Calling all Zoo members, come join the celebration that’s all about you! It is that time of the year again for Members Picnic in the Park. Wear your cookout attire and join us for an All American Picnic Saturday, August 17th, from 11:00am to 2:00pm.

Sport your red, white and blue, brush up on your Oriole baseball facts, and make sure you come hungry to this year’s Member Picnic. Grub on some burgers (meat and vegetarian), hot dogs, potato and garden salads, and cookies – all on the menu. Visit your favorite animals, be entertained at the picnic, spend the day riding for free on the train and carousel, and bring your friends!

If you are a Zoo member interested in attending this blowout, tickets are only $15/person (under 2 admitted free). There will be a link available on our website to purchase tickets soon. An email will be sent to all members with more information about this all American festivity. Members are also encouraged to bring up to four non-member guests to the picnic. Zoo admission and rides included in ticket price!

Come join the celebration dedicated to you, August 17th from 11 til 2!

TICKET LINK COMING SOON.  CHECK BACK TO PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS.

DETOUR ROUTE

Take I-83 to Exit 9 B – Coldspring Lane West

Follow Coldspring Lane approximately 0.6 miles to the traffic light at Greenspring Avenue

Turn LEFT onto Greenspring Avenue.

Follow Greenspring Avenue approximately 1.3 miles

Go straight at the corner of Greenspring Avenue and Druid Park Lake Drive to enter Druid Hill Park .

Follow the road and turn left at the 4^th road (the Old Reptile House will be on your right)

The Zoo parking lot will be on your right.

Thank you for your patience.

NEW!!! Train rides on the Jones Falls Zephry are FREE for all members from 9:30am-10:00am on every Member Morning.

Member Morning early admission is a right reserved only for our Zoo members and membership card must be presented for early admission.

“This is a sad day for The Maryland Zoo and our community,” stated Don Hutchinson, President/CEO of The Maryland Zoo.  “Amari will be missed by all of us, including me.  During my walks around the campus, I always made it a point to stop and visit the leopards. She was one of my favorites.”

Amari came to the Zoo in 1995, as a two-year-old from the Pretoria National Zoological Gardens in South Africa.  Both Amari and Hobbes, the male leopard, were orphaned as cubs when their parents were poached. (They were not siblings.)  They were rescued and were raised in Pretoria together, and subsequently both came to The Maryland Zoo.  Here they resided along the boardwalk in Africa, in an exhibit built specifically for leopards due to the presence of an iconic 200-year-old white oak tree, known here as the “Leopard Tree.” They did produce two female offspring in 1997.

“In the wild, leopards often store their kill in a tree for safekeeping after a hunt. Here at the Zoo, Amari often took her enrichment items into the tree or climbed up to watch the animals on the other side of the boardwalk,” commented Mike McClure, general curator at the Zoo. “She was very adept at learning new behaviors, allowing the keepers and veterinarians to provide excellent care for her throughout her life here at the Zoo.  Some of my fondest memories are of seeing Amari in her tree and watching her raise her cubs because she came to the Zoo the same year that I did.”

“Amari was diagnosed with mammary cancer which had spread to her lymph nodes,” stated Dr. Ellen Bronson, chief veterinarian for the Zoo.  “As an elderly cat, many treatment options would have been invasive and would not have significantly improved her prognosis.  We have been keeping her level of care consistent and monitoring her for any signs of lethargy or discomfort, adjusting medications for pain as necessary.  Unfortunately, it became apparent that her quality of life was in decline and we knew the disease was taking its toll on her.”

Amari was the Zoo’s “Groundhog Day” prognosticator for 2012.  She correctly chose a box decorated with spring images, and filled with meat treats, to predict an early spring arrival. Hobbes, 19, continues to reside in the Leopard exhibit.

Click to download complete press release.

The Von der Decken’s hornbill (Tockus deckeni) are a small member of the hornbill family and was named after the German explorer Baron Karl Klaus von der Decken, who described this bird in his writings about his explorations in Africa.

Von der Deckens are found across eastern Africa from central and eastern Tanzania, throughout Kenya, and into southeastern Ethiopia and Somalia. It favors the open bush and scrubby woodlands of the dry savanna and arid steppe.  They are 17-20 inches long, with mainly white plumage on their body with black wings and a black tail. The male has a very distinctive red and ivory two-tone bill. The female has an entirely black bill. The long bill allows them to forage and collect food items from branches they could not reach otherwise. Their short, broad, and rounded wings are efficient for short intervals of flight but not ideal for extended periods.

Their diet consists of snails, mice, nestling birds, lizards, tree frogs, seeds, fruit, berries, and insects. Interesting wild fact – the Von der Decken’s hornbill and the dwarf mongoose of the East African savannah have a unique relationship. The mongooses disturb insects for the hornbills to eat, while the hornbills provide increased vigilance (alertness for predators) allowing these mammals more time to feed. 

Von der Deckens nest in tree cavities. The pair works together to partially close up the entrance with a mixture of mud, droppings, and food items such as fruit pulp until the female can barely fit through to enter the nest. The male continues to seal her in, and she also assists from the inside using food and feces until only a narrow opening remains. The male is then completely responsible for feeding his mate and the upcoming chicks for the next 2 months.

Here at The Maryland Zoo, the four Von der Deckens can be found in the African Aviary along the Boardwalk.

VISIT The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore for a wild adventure that will bring you
face-to-face with more than 1,500 amazing animals.  Lock eyes with a polar
bear, the world’s largest land predator.  Go on an African Journey and visit the
Giraffe Feeding Station, where you can get eyeball-to-eyeball with the Zoo’s
tallest residents!  View otters as they swim above you and visit with a colony
of precocious African penguins!  Pick up a brush and groom goats and spend
time with other farmyard animals, they’ll be happy to keep you busy.  A day
full of fun and adventure awaits you at The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.

The lions may have a ‘cookout’ with patriotic themed paper mache filled with meat or the polar bears may enjoy a nice frozen fish popsicle. Join us and come dressed in your best red, white, and blue outfit. Don’t forget your camera because this thrilling event makes for the best animal photo ops. Come celebrate Independence Day with the animals here at the Zoo!

Here is the animal schedule of the enrichment activities:

11:00 Polar Bears

11:00 Otters                                        

11:30 Penguins                                 

11:30 Elephants                                 

12:00 Vultures                                  

1:30 Leopards                                     

2:00 Warthog                                      

2:30 Chimp                                           

3:00 Farmyard    

Please note that due to animal care priorities, scheduled enrichment activities planned are subject to change.

On this morning take a Walk on the Wild Side with us! Starting at 9:40am join us for a special 1.75 mile walk through the Zoo starting at Buffalo yard road.  This brisk walk is intended as an option for members who’d like to enjoy some early morning exercise.

In addition to the morning’s walk, families can participate in exercise related public programs starting at 10am near the Rock Island Penguin Exhibit.

• Big Cat Olympics – an activity where kids can learn how to move like a big cat!
• Primate Walk – Enjoy learning how different types of primates move!

And don’t forget!! Train rides on the Jones Falls Zephry are FREE for all members from 9:30am-10:00am on every Member Morning.

Member Morning early admission is a right reserved only for our Zoo members and membership card must be presented for early admission.

This June & July, visit the American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM) for another truly wild experience! Take a round-tripo through AVAM’s current exhibition, “The Art of Storytelling: Lies, Enchantment, Humor & Truth” and tour three historic buildings filled with wonders created by farmers, housewives, mechanics, retired folk, the disabled, the homeless – all inspired by the fire within! Maryland Zoo members will receive buy one, get one admission with their Zoo membership card from June 1, 2013, thru July 31, 2013.  AVAM is the official national museum and education center for self-taught, intuitive artistry, located next to historic Federal Hill park at 800 Key Highway in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.  Museum is open Tuesday – Sunday, 10am-6pm (closed Mondays). Visit avam.org for more info.