Category Archives: Kingdom Zoo
Wild Wish Awakens Conservation Calling
May 1, 2018 wildlifejournalist	Leave a comment
Sea turtles have always been her favorite animal.
Their life in the ocean, beauty and even their awkwardness put them at the top of the animal kingdom for high school senior Reannah.
So when Kingdom Zoo Wildlife Center® founder Chester Moore overheard a conversation at Texas Children's Hospital about this young lady wanting to meet a sea turtle, he went into action.
One of the organization's outreaches is called Wild Wishes and it grants exotic animal encounters to children with critical illness or loss of parent or sibling. In the past, Moody Gardens in Galveston, TX had granted penguin encounters to children in the program.
Reannah is all smiles after meeting a giant river otter.
He knew they had a Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle named "Chloe" so he contacted the facility to see what was possible.
On April 29, Reannah got to meet this special turtle in a behind the scenes setting, almost getting to hand it food via a special device. Chloe was a tad too shy for that but swam up and gave Reannah a close look that put a Texas-sized smile on her face.
Chloe the Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle.
She also got to do an encounter with giant river otters which included feeding the endangered mustelids rainbow trout and posing for a kiss photo. On top of that she got to go to go behind the scenes at the Caribbean aquarium and feed the fish.
The smiles got even bigger as Reannah realized she was not only feeding tarpon, Atlantic spadefish and jack crevalle but also sharks.
"This is awesome!," she said.
"I can't thank Moody Gardens enough for rolling out the red carpet for a very sweet and caring young girl. Everyone from the PR department to the animal care crew were gracious and gave not only their time but love. I'll never forget that," Moore said.
And he will never forget Reannah's desire to meet sea turtles.
"The Lord had really been working on me about getting deeper into wildlife conservation with our program. I have been involved with endangered wildlife my entire professional life at many levels but not until we met this young lady did I put the dots together how Wild Wishes would connect to conservation."
Each young person coming through the program will have an opportunity to choose from a list of endangered species they would like to help. Moore and his team have vetted numerous organizations who work with them and they will make a small donation in the child's name to that cause.
"A few months ago I was speaking with legendary marine artist and conservationist Dr. Guy Harvey and he said that if everyone would just do a little, then a lot would be accomplished. With that said, I find it amazing that Reannah wanted to help the ocean and we will be making a small donation in her name to the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation," Moore said.
Moore will be making a personal donation in Reannah's name to giant river otter conservation in support of a group called Save the Giants he and his crew learned about at Moody Gardens.
Who better to help wildlife facing immense challenges than children facing challenges themselves?
"I can't tell you how impactful learning of Reannah's desire to meet a sea turtle was and then meeting her and seeing how much she really does care about animals and the ocean. Moving forward many endangered animals will be helped because this young lady wanted to get close to sea turtles. She inspired us," Moore said.
Not only will children in the program on top of their wish encounter get a donation to an endangered species cause in their name but they will also have an opportunity to be part of a special mentoring program.
"The young people who come through Wild Wishes will have a chance to become our conservation ambassadors," Moore said.
That means they will have the chance to get hands-on training with animal ambassadors from Kingdom Zoo Wildlife Center®, learn wildlife photography, go through an endangered species information course and appear at events with animals to help raise awareness to endangered species conservation.
"As far as we know this has never been done. We're very excited and inspired. We love the Lord, children and wildlife and this is a way to bring it altogether," said Lisa Moore who will be working heavily on the photography part of the mentoring program.
Reannah's encounter was the 60th wish the program has granted and while doing a Bible study recently, Moore noticed something unique about the number 60.
Moore said Hebrew numbers have meanings beyond their numerical value and the meaning for 60 in that ancient language is "to support".
"We will not only continue supporting children facing challenges through Wild Wishes but also help those children support endangered wildlife. I think it's a match made in Heaven."
To donate to make Wild Wishes come true or learn how to enroll a child in the program click here.
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Sea World, Jack Hanna Make "Wild Wishes" Come True
March 5, 2018 wildlifejournalist	Leave a comment
Sea World San Antonio—The kids were a bit starstruck. Actually I think the adult chaperones were as well.
As "Jungle" Jack Hanna, iconic television wildlife host and conservationist walked into the Nautilus Amphitheater, he greeted his fans warmly.
"I'm so glad to see you here. Thank you for coming to Sea World today," Hanna said.
The kids were part of the Wild Wishes program operated by our Kingdom Zoo Wildlife Center®. Wild Wishes grants exotic animal encounters to children who have a terminal illness or have lost a parent or a sibling.
The kids that came along were either recipients of a wish or young people who have been trained to help grant wishes for other children.
Inspiring Wild Wish Kid
Facilitated by Sea World San Antonio this special, private experience was a dream come true for 10-year-old wish kid Jaxon who told Hanna he wants to host his own wildlife television program one day.
"So you want to do wildlife TV?" Hanna asked.
"That would be cool sir," Jaxon replied as his hero patted him on the back.
Having watched Hanna many times on syndicated television, Jaxon has visions of traveling the world and encountering the animals of his dreams.
Fourteen-year-old Lauren who has helped by chaperoning and showing animals to more than two dozens kids at wish events over the last four years was excited to hear Hanna tell them how to be better ambassadors for wildlife.
"Allowing kids to safely see wildlife in an amazing park like this or a modern zoo or at a facility like yours is important. You have to touch the heart to move the mind and I know you all will be great at that," he said.
The kids were allowed to hold a baby red kangaroo in a pouch and get an up close look at a Geoffrey's cat, a gorgeous and tiny spotted feline from South America.
After watching Hanna's fun and highly educational program that included a beautiful cheetah, the kids were fired up about wildlife conservation and helping other kids that come into the wish program know they can help wildlife as well.
One of the wish kids, Madison Belden, is fighting cystic fibrosis but she is partnering with us to use her art to raise awareness to endangered species and raise funds to help various projects.
"Mr. Chester, I bet we can get more of these wish kids to do things like Madison is doing. It would be great to have kids who are facing challenges know they can be a part of helping wildlife that is also facing great challenges," she said.
Those are wise words from an eighth grader and came after inspiration from one of the world's top voices for wildlife in a park that has saved untold numbers of endangered sea turtles on the Texas coast.
Most recently they took in a baby endangered Cook's Inlet beluga whale that was abandoned in the wild.
Wild Wishes came true because people cared for kids who care for wildlife.
It was a beautiful thing to see and it inspired us all to be better stewards of what the Lord put on this planet.
To support or learn more about the Wild Wishes program click here.
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Moore wins "Outdoor Legacy Award"
March 3, 2017 wildlifejournalist	2 Comments
Chester Moore, author of "The Wildlife Journalist" blog has received the prestigious Mossy Oak Outdoor Legacy Award.
Presented last Saturday at the annual conference of the Texas Outdoor Writer's Association, the award recognizes Moore for his work with children and wildlife.
Moore receiving award from David Sikes of the Texas Outdoor Writer's Association.
"It's such an honor to receive this award. Whether I am blogging at 'The Wildlife Journalist', broadcasting live on the radio or out granting a child's exotic animal encounter through our 'Wild Wishes' program, I am always looking at things through the filter of how we can inspire young people and take better care of our natural resources," Moore said.
"This award inspires me to push harder and go further down this path."
Moore has won more than 100 awards for writing, photography, radio and conservation.
He was named a "Hero of Conservation" by Field & Stream magazine and his nonprofit project "Kingdom Zoo" won nonprofit of the year in 2016 from the Greater Orange Area Chamber of Commerce.
Playing Jim Fowler
November 27, 2016 wildlifejournalist	Leave a comment
Growing up I always thought television talk shows were boring.
Johnny Carson made me laugh when I talked my parents into letting me stay up late enough to watch but his guests did not impress me as a youngster.
That is unless that guest was Jim Fowler.
Fowler, the co-host of my favorite television program growing up "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" was a frequent guest on "The Tonight Show" and brought wildlife to the masses for decades via his relationship with Carson.
As I walked onto a stage in front of 3,000 kids at the Global VBS at Cornerstone Church last summer, I felt like I was getting to play Jim Fowler.
The program is called "Cheeto Talk" and it is a late night television talk style show but hosted by a puppet operated by my friend Pastor Brett Own of San Antonio, TX.
During the course of an hour we brought out all kinds of animals for Cheeto to interact with and we had an absolutely great time.
From "Reverend Sweets" one of the guests almost having a legitimate panic attack over our rosehair tarantula to the kids collective "awww" when they saw our short tail opossum it was tons of fun.
The highlight for me was having the Kingdom Zoo kids bring out the animals and interacting with the crowd.
During the last segment Rachel brought out "Rowdy" our coatimundi who was only 10 weeks old at the time. He behaved well in front of the huge crowd and commanded their attention.
At the end Pastor Owen asked me to close in prayer and at this point "Rowdy" climbed on top of my head.
Not that there is much competition in this category but I have a feeling I hold the record for the only prayer with a coatimundi on one's head while leading a prayer.
And I got to play Jim Fowler for an hour. I hope the performance would make him proud.
Click here to watch Cheeto Talk with special guest Chester Moore.
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Follow the nose…
There was something about those 1980s Fruit Loops commercials.
The debonair sounding "Toucan Sam" was and is a memorable icon of pop culture and was what initially got me interested in toucans.
After seeing them on my cereal box in the mornings I started looking them up in the personal wildlife book library I had accumulated and found them fascinating.
Fast forward to 1999 and I found myself in the rainforest of Venezuela and five feet away from this white-throated toucan on the shores of the massive Lake Guri.
I was mesmerized as I snapped this photo.
The unique design and beautiful contrast of light and dark was in my opinion the most beautiful bird I had ever seen.
Sure, cardinals and red-headed woodpeckers had more standard beauty but there was something special about the toucan-all toucans.
When we founded Kingdom Zoo in 2012 me and my wife Lisa knew we wanted at toucan.
We searched high and low to no avail so we did what we should have done to begin with. We prayed.
We also gave away plush toucans to needy children in the community as a way of showing Christ's love but also believing that he who gives us given unto.
We recently had the opportunity to purchase a gorgeous male green aracari toucan. We named him "Papaya".
This friendly and very active bird had his official debut last weekend at the Kingdom Zoo: Wildlife Center and seeing people's reactions was special.
Most have never seen a toucan up close, only on the cereal box or perhaps in a distance enclosure at a zoo. Our micro zoo provides close interactions with animals and "Papaya" has become our number one bird ambassador.
He is a true treasure and I could not be happier.
Dreams do come true. Sometimes they come after profound revelation. Sometimes they are passed down from family members.
And sometimes they can even be founded gazing at a cereal box excited about the sugary snack inside.
And don't give me any flack about GMOs and refined sugars. You know you were eating them too.
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Helping Holy Land Deer
November 1, 2016 wildlifejournalist	Leave a comment
Fallow deer are one of the most beautiful creatures on the planet.
With coats ranging from chocolate brown to snow white and with the bucks sporting heavy, palmated antlers, they are an extremely striking animal.
Did you know that fallow deer are native to Israel and much of the Middle East?
A Persian Fallow Deer in Israel, fitted with a radio transmitter.
The endangered Persian Fallow Deer (Dama dama mesopotamica) is the indigenous variety and I was happy to find out that the Tisch Family Zoological Gardens in Jerusalem (Jerusalem Biblical Zoo) is involved in a captive breeding and wild restoration program of these majestic creatures.
A conservation program to achieve lasting conservation of the and its habitat. This is a long-term conservation program aimed at re-establishing this species in the Nahal Soreq area of its former range (near Jerusalem in southern Israel) from a breeding core at the Tisch Family Zoological Gardens in Jerusalem.
In Israel there were approximately 200 individuals in the north of the country (Nahal Kziv area) by 2005 and today this is the world's largest stable wild group. In addition, a wild group of around 45 individuals now exists in the south of the country (Nahal Soreq area). Captive populations also exist in Israel – 65 individuals at the Tisch Family Zoological Gardens in Jerusalem and around 150 in the Hai Bar Carmel Mountain Reserve in central Israel.
Here at Kingdom Zoo, we will do a series of articles on this unique project, but there's more. We will be donating a portion of our donations to help restore these animals that undoubtedly lived in the Garden of Eden to God's chosen land.
Workers transporting a sedated Persian fallow deer.
We are collecting change for the Persian Fallow Deer. All of the funds from the change collected, will be given to the Tisch Famiy Zoological Gardens, earmarked for their fallow deer project.
You can also help with this project. Click here to donate.
Look for more on this unique conservation initiative as we updates from Israel.
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