Fall 2011 Newsletter

Fall 2011

and Aldabra tortoises are the giant

ones that you typically see in the zoos

that get bigger

then the Sulca-

ta. Sulcata Tor-

toises also grow

very quickly, as

a desert species,

t h e y h a v e

evolved to deal

with sparse and

sporadic food

supplies. It is

very difficult to

determine the

sex of a Sulcata

Tortoise. Tortoises instinctively pull

into their shells whenever they feel

threatened. The action of pulling in its

head and front legs compresses the

tortoise’s lungs, which causes them to

exhale suddenly, and you will hear

them making a hissing sound. That

does not necessarily mean that the

tortoise is angry or upset; it’s just

following its instinct for self-

preservation. Thank you Dr. Landry

and Dr. Schultis our visitors have

enjoyed interacting with our newest

family members at GWC!

www.globalwildlife.com

Global Wildlife Foundation Publication

Habitat: Sahel Region in Africa Status: Common Approximate Size: Can easily reach 18’ in shell length; 70-100 lbs. in weight Food: Steady diet of fruit and vegeta-bles, grass hay, grasses and plants Fun Fact:

Most African Sul-

cata Tortoises will

out live us all! Av-

erage lifespan is around 100 years. Other Information

Sulcata Tortoises are native to the semi-

arid Sahel Region in Africa. It can be

loosely defined as the Region just south

of the Sahara Desert. They have evolved

to deal with a warm and dry environment

with lots of natural sunlight. Sulcata Tor-

toises are the third largest species of tor-

toises in the world—only the Galapagos

African Sulcata Tortoise From the President’s

desk...

We are still proud to be celebrat-

ing our 20th Anniversary. It’s hard

to believe it’s been two decades of

“Conservation At Work!”

The birth of our baby giraffe was a

exciting and wondrous event. If

you haven’t been out to see him

yet, be sure to come soon…he’s

growing fast. William Breaux a

member of our board of directors

was given the honor of naming him

(Billy) the name suits him well.

We are still working hard to contin-

ue renovations here at the Center.

Thank you to Wainwright Con-

struction for helping us achieve our

goals through this renovation pro-

cess.

Global Wildlife Center will be

closed on the following: Thanks-

giving Day, Christmas Eve, and

Christmas Day so that the staff may

enjoy the season with their fami-

lies. Please allow me to take this

opportunity to wish all of you, and

your families, the most blessed and

happiest of holiday seasons.

A very special thanks goes out to

all of our members who continually

support Global Wildlife Center.

With Kindest Regards,

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

▪ Animal Facts… bet you didn’t know and check out our newborns!

▪ Book Your Next Private Event... Ask about our Pinz Tours!

▪ Member Events… Beach Party and Fall Festival!

Our newest members of the GWC Family is our

African Sulcata Tortoises. A family of 4 were donat-

ed to the Center by Dr. Landry and Dr. Schultis.

Global Wildlife News

2


Animal Facts Bet You Didn’t Know

Patch, one of our newest Cattle is a mix

between a Hereford and Brahma. He is

about 8 months old and weighs approxi-

mately 500 lbs. Patch was donated to the

Center by Finnegan Patrick Luke and a

very special thanks to The Luke and

Reimann Family for their continued sup-

port!

Photo by Megan Ryburn

East African Crown Crane is native to East Afri-

ca. Crowned Cranes are usually found in pairs,

but have been seen singularly and in small flocks.

GWC has 2 East African Crowned Cranes. Each

Crane has been spotted spending time with other

GW herds. On your next visit to GWC will you

be able to spot which herds our Crowned Cranes

love spending time with?

Photo by Nancy Ruiz

Red Lechwe are native to the marshy flood-

plains of rivers, swamps, and lakes in South

Africa. The Red Lechwe are listed as conser-

vation dependent by the IUCN Red List.

Spotting a Red Lechwe at GWC is definitely a

treat because they are often hidden among the

trees of the wildlife preserve.

Photo by Pat Bonish Photography

Scimitar Horned Oryx are native to North Africa and

are listed as extinct in the wild by the IUCN Red List.

Horns may be up to 4 feet long and the tips of the Or-

yx’s horns are so sharp that they have been used to

make spear points.


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Babies Babies Babies!!!

Baby Giraffe (Billy) being kissed for the first time by Mother

Sandee!

Photo by Brittany Thomas

Exciting News at Global Wildlife more of the new babies born!

Baby Nilgai Twins! These babies are so cute and ti-

ny...each baby from a set of twins weighs about 6-8

lbs. each.


Indian Black-

buck

This cute baby Cape Eland won’t be

small for long! In fact, they are among

the largest antelope in the world. At

birth, a single young weighs around 25

lbs. Calves are dependent on their

mothers for only 2 weeks and they

form their own social hierarchy and

will nurse from any female

Photo by Nancy Ruiz

Father Rhea Bird and babies. Males will have up to

6 mates, all of which will lay eggs in a single nest,

leaving him to incubate the eggs and rear the young.

Photo by Nancy Ruiz

Baby Kudu

Photo by Nancy Ruiz


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EVENTS & HAPPENINGS

The possibilities are endless with Global Wildlife Special Events!

Spring Events booking fast! Book Global Wildlife’s pavilions and tree houses, with reasonable prices and a environ-

ment that is one-of-a-kind, this is the perfect party venue for any company picnic, sunset wedding, or special event!

Contact Megan Ryburn and Nancy Ruiz at (985) 796-3585 extension 13 for all the information on this out-of-the-

ordinary locale and all your party needs!

Phase Two of Renova-

tions ...For those of you

who haven’t seen our

latest project!

Here are some pictures of

the phase two renovations at

the Center. We’ve added new

cement entrances to the Cen-

ter, updated the parking lots,

gave our giraffe barn a new

face lift by adding new sid-

ing, and we are happy to

show our new pond walk-

way! This walkway is to en-

sure a opportunity for every-

one to view and enjoy feed-

ing our koi and catfish. The

staff is so excited about these

changes and improvements

for our visitors!


5

BACK TO SCHOOL BEACH PARTY!

This years Beach Party was a

BLAST! It was held on the evening

of August 20th, 2011.The members

who attended listened and danced

along to great music, enjoyed deli-

cious hamburgers and hot dogs,

snowballs and popcorn for the kids!

The adults mingled while the kids

got sandy at the beach, took a

splash down the water slides, got

their faces painted, and had a

chance at winning the hermit crab

races! We are very happy at the

turn out and would like to thank

everyone for their support of the

Foundation.


Below: Paul & Rachel

Beck, Jessica Braum,

Nicholas & Tony

Guagliardo

Hermit crab races!

Water Slides!

Dennis & Charlie

Beck

Sandy Beaches!

Mr. Frank took

home the Drew

Brees autographed

Saints helmet!

Smiling for the camera after

having their faces painted!


6

GWC FALL FESTIVAL!


The Fall Festival was held

the evening of Saturday,

November 12th! Members

who attended listened to

great music, enjoyed deli-

cious food, popcorn, and

hot chocolate for the kids.

Plenty of fun activities

such as arts and crafts,

pumpkin face painting,

photo booths, scavenger

hunts, sack races, marsh-

mallow roasting pits, and a

chance at wining some

wonderful raffle prizes.

Scavenger

hunts! Aisley painting

her pumpkin!

Ed & Sue at the Photo Booth!

Marshmallow Pit

Sack Races

Maddie & Jolie paint-

ing pumpkins!

Tylor, Skylor, and Bryson 1st place winner!

2nd place winner!

Justin & Sherry Tassin with Bryson

Husser

A beautiful Global sunset!

7

5


Santa Clause is coming to town! Help Santa find his way to

the Reindeer!

WHAT ARE WE?

WE LIVE AT GLOBAL WILDLIFE CENTER AND WE ARE THE

DEER THAT RESEMBLES THE REINDEER THE MOST AND I CAN

BE CALLED BY 2 NAMES?

___ ___ ___ E D __ ___ ___ ___

F ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ D ___ ___ ___ ___

“The best ever,” Abby,

8, Westlake, LA.

“I would like to see an

orange headed land turtle

in the gift shop,” Jack, 7,

Metairie, LA.

“I really enjoyed

the ride,” Emma

“New animals = Fla-

mingos, reindeer, ant

eaters. This was awe-

some!” Trystin, 10,

Denham Springs, LA

“I loved it. I

love animals,”

Sydney

“I liked the ride

so much! I got

to feed a lot

animals a lot,”

Karli, 7, Gretna,

LA

Answer Key:

Pere’ David

Father David


8

5


COLOR ME!

9

Our Newest Global

Wildlife

Family Member.

It’s a boy and his name is Billy!

Born on July 31st, 2011 to the proud

parents of Big John and Sandee, Billy

was born weighing a whopping 175

lbs. and stood over 6 feet tall. He gets

his size from his dad, Big John, who is

approximately 20 feet tall and, his

good looks from his beautiful mom

Sandee. He was on his feet within

minutes and under the protective guard

of the entire Giraffe family. Billy

brings the total to 9 family members of

our gentle giants and was among the

largest giraffes every born at the Cen-

ter. A crowd favorite to all of the visi-

tors to the center, Billy is never more

than a few feet away from his mother

and is very playful and curious. With

over 900 acres to roam, Billy, can be

seen playing with the Zebra’s or chas-

ing the ducks into one of the many

ponds. As we and our visitors watch

him grow he will be a testimony to the

work that is done at Global Wildlife.

Meet Office Manager Sara Coulon

If there is one word that you would use to describe Sara it would be

kind, sweet, helpful, gentle. Ok, we know that is more than one word,

but it’s hard to just say one word about Sara. Sara’s career at Global

Wildlife first started in 2000 working in the Safari Gift Shop. Due to

circumstances out of her control she moved back to her home town of

Gramercy. As fate would have it she meet and married her husband

Thomas and moved back to Folsom and to our great fortune she came

back to the Global Wildlife Family. Now 7 years later Sara is the Office

Manager and we ask Sara what is the one thing you love about Global

Wildlife? “Working with the staff and animals,” said Sara, “Where else

can you work and have a giraffe walk right in front of you!? It never

gets old,” and she looks forward to bringing her son, Matthew who is

now one, on his first tour. When we asked which is her favorite animal

at Global Wildlife she gave us the answer we always get, “That’s a

tough one.” said Sara. After a few thoughtful minutes she told us that

horses where her favorite animal and that “the Zebra’s reminder her the

most of her horses.” Sara is also one of our favorites around Global

Wildlife. She has an infectious smile, a contagious laugh, and makes

everyone here at Global Wildlife feel special. We asked a few of the

employees what do they like most about Sara:

Monica P: “She is basically loveable” Britt T: “Very Determined”

Brad N: “She is the Heart & Soul of GW” Nick:

Dan B: “Always very involved” Mr. Wes: “Hard Worker”

Mrs. Diane: “Very Patient never loses her cool” Rhino:

Brittany B: “She has a big heart and is very dedicated”

Fall 2011 Newsletter

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