Element #1

 For our first element (education), we spent four hours roaming around the Syracuse and ESF campuses, weaving in and out of all the buildings and distributing slips of paper with interesting and weird animal facts on them. At the bottom, they had @follownifkin along with the twitter symbol. With this, we hope to spread a little bit of fun information while also trying to promote our beloved @follownifkin.

We also wrote #nifkin and @follownifkin on any open chalk board we could find. Hopefully this will help promote our twitter page, and we hope people learned something with our facts! Go out, look for yourself in pretty much any building, and try and see if you can find all 11 facts!

Element #1- additional info

Goat Thrown Into Lion Enclosure

Do you think this is the best way to feed and enrich lions?
Is there anything about the living space in the video that you see is wrong?

Element #1- additional info

The following pictures are lion enclosures from two different zoos. See any differences?

Which one do you think is better?

                                             Rosamond Gifford Zoo, Syracuse, New York

                                                   The National Zoo, Washington D.C.

Element #2

For our element #2, we focused on the ethics of zoo enclosures, focusing specifically on lions. We asked our class to draw what they thought a lion enclosure would need. In groups of 2 or 3, we gave everyone 10 minutes to design the best lion enclosure. After, we set up a point system that gave points for every item/feature that they had in their design. The group with the most points won!

...and here is the winning team's drawing!!

Congrats Dave and Janine!

                           This drawing features many of characteristics of a ideal lion enclosure!
It includes a large outdoor exhibit, a raised area, a water hole, a feeding area, a play area, rocks, trees, an indoor area with separate/enclosed areas for each lion, pathways connecting the inner and outer enclosures, multiple barriers keeping vistors safe, educational signs (the only group to get this!) and donation boxes , AND an automatic door that releases the lions in case of an apocalypse.

  The winners got to keep this little guy that we got at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo!!

                                            The following drawings were close candidates!

Element #2 - additional info

Have you ever wondered how zoos know exactly how to care for their animals, or if there was some sort of secret set of instructions for them? Well, there are! The Association of Zoos and Aquariums has a set of care manuals for many different common zoo animals, including lions, red pandas, and river otters. Each guide has everything a keeper would need to know, from exhibit design to nutritional requirements to breeding procedures.


http://www.aza.org/animal-care-manuals/

Element #3!!!!

For our element #3, we wanted to focus on conservation efforts and programs in zoos. We decided to  make a music video to an original song written by our own, Ryan Siless. Check it out and let us know what you think!! Lyrics are coming soon!

The Conservation Song

Check out the lyrics to The Conservation Song!!

The Conservation Song Lyrics

The year was 1250 BCE
Egyptians put animals in captivity
Captured the beasts of land and sea
Some now endangered critically
There're 10000 zoos worldwide
Extinct species there're 905
So lets think on the conservative side
And not forget the wild

Just listen to the AZA
Cause only 212 zoos can officially say
That their animal care is a okay
And they work to promote biodiversity
So lets applaud the Toledo zoo
For their work on breeding Karner Blues
And the god people in Minnesota
Saving rhinos down in Sumatra. Down in Sumatra.
Gotta learn to conserve

There's a lot more you can do
There're 2000 unregulated zoos
Billions go towards visitor woos
And they're still uneducated too
The point is not just to keep them alive
It's to give them happiness and let them thrive
Forests and oceans are being erased
So reach in your pocket it's the wild we'll save
Let's learn to conserve
C-o-n-s-e-r-v-ate
Let's learn to conserve