BEAUTY
BEASTS
of
THE
Brad Wilson’s portraits spotlight the stars of the ABQ BioPark Zoo.
Text by Peter BG Shoemaker
The hot-pink flamingos standing
around near the entrance to the ABQ
BioPark Zoo will take your breath away.
Even more breathtaking is just how
intimate the encounter feels—human
and flamboyant tropical bird separated
by only a few feet. When fine-art
photographer Brad Wilson visited the
zoo recently to take the series of his
signature animal portraits shown here,
he expressed his own vision of the closeness between species.
Founded in 1927, and originally named
the Rio Grande Zoo, this was a place you
drove through. The zoo of 2013 is a very
different . . . animal. Now part of the
ABQ BioPark, a unique biological sanctuary that includes a botanical garden,
an aquarium, and a riverfront preserve,
the zoo has established an enviable
reputation for zoological stewardship and
recreational opportunities for visitors.
A Perfect Day
The herds of teens, seniors, and families
strolling the 2.2 miles of pathways that
wind through the zoo’s 12 major exhibits
on any given day supply anecdotal
corroboration that, along with its sister
institutions, the zoo is the most visited
attraction in the state.
They come for the animals, of course:
1,200 individual creatures (not includ-
ing the fish), ranging from an African
elephant to an Amazon milk frog. And
throughout, the same sort of intimacy
experienced with the flamingos—the animal sounds, the smells, the eerie gaze of
intelligence from the chimps—hold you
close. For those who’d like to close that
gap even more, the zoo offers encounters
like parrot feedings, porcupine walks, and
summer camp for the kids.
“We’ve come here hundreds of times,”
says Philip Peterson, hoisting 2½-year-old
Tre into his arms. “We roll in, he decides
what we see, and then we have a picnic
and we’re off for a nap. A perfect day.”
The zoo is also the setting for a wide
range of cultural and community events,
including concerts featuring the likes
of Colbie Caillat and Ziggy Marley, and
holiday celebrations such like the madly
popular Halloween Zoo Boo.
Let Elephants Be Elephants
As meaningful as the zoo is to the
community, it’s just as important to
conservation and species health. In these
areas it has been an innovator. Take, for
instance, the African elephant. These
days, most zoo animals are born in
captivity, and so don’t have a chance to
learn how to behave naturally. The zoo’s
elephant program is a unique experiment in how to address this problem.
(Continued on page 40)
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Chopper is a white rhinoceros
who came to the zoo late last year
and became a star attraction in
the rhino yard (usually between 10
a.m. and noon). When this photo
was taken, he was a 700-pound,
30-week-old baby. He was an
enthusiastic if difficult subject,
reports Wilson: “He kept running over to me, shoving his head
through the bars, and laying it in
my lap. Getting him to stand still
for even two seconds was a chore.”
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The eyelash viper gets its name from
modified scales over its eyes that
look like a lot like eyelashes.
Native to southern Mexico and
much of eastern South America,
the eyelash viper has been
known to return to the same
spot year after year to ambush
its prey. Studies suggest that
its strike accuracy goes up as it
learns from past mistakes.
“The problem with snakes
is they bite,” says Wilson, “so I
ended up laying a black cloth on
a tabletop and then hanging over
them from a ladder, just out of
reach.” He reports two near overextensions. “Falling onto a table
of snakes would have been unfortunate, on a number of levels.”
The world’s heaviest snake and
one of the longest, the green
anaconda often reaches more
than 200 pounds and 30 feet. For
all of that, the anaconda doesn’t
warrant its fearsome place in
popular culture. There’s little
hard evidence of the snake as
man-eater, although wild pigs,
caimans, and even big cats are
fair game. Anacondas are fond
of water; the awkwardness they
exhibit on land disappears entirely
when they’re swimming.
The rhino rat snake is found in
northern Vietnam and southern
China. Fans of rainforests, rhino rat
snakes spend most of their time in
trees, and are most active at night.
The protrusion at the tip of its nose is
thought to be for camouflage, allowing the head of the five-foot-long
snake to take on the shape of a leaf.
38 NEW MEXICO | JUNE 2013
Threatened with extinction, the
Mangshan pit viper, native to
China’s Hunan Province, is the only
creature other than the cobra that
is known to spit venom.
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Wild Happenings
The ABQ BioPark offers a variety
of special events over the course
of the year. Summer highlights
include three concert series
(bring a blanket and a picnic
basket). A full calendar, which
includes things like Run for the
Zoo and October’s Zoo Boo, is
available at bit.ly/ABQBioPark
or by calling (505) 768-2000.
The Zoo is located at 903 10th
SW, the Botanic Garden and
Aquarium at 2601 Central NW.
Camp BioPark, which begins
June 3, gives kids from preschool
through ninth grade hands-on
experience with conservation, plus behind-the-scenes
tours, arts and crafts, games,
and snacks. (505) 768-2000;
abqbioparkcamp.com
The Zoo Music Concert Series
features a diverse selection of
styles and performers, from
Latin rock to Britpop. Fridays,
June 13–August 9, 6 p.m. (505)
768-2000; abqzoomusic.com
Summer Nights concerts at
the Botanic Garden feature local
and regional performers in an
open-air venue. Thursdays, June
13–August 29, 6 p.m. (505)
768-2000; bit.ly/ABQBioPark
The Father’s Day Fiesta features live Latin music and prize
giveaways. June 16, 1–5 p.m.
(505) 768-2000;
bit.ly/ABQBioPark
Bosque Moonlight Hikes take
you on a guided walk through
the bosque wetlands looking
for nightlife. Don’t forget your
flashlight. Starts at Tingley
Beach. 1800 Tingley Dr. SW.
June 18 and July 16 at 7:30 p.m.,
August 20 at 7 p.m. (505)
848-7180; bit.ly/ABQBioPark
Go Wild! Concerts (July and
August) benefit the BioPark
Society and feature big-name
acts. For the 2013 lineup, check
bit.ly/ABQBioPark.
Aquarium Overnights give kids
and their parents a tank-side
view of nocturnal underwater
behavior, as well as a chance
to interact with aquatic animals, play games, watch movies, and maybe even sleep.
Monthly, Friday nights–Saturday
mornings. Space is limited.
Register at bit.ly/14wVEEK or
(505) 848-7180.
(Continued from page 36)
“We’ve developed a variety of techniques
for teaching elephants how to be elephants,”
says Richard Janser, director of the ABQ
BioPark. For example, mirroring browsing
behaviors in nature: “The elephants are moved
to different areas in their territory every hour.
And then, just as in nature, they not only have
to find food but discover how to get to it.”
The zoo is also involved in the crucial task of
ensuring the continued survival of endangered
species, like the Puerto Rican Mona coqui frog
(of which the zoo has the only mating pairs
in captivity), the Mexican gray wolf, and the
Socorro dove.
The paths through the zoo wind among
exhibits and habitats. The result, frequently,
is surprise. But, as in Wilson’s portraits, perhaps
nothing is quite as surprising as the gradual
recognition of how tightly bound together
we all are. ✜
The long-legged, big-eared, highly intelligent serval is an
African wildcat famous for its 12-foot horizontal and
10-foot vertical leaps. “She kept jumping off the
stand and climbing into my equipment case and
any open bag,” says Wilson. “I still have
serval hair on everything.” After
hours of shooting, he managed
to get this shot one of the
cat looking straight
ahead.
Brad Wilson in featured in “Storytellers,” p. 6. For
a behind-the-scenes video look at the photo shoot,
go to nmmagazine.com (bit.ly/ABQZoo).
The red-legged seriema
is thought to be the last
living descendant of the
extinct, 10-foot-tall,
meat-eating “terror
birds” of North and
South America. Now
less terrifying, the
seriema is two to
three feet long and
weighs about three
pounds. Seriemas
are found in eastern and central
South America
and are particularly well known
for their singing,
which can sometimes be heard
a mile and a
half away.
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