Emu Hatchlings
O n March 14, the Zoo welcomed two emu hatchlings, a boy Fazi and a girl Emily. Dad
Napoleon spent about eight weeks sitting on the eggs in the kangaroo yard in Lands
of Change. In the wild the male may incubate eggs from multiple females. The eggs
are a dark green color and about half the size of an ostrich egg. When the chicks
hatched, they weighed in at 400 grams and had stripes, unlike the parents. This helps
to camouflage chicks from predators in the wild. After a few months, the pair began
developing their adult-like appearance and losing their stripes. Emus reach their full
size at about a year old. The emu is the second-largest living bird by height, after its
ratite relative, the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird.
Guests can see the energetic juvenile emus in the kangaroo walkabout area.
Hola
Guacamole!
S ay “hola, Guacamole!”
Guacamole is currently
the largest patient at
our Sea Turtle Healing
Center and the first
adult green sea turtle
we’ve rehabilitated. She
was found at Lori Wilson
Park on February 24 with
severe injuries from a
large predator. Her front
right flipper was gone, her
front left flipper had deep
lacerations exposing her
joint and she was severely underweight. To say she was in
rough shape is an understatement. One of our volunteers
thought she looked like a mangled avocado, hence the name
Guacamole!
We always check our patients for tags when they arrive to see
if they already have a “story.” Guacamole had a tag from July
13, 2017, when she was seen nesting (twice!) at Xcacel Beach in
Mexico! Green sea turtles typically take a year off after nesting,
so our goal is to get her healed up this year with the hope that
she will be ready to lay eggs again next year.
Afte