds of thousands. What I found most interesting was that the television screens on both sides of the glass are actually live behind-the-scenes video feeds of the colony. I always assumed they were taped loops.

Both Kelli and Paige gave us a ton more information about each species and the zoo’s insect operations in general, but I’m keeping that for us Garden Fest Tweet-Up attendees.

As ever, follow me on Twitter, as well as the zoo and Safari Park for info about upcoming tweet-ups. If you’re green with envy about missing out on this, or any tweet-up, you’ll just have to start attending. They are free with the price of admission.

Also, you can like me on Facebook.

Here is a list of my previous tweet-up recaps:

Cheetah Run

Animal Superstars video – photos

Festival of Flight

Butterfly Jungle

Clearly one of Asia's finest, a domestic Bactrian camel.

When I first conceived of this blog about a year ago, I envisioned cruising around the zoo and Safari Park and returning home to update readers about new comings and goings. I’ve done a bit of this, but I’ve also spent a lot of time highlighting specific areas and/or experiences for people who have never been to the zoo. This will be the first of a new type of entry that will read more like a trip journal than would a comprehensive guide to, oh I dunno, the Children’s Zoo. Read on for what I discovered this weekend.

Well, the thing that stuck out to me the most was the construction of the new Australian Outback exhibit. Details are a little foggy, but here’s what we know:

The future site of part of the San Diego Zoo's upcoming Australian Outback.

• The centerpiece will be the traditionally-styled Queenslander House, which will house the koala care center and allow zoo goers to look on as koalas are attended to.
• Raised walkways will allow guests to view the koalas from tree level, similarly to the previous set-up.
• Tasmanian devils will one of the new additions to the zoo.
• Other animals featured will include kookaburras (a kingfisher bird), wombats and I assume kangaroos and wallabies.
• The Queenslander Education Classroom will provide close encounters with Aussie animals, as well as other activities.

The entire koala area has been removed to make way for the new building. In addition, the old area housing the kangaroos has been torn up, along with the lemur exhibit and some enclosures holding various hoofed animals. The Kiwi Trail, which offers a great shortcut from Africa Rocks and Big Cat Trail to Urban Jungle has been closed off, denying access to the nocturnal birds and some entertaining monkey houses.

The old koala enclosure has been demolished, will this be the site of the Queenslander House, or something else?

All told, the earth-moving is pretty substantial. Set to open in Spring 2013, it seems like the Australian Outback is going to be a pretty major attraction. And that should suit the zoo and its visitors just fine. San Diego has the largest zoo colony of koalas outside of Australia so I’m sure upgraded facilities will be welcomed by the zookeepers. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that koalas are very photogenic—featuring a great combination of instant recognizability, perceived cuddliness and slow movement.

Fun fact: A koala’s diet consists almost entirely of Eucalypt leaves, particularly Eucalyptus, which you can find all over Southern California. Unfortunately, Eucalyptus is an non-native, invasive plant species that is very difficult to kill and helps fuel San Diego’s infamous wildfires.

I walked through Panda Trek and appreciate it more with each visit. I’ve said this before, but the red pandas (Ailurus fulgens) are criminally under-appreciated because of their more famous relative. Even non-giant panda fans have good reason to venture down Panda Trek to see the reds alone. The growing Sichuan takin (Budorcas taxicolor tibetana) herd makes for a pretty good watch, as well. What makes Panda Trek really work is that it gives guests something to see while waiting in line for the giant pandas. Bottom line, it was a great idea and was very well executed. Props to whomever.

Paka, the male Malayan tiger sleeps near the glass in his Tiger River home.

I’d also like to give a shout out to patience. Anyone that visits Tiger River knows that the Malayan tigers (Panthera tigris jacksoni) enjoy spending time at the very top of the hill near their feeding area and the entrance to their quarters. This does not always make for compelling viewing. However, if they are up there and you really had your hopes set on seeing male Paka, female Mek or youngsters Christopher and Conner up close, try try again. We stopped by Tiger River again on our way out and were lucky enough to see the big boy Paka sleeping by the glass with almost no one there to see it.

Since it’s spring, the greater flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) are building their nesting mounds in their lagoon near the park entrance. No sign of eggs just yet, but the park is rife with very young local mallard ducklings. We saw them in at least two separate places.

One final note, the zoo had several young volunteers greeting guests and one young man showed me a plastic ball that Guapo, Elephant Odyssey’s resident jaguar (Panthera onca) had chewed up. The plastic was surprisingly thick, and it was pretty incredible to think that an animal could do that sort of damage with its jaws. The volunteer also told us a story of similar damage inflicted upon a bowling ball in just one night. Cool story, cool volunteer. I wish I had gotten his name.

Rather than going down a week before the event was opened to the public, the tweet-up was postponed until Sunday, April 1 at 5 p.m. Since Butterfly Jungle was already accessible to anyone with park admission, the plan was to still offer some up-close bug encounters and maybe a little education from the Safari Park’s wonderful and knowledgeable keepers. However, something, something, Of Mice And Men and plans again.

Maybe it was because 100 freaking people showed up! There were like seven people that attended the Cheetah Run Tweet-Up last June––and three of them were in my group. Seriously, we were two feet away from a cheetah. No offense to butterflies, but c’mon …

So since the aviary was teeming with people, the education and stick insect ogling didn’t happen. Instead, we got to enjoy Butterfly Jungle without too much of a wait. Scroll down for some photos, and read last year’s entry for more details (my first post!).

On your way out, check out the official photo contest on the SP’s Facebook page with images that are far, far, far better than mine.

I went to Elephant Odyssey last weekend and I noticed some new statues. Most of them are pretty straight forward, but this one seems like a strange choice. In case you can’t make it out, the prehistoric-looking leopard is looming on a rock right above the pronghorn exhibit, about to pounce inside. One pronghorn is watching at all times.

Feeding the Masai giraffes at the San Diego Zoo.

In all of my many trips to the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, one thing I had yet to do was feed the giraffes. I had always intended on it, but it just never seemed to materialize. Last weekend, I finally made it happen. Read on for the ins and outs of giraffe feeding.

Both the zoo and Safari Park offer giraffe feeding as an option for guests. I can’t speak too much for the experience at the Safari Park, except that the feeding time is 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. daily, but it is on my radar for a future visit. At the zoo, feeding only takes place on Saturdays and Sundays from 12 to 1 p.m in the giraffe enclosure, located in the Urban Jungle. Vouchers must be purchased in advance from the small shack next to the giraffes. These vouchers go on sale at 11 a.m. (cash only) and are hot items, typically selling out early due to their limited quantities, especially during the summer. If you show up at noon expecting to purchase a voucher, you run the very real risk of getting shut out.

Pro tip: You can buy your vouchers at the information booth right before entering the park gates. Do it! You can pay by credit/debit, you don’t have to queue and since you don’t have to wait until 11 a.m. to buy, you can snatch them up before they go on sale in the Urban Jungle. It’s a no-brainer if you plan in advance. 

Purchase your vouchers at the Urban Jungle Adventures shack or near the zoo entrance.

At a mere $5 for three biscuits, this is the most affordable, bang-for-your-buck upgrade experience at either park. The proceeds support conservation efforts, particularly the endangered Grevy’s zebra.

The zoo houses a herd of Masai giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi), the tallest of the nine subspecies of giraffe, making it the tallest land animal on Earth. The males reach an average height of nearly 20 feet and females measure in around 16–17 feet. Giraffes are also among the world’s heaviest land animals—their hearts alone weigh 25 pounds. As an aside, the giraffes are also housed with a collection of Nubian Soemmerring’s gazelle (Gazella soemmerringii soemmerringii).

On this particular day, we fed two giraffes: Nicky, a female, and Silver, the dominant male of the herd. Silver’s head is covered with calcium deposits that form bumps on his forehead, something typical of mature male giraffes. They were enticed over to the special feeding area where notches in the fence allow them to safely bend their necks downward.

The "leaf-eater" biscuits are specially designed for high-fiber diets.

I decided to give both techniques a shot. We waited as people in front of us sanitized their hands and received their special “leaf-eater” biscuits, which looked not unlike doggy treats. Up the guests went to the feeding area, holding biscuits in their outstretched hands as Nicky and Silver gobbled them up, unfazed by the dozens of unfamiliar people. Some were brave, while others withered under the imposing height and monstrous size of the head and neck arching overhead, angling slowly down toward them. A few kids got cold feet, no doubt feeling smaller in the world than they ever had before.

Pro tip: Unless you want to be amongst the first feeders, come back near the end of the feeding window to avoid the wait. As long as you have a voucher and show up before 1 p.m. they will let you participate.

Silver, a male Masai giraffe, takes a biscuit from a guest's hand as Nicky, a female, watches on.

Soon, it was our time to feed. My girlfriend Chelsey buckled a bit, offering up the biscuit while simultaneously backpedaling to keep her food just beyond reach of Silver’s 20 inch long, dark purple tongue. Further and further Silver stretched for the food, as if to say, “C’mon, you can do it. I’m hungry.” Finally convinced that the giant was no threat, Chelsey scooted forward, enabling Silver to wrap the tip of his tongue around the circumference of the biscuit and curl it into his mouth. After feeding out two more biscuits, it was my turn.

I stepped up to Silver, who was closest. He had returned his neck to a nearly full upright position while he waited for his next treat. As I held out my first biscuit, his enormous head, supported by a veritable tower for a neck, craned down towards me and I understood why some people ahead of me had shrunk in the giraffes’ shadow. Given an easy target, Silver had gripped the biscuit with his tongue and pulled it away faster than I was expecting, though in the process I was able to feel the tiny bumps on his warm tongue. He was clearly well-practiced at the art. In the same manner, I fed him my second biscuit so quickly that Chelsey wasn’t ready to photograph it. I moved with my third biscuit over to the less-aggressive Nicky and held it up to her in my palm. Swiftly, gently, she scooped it up with her lips like a horse taking a carrot, leaving a small bit of moisture behind.

Just like that, we were done. There are sinks on-site to wash your hands afterwards. You are free to use your own cameras, but the zoo also arranges for a photographer to take your pictures, which you can check out and purchase online if you desire. This is a great activity for families, especially since the keepers will let you split the biscuits up between three people if you are cost-conscious.

Regular readers of this blog know that I’ve been hyping the opening of the new bat house at the San Diego Zoo’s Safari Park since last spring. Well, after a few delays, the new bat house is open for business and I was able to check it out last weekend. Read on for my thoughts.

The brand new bat house is in the center of Nairobi Village (mustard yellow on your Safari Park map), right next to the petting kraal. It was originally announced to open last July, was pushed back to the fall and finally opened in late December 2011.

The clever new sign and entrance to the bat house.

The first thing that struck me upon approaching the new exhibit was the signage. Previous announcements had heralded the forthcoming attraction as a future home for flying foxes, including the recent grand opening press release. Instead, what I saw was a giant sign for bats. My theory: the park originally hoped ‘flying foxes’ would pique interest (“There are foxes that can fly?!”) and avoid the creepy-crawly connotation of ‘bats’, but did a 180˚ and decided ‘bats’ would be more concise and draw morbid curiosity.

It was a good decision. The sign was an attention-grabber, as were the two giant bat statues people put their heads in and take photos (is there a specific name for these?). I can’t help but feel like a giant ‘flying foxes’ sign in its place would garner a lot of shoulder shrugs.

The 500-sqaure-foot bat house is a self-contained exhibit. Enter on the left side, exit on the right side. Bats are in the house, you are in the house. There is a wire screen between the animals and the people, rest assured. It is kept humid to mimic the bats’ tropical conditions.

Photo opportunities abound outside the recently opened bat house at the Safari Park.

The inhabitants are Rodrigues fruit bats (Pteropus rodricensis), one of the most critically endangered bat species on the planet. It is native to tiny Rodrigues Island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, 500 miles due east of Madagascar. At 12-inches tall, the Rodrigues fruit bat is one of the largest species of bats. There are 13 bats on display in the bat house, including five males and eight females, according to the zoo.

Fun fact: There are around 1,240 species of bats, accounting for nearly 20 percent of all mammal species.

Upon first entering the bat house, I must confess I was underwhelmed. I suppose I expected a flurry of activity, akin the to cave-like experience at the Jacksonville Zoo’s excellent Range of the Jaguar exhibit. Apparently, I hadn’t done my research. The Jax Zoo’s smaller Seba’s short-tailed bats (Carollia perspicillata) were the type of swooping, swirling bats that gave Bruce Wayne nightmares. The Safari Park’s Rodrigues bats are more stoic, shall we say. No flying, just a lot of sleeping and hanging upside down.

Rodrigues fruit bats hang from the branches of their new exhibit.

Or so it seemed at first. Spend some time in there and you will begin to observe the large bats doing some fascinating things. Those bats that aren’t sleeping make constant trips to the fruit bowls by using their hooked thumbs to amble along the tree branches. Once they collect a piece of fruit, they eat the soft flesh or just squeeze out the juice and drop the rest of the fruit to the ground. You will also see the bats stretch out their 3-foot wingspan, giving you a good look at the bone structure that comprises the wing like an elongated human hand. If you are really patient, you can hear the bats communicating with each other through a series of high-pitched chirps.

Fun fact: The Rodrigues fruit bat is a member of the Megachiroptera (or megabat) suborder, which do not use ecolocation to navigate and locate food. Megabats rely on their keen sense of smell to find fruit.

A glimpse inside the bat house at the critically endangered Rodrigues fruit bats.

Having only been once to the newly opened exhibit, I can’t tell you whether the bats are fed throughout the day or if I was lucky enough to see them right after feeding. I’m also not yet sure how their behavior changes with the time of day, being nocturnal animals. What I can tell you for now is to spend a few minutes in the bat house observing. I encountered two types of visitors in the exhibit: people that said, “Ew gross, let’s get out of here,” and left immediately, and people that said, “They are creepy, but cool,” after watching them for awhile.

And yes, those were direct quotes.

As ever, follow me on Twitter (@AZooVisited) for blog updates and occasional Live Tweeting of zoo excursions, and like me on Facebook to display your discerning taste.

The Jungle Bells sign beckons onlookers to enter.

For the past several years, the Zoological Society of San Diego has featured its main holiday events at the San Diego Zoo. This comes after years of hosting the Festival of Lights at the Wild Animal Park, as it was called at the time. Read on for tales of holiday cheer and extended hours.

Jungle Bells is not quite the same experience as the Festival of Lights, which was scuttled in part due to the destruction of decorations by the 2007 Witch Creek fire. The main draw of Festival of Lights were mirthful atmosphere of Nairobi Village and the cold, wintery feel of walking the Park’s secluded back trails. The layout of the Safari Park allowed the grounds crew to centralize their light displays and decorations, whereas to zoo leads to a more scatterbug approach.

The Bell Ringer's Welcome choir performs hourly.

Although Jungle Bells can’t quite live up to my fond memories of Festival of Lights, it is still something worth experiencing. Guests are greeted with light displays above the front entrance and immediately upon entering the grounds. On the right, the Conservation Tree towers above visitors on Front Street. It is lit daily at 4:55 pm. On the left, the Bell Ringer’s Welcome enlists a local youth hand-bell choir to receive guests at 5, 6 and 7 pm.

Elsewhere around the zoo, you can take the kids for a picture with Santa in front of the Reptile House, marvel at the acrobatic maneuvers of the Jumpin’ Jammin’ Elves in the Urban Jungle or listen to live violinists at the Angels with Strings show in Wegeforth’s Bowl.

So that takes care of most of the program information. Here are some of our experiences that may help you further enjoy your trip.

First, take the SkyFari Aerial Tram after dark. It will give you a great view of the downtown skyline, the festive Front Plaza and most especially, the illuminated California Tower rising out of the darkness. Take the aerial tram also allows you to easily get to Elephant Odyssey (those unfamiliar with the zoo are susceptible to getting lost in the dark), which is the best-suited major attraction for nighttime viewing…

Guests watch on as an African lion slumbers.

Second, go to Elephant Odyssey. The area is fairly well-lit, so you can still see the elephants roam their giant yards and watch the African lions and jaguar prowl. In fact, you can often hear the African and Transylvanian lions communicating to each other at night. Their growls can be heard from most areas of the zoo.

Third, grab a hot chocolate with whipped cream. You know you want to. We got ours after exiting the aerial tram at Skyfari West.

Fourth, check out the Children’s Zoo. I’ve already been over this before, but lest I remind you, you don’t need to have kids to enjoy the CZ. Here you will have a good shot of seeing the nocturnal fennec fox––one of my favorite animals in the entire zoo. You can also visit the Insect House until 7 pm. You may also see the Southwest African meerkats and rock hyraxes in snuggle piles under the heat lamps in their warm dens. There is also the interactive “‘Twas The Night Before Christmas” family show at the Clark Theater.

Fifth, if you have young kids, catch the Tinseltown Trolley. Pulled by a tractor covered in Christmas lights, the smallish tram tours the zoo’s light displays and gives riders the choice to sing along with Christmas carols. You can hop on the tram from Front Plaza––it’s pretty unmistakable.

Meerkats huddle together for warmth in their Children's Zoo home.

Jungle Bells runs through January 1, with extended hours. The listed hours of operation are 9 am to 8 pm, but we left at 8:15 without hearing any announcements. That leads me to believe the gates close at 8, but grounds close at 8:30 or 9. Members received 10% gift store purchases throughout the month and at least one shop we browsed in, Treehouse Trader, had a sale advertised on all gifts.

A couple of side notes really quick. If you haven’t read my post about my plan to take a few needy local children (along with their parent or guardian) on a zoo adventure, please do so. Nominate someone you know and help me spread the word! Also, I still haven’t finished my series on the Children’s Zoo (parts One and Two here) but I will soon, hopefully.

Happy Holidays!

Once again, Twitter followers of the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park were treated to a unique backstage experience. The tweet-up was part of the larger Festival of Flight event that took place over Veteran’s Day weekend. It included interactive activities, learning booths and tons of close encounters with birds from around the world. Watch the video above, then read on to see photos and get a better idea of what you’re seeing.

Unlike other tweets-ups so far (Animal Superstars, Cheetah Run), the Festival of Flight Tweet-Up was a limited affair. The zoo was only able to accommodate 23 people and prospective attendees had to secure a spot by RSVPing online, with the spots filling up pretty quickly. Stay vigilant on Twitter, because you never know when you are going to miss out on a great event.

We met up on a wet Saturday morning in the Urban Jungle in front of the Backstage Pass area. We were then led into the behind-the-scenes area to feed the Caribbean flamingos (Phoenicopterus chilensis). On the way, I got a great look at the Grant’s zebra, Miniature Mediterranean donkey and two red kangaroos, which were all off exhibit to escape the rain. We walked through a food preparation room and were given a red plastic cup full of water and dried dog food.

Caribbean flamingos feed from red plastic cups held by tweet-up attendees. They were imprinted to associate the color red with human feedings.

Once inside the grassy flamingo enclosure, we were instructed to hold the cups between our legs (the lower the better) and refrain from touching the graceful birds. They fed by filtering the water for food with like comb-like beaks, which to me looked like black zippers. This flock of flamingos are all around two-years-old.

Nakali, a Brazilian spectacled owl, allows visitors to gently pet and scratch him.

Next, we returned to the Backstage Pass area and were introduced to Nakali, a 23-year-old male Brazilian spectacled owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata). Zookeeper Heidi explained that he is a very unique owl in that he enjoys being pet and scratched. Listen closely to the video to hear Nakali coo with pleasure.

Luna, a Gold-and-Blue macaw, displays her wings for onlookers. Photo by Matthew Steele, San Diego Zoo Social Media Planner.

Finally, Zookeeper Kindra introduced us to Luna, a female Blue-and-Gold macaw (Ara ararauna) from the tropical rain forests of South America. Luna is not one for petting, but she did enjoy showing off her wings, which have not been clipped, unlike Nakali and the flamingos.

As ever, follow me on Twitter, as well as the zoo and Safari Park for info about upcoming tweet-ups. If you’re dying to know more about what goes on at a tweet-up, you’ll just have to attend. They are free with the price of admission.

Also, you can like me on Facebook.

Yours truly filming Phu Ket and ZooKeeper Rick. Photo by Ken Bohn, San Diego Zoo Global Photographer.

Last week, I posted a video of some of the highlights of the recent Animal Superstars Tweet-Up event at the San Diego Zoo. Today, I’ll try to give you a little better idea of what went on and what animals we were introduced to. If you haven’t watched the video yet, I highly recommend you do so. Once you have, read on for the inside scoop.

This was the second tweet-up that I’ve attended. The first was a VIP preview of Cheetah Run at the Safari Park, which brought us within arm’s length of Amara the prancing cheetah. This time, we were introduced to three animals specially trained by the zoo’s loving staff to be brave, strong and proud in the face of unfamiliar onlookers.

Our guide was Rick Schwartz, a.k.a. ZooKeeper Rick (Twitter: @ZooKeeperRick), a trainer and ambassador for the zoo and Safari Park. If someone is on television showcasing the Zoological Society’s animals, chances are it’s ZooKeeper Rick. He has appeared on everything from local newscasts to the Today Show.

So here’s the deal. I’ll tell you a little about what went down, show a few photos and give the video a little context. But I’m not going to do a blow-by-blow of the tweet-up. If you want sneak peeks and special access, follow the zoo and Safari Park on Twitter (@SanDiegoZoo @SDZsafaripark) and be on the lookout for news about upcoming tweet-up events.  The tweet-ups are free with paid admission, and extra free for members, who come and go as we please.

Isa the fossa plays on a perch above ZooKeeper Rick.

The day started in the Butterfly Garden area of the Children’s Zoo. Rick told us all about Isa, a four-year-old male fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox) from Madagascar. Isa climbed around on the branch-like structure, sometimes playing and sometimes watching with a predator’s longing as birds flew by overheard.

Isa can be visited in western most area of the Children’s Zoo, next to Diego the ocelot.

Phu Ket the binturong, or bearcat, allows guests to gently pet him. Photo by Ken Bohn, San Diego Zoo Global Photographer.

Next, the show was moved a few yards away to the covered Clark Theatre. Rick brought out a binturong (Arctictis binturong), perhaps more commonly known as a bearcat, named Phu Ket––no doubt named after the island off the coast of his native Thailand. The one-and-a-half-year-old tree dweller climbed on Rick and did some friendly wrestling before being walked through the crowd to allow visitors to feel his coarse, waterproof coat.

Several binturongs are on display in the Outback area near Map Location 7.

ZooKeeper Rick and Rio, the Double yellow-headed Amazon parrot.

Finally, Rick introduced us to Rio, a 20-year-old male Double yellow-headed Amazon parrot (Amazona oratrix). Rick explained that Rio believes they are soulmates, most likely because Rick bears a resemblance to a man that raised Rio (male Amazon parrots look for mates that resemble their mother). Rio did several vocal tricks on command–as seen in the tweet-up video–and ate some nuts while balancing on one foot.

Follow me on Twitter, as well as the zoo and Safari Park for info about upcoming tweet-ups.