Hey, it’s Vicki with the Animal Explorers Club! I just got back from a trip to Texas a week or so ago! I attended Subsummit in Dallas, which is a subscription box conference. I came back with some new ideas and plans for our Zookeeper Subscription Box. I’ll go ahead and let you in on the secret that I am working on a new box design and it is going to be awesome! Can’t wait for all of our subscribers to see it! I am hoping to have it ready for our July Shark Box or our August Whale Box!
OUR TRIP INCLUDED VISITING ANIMAL PARKS
While my sister and I were in Texas, we visited several animal parks. We visited Ozzy the Aldabra Tortoise who was part of our family for around 30 years. He lived at my sister’s house for about 20 of those 30 years. He is now located at a private ranch and has a great home! He definitely remembered my sister the minute she started talking to him. We figure he is around 180 years old so just think of what all he has seen in his lifetime! Aldabras Tortoises are the second largest tortoise in the world and can weigh up to 600 lbs. I’ve posted more photos of Ozzy on our social media pages - see how big he is and he’s pretty cute too!
We also visited Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, The Preserve, and Texas Zoofari as well as a few private animal ranches and I’ve posted about these animal parks on our Facebook and Instagram pages so you can see some of the photos we took on our journey!
LEARN MORE ABOUT PRIVATE CONSERVATION OF ANIMALS
The animal parks and private ranches we recently visited in Texas support breeding programs and worldwide conservation organizations that work to ensure that animals thrive in the wild. Without private breeding and facilities such as these, many animals would be extinct.
For example, the last wild Scimitar-Horned Oryx from Chad died back in the 1980’s and one hadn’t been seen in over 30 years. Thanks to the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Sahara Conservation Fund, and the governments of Abu Dhabi and Chad there were 25 oryx released back into the wild in the summer of 2016. This was the first attempt to restore a large animal to Africa after it had completely disappeared.
Scimitar-Horned Oryx are a species of antelope that are adapted to living in the dry deserts of Chad and the surrounding Saharan region. They can stay healthy for long periods without water, and their bodies can survive high temperatures that would kill most mammals. Scimitar-horned oryx had survived several million years of droughts and predation. But, they could not withstand the threat from humans as their hide was in high demand for use as a raw material. .
Fortunately, the species was preserved in captivity. Private game ranches in Texas, the royal family of Abu Dhabi and zoos around the world all maintained enough captive oryx to be able to reintroduce them back into the wild. This is a great example of private breeding and conservation of animals and why we need private breeders to maintain species.
Scimitar-Horned Oryx is one of the endangered species we raise at our family zoo to help with animal conservation!
WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THE ZOOKEEPER BOX?
It’s going to be an ocean full of fun this summer! Our June Sea Turtle Boxes have been shipped out to our Zookeeper Box subscribers! Our July Zookeeper Box is featuring sharks! And we have a Whale Box for August!
So don’t be left out of all the fun – you have until June 26th to subscribe and receive our July Shark Box! There is a wild adventure in every box and it is delivered right to your doorstep for fun and learning all about animals!
Also, we wanted to let you know that we have added a limited number of a few of our Past Boxes on the Shop page of our website at animalexplorersclub.com So if you missed a box or you just want to try us out before you subscribe – go on over to our website and check out some of our past boxes.
Don’t forget to watch for our Animal Fun Fact Tuesdays and Habitat Fact Thursdays on our social media pages!
MEET OUR ANIMAL FRIENDS
We told you about a few of our animal friends in last months’ blog. This month we plan on featuring some more animals from our family zoo – Cape Safari Park located here in Southeast Missouri! So plan on following us on our social media pages in June to meet some really cool animals that are part of our family!
You can meet our Ringtailed Lemurs up close and personal - another endangered species we raise here at our zoo.
We will leave it here for now but I’ll be back next month with more from the Animal Explorers Club! See you soon and have a zooper day!
Vicki
Animal Explorers Club
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Learn more about our family zoo at:
http://www.CapeSafariPark.com
Learn more about our educational encounter programs at: http://www.SafariAnimalEncounters.com
Learn more about our zookeeper subscription box at:
http://www.ZookeeperBox.com