In 2020 I learned of victims of a lucrative illegal wildlife trade intercepted by U.S. Fish and Wildlife and brought to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden for refuge. The survivors of the smuggling operation were Brazilian whiteknee tarantulas. I was intrigued and happy, because our zoo became their home, ensuring their safety.
The heist and rescue – followed by a zookeeper’s lesson about the hairy, multilegged creatures – gave me a new respect for the spiders and the keepers at the Cincinnati Zoo and a fascinating story to share with our readers.
Covering the zoo fosters a better understanding of wildlife and conservation and, to be honest, brings pride and joy to our audiences. Why wouldn’t we cover it? After all, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden in Avondale is a vital part of the city and the region. It is a gem in our community. And just as we must be watchdogs of government, reporters of crime and accountability and writers of fun places to eat and drink and play, we owe it to our community to cover the zoo.
I started doing so just after I’d written a heart-wrenching story about prescription pills tainted with fentanyl that were falling into the hands of teenagers and college students who thought they were Adderall or Xanax. A dad who found his 16-year-old still after an overdose on a single pill was warning parents of the internet-fueled, dealers’ scam.
A colleague saw the story and suggested I dip into zoo coverage as a relief and occasional release of the job of covering the unsettling heroin and fentanyl epidemic here and across the country full-time.
When I volunteered to find and write zoo stories, my editor at the time, Mark Wert, said to go for it.
It wasn’t about grabbing zoo press releases and writing quick stories about the latest zoo baby’s name – although telling that news was and remains valuable for readers. This was about going a little deeper.
My mini beat allowed me to bring to you the stories of so many animals – fluffy, feathered, slick-skinned, thick-skinned and even some with exoskeletons. I had a turaco bird fly into my hand to snack on raspberry goo – then use my hand as a napkin for its sticky beak.
When Cincinnati was flooded with wasps one summer, zoo and wildlife experts told me it wasn’t our imagination – and why.
When we wanted to grace our audiences with a Mother’s Day story, I volunteered a “best moms at the zoo” piece and learned to respect a bug, the American burying beetle, who gives her life for her offspring.
And when the zoo’s beloved superstar Fiona the hippo turned 5, I felt lucky to relay her keepers’ reminiscence about her first year’s struggle. I knew them well enough to have the very first interview with Jenna Wingate, senior keeper, who “heard a plop” as mother hippo Bibi gave birth to Fiona’s baby brother, Fritz, later on.
“I turned on my flashlight and confirmed it,’ said Wingate. “There was a baby – it was moving.”
I got to help the zoo introduce our readers to a baby tamandua named Mani that ambled to me and sniffed my knees as I sat quietly in its habitat. And before he was zoological manager of African animals, I got to relay the ways then-keeper Dan Turoczi dealt with Walter the 200-plus-pound warthog and an ostrich named Rose whose affectionate behavior indicated she may have had a crush on him.
For our readers, I also wrote a story about Cincinnati Zoo conservationists who traveled to a part of Kenya that was experiencing a drought to help its residents. And I relayed more stories from animal experts who stayed cozy yet busy in the zoo, caring for meerkats, manatees, penguins and porcupines to provide us all with insight about these magical creatures who make the zoo their home.
The Cincinnati Zoo is a highly ranked and beloved part of our community, and there are countless stories to write, to read, to record and photograph, for anyone who wants to learn. It only makes sense The Enquirer would find and tell its stories.
And you know what I think the best part is? You can go to the zoo and collect your own stories, too.
