volume 6, number 3

May/June 1977

Contents

3 Trails, Tracks,

& Totems

Il ZooNews

15 Animal Architects

21 BookNews

22 FONZNews

Front Cover: Its bill holds more than its belly

which helps make brown pelicans a novel,

new exhibit at the Zoo.

Back Cover: A new Zoo trail and track sys-

tem provides a colorful, step-by-step guide

to animals and visitor services.

Design-Production:

Monica Johansen Morgan

Copy Editor:

Mary C. Massey

Photographs on Front Cover, pp. 4, 5, 10, 11,

12, 13 & 16 by Francie Schroeder; pp. 6, 8, &

9 by Sabin Robbins; pp. 7 & Back Cover by

Max Hirshfeld, NZP Office of Graphics and

Exhibits; pp. 15, 18, & 19 Courtesy of De-

partment of Interior, U.S. Fish & Wildlife

Service; p. 15 by Gale Monson; p. 18 by E.R.

Kalmbach; p. 17 by Ray Faass; p. 23 Cour-

tesy of Washington Star; drawing on p. 20

by Ben Butterfield.

Friends

of

the.

National

is anon-profit organization of individuals and

families who are interested in supporting Zoo

education, research, and conservation.

FONZ Board of Directors 1976-77

Stephen T. Hosmer, President

John S. Brown, First Vice President

Nancy Porter, Second Vice President

M. Anthony Gould, Treasurer

Victor Delano, Secretary

Cecil McLelland

Lavell Merritt

Sheila D. Minor

Robert L. Nelson

Peter C. Andrews

Theodore Babbitt

Edward G. Boehm

Janice A. Booker

Montgomery S. Bradley John B. Oliver

Timothy V. A. Dillon Whayne Quin

Ronald J. Field Edward F. Rivinus

Donna Grosvenor Julie V. Taft

Julie P. Hubbard Lee Talbot

Nella Manes Sally S. Tongren

FONZ Staff

Sabin Robbins, Executive Director

Dennis Baker, Associate Director

Donna Schlegel, Volunteer & Educational

Services

Monica Morgan, Membership & Publications

Michael Gill, Food Services

Lisa diGirolamo, Merchandising

Renée Caldwell, Trains, Parking &

Maintenance

Norma Gay, Accountant

As a FONZ, you and your family receive many

benefits — publications, discount privileges, and

invitations to special programs and activities —to

make your zoogoing more enjoyable and educa-

tional.

THE ZOOGOER is published bi-monthly and copyrighted

© by Friends of the National Zoo, c/o National Zoological

Park, Washington, DC 20009, second class mailing permit

approved at the Washington, DC rate in the United States

$3 a year (of annual dues).

Zoo Staff

Dr. Theodore H. Reed, Director

Mr. Edward Kohn, Deputy Director

Office Chiefs

Mr. Jaren Horsley, Animal Management

Dr. Christen Wemmer, Conservation &

Research Center

Dr. Mitchell Bush, Anima! Health

Dr. Richard Montali, Pathology

Dr. John Eisenberg, Zoological Research

Mr. Emmanuel Petrella, Facilities Manage-

ment

Mr. Robert Engle, Construction Management

Mr. Joseph Reed, Management Services

Mr. Robert Mulcahy, Graphics & Exhibits

Ms. Judy White, Education & Information

Mr. Samuel Middleton, Police & Safety

Trails, Tracks, Totems

by Anne M. Byers, Staff Writer

The Nature Conservancy

Which way to the pandas?

Where is the Elephant House? Is

there a restroom nearby? How

many exhibits can we see in two

hours? What’s over the hill?

Such questions are common at

the National Zoo. After all, in a

167-acre hilly park, it can be a

long way between _ restrooms.

Now, thanks to a new trail and

graphics system, such questions

will be answered—quickly, easi-

ly, and entertainingly. Called the

Olmsted Walk and Trail System,

the project is part of the architec-

tural face-lifting of the Zoo that

was begun three years ago.

The New York-based firm of

Lance Wyman and Bill Cannan,

and Robert E. Mulcahy, the Zoo’s

Head of Graphics and Exhibits,

designed the new system to

define the Zoo’s geophysical lay-

out and enhance its. park-like

quality. To best reach all the ex-

hibits, including ones that cannot

Sixteen-foot totem poles decorated with

color-coded symbols, or pictographs, point

the way to the Lion, Zebra, Elephant, Duck,

Polar Bear, and Crowned Crane Trails.

be moved, the scheme uses some

existing paths and creates new

ones. As Mulcahy explains, “The

Trail System establishes Olmsted

Walk, the street which runs from

the Zoo entrance at Connecticut

Avenue down to the Harvard

Street entrance at Rock Creek, as

the main promenade. The animal

exhibits are located on six off-

shoot trails that begin on and

loop back to Olmsted Walk.

Some sidewalks and paths have

been replaced by grass. The new

trails are asphalt.”

Once the trails were laid out, a

unique means of identifying them

was created. Sixteen-foot totem

poles stand at either end of each

trail. The totem poles contain

individual panels identifying

animals exhibited on the trail. The

large center panel on each totem

shows the “theme” animal, such

as a zebra, for which the trail is

named. Other panels feature a

color-coded map, directions to

service facilities such as_ rest-

rooms, telephones, and _ food

services, the length of the trail

and approximate walking time,

and the animal footprint one fol-

lows to remain on the path.

“Animal tracks on the path

further blaze the trail. If you’re on

the Zebra trail,” explains Mul-

cahy, ‘you follow the zebra

tracks. They will take you in and

Festive, flapping banners further identify major animal exhibits throughout the Zoo.

out of buildings, around and

through exhibits. Tracks are not

always continuous, but some-

times clustered, so that as you

reach a hilltop or round a corner,

you will catch sight of another set

of tracks, which will keep you on

the right trail. Also, the tracks

have a ‘sense of humor’ that we

think is necessary. We tested the

duck tracks first to see how

people would react to them. The

kids hopped along on the foot-

prints. They went crazy.”

To further reinforce the system,

all trails, totems, and tracks are

not only animal-coded, but color-

coded. The panels on the Lion

Trail totem and the lion tracks,

for example, are orange. Ameni-

ties along the trails, such as

benches, food kiosks, and drink-

ing fountains, are also consistent

in design and color. Even the

trash bins carry symbols locating

nearby restrooms, phones, food,

and train services.

Olmsted Walk also has large

identifying totem poles at either

end (Connecticut Avenue and

Harvard Street) and at the Ele

phant House. The large center

panels of these three totems show

the major symbol of the National

Zoo—a mother bald eagle and

chick. Smaller panels describe

each of the six trails, their exhibits

and services, and include a “trail

blazer’ panel. This shows the 30-

inch-wide red stripe that runs

down Olmsted Walk, the Zoo’s

main artery.

By following the red stripe that

passes the totems for all six trails

—the Crowned Crane Trail, the

Zebra Trail, Elephant Trail, Polar

Bear Trail, Lion Trail, and the

It’s fun to follow animal tracks, as these

young visitors discover while they walk

along the Crowned Crane Trail. If they were

on the Zebra Trail, they would follow zebra

tracks.

Duck -Trail—visitorscarnesee. as

much or as little as they wish.

Besides guiding zoogoers, the

new totem poles are designed to

be easily altered if exhibits

change. The poles can be put to-

gether or taken apart easily, and

inset panels are removable and fit

into other totems when ani-

mals are moved from trail to trail.

The totems are weatherpoof,

since the sections are concrete

and the panels are enameled-

plated steel.

Describing the new trail markers,

Bob Mulcahy said, “The great

thing about the new master

graphics plan is that as we find

something that doesn’t work or

doesn’t communicate to the pub-

lic, we can change or improve it.

No system is perfect; as the Zoo

changes and grows, the new sys-

tem will change and grow.”

The master graphics plan, de-

signed in unison with the park’s

architectural plan, also reflects

the National Zoo’s grand endeav-

or to save and propagate en-

dangered species. Most of the

graphics highlight threatened

animals. For example, the Zoo’s

major symbol, a mother eagle

feeding her chick, represents not

only the park as the National Zoo,

but also its hope to perpetuate

endangered species.

The tall totems, such as this one at the Elephant House, have been designed to be eye-catching even at a distance so that visitors won't get

lost.

Mulcahy explained how the new

symbols for the Zoo animals

evolved: “The symbols them-

selves are truly pictographs,

which are very literally interpre-

tations of the animals. Simply by

watching the way animals carry

their heads—just the way they

place them—you can see a dis-

tinct difference in each one.

Whatever symbols we chose to

use had to depict not only the

actual shape of the animal’s

head, but also its general de-

meanor. Since symbols are ab-

stractions of reality, not real-life

images, we decided that picto-

graphs would be the best specific

identifiers for the animals. They

were also most acceptable to the

scientific community at the Zoo.

The pictographs are very concise;

some of them tend to be slightly

humorous, but that’s probably be-

cause the animal is.”

“Best of all, the new trail system

7

turns the Zoo into a totally inte-

grated system, which communi-

cates with all your senses. You

can find a specific exhibit or

service more easily, or tell some-

one that you'll meet them at a

particular place in the park.”

According to Mulcahy, the trails,

totem poles, and animal tracks

should be installed by July. To

orient you to the Olmsted Walk

and Trail System before your next

visit to the National Zoo, the

trails—their colors, lengths, and

some major exhibits—are listed

below, in the order in which they

are laid out from Connecticut

Avenue to Harvard Street:

Crowned Crane Trail (forest green)

— 8/10 mile, 45-minute walk: Bird

To complement the new trail-and-track system, informative panels at animal exhibits answer such often-asked questions as “Why are white

tigers white?”

House and Great Flight Cage;

parrots, Australian emus, flamin-

gos, pelicans, eagles, owls,

ostriches, crowned cranes.

Zebra Trail (grey)—1/2 mile, 25

minutes: Hoofed animals like

scimitar-horned oryx, dorcas ga-

zelles, yellow-backed duikers,

wildebeests, dik-diks, sable ante-

lopes, bongos, blesboks, zebras;

red kangaroos, and pandas.

Elephant Trail (brown)— 1/4 mile,

15-minute walk: Elephant House

and yards featuring Masai gi-

raffes, Indian rhinos, black rhinos,

pigmy hippos, elephants, Nile

hippos.

Polar Bear Trail (royal blue)—

(Due to open Spring 1978), 4/10

mile, 20 minutes: Polar Bear Val-

ley with otters, beavers, wolves,

sea lions, plus kodiak bears, sun

bears, grizzlies, brown and black

bears, Arctic bears, Smokey Bear,

cheetahs, and jaguars.

Lion Trail (orange)— 3/5 mile, 45-

minute walk: Small Mammal

House, Reptile House, Monkey

House, Mann Memorial Lion and

Tiger Exhibit, featuring white

Specially-designed popcorn boxes tell

snackers about the many different visitor

services, which are identified, like the ani-

mals, by pictographic symbols.

yy

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ty

tis

~

YE

tigers, Atlas lions, great apes, gib-

bons, meerkats, Colobus monk-

eys, crocodiles, pythons, red

pandas.

Duck Trail (yellow)—1/4 mile, 15

minutes: whistling swans, black

swans, Canadian geese, mallards,

wood ducks. (Will become part

of Polar Bear Trail next year.)

Happy tracks through the

ZOO.

Large trail maps tell zoogoers what animals

are on what trail as well as giving the length

and estimated walking time for each trail.

10

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ae

Zoo Hippo Has Born in May and weighing a hefty 75 pounds, this female Nile hippo baby is the fifteenth

2 offspring of her 5,000-pound mother, “Arusha,” and father, “Joe Smith.” An increasingly

Fifteenth Ba by rare sight in the wild, hippos thrive — and breed well — at the National Zoo.

Zoo Adds Cormoranis,

Pelicans to Collection

by Sally Tongren

FONZ House Guide

The Great Flight Cage has four

new residents: three double-

crested =. cormorants and .a

Brandt’s cormorant.

Cormorants are familiar to sail-

ors as the black birds which sit

on pilings and “hang out their

sails to dry.”” They often sit with

outstretched wings when they are

out of the water. It isn’t certain

whether this is because their

flight feathers lack waterproof-

ing or because they are located

so far back on the body that they

are nearly upright when they are

out ot water. In the water, how-

ever, this allows them to dive fast

and deep to catch fish.

The double-crested cormorant is

common on both the Atlantic

coast from Newfoundland to

Florida and -Pacitic Coast from

Alaska to California. It is: also

found on inland lakes. During

breeding time, the throat skin is

bright orange, and two curly tufts

of feathers appear in its head.

The Brandt’s cormorant is more

common on the Pacific coast.

An interesting habit of cormor-

ants which can be seen on warm

days is gular fluttering which is a

cooling technique rather like

panting. If you see a bird sitting

with open beak and with the chin

area or gular pouch vibrating

gently, this is what is going on.

Birds have no sweat glands and

A feathered swimmer and diver with few rivals, the fish-catching Brandt's cormorant is now on exhibit in the Great Flight Cage.

have to use other methods to

cool off.

Five brown pelicans, close rela-

tives of the cormorants, have

moved into the pond between

the Panda House and the Bird

House. The brown pelican ranges

from the Gulf coast and West

Indies to Venezuela and from

central California to Chile. It is

the state bird of Louisiana. In re-

cent years, it has almost vanished

from North America because of

pesticide pollution. It vanished

completely from Louisiana until

some were imported from other

parts of the range. Since the

pesticide ban has been in effect,

the brown pelican appears to be

enjoying a comeback.

Brown pelicans often catch their

fish by diving into the water with

a tremendous splash and seizing

fish from the surface. The pouch

can hold much more than the bird

can swallow, but is used as a

dip net. Water is thus strained

out before the fish are

swallowed. Pelicans have an

elaborate system of air sacs

under the skin and within the

bones making them very buoyant

and helping cushion the impact

when they dive. They do not

mature until their third year and

do not have full adult plumage

until that time.

Brown pelicans, the state bird of Louisiana, have moved into the pond between the Panda

and Bird Houses. The big-billed birds are expert fishermen like their close relatives, the

cormorants.

Zoo Visitor Profiled:

A Very Special Person

by J. Fisher

Personnel have always known it,

but now it’s official. The people

who love and visit the National

Zoo are unusual, and a special

report tells why.

The report summarizes on-site

interviews with zoo-goers made

by Westat, Inc. The study was

done to help the Zoo better serve

the future needs of the general

public, especially in the context

of the vast Master Plan, which

already has brought dramatic

changes to the park.

According to the report, the

Zoo’s public appears to be far

from ordinary. On the contrary,

it is well educated, knowledge-

able about animals, and has an

above average income. Almost

40% of the adults interviewed

hold a bachelor’s or other ad-

vanced degree.

Family incomes for more than

half were well above the $15 ,000-

a-year level. Over 15% made

$25,000 or more. Most. visitors

come in family groups and drive

their own cars.

They obviously get around quite

a bit, because they frequently go

14

to other local attractions such as

the Smithsonian museums, art

galleries, monuments, plays, con-

certs, and sports events.

All the Zoo’s facilities, from ex-

hibits and descriptive signs to res-

taurants and FONZ shops, got

high marks from respondents.

Almost everyone strongly backed

natural-habitat-type exhibits and

expressed a desire to see the ani-

mals on a “close-up basis.”

Pandas and lesser pandas, large

mammals, big cats, bears, and

monkeys led the Zoo’s_ hit

parade. But zoogoers also en-

joyed the reptiles, birds, and an-

telopes.

There were differences between

metro dwellers and those outside

the area. Local residents seem to

get more pleasure than out-of-

town visitors out of just dropping

by the Zoo rather than tailoring a

trip to see specific animals.

They also stay a shorter length of

time—one to three hours—and

make a visit their sole outing of

the day.

Hometowners also use the Zoo

more frequently. Says the re-

port: ‘‘Metro resident visitors

account for a high proportion of

all visitors who come to the Park

two or more times in a 12-month

period. The tendency for approxi-

mately two-thirds of all visitors

to come to the NZP once in a 12-

month period was consistent

across all four seasonal survey

periods in the study.”

Young zoogoers 5 to 12 years

old had their say, too. Their fav-

orite animals pretty much dove-

tailed with grown-ups’ choices,

but they added seals to their

honor list.

The youngsters would make

good naturalists, but poor geog-

raphers. They were interested in

the animals’ natural habitats and

physical characteristics, but did

not express much curiosity about

their places of origin. For in-

stance, the range map associated

with the spider monkey drew

little enthusiasm. The budding

zoo enthusiasts were, however,

anxious to learn about new ani-

mals and endangered species.

A question about the merits of

bongos versus zebras evoked this

response from one young con-

noisseur: “The zebra is fine after

you see him once. But he doesn’t

do anything. I’ve never seen a

bongo, maybe he does more.”

Animal Architects

by Austin Hughes

Mian has altered the face of

this planet more than any other

living creature. By cultivating

plants and animals, we have cre-

ated our own ecosystems. By

burning fuels, we have altered

the chemistry of the atmosphere

and the oceans. Perhaps most

conspicuous of all, we have built

much more than any other spe-

cies. Of the millions of different

species that have lived on our

planet, none has built structures

so extensive or so permanent

as man.

Perhaps because of our near

monopoly on construction, man

tends to overlook the building ac-

tivities of other animals. Yet

many others—from_ birds to

beavers—build impressive struc-

tures.

The most impressive animal ar-

chitects are the insects. Termites,

bees, and wasps—like man—

Previous Page: Busiest of all builders,

beavers join forces in a remote Arizona lake

to construct a split-level home or lodge.

Sun bitterns in the Bird House prove to be engineers as well as architects with their stick nest cantilevered ona pole.

have highly evolved societies that

encourage the division and or-

ganization of labor that large-

scale construction demands. In

many tropical countries, termites

erect ten-foot-tall “skyscrapers”

made of a cement mixed from

glandular secretions, their own

feces, and soil. Some mounds are

nearly as hard as concrete and

may be in use over 100 years.

The most highly evolved reptilian

nest-builders are alligators. Both

American and Chinese alligators

build nest mounds of dead plant

matter and mud. The mother

tends the nest and may add or

subtract layers to modify the

temperature of the incuba-

ting eggs.

The earliest birds probably nested

on the ground and built simple

nests. Today, some ground-

nesting birds like pheasants make

only a shallow scrape in the earth

for their eggs. A few. ground-

nesting birds like the Zoo’s South

East Asian partridge or roulroul

build roofed-over nests. The red

and green female roulroul builds

her nest and sits on her eggs at

the same time. She picks up

twigs and other forest-floor lit-

To attract a mate, the male bowerbird from

New Guinea and Australia builds a court-

ship bower in the Bird House. Some bower-

birds build towers nine feet high with

slanted roofs and internal chambers.

7

ter with her bill and throws them

onto her back. Thus, she gradual-

ly builds up a roof over her nest,

using her own back as a support.

When the roof is finished, its

contour closely matches the con-

tour of the bird’s back.

Most songbirds build shallow

cup-shaped nests in trees. The

northern oriole or Baltimore ori-

ole, however, designs a pouch-

like nest that dangles below the

branch. Hanging nests are partic-

ularly common in the tropics. The

lesser green broadbill, a tropical

Asian species on exhibit in the

Bird House, builds a foot-long

hanging nest with a small

chamber at the bottom for the

mother bird and her eggs. As an

added protection, the broadbill

builds its nest from a branch that

extends out over a stream.

Wading birds, such as ibises and

herons, often build huge nests.

Sacred ibises and_ boat-billed

Prairie dogs, like those on exhibit at the Zoo, are famous for building “towns,” or under-

ground cities with miles and miles of tunnels and dens. Some towns have populations in the

millions.!

herons, which nest in the Bird

House, build yard-wide platforms

of sticks.

Sometimes, when a nest is re-used

year after year by several genera-

tions of birds, it can grow to im-

mense proportions. Bald eagle

nests, for instance, may extend

ten feet in diameter and weigh

hundreds of pounds.

Swiftlets in Asia weave cup-

shaped nests made entirely of

their own saliva. The saliva is se-

creted in long strands and dries

like glue after contact with the

air. The nests are collected by the

local people and dissolved in boil-

ing water to form the base for

birds’ nest soup.”

Few mammals compete with

birds as builders. Many rodents

build small nests on the ground

for their young. In addition, a few

rodent species have the distinc-

tion of being the only vertebrates

apart from man that build perma-

nent year-round houses. Beavers

and woodrats are examples of

rodents that build sturdy houses

lasting decades. One woodrat

house in Utah was occupied con-

tinuously for an _ estimated

10,000 years!

Beavers are one of only a few mammals that

construct permanent, year-round homes,

like this lodge in Maine fronted by a protec-

tive dam, also beaver-built.

Pome

Man’s primate relatives share sur-

prisingly little of our architec-

tural abilities. Monkeys do no

building at all. However, gorillas

and chimpanzees do build tem-

porary shelters or “nests” at night.

Before going to sleep, a gorilla

breaks and bends nearby branch-

es and vines, placing them around

its body to form a roughly circu-

lar nest. A gorilla never sleeps in

the ies nest two nights in suc- Chimpanzees, like gorillas, build temporary shelters or “nests” in trees for sleeping at night.

cession.

The basic movements involved in

chimpanzee nest building are

known to be instinctive. How-

ever, a chimpanzee removed

from his parents as an infant and

raised in captivity will not be a

very good nest builder. So, the

chimpanzee’s nest building is also

partly learned. The ape improves

his techniques by observing and

copying from the parents.

Most animal builders, on the

other hand, are guided by instinct

alone. In fact, a bird usually has

never seen a nest being construc-

ted before it builds its own. Thus,

animal instinct does the same

thing human culture does but in a

radically different way. The infor-

mation is stored not in memory or

in writing, as in human culture,

but in the animal’s own genes —

that-is, in the biochemical make-

up of every cell in its body.

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20

BOOKMA\S

Wild World of Animals

Time-Life Series

Dangerous Sea Creatures

Elephants and Other Land

Giants

The Cats

Monkeys and Apes

Reptiles and Amphibians

by Pamela Matlack Stoil

FONZ Guide

In looking through the Time-

Life series, prepare to see things

you've seen before. The photo-

graphs, which are the best part of

the series, are spectacular, but

they are largely the same illus-

trations that have appeared in

other Time-Life series and on

numerous television specials. If

the reader has missed all of the

other Time-Life books or is fasci-

nated by one species covered ex-

tensively in the series— African

elephants, for example—then

one or two volumes of Wild,

Wild World of Animals may be

of interest. Otherwise, the series

cannot be recommended.

There are two problems with the

texts of this series. First, there is

too little information on animal

behavior and anatomy, and it is

arranged in too haphazard a

fashion to satisfy the serious stu-

dent. The editors apparently

chose text to describe the photo-

graphs they wished to use instead

of selecting photographs to illus-

trate the text. Reptiles and Am-

phibians devotes nearly half its

length to snakes, which photo-

graph well, but only two pages to

the fascinating crocodilians,

which tend to resemble floating

logs in still photography.

The second problem with the text

is its negativism. In addition to

photographs and factual infor-

mation, the series includes short

fiction and excerpts from novels

that dramatize man in conflict

with animals. Nearly all of these

fictional selections emphasize

violent death, either of animals,

as in George Orwell’s description

of shooting an elephant in Ele-

phants and Other Land Giants, or

of humans, as in an excerpt from

The Murders in the Rue Morgue

in Monkeys and Apes. Nearly a

fourth of the section on sharks in

Dangerous Sea Creatures consists

of a gory excerpt from Jaws and

a misleading description of a

whale shark by Thor Heyerdahl,

which give the reader the impres-

sion that this docile plankton-

eater is really a deadly threat to

man. The rest of the text on

sharks captures the spirit of the

fictional accounts with the sub-

heads “The Jaws of Death” and

“The Great White’s Killer

Cousins” while capitalizing on

the shark’s overrated reputation

as a man-eater. |

The morbid nature of the text

and the fictional selections

make the series unsuitable for

children. An impressionable

child reading Dangerous Sea

Creatures could be convinced

that everything in the sea is

deadly. At best, a child will find

the constant emphasis on violent

death depressing and decide that

all animals are dangerous. The

combination of fictional excerpts

with factual text could have been

managed with an eye toward

educating young readers or, at

least, entertaining them. The

selections from Rudyard Kipling

included in two of the five vol-

umes fulfill this latter purpose

with charm. Instead, however,

the editors of Wild, Wild World

of Animals opted for sensational-

ism and have ended by pro-

ducing a text that is neither

informative nor geared to pro-

duce a healthy interest in further

reading on the subject.

21

FONZ\EV\S

FONZ Tours Planned

for Asia, Africa,

Russia, Antarctica

Ride elephants in search of tigers

and see the Taj Mahal by moon-

light; explore Russia and Eastern

Europe on specially planned

wildlife excursions; stalk goril-

las with pygmies in the Congo

jungle; and cruise to Antarc-

tica for a close-up look at pen-

guins. Such one-of-a-kind ad-

ventures await FONZ members

who join four special wildlife

safaris planned for 1978-79.

A 28-day “Shikar”’ (Hindu for

safari) in mid-March 1978 is de-

signed to cover the greatest

wildlife sights in India, Nepal,

and Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon).

Spring is ideal for weather and

wildlife in India. Special visits are

planned to Corbett National

Park, Ghana Bird Sanctuary,

Assam, Delhi, and Jaipur to see

Indian rhino, Gir lion and white

tigers, to name just a few. Game

viewing will be done by ele-

phant back, and of course, time

will be spent in Agra to see the

Taj Mahal by the light of moon

and sun. The tour continues

to the “roof-top of the world”

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—Nepal—to visit its colorful

capital, Katmandu, and spend

the night at Tigertops Jungle

Lodge where tiger viewing is

done by elephant back or Land

Rover. Finally, several days will

be spent in beautiful Sri Lanka to

visit their excellent wildlife parks

as well as the ancient cities of

Kandy and Anuradhapura. The

all-inclusive estimated price for

the 28-day tour is $2,500-$2 600,

which includes a $100 tax-

deductible gift to FONZ.

A mid-June 1978 “behind-the-

lron Curtain” adventure will pro-

vide a 22-day look at the wild-

life and cultural highlights of

Germany (West and_ East),

Poland, Russia, Czechoslovakia,

aiid Hungary. There will be VIP

tours and receptions at wildlife

parks in Cologne, Berlin, War-

saw, Moscow, Prague, and Vien-

na plus comprehensive city tours.

The group will attend the re-

nowned Moscow Circus, the Len-

ingrad Folklore performance, and

Laterna Magica show in Prague.

Travel from Leningrad to

Moscow will be on the over-

night “Red Arrow Express” train

in “soft class” sleeper. A hydro-

foil boat will be used to cruise up

the “blue’”” Danube from Buda-

pest to Vienna. The trip ends

with a “farewell Europe” ban-

quet in Grinzing, a picturesque

suburb of Vienna. The 22-day, all-

inclusive trip cost will be $2, 100-

$2,200, which includes a tax-

deductible $100 gift to FONZ.

A 26-day “ultimate Safari” to

Kenya and Zaire in September

1978 is designed for those seek-

ing the most unusual and exciting

of African wildlife adventures.

The itinerary and activities

were judged ‘the greatest” by

East Africa’s foremost safari

leaders. In addition to walking

and canoe excursions, there will

be a charter flight to remote

Lake Rudolph and a day-long

gorilla stalk using pygmy guides

through the jungles of Zaire

(formerly Belgian Congo). Pri-

vate tent camps will be used on

the game-rich Serengeti Plains

and at the foot of snow-capped

Kilimanjaro. All-inclusive cost for

the Ultimate Safari will run

$4,000-$4, 200, which includes a

$100 tax-deductible contribu-

tion to FONZ

Last and most in terms of time,

expense, and uniqueness is a 44-

day expedition/cruise in Janu-

ary 1979 to the White Continent

— Antarctica. Access to this re-

markable polar region will be by

the famed M/S Lindblad Ex-

plorer, a combination ice breaker

and comfortable cruise ship.

Professional naturalists will lead

frequent shore excursions to ex-

plore the unique flora and fauna

on such remote islands as Bal-

leny, MacQuarie, and Campbell,

where penguins and other birds

are a common sight. Several days

will be spent in Buenos Aires,

Argentina, on the way down and

in Auckland, New Zealand, on

the return. ‘Only a trip to the

Moon can match this adven-

ture,” claims one world traveller.

The all-inclusive tour price of

$9 000-$11,000 (depending on

ship accommodation) includes a

$100 tax-deductible contribu-

tion to FONZ.

All FONZ tours are led by a pro-

fessional zoologist or a FONZ

executive. Each tour is limited to

20 individuals, so to avoid dis-

appointment, interested mem-

bers should contact the Office

of the FONZ Executive Director

as soon as possible.

A “mooing” giraffe and a juggling bear are

among a dozen colorful characters in a new

— and free — puppet show staged hourly

from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. every day thru

August 12 at the Zoo’s Information Center

across from Lion-Tiger Hill. The half hour

“Zoodle Doodle Show,” produced by FONZ

and created by the Bob Brown Marionettes,

is put on by some 60 FONZ junior members

as part of the summer zoo aide program.

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