Archive for the ‘Animal Ambassador’ Category
June 8, 2010 by KellyMorales • 2 Comments »
Posted in Animal Ambassador, animals, conservation
 Padre the Roseate Spoonbill During your next visit to SeaWorld San Antonio, you may notice some new faces at the front of the park. The former Clydesdale Hamlet is now the Animal Connections: Reservation Center. This is a great place to start your day. Here you can visit the Concierge Team for information about tours, interaction programs, camps, and other animal connections. They can assist you with pass upgrades, cabanas, and dining programs. Or, if you’re new to the park and you just need some advice on how to navigate around and maximize your visit, they can help you plan your day.
This is also a great place to see a few of our Animal Ambassadors who also happen to be native Texans. Each of the animals you will meet here, (right now you can visit with a Roseate spoonbill, American alligators, and brown pelicans), are considered successes stories. This is because the populations of all three of these species were once critically threatened, but because of conservation efforts and responsible wildlife management, they have come “back from the brink” and their numbers are once again stable.
This week, I would like to introduce you to one of these animals, Padre the Roseate spoonbill. Padre hatched here at SeaWorld San Antonio on July 16, 2005, but if you have travelled to the Texas Gulf Coast, you may have seen spoonbills like Padre in the marshy and grassy areas near the water. They are also found in other coastal areas in the southern United States, the West Indies, Central America, and South America.
Spoonbills are one of 14 species of long legged wading birds. Much like flamingos, their feathers are pink as a result of the food that they eat. Like many other bird species with beautiful plumage, Roseate spoonbills were hunted almost to extinction during the 1800s. Their striking pink feathers were popular on women’s hats, and hunters from all over the United States competed for spoonbill plumes. In the early 1900s, roseate spoonbills began to re-colonize areas along the Gulf Coast and slowly increase in number.
Their bill is long and flat, a special adaptation for tactile feeding. They swish their spoon-shaped bills back and forth in the water to find small invertebrates, fish, and crustaceans.
 Padre swishes his bill back and forth to collect food from the water. Spoonbills also make good parents. During breeding season, the male gives the female gifts of nesting material to attract them. Once mated, the pair remains monogamous. Both male and female take turns sitting on the eggs and feeding the young.
You can see Padre here at SeaWorld, but as an Animal Ambassador he also has made several appearances on television shows, schools, and children’s hospitals. Throughout the day, he will assist with conservation talks and guest meet and greets in the park. This summer the SeaWorld Adventure Campers will assist with training Padre to fly to guests so that they will have an opportunity to get an even closer look at this amazing, although unusual, bird. Don’t forget to come out and say hello to Padre the next time you’re in the park!
May 5, 2010 by KellyMorales • 1 Comment »
Posted in Animal Ambassador, Meet My Friend..., Uncategorized, animals, conservation
 Meet Chloe the barred owl at the Animal Connections Center This week we would like to introduce you to Chloe the barred owl. Chloe came to us from our sister park, Discovery Cove.
Chloe was originally found in a school yard eating from students during lunch. She would land on edge of the tables and wait for food. Because of this behavior, the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in Orlando felt she was probably a pet that had escaped or been released and they collected her.
It was believed that Chloe had imprinted on humans. Soon after many animals are born, they imprint on their caretakers. Imprinting is a critical behavior that establishes a bond between young animals and their parents. If an animal, such as an owl chick, is cared for and raised by humans at a very young age, it will no longer recognize itself as an owl, and will continue to seek socialization from humans. A bird of prey with this behavior is considered non-releasable because their feeding behaviors are not safe in their natural environment. As a result, Chloe found a home at Discovery Cove.
Barred Owls like Chloe are medium-sized, gray-brown, and they are streaked with white side-to-side barring on the chest and up-and-down barring on the belly. Their eyes are brown, and the beak is yellow and almost covered by feathers. They have a long tail, and there are no differences in coloration between males and females.
Owls are nocturnal hunters, and prey mostly on small rodents. Most owls have unique, comb-like feathers that allow for silent flight. The leading edge is “fringed” so that the feathers, when moving, do not make noise when rubbing together. It is rare for the prey to hear an owl swooping in.
Owls have excellent vision. Their eyes look forward in a fixed position and cannot move from side to side, as the human eye can. In order to see peripherally, the owl must turn its entire head. It is a myth that owls can turn their head all the way around. Owls have 14 neck vertebrae, allowing them to move their head 270 degrees.
Although these birds have excellent eyesight, they are also capable of catching prey using only their sense of hearing. Owl ears are located one higher than the other, increasing sound reception. During flight, the left ear captures sounds below while the right ear focuses on sounds from above. In addition, their face feathers create a disc, which works to trap and focus sound.
 Chloe's face feathers create a disc that trap and focus sound As predators, owls play an important role in the environment by controlling small animal populations. Because mammals are a primary prey item, this can be especially beneficial to humans, reducing the amount of food lost each year to rodents.
If you would like to visit with Chloe, or maybe even take a photo with her, you can meet her at the Animal Connections Conservation Center along with our other Animal Ambassadors. For information about other birds of prey species, visit this link on our ANIMALS website.
April 14, 2010 by KellyMorales • Comments Off
Posted in Animal Ambassador, conservation
 Come meet Ginobili at the Animal Connections Conservation Center Who is a native of Argentina, often seen in black and white, runs very fast and has powerful limbs, currently lives in San Antonio, and when you see him, you will probably be reminded of a basketball?
This week, I would like to introduce you to another member of our Animal Ambassador Team, Ginobili the Argentine giant tegu. Giant tegus are the largest of the tegu species, with distinctive patterns of white and black dots and stripes over their entire body. They are omnivores, and here at SeaWorld, Ginobili enjoys a rounded diet of rodents, fruits, and vegetables.
 Tegus use their long tongues to capture scents from the air. Much like other reptiles, tegus have forked tongues which they use to sense smell. If you have an opportunity to visit with Ginobili over at the Animal Connections Conservation Center, you’ll notice that he often will flick his tongue, which captures scent particles in the air. Those scent particles are then taken into his Jacobson’s Organ, which is a sensory organ on the roof of his mouth for processing the scent. Interpreting scents tells tegus like Ginobili lots of information about their surroundings.
Another thing that many guests notice about Ginobili is his large jowls. These chubby cheeks are a secondary male characteristic, and may help him look attractive to female tegus.
Argentine giant tegus can make great pets under the right conditions. They are known to be docile and highly intelligent. However they require a lot of specialized care, including controlled temperature, humidity, light, and the right type of substrate for burrowing. As their name implies, Argentine giant tegus can grow to be very large (up to 4.5 feet and 20 lbs), and need a lot of space. Ginobili originally came from a family who purchased him from a pet store, but did not realize how large he would be. He soon outgrew the space in their apartment and was adopted by SeaWorld.
 Ginobili meets SeaWorld Adventure Campers The next time you’re at SeaWorld, don’t forget to stop by the Animal Connections Conservation Center and say hello to Ginobili and the other members of the Animal Ambassador Team. In addition to many opportunities to meet, touch, and learn about animals, you will also find out about SeaWorld’s conservation efforts locally and around the world. See you there!
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