#San Francisco Zoo

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Super cool docent cart at the San Francisco Zoo today! This Nile hippopotamus was a previous zoo resident and his skull is now helping educate guests.

I’ve never see a hippo skull irl, much less gotten to touch their ivory, so I spent a ton of time talking with them. I’ve been super impressed with all the docents I’ve encountered here!

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Snow leopard (Panthera uncia) cub grooming mother, San Francisco Zoo, California, USA. Captive.

Photographer: Suzi Eszterhas

[simonh]

Zoo Life by Thomas Hawk

[graveyardrabbit]

the council

[is-the-primate-vid-cute]

I saw the chimps at the San Francisco zoo a while ago! They looked so healthy and content, and it was my first tine ever seeing a real non-human primate-- have you ever gotten a chance to go down to California and see them?

I have not! The areas I have predominantly lived in are zooless, so my zoo-going is reserved for when I travel. I have never been to California, but it is on my dream vacation list to go to several of the zoos there so hopefully I will get the opportunity to go eventually!

- mod J

I haven't either! I've loved primarily in the Eastern US. I've visited San Fran but didn't go to the zoo I did go to the San Diego Zoo it was amazing!!

- mod E

[thekeyofreason]

March 2024 Las Vegas > San Francisco (4/7)

[the-poison-in-my-veins]

Spontaneous zoo date 🩷🍓💙

[skeleton-bat]

Mobile web design is my passion

[funjoke]

Ruth-Marion Baruch, Carrousel, Zoo de San Francisco, 1948

[magnetic-maverick]

[countless-potr]

Omg I reached the tag limit, I didn't know there was a tag limit

The Worst Attraction in Every State

[rabbitcruiser]

Join Hands Day

Help organize or join an event to benefit your community on Join Hands Day, a day dedicated to coming together with others to make things better.

Join Hands Day lights up the first Saturday of May each year, making it a day dedicated to volunteering and bridging the gap between different generations.

In 2024, this celebration falls on May 4th. It’s a special day, initiated in the year 2000 by the American Fraternal Alliance in partnership with the Points of Light Foundation.

This day isn’t just about offering your time for a good cause; it’s about bringing together the energy and wisdom of both younger and older generations to foster understanding and cooperation across age divides.

Why celebrate? It’s simple yet profound: volunteering strengthens communities by providing essential services and support and enriches the lives of volunteers.

Engaging in volunteer work can enhance mental health, boost social skills, and even improve job prospects, especially for young people. Moreover, Join Hands Day emphasizes the power of collective effort across generations, encouraging a blend of experiences and perspectives to achieve common goals.

The spirit of Join Hands Day is all about unity and collaboration. Whether you’re sharing knowledge through a skills exchange, participating in a local clean-up, or simply spreading awareness about the importance of volunteering, every action counts.

It’s a celebration of our shared humanity, highlighting how much stronger we are when we join hands and work together. Join Hands Day reminds us that every day is an opportunity to make a positive impact in the world, one good deed at a time​​​​​​​​.

History of Join Hands Day

Once upon a time, in the year 2000, a bunch of big-hearted people from the American Fraternal Alliance teamed up with the Points of Light Foundation.

Their mission? To spark a day on the first Saturday of May each year when folks of all ages could join forces and spread some kindness. And so, Join Hands Day was born.

This wasn’t just any volunteering day; it had a twist. The idea was to mix things up, get young guns and wise wizards to work together and break down those pesky age barriers.

The first year kicked off with a bang, and the excitement was just getting started. They wanted to make sure everyone got in on the action, so they threw in some cash and shiny awards for some lucky groups, celebrating their awesome projects at a fancy conference. Talk about a party with a purpose!

But wait, there’s more! Imagine fixing bikes for kiddos who needed them or sprucing up graveyards to honor the past. That’s the kind of magic Join Hands Day aimed for, turning simple acts into treasures of togetherness.

Even though it’s all about that first Saturday in May, there was this one time in 2001 when the celebration took a little detour to June. Guess they couldn’t wait to spread more joy!

Today, Join Hands Day keeps the spirit alive, making every first Saturday in May a day to remember. From book readings in nursing homes to planting new life in parks, it’s all about sharing skills, laughter, and a whole lot of love​​​​​​​​.

How to Celebrate Join Hands Day

Treasure Hunt for Good

Team up for Adventure: Gather friends from different generations for a community treasure hunt. Together, seek out hidden volunteer opportunities. It’s fun with a splash of kindness!

Skill Swap Extravaganza

Learning Across Ages: Host a day where everyone shares their skills. Young teach old, old teach young. It’s a learning party for all ages!

Community Garden Gathering

Green Thumbs Unite: Join hands to plant a community garden. It’s a celebration of growth, not just for plants but also for friendships.

The Great Cook-off

Culinary Time Travel: Challenge each other to a cook-off. Create dishes from various eras. Share food, stories, and a hearty laugh over the dinner table.

Time Capsule Creations

Preserve Today for Tomorrow: Craft a time capsule together. Fill it with memories, gadgets, and guesses about the future. Seal it with a promise to revisit it together.

Each paragraph brings to life a unique way to celebrate Join Hands Day, emphasizing fun, learning, and community engagement across generations.

Source

[zootoo]

San Francisco Zoo - 091123 - 101 - Reticulated Giraffe by Stan-the-Rocker Via Flickr:

[shiny-eyed-corvid]

things found on the ground during my California road trip

favorite finds: a stone dolphin pendant found at the San Diego Zoo and a mysterious charm reading “Three Potato Four” from the streets of San Francisco

[reasonsforhope]

"For over a decade, the Yosemite toad has been recognized as a federally threatened species, after experiencing a 50% population decline during the Rim Fire of 2013.

The wildfire, which encompassed a mass of land near Yosemite National Park, made the amphibian species especially vulnerable in its home habitat. 

Native to the Sierra Nevada, the toads play a key role in the area’s ecosystem — and conservationists stepped in to secure their future.

In 2017, the San Francisco Zoo’s conservation team began working with the National Park Service, Yosemite Conservancy, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish & Wildlife, and the U.S. Geological Survey. 

The goal of all of these stakeholders? To raise their own Yosemite toads, re-establishing a self-sustaining population in the wild. 

“Over the past several years, SF Zoo’s conservation team has been busily raising hundreds of these small but significant amphibians from tadpole stage, a species found only in the Sierra Nevada, for the purpose of reintroducing them to an area of Yosemite National Park where it was last seen 11 years ago,” the zoo shared on social media. 

By 2022, a group of toads were deemed ready for release — and at the end of June of this year [2024], 118 toads were flown via helicopter back to their habitat.

“It’s the first time anyone has ever raised this species in captivity and released them to the wild,” Rochelle Stiles, field conservation manager at the San Francisco Zoo, told SFGATE. “It’s just incredible. It makes what we do at the zoo every day worthwhile.”

Over the past two years, these toads were fed a diet of crickets and vitamin supplements and were examined individually to ensure they were ready for wildlife release.

Zoo team members inserted a microchip into each toad to identify and monitor its health. In addition, 30 of the toads were equipped with radio transmitters, allowing their movements to be tracked using a radio receiver and antenna.

The project doesn’t end with this single wildlife release; it’s slated to take place over the next five years, as conservationists continue to collect data about the toads’ breeding conditions and survivability in an ever-changing climate. They will also continue to raise future toad groups at the zoo’s wellness and conservation center...

While the future of the Yosemite toad is still up in the air — and the uncertainty of climate change makes this a particularly audacious leap of faith — the reintroduction of these amphibians could have positive ripple effects for all of Yosemite.

Their re-entry could restore the population balance of invertebrates and small vertebrates that the toads consume, as well as balance the food web, serving as prey for snakes, birds, and other local predators.

“Zoo-reared toads can restore historic populations,” Nancy Chan, director of communications at the San Francisco Zoo, told SFGATE. 

Stiles continued: “This is our backyard, our home, and we want to bring native species back to where they belong.”

-via GoodGoodGood, July 11, 2024