The sloth bears prefer watermelons.

September 12, 2017 9:54 AM

How do you feed a zoo during a disaster?
posted by ChuraChura (13 comments total)

Build a friggn ARK!
posted by sammyo at 10:16 AM on September 12, 2017 [2 favorites]

Double portion of orange sherbet for your goose removal services!
posted by Bee'sWing at 10:16 AM on September 12, 2017 [3 favorites]

One of the CNN reporters noticed just before Irma struck that all the birds seemed to have left, Now We Know.
posted by sammyo at 10:21 AM on September 12, 2017 [1 favorite]

To each other?
posted by sexyrobot at 10:26 AM on September 12, 2017 [1 favorite]

This was, without a doubt, interesting. But I was sad not to have any pictures of sloth bears. . .
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:10 AM on September 12, 2017 [2 favorites]

I apologize. Here are some sloth bears.
posted by ChuraChura at 11:12 AM on September 12, 2017 [13 favorites]

In addition to the food supply problems, a disaster can cause other issues. The Calgary Zoo is on an island in the middle of a river that flooded four years ago with 10 times the volume it normally has; over 90% of the island was under water. They could get most of the animals out, and some of the others to high ground within their enclosures (the gorillas had to climb up to the higher levels of their area, while the giraffes were up to their bellies in water). The biggest problem was the hippos -- never in danger of drowning, obviously, but their enclosure flooded to the point that they could swim out and potentially escape; the keeper wound up sitting outside the building with a rifle while crews barricaded the entrances. It was crazy.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 11:37 AM on September 12, 2017 [13 favorites]

Sloth bears are remarkably hairy. Thought they must must be from cold mountains, but no, they live in India and Sri Lanka and have a hairy mane like a lion. They eat bees and termites.

I think the Calgary Zoo needs to move.
posted by Bee'sWing at 11:54 AM on September 12, 2017 [1 favorite]

I can only imagine how the poor Calgary giraffes felt about being belly deep in water! Have you ever seen them crossing a river?
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 12:01 PM on September 12, 2017 [2 favorites]

At the end of the Calgary Zoo article linked above, there's a picture of a Gibbon holding a keeper's hand, with this blurb:

A white-handed gibbon named Tunku was evacuated to the zoo’s Animal Health Centre, as staff rushed to save animals from encroaching flood waters. Upon seeing one of his keepers (Jax Hoggard) during this confusing and stressful situation, Tunku reached out to take her hand.

And I burst into tears. At work.
posted by cooker girl at 1:11 PM on September 12, 2017 [13 favorites]

A few years ago my husband and I discovered The Zoo which was a weekly look at the interactions between the caretakers and animals of the Chester Zoo in GB. That led us to similar series from Ireland, Australia, and The Bronx-- all of them named "The Zoo." They cover a lot of this sort of territory-- how do you feed them, how do you administer medicine, find a mate, keep them in environments that stimulate. Each zoo has its own unique problems and solutions and so much depends on the budget and how the caretakers are trained.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 4:07 PM on September 12, 2017

In Dublin Zoo during the Easter Rising they did, in fact, end up feeding some of the animals to the carnivores. Not too many, though. A fascinating account.

By the end of Easter Week, the shortage of meat had reached a crisis point. Rather than kill some of the carnivores and share what little was left with the remainder, the decision was made to kill an old pony, a donkey, a goat and a few dingoes and use the meat to feed the valuable lions and tigers.

posted by distorte at 7:11 AM on September 13, 2017 [1 favorite]

There's a lovely but depressing Emir Kusturica film called Underground that deals with the Belgrade zoo during wartime. Let's watch!
posted by aspersioncast at 1:35 PM on September 15, 2017