Let's embark on a thrilling journey where the wonders of the wilderness unfold before your very eyes. Keep your senses sharp and see if you can spot the towering residents of the African Savannah, the giraffe. These gentle giants can reach heights of up to six meters tall, making them the tallest living land animal and earning them the nickname the watchtowers of the savannah. Their height, combined with excellent eyesight and hearing makes them the perfect sentinels of the African Plains.
Imagine what it must be like to be so tall to reach the tops of the acacia trees with ease. Giraffes use their long, prehensile tongue to grab tasty leaves off of tree branches to eat. Reaching up is easy, but reaching down to grab a drink from a watering hole puts giraffes in an awkward and vulnerable position. Luckily, they don't need to drink water more than every few days as they get most of their water from the plants that they eat.
As we approach our next resident, keep your eyes peeled for any animals lying around. Lions are the only social species of big cats and live together in groups called prides. Typically, a lion's pride will have one male, and the rest will be females and their young. A pride is like a big family, and every member contributes to help take care of each other. The male, with his large size and great mane, protects the pride by warding off any threats that come across their path and watching over the young while the females are away. The females, on the other hand, are the providers of the pride and take on all of the hunting. They must take down large prey animals like zebras, wildebeest, antelope, and more. Enough to feed the whole family.
Our next site on our adventure is the regal Siberian tiger. One trait that unites all tiger species is their beautiful orange fur with dark black stripes. This fur pattern allows the tiger to blend in seamlessly into the forest around them, allowing them to camouflage. This may seem strange as orange does not match the green colors we see in the forest. But luckily for tigers, their prey do not see color the way we do and thus disappear out of sight. Siberian tigers are an endangered species and may disappear completely from the wild within our lifetime. You can do your part to help endangered species by simply reducing, reusing, and recycling.
Feast your eyes on the great domestic pig. Pigs are omnivores and use their excellent sense of smell to find their next meal. Their sense of smell is so strong that they can smell under the ground searching for roots, tubers, and grubs in the soil. Once they locate a tasty snack, they use their spade shaped snout to dig it out. From the great heights of the Andes Mountains comes the next animal we'll encounter, the friendly alpaca. This domesticated animal is an excellent example of how native livestock can be farmed sustainably. Alpacas feed on plants native to the South American regions where they are farmed and do not negatively affect the natural ecosystem.
As a bonus, alpaca fur is naturally water repellent, making their fur a popular fiber in the textile industry for clothing and other goods. As we continue, you may spy some flames dancing in the distance. Don't be alarmed. It isn't fire, you see, but that is what these animals are named after. Flamingos get their name from the Spanish word flamenco, which means fire and refers to the bright color of their feathers. Flamingos get their pink color from the food that they eat, which is rich in beta carotene. It may sound silly, but if you or I ate the same amount of beta carotene for our body size, we would be pink as well.
Cast your gaze down the pathway on the left to see conservation in action. We call this area conservation corner. The Greater Vancouver Zoo is proud to partner with Wildlife Preservation Canada for the conservation of three local endangered species. The Oregon spotted frog, the western painted turtle, and the Taylor's checker spot butterfly. These animals face many threats due to human disturbances. By learning more about these animals and working together, we can protect wild habitats and increase wild populations.
You might feel a magical chill in the air as we approach our next animal, the Reindeer. You may also know this resident of the Arctic as their wild name Caribou. Caribou are the only species of deer to live north of the tree line year round. They will use their antlers to scrape away snow and ice to find food in the long winter months, which is why both males and females grow them.
If you see ripples in the muddy wallow, you may be in the presence of the humble hippopotamus. Native throughout Sub Saharan Africa, these amphibious animals get their name from the Greek words for river horse, an appropriate name as they spend up to sixteen hours a day in the water. A hippo can hold her breath comfortably for up to five minutes, but luckily she doesn't have to very often. With her eyes, ears and nose on the top of her head, she can keep her body submerged while her head sticks out of the water, staying cool and comfortable throughout the day.
Over this ridge we approach a very special area of the zoo. Within our North American section we are home to many rescued animals, each with their own set of circumstances. All of these animals were born in the wild and had their destinies changed by human activity. For our bears and cougars, human wildlife conflict resulted in them losing their mothers much too soon.
Thankfully, wildlife rescue workers were able to recover and rehabilitate these vulnerable creatures. Now they spend their days here at the Greater Vancouver Zoo, receiving excellent care by our animal care team and inspiring and educating our guests, which will benefit their wild brethren for years to come. For our eagles and pelicans, human disturbance left them injured and unable to continue their life as normal. Conservation heroes gave our birds a second chance at life. However, their injuries rendered them unable to fly, which is why they live here, acting as stewards to remind our guests of their effect on wildlife.
As we continue our journey, keep an eye out for wild inhabitants of our native ecosystem. Through the Greater Vancouver Zoo runs the Salmon River, a native stream home to many aquatic species such as insects, frogs, and the Salish sucker, an endangered species of fish. This river travels through the Lower Mainland Of British Columbia, spanning 40 kilometers from the Lower Fraser Valley into Metro Vancouver and is vital to the successful spawn of wild salmon species such as coho and steelhead. As our journey progresses, an animal vital to maintaining balance among the web of life is the grey wolf.
Do you hear that? The howl of the grey wolf can travel up to 16 kilometers away, important for long distance communication between pack members. This howl travels so far that it bounces through space and time as we travel back to a land once forgotten when dinosaurs roam the earth. The Mesozoic adventure is an experience unlike any other, allowing us to walk amongst earth's colossal ancestors, such as the armored Stegosaurus, the ginormous Brachiosaurus, and even the indomitable T Rex. As paleontologists learn more about the world long ago, it reveals more about our world today and what possibilities the future may hold.
Back to the present, our adventure continues, bringing us to the small but mighty red fox. Although named after the color red, these clever canines can come in a variety of other colors, including brown, silver, and black.
Another animal named for their fur color is the red river hog who we meet next on our journey. These playful pigs are the most vibrantly colored of all wild pig species.
We are home to the noble Persian onager. Native to harsh desert landscapes, Climate change is the biggest threat to this earnest equine, making it difficult to find plants to forage and water to drink. We can help desert dwelling animals by carpooling, taking public transit, or biking, which helps reduce the rate of climate change.
If you spy bamboo growing in the distance, we must be entering the realm of the red panda. These adorable endangered animals are found in the bamboo forests of Southwestern China and the Eastern Himalayas. The Greater Vancouver Zoo is proud to participate in the red panda species survival plan. This program allows experts to coordinate with accredited zoos to help increase populations of endangered species. By supporting accredited zoos like the Greater Vancouver Zoo, you help to fund important conservation efforts for red pandas as well as many other species.
As we return to the desert, we meet the admirable Adax. This antelope is perfectly adapted to life in the desert, exhibiting many amazing adaptations for an arid ecosystem. They have wide flat hooves that prevent them from sinking in the soft sand as they search for desert grasses and scrub to munch on, while their light colored coat helps to keep them cool by reflecting light.
Next, we transition from the dusty desert to the water dwelling Sikhi deer. Speaker1: Native throughout Eastern Asia, these deer are sacred in Japan, featured in legends, and considered to be messengers of the gods in Shintoism. Sika deer are excellent swimmers and will readily enter the water in order to escape from predators.
Back to the Sahara Desert, feast your eyes on the magnificent scimitar horned oryx. This antelope is named for the long curved horns on their head, which resemble a scimitar shaped sword and is an adaptation used to defend themselves against predators and determine pecking order in their social groups. The scimitar horned oryx was declared extinct in the wild in the 1990s due to habitat loss and poaching. Thankfully accredited zoos and environmental organizations from all over the world worked together to form the Oryx species survival plan to rear a new population that would one day be released back into the wild. Between 2007 and 2016, reintroductions were performed in Tunisia and Chad, and the wild population began to grow. In December 2023, the scimitar horned oryx was relisted as endangered, an incredible example of collaborative conservation and a symbol of hope for how we can work together towards a brighter future.
There's nothing plain about the next animal we'll meet, the plain Zebra. Although all zebras share a white and black striped pattern, no two zebras' stripes are exactly the same. Each pattern is unique, like a human fingerprint. This is how zoologists can keep track of individuals, whether they are studying them in the wild or taking care of them at an accredited zoo. Why do zebras have stripes at all? Scientists have three main theories. Firstly, that the black and white stripes act as an optical illusion to confuse and intimidate predators. Secondly, that the pattern may confuse insects and help to reduce insect bites. And thirdly, that it helps with their thermoregulation, keeping them a comfortable temperature on hot days.
Once again, we encounter the majestic Salmon River. Keep your eye out for great blue herons that frequent this waterway. So many species, whether they are plants, animals, or otherwise, rely on healthy streams like the Salmon River. Anyone can help wetland conservation by helping to save water. Simple things like turning off the tap while you're brushing your teeth, taking shorter showers, and waiting to use your dishwasher until you have a full load may seem small, but make a big difference when we all do it.
Our final stop on our adventure brings us back where we started, the African Savannah, home to a diverse number of antelope species, bask in the glory of the biggest of them all, the eland. Being so large has its trade offs as common eland are also the slowest of all antelope species with a top speed of 40 kilometers per hour that tires them quite quickly. However, these animals are marathon runners rather than sprinters as they have incredible endurance, able to maintain the speed of a trot over very long distances.
Sharing the African Savannah is the world's largest living bird, the ostrich. Although ostriches cannot fly like other birds, they are the fastest animal on two legs, able to run up to 70 kilometers per hour. Their large wings come in handy, helping them change directions while running, like a rudder on a boat. If there's one thing you can say about ostriches, it's that they make good parents. The mom and dad take turns sitting on their eggs to make sure they stay safe during incubation. While one female ostrich can lay up to 13 eggs in a clutch, ostriches know that it takes a village to raise their young and will often lay eggs in a communal nest that can contain up to 60 eggs.
As our journey comes to an end, we'd like to thank zoos around the world play a vital role in helping endangered species, often their last hope against extinction. As you continue your explorations, take a moment to appreciate the amazing animals that call our zoo home and the wild species that they represent.
By visiting an accredited zoo, you have taken the first step towards being a conservation hero. Small decisions we make in our everyday lives can add up to create a big impact if we all work together.
As we return to the train station, please remain seated until the train comes to a complete stop and the engine has been turned off. Please exit on the station platform side and follow the yellow arrows to the exit gate.
On behalf of the Greater Vancouver Zoo, thank you all so much for joining us on the Safari Express today. We hope you have a wild rest of your day at the zoo.
