Enjoy daily videos on Facebook when you can’t go to the zoo while it is closed
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE – The COVID-19 outbreak may have closed the Cape May County Park and Zoo, but fans of the zoo can keep in touch with their favorite animals virtually.
At 11:30 a.m. daily from Monday through Friday, the zoo is conducting virtual tours through its Zoo School.
“Each day we will feature a short clip of a different animal and teach you all about it. At the end of every clip we have a challenge for you to do right at home. You can show us how you completed your challenges by sharing photos or videos on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram by using #cmczooschool,” according to the zoo’s web site.
The videos can be seen online at facebook.com/capemaycountyparkzoo/
People can also connect through the zoo’s web site, capemaycountynj.gov/1008/Park-Zoo.
The Day 1 video, which aired last week, featured Primate Point and was done by the zoo’s education team. The educators take a camera into the zoo and talk about the exhibits, in the first case Primate Point, which features three different species of primates, including a pair of siamangs, arboreal gibbons with black fur native to Indonesia, Malasia and Thailand. The siamangs are apes, which are closely related to humans, guide Kim explains in the video.
Because of the close species relationship, she notes how the zoo workers wear gloves and a mask to make sure there is no disease transfer, from ape to human and vice versa.
The guide not only shows the two siamangs in action, from laying the sun to climbing, but also goes through a list of key terms that describe them, such a frugivore (an animal that specializes in eating fruit); ape (human-like primate with no tail; terrestrial (an animal that lives primarily on the ground); and brachiate (to move by using the arms to swing from branch to branch).
Kim also notes how the terms work as she feeds them and watches them swing around in the exhibit.
The other two videos that aired last week were on the Silver Fox and North American River Otters.
The videos are bright and inviting and can be fun for a wide range of ages, from those old enough to understand the terms to children who might not understand but would enjoy seeing the animals and the zoo.
On Facebook after the video airs, there is a question and answer session.
There are challenges of the day, such as to sing a song or make some music, to go along with the territorial call of the primates, which is fun to watch and hear.
