ZOO to YOU
Catch up with the latest news at LRZ with articles, press releases, and other fun updates
written and created by Zoo Staff.
September's Staff Pic of the Month
September's Staff Pic of the Month Winner was Keeper Peyton with her submission of this photo
of "Miguu" the reticulated giraffe.
The Pic of the Month winners are selected by the Zoo's Advisory Board during their monthly meetings.
Congratulations Peyton!
Mighty Monarch Migration
- Emily Sexson, Communication Specialist
A monarch butterfly rests on a sunflower in the Zoo's butterfly garden.
The annual migration of the beautiful North American monarch butterfly is something many of us look forward to in the fall. Their migration takes them up to 3,000 miles from Canada through the U.S. and into overwintering spots in central Mexico. Lee Richrdson Zoo shared more information about monarchs at a Discovery Cart on Saturday in the zoo’s Butterfly Garden, located next to the Marie Osterbuhr Aviary.
These gorgeous insects have bright orange wings lined with bold black veins and dotted with white spots on the edges. Their wingspan can reach up to four inches in length and helps make them hard to miss as they gently float about searching for habitat resources during their journey.
Their migration begins in late summer, and peaks through September and October, arriving at their southern destination in November. What makes this migration story even more impressive is that the offspring of the monarchs who overwinter in Mexico are the ones who return north the following spring. It takes a succession of three to four generations of the original overwintering monarchs to reach the Northern United States and Canada.
In addition to their iconic beauty, monarch butterflies are important for our ecosystems! Monarchs pollinate many species of garden plants and wildflowers, supporting plant reproduction and diversity.
Additionally, monarchs are what’s known as an indicator species. Their presence or lack thereof gives information about the overall ecosystem. Population drops often indicate a lack of habitat resources for other vital pollinators, such as bees, and can indicate environmental stress caused by overuse of pesticides and climate change.
We can help our native pollinators by providing resources in our own yards and green spaces. One big way to help monarch butterflies is to plant milkweed. Female monarchs will only lay their eggs on milkweed plants (genus Asclepias) since monarch caterpillars only eat milkweed.
Adults, however, will feed on the nectar of a variety of flowering plants. By planting a variety of native flowers, we can help monarchs and many other native pollinators. Not sure what or when to plant? The Monarch Joint Venture is a great resource for all things related to monarch conservation. Learn more at www.monarchjointventure.org.
If you want to get more hands-on with monarchs, we encourage you to check out the amazing community science project that is Monarch Watch! Monarch Watch trains individuals to help tag and monitor monarch butterflies in their own areas to help give conservationists better insight into population health across the monarch’s native range.
You can learn how to provide a Monarch Waystation spot like we have at the zoo at your own home too! Visit www.monarchwatch.org to get started today! 2026 tagging kits are available now!
Hopefully, you’ll be able to spot a few monarchs that have been visiting the zoo grounds recently!
The Nature of Fall
- Kristi Newland, Zoo Director
A squirrel pauses along the Nature Trail inside the Zoo.
Welcome to fall! It’s the season where we transition from the heat of summer to the coolness of winter. The first day of fall is the autumnal equinox. On that day, there are nearly equal amounts of day and night across the world because the sun shines directly on the equator. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Earth’s axis begins to tilt away from the sun, leading to shorter days and cooler weather.
Fall is also called autumn and used to be called harvest prior to the 16th century. It is a shortened version of the phrase “the fall of the leaf”. The full moon closest to the autumnal equinox is the Harvest Moon. The moon rises near sunset for several nights in a row. Historically, this gave farmers extra light to gather crops, hence the name Harvest Moon. This year’s Harvest Moon reaches its peak illumination on Saturday, September 26.
Fall is known for the changing colors of the leaves. During this time of year, the trees stop producing as much chlorophyll, the pigment responsible for the green color. The yellow and orange pigments that were always there become visible as the green fades. The red and purple pigments visible in the fall on some trees are produced as sugars become trapped in the leaves. The sunny days and cool nights help intensify the colors.
Migration begins in the fall for many species. Warmer climates offer not only more comfortable temperatures, but also better food supplies, which dwindle during the fall and disappear during winter. The shorter daylight is one of the signals that tell the animals it’s time to get moving.
Every fall, monarch butterflies leave the US and Canada to travel up to 3.000 miles to Mexico. Each weighing less than a standard metal paperclip, monarchs complete one of the longest migrations of any insects on Earth. The butterflies making this trip, amazingly, find their way to forests they have never visited before.
For species that don’t migrate, fall is the time to get ready for spending the winter where they are. Squirrels are well known for gathering and hiding nuts in various locations, so they’ll have food available later when resources are hard to find. One squirrel can bury up to 3,000 nuts in a season. Squirrels make mental maps of where they bury the nuts using landmarks around them. Their spatial memory does most of the work to help them recover their groceries, but they also rely on a sharp sense of smell. They can find their stash even if the ground is covered with snow. Studies have shown that they recover 90-95% of the nuts they bury.
Squirrels aren’t the only ones who stash supplies. Black-capped chickadees collect seeds and hide them in hundreds of different spots. The part of their brain that deals with spatial awareness and memory (the hippocampus) increases by 30% during this time.
Other animals use a form of hibernation as their winter strategy, and fall is the time to put on more weight to make it through the cold weather when food is scarce. Some also cache (hide/store) food away as a resource. During hibernation, the animal’s metabolic rate slows, using very little energy. True hibernators, like bats and groundhogs, enter a deep coma-like state and are unresponsive to outside stimuli. Their heart rates, breathing, and body temperatures all drop very low. Bears that live in cold climates go into a specialized form of hibernation called torpor. Their heart rate drops, but not as much as it would during a true hibernation. Their temperature stays high, only dropping a few degrees, and they can wake up quickly if disturbed.
Many animals, such as bison, put on heavier coats to deal with the lower temperatures of winter. Whether you’re like a bison and pull out your warm sweaters to deal with the coming low temperatures, or like a butterfly and fly south, the shorter days and cooling temperatures tell us all that the season for preparing for the low temperatures is upon us.
Male Lion is Matched with Lioness in Saint Louis
"Bantu" a male African lion rests in his outdoor habitat.
“Bantu”, a 12-year-old male African lion will soon be departing the Lee Richardson Zoo on a journey to be paired with 6-year-old lioness “Araali” at the Saint Louis Zoo. Bantu & Araali were matched through the Association of Zoos & Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan (SSP) for African Lions. SSPs are established to ensure a healthy population of species in human care.
As a bachelor lion would in the wild, single male lion, Bantu lived separately from the Zoo’s established pair of lions, “Razi” and “Amali”. After Bantu leaves for his new home with Araali in Saint Louis, 20-year-old male Razi and 21-year-old female Amali will live out their senior or “golden” years together, now with expanded space inside their barn and access to both outdoor habitats.
We are sending our best wishes along with Bantu to Araali and everyone at the Saint Louis Zoo. We are excited to follow updates of the pair in their new home!
Wild populations of lions are listed as “Vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. African lions have lost nearly 85% of their historic range. To learn more about lions and how we can help conserve this species, stop by the lion habitats located in the African Plains portion of the Zoo during your next visit.
Sleep at the Zoo
- Alice Nelson, Conservation Awareness Manager
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World Rhino Day
Male black rhino "Ayubu" stands in his habitat at the Lee Richardson Zoo.
World Rhino Day takes place on Tuesday, September 22nd this year. The idea for World Rhino Day was first proposed in 2010 by the World Wildlife Fund-South Africa to draw global attention to the plight of the 5 rhino species and to rhino conservation. In 2011. The initiative gained momentum through Lisa Jane Campbell of Chishakwe Ranch in Zimbabwe, and Rhishja, a conservation blogger, collaborating to make the day a success both on and offline. Since then, World Rhino Day has focused on celebrating the unique 5 species of rhinoceros.
White rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) were assessed as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Red List of Threatened Species in 2020. At the time of assessment, 10,080 mature individuals were estimated to exist in the five countries (South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Botswana, and Zimbabwe) of their current wild range. The population trend is decreasing as mature individuals leave the population due to poaching. The white rhino is the largest of all the remaining rhino species, with bulls at approximately 12 – 13 feet long and 6 feet tall at the shoulder and weighing in at 4,410-5,070 pounds. Cows are approximately 11 – 12 feet long and 5.5 feet at the shoulder, weighing in at 3,530 – 3,750 pounds. As a comparison, the average SUV weighs 3,500-5,000 pounds. The white rhino is a social flat-lipped grazer, meaning that they primarily eat grasses. They have 2 horns, with the front one on their nose being longer than the one situated between their eyes.
Black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) were assessed as critically endangered in 2020, with their habitat largely depleted in 2024. With 3,142 mature individuals it is a good indicator that their population trend was increasing at the time of the assessment due to countries where investments in conservation programs, including monitoring and law enforcement, have been high. These solitary prehensile-lipped browsers will eat full branches leaves and all. They also have 2 horns, and the front one is larger. Lee Richardson Zoo currently has two black rhinos, Johari a 16-year-old female and mother to Ayubu, who is the 5-year-old male who was born here at the Lee Richardson Zoo.
The greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) lives in the Indian Subcontinent and is the 2nd largest rhino species. They were assessed in 2019 as vulnerable, with 2,100-2,200 mature individuals in the wild, but with an increasing population trend due to strict protection by local wildlife authorities. These rhinos are solitary grazers who are found in forests, grasslands, and even wetlands. They have a single horn that can grow roughly 24.3 inches in length.
Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) is the smallest of the rhino species, averaging 7 to 10 feet long and 4 feet at the shoulders and weighing 1,100 – 2,200 pounds. These solitary rhinos are covered in reddish brown hair and have 2 horns, the nasal horn only growing 5.9 – 9.8 inches in length while the second horn is a stub. These are solitary folivores (herbivores who specialize in eating mostly leaves), with a diet of young saplings, leaves, twigs, and shoots. These rhinos only live in Indonesia in two areas and were assessed as Critically Endangered with a decreasing population trend in 2020. There were only 30 mature individuals found at the time.
Javan rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus) is the rarest of all rhinos, assessed as critically endangered with 18 mature individuals but a stable population trend in 2020. Unfortunately for this species, there are no animals currently in human care, so there is no genetic reserve for this species if these 18 mature individuals fail to reproduce in the wild. They are the largest animal on the island of Java and eat diverse plant species, especially shoots, twigs, young foliage, and fallen fruit. They have a single horn, normally shorter than 9.8 inches in length.
Rhinoceros horns are the main reason rhinos are poached all around the world. In some places the rhino horn is thought to be medicine, but it is made of keratin, just like your hair and fingernails. To help the rhinos of the world, educate yourself and others about rhinos. Avoid purchasing rhino products and donate to conservation groups. Visiting Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited Zoos like the Lee Richardson Zoo ,which is an active participant in AZA’s rhino Species Survival Plan, also helps improve chances that our great-great-grandchildren will see a live rhino in their lives.
Employee Recognition
Congratulations to Veterinary Assistant Abigail Adams for being awarded as the Employee of the 2nd Quarter for 2026!
Thank you Abigail for everything you do!