LEGO Zoo #0020: Tarantula Presentation

For the concluding mini-set of National Zookeeper Week, let's look at one of the most important functions that zookeepers do in addition to all of their other duties:  educating the public about the animals in their care.

Educating the public about animals is one of the most important roles of the modern zoo, and zookeepers play an integral role in that process through daily keepers chats and presentations.  Here, Marie is telling visitors about the important role that spiders play in controlling populations of pesky insects.  With any luck, her listeners may overcome some of their fears about spiders and think about letting spiders they find in the wild go about their business, instead of killing them.

Created with LEGO Digital Designer

LEGO Zoo #0019: Horse Hand-rearing

The fourth mini-set of National Zookeeper Week shows one of the hardest jobs that zookeepers have to do:  hand-rearing baby animals that have been orphaned or rejected by their mothers.

While many animal species, particularly fish and reptiles, show no parental care for their offspring, the situation is different for birds and mammals.  If a bird or mammal parent fails to care for its offspring, the animals are very likely to die without intervention.  This is where the zookeepers take over.  Hand-rearing is a time-consuming and risky task, because humans are not as effective at raising an animal as a member of its own species might be.  Baby mammals have to be fed milk diets with very specific nutrients, and keepers must often stay overnight in order to feed at regular intervals.  A lot of hard work will pay off, eventually, and the babies will grow up to raise offspring of their own.

Created with LEGO Digital Designer

LEGO Zoo #0018: Frog Medication

National Zookeeper Week is still underway, and today's mini-set focuses on the role that zookeepers play in providing medication for animals:

While zoo veterinarians are responsible for diagnosing and prescribing treatments for animal illnesses, it's the keepers who actually apply most of the treatments.  Here, Rachael is applying medication to the skin of a poison dart frog.  Because amphibians are able to absorb chemicals through their skin, it is easy to medicate them without having to modify their diet or use invasive procedures.  Poison dart frogs are themselves important for human medicine, as chemicals derived from the poisons in their skin may be used to create more powerful painkillers.

Created with LEGO Digital Designer

LEGO Zoo #0017: Owl Enrichment

The second mini-set for National Zookeeper Week highlights the work zookeepers do in creating environmental enrichment for their animals:

Environmental enrichment is a broad term for items and activities which enhance the welfare of captive animals by stimulating natural behaviors or requiring additional mental or physical effort.  Here, Jared is building a feeding puzzle for a barn owl using wood planks and plastic piping.  The rat at the left will be hidden in the puzzle, and the owl will have to forage for its meal, as it would in the wild.  In this case, both the puzzle and the live prey are forms of enrichment for the owl, keeping it well-fed and stimulated.

Created with LEGO Digital Designer

LEGO Zoo #0016: Chimp Training

I've been taking a summer hiatus from the LEGO Zoo, but I'm back for this very special occasion:  This week is National Zoo Keeper Week!  Started by the American Association of Zoo Keepers (AAZK), this week is an occasion for zoo visitors around the country to appreciate the important and often difficult work that zookeepers do every day.

Every day this week I will be releasing mini-sets that highlight different activities that zookeepers do as part of their work.  Today Elaine is training a young chimpanzee using operant conditioning.  She uses the indicator in her right hand to show the chimp how to perform a particular behavior.  If the chimp completes the behavior correctly, he is rewarded with a treat (the banana).  This positive reinforcement encourages the chimp to repeat the behavior again in the future.  Training is an important daily function in zoos, as it encourages animals to cooperate with zoo staff whenever an emergency occurs.

Created with LEGO Digital Designer

LEGO Graduation

I earned my Bachelor's Degree on Saturday, so this week I'm taking a break from the LEGO Zoo.  Playsets will hopefully resume next weekend.

LEGO Zoo #0015: Bison Paddock

This week's playset features another constructed animal, similar to the Chilean flamingos.  This one is a little less robotic looking, since the base figures is one of the pre-existing animal models.  Start with the cow figure from the Medieval Market playset...

...and with a few modifications you have a decent looking American bison:

The American bison is a large bovine species that used to roam the Great Plains of North America in herds of millions.  Overhunting in the nineteenth century nearly drove the species into extinction, but the species has since become protected and has rebounded to a stable level.

The LEGO Zoo has recently acquired a small herd of four bison.  The zoo administration plans to make this species the centerpiece of the North American zone.  The herd is staying in a temporary quarantine paddock while their new enclosure is under construction:

The purpose of a quarantine area is to allow animals to acclimatize to a new environment and to screen them for disease before they go on exhibit.  Guests can view the bison from an observation platform adjoining the paddock:

Today the bison are being watched by Milton and his wife Edna.  Milton is a retired professor of zoology at a nearby university, and the couple sometimes volunteer as docents for the zoo:

It's often difficult for the elderly to climb a steep stairway, but the observation platform can be easily accessed with these sloped ramps:

This was actually the hardest part of the playset design, as the angles made it difficult to align the ramps:

Here is a full view of the paddock.  You may see it again if another new species is brought in:

I've realized that LEGO playsets are usually displayed with a computer-generated background, which I've normally skipped over for my playsets.  I've only got Microsoft Paint, but I do have some extra time on my hands now that classes are finished for the semester.  Here is the the same scene contextualized by an eight-year-old with crayons:

Minifigures:

Milton, Edna

Created with LEGO Digital Designer

LEGO Zoo #0014: Audio Tour Kiosk

This week's playset is a little outdated in the age of smartphones, but it was a fun challenge to try to replicate in LEGOs.  At a lot of museums and zoos you can rent a pre-recorded audio tour from the audio tour kiosk:

This kiosk provides headsets that are programmed to provide information about the animals in a particular enclosure when the corresponding numeric code is entered:

The theming in the kiosk uses the motif of insects to relate the complex communication methods used by insects to the information provided by the audio tour.  You have your choice of headsets from a variety of colorful beetles:

Will has already selected a headset and is enjoying learning all kinds of fascinating facts about the audio tour kiosk:

The cashier desk repeats the insect motif with a sculpture of butterflies and beetles:

Guests with smartphones can also get information about education apps they can use throughout the zoo.

WARNING:  When using the audio tour, look both ways before crossing keeper pathways:

Minifigures:
Arnold, Will 

Created with LEGO Digital Designer

LEGO Zoo #0013: Rabbit Hutch

As today is Easter Sunday, this week's playset features the rabbit hutch previously mentioned in this post:

A hutch is a very simple building designed to protect free-ranging rabbits from the elements and from natural predators.  This one is designed to match the Dutch colonial style characteristic of the LEGO Zoo's petting zoo:

Domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) are varieties of the European rabbit that have been selectively bred by humans.  As with other species in the petting zoo, both of the breeds shown here originated in America.  The one currently in the hutch is a cinnamon rabbit, which can grow up to 11 lbs. in weight:

When the weather is nice, the rabbits can leave the hutch and graze freely in the side yard.  This one is an American rabbit, a large white breed that was originally a greyish-blue color:

Meredith, one of the petting zoo keepers, has finally reached the rabbit hutch with her cartload of vegetables after having left the nutrition center several weeks ago:

The door at the back of the hutch allows Meredith to easily access the rabbits' food dish and clean out the hutch:

Here are the two sets shown together:

The petting zoo is slowly coming together.  Here is the rabbit hutch alongside its sister set, the pig petting corral:

Animals and Minifigures:
rabbits (2), Meredith

Created with LEGO Digital Designer

LEGO Zoo #0012: Water Fountain

Here's a water fountain.  That's all I have time for this week.

What's that you say?  There's no water?  Fine, here's some water made with MS Paint.

 

Created with LEGO Digital Designer

LEGO Zoo #0011: Macaw Perch

I'm in the thickest clump of deadlines for the semester, so I had to push this design back by a week.  I'm also keeping it small.  The design in this playset demonstrates that not all enclosures need obvious barriers to keep the animals contained.  One popular and simple design for birds with clipped wings is to display them on a natural tree with plenty of roosting spots, and the birds will happily remain on their perches all day.  This one is designed for multiple species of macaw:

Thick natural foliage among the lower branches discourages the birds from climbing down to the ground, and keeping the upper canopy complete offers the birds shade from the sun:

Macaws are a colorful family of large pounds found in Central and South America.  They are highly intelligent and can live up to 70 years in captivity.  The perch allows zoo visitors to view the birds from below, as they would in the wild:

Pedro is a scarlet macaw, one of the  more common species.  He is feeding on one of the pieces of fruit attached to the perch daily by the keepers.  An advantage of using natural trees for perches is that branches that are too small to hold birds can still be used as skewers for food or supports for enrichment devices.

Maria is a hyacinth macaw, the longest species of parrot in the world, from beak to tail:

Macaws have incredible dexterity with their feet and can easily hang upside-down from a branch to reach food on lower branches.  Here, Maria is going for the banana offered to her by Andrea the docent:

Animals and Minifigures:
macaws (2), Andrea

Created with LEGO Digital Designer

LEGO Zoo #0010: Jungle Treehouse Playground

This week's playset was completed some time ago, but due to the influx of deadlines right after Spring Break I had to delay posting it by a week.  I present for your consideration a playset within a playset:  a jungle treehouse-themed playground set.

The playground is popular stop for families with small children.  After several hours of running around the zoo, the parents can take take a moment to sit down while their children burn off some energy climbing all over the playground's many features.

Michelle has brought her two children and somehow still has enough energy to push her son Dante on the swingset:

Meanwhile her daughter Erica is carefully making her way across the rope bridge suspended between the main two towers:

Below the bridge is a set of monkey bars, which Dante is attempting to conquer.  He has surprising upper body strength for a child of his age.

One of the favorite features is the helical slide on one side of the playground:

Edith watches from a bench as her grandson Timmy climbs as fast as he can to get to the top of the slide:

It looks like Anna has already beaten him there:

Her father Jim waves to her as she slides down the chute:

Jim is sitting on one of the newly-installed jungle-themed benches.  The bench and accompanying trash can are intended to match the rest of the playground in terms of texture and color scheme:

Hopefully the kids will enjoy their time on the new set:

Minifigures:
Erica, Dante, Michelle, Anna, Jim, Timmy, Edith 

Created with LEGO Digital Designer