Week 5 was a smashing success at Safari Day Camp! Read below to learn about the animals we spend our days with. And check out our photos with Lulu, the baby Dall's Sheep! Isn't she photogenic?

Giraffe--During Week 2, we had the opportunity to feed and learn about the Giraffes during Hoofstock Keeper Day. Today we had the chance to do it all over again. We met Brian, a keeper at Lion Country, who took us up to the feeder station. Mort, a hand-raised giraffe, came over promptly for some goodies. Everyone got a chance to feed him some veggies such as cucumbers, carrots and lettuce. After asking tons of questions, we watched them release the giraffes into the preserve. They sure can gallop gracefully for being so tall. Then we entered their night pen to look for Giraffe hairs. At first we couldn’t find many, but then we found them everywhere! They are really cool- long, black and wiry. Some even found blond ones!

Toucan--At LCS we have the Keel-billed Toucan. Most of us are familiar with the Toucan from a certain sugary cereal. (Toucan Sam is a Toco Toucan and therefore isn't the same as ours.) The toucan has mainly black with bright colors located on its breast and throat. It has a large beak; scientists do not know exactly why they have such a large beak, but they have some theories. Some ornithologists think it is simply a distinguishing feature, a visual threat to would-be competitors. But this hypothesis is not very convincing, since the bill of both the male and the female is exactly the same. So the mystery of the toucan's bill remains unsolved! Their native habitat is that of Central and South America.

Water Dragon--Melissa, a keeper, met us in front of the Water Dragon exhibit with animal in tow. We asked lots of basic questions about this interesting reptile and the others that are located in the walk-through area. Many of the campers were surprised to hear how carnivorous many of the lizards are. We all got the chance to touch the Water Dragon. Of course afterwards we all washed our hands with anti-bacterial soap because reptiles can carry salmonella.

Primate Keeper--Today was a really cool day! The day started off with making enrichments for the Chimps. An enrichment is a toy or food item given to many animals in an attempt to make their day more enjoyable. The primates are very intelligent creatures and need something to keep their brains stimulated. We made food items for them. We took pull and peel Twizzlers and strung fruit loops and cookies on them. Then we filled up paper towel rolls with the broken cookies and fruit loops for the Chimps to open up. It was a lot of fun, although I think the campers were more interested in trying to eat the enrichments than make them. Then we drove out to the Chimp islands where we met Terry Wolf. He took a boat out and we watched as he scattered the goodies we had made on the island. Then he opened a bridge and all the chimps passes from one island to another. At LCS, the chimps have no human contact. When ever keepers are on an island there are no chimps. To do this they have created an elaborate system of ropes and bridges. It is very impressive when you look at the lay out.

Desert Animals--Today was our chance to go out on the preserve. It may have been Desert Day, but in South Florida we were getting a massive downpour in rain! It turned out to be great to take a look at all the animals. They were out in the open and enjoying the cooling rain. We looked for all the animals that were found naturally in the desert. Then we headed back to the KOA for crafts. We made little mini-deserts and talked about the various little critters found in the desert such as scorpions, lizards, snakes and rodents. The Jerboa is one such rodent, and we had the chance to see one in person at the Animal Theater where Kelly, an Education assistant, showed us some important features found on desert rodents to help them survive.