EXCITING NEWS! On Tuesday, May 27, Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium and the Omaha Zoo Foundation will be hosting the 2nd annual "Do Great Things Day" celebrating the generosity and legacy of Suzanne and Walter Scott.

To help celebrate this special day, there will be fun opportunities around the Zoo staff, volunteers, and guests to enjoy. Let’s show our Zoo spirit and celebrate Suzanne and Walter Scott in style—thanks for being part of something great!

Rhino Keeper Conference Sign Up Clarification

To clarify the email that was sent to docents last week, if you are interested in helping with the Rhino Keeper Conference on May 18th and 21st, please sign up for a regular docent/volunteer shift on those days, and you will be assigned to assist with various aspects of the conference. Thank you so much for your willingness to help!

Last week, several of our team members attended the 2025 Nebraska Women in STEM Conference. Attendees of this conference have the opportunity to develop their personal and professional identity and build networks of support, as the goal of the conference is to provide professional development opportunities for women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers across Nebraska. The sold-out event brought nearly 500 attendees, including a few of our Zoo leaders (including the Education Department's Director of Informal Education, Emily Brown!) Our Zoo team enjoyed the opportunity for connection with other STEM leaders in our community and listening to the speakers, including Dr. Raychelle Burks, professor and science communicator featured on the Science Channel. 

This week, members of our butterflies and insects team presented at the Salt Creek Tiger Beetle Symposium as part of the 80th North Central branch meeting of the Entomological Society of America in Lincoln, NE. This meeting was attended by students, academics, scientists and more. Butterflies and Insects keeper, Annelyn Bateman, presented about how staff on the Butterflies and Insects team successfully care for and lead propagation efforts for the Salt Creek tiger beetles. The crowd greatly enjoyed her presentation and had a number of questions on how our teams utilize techniques that lead to their successes.

Our hoofstock team is hard at work introducing our newest arrival to the rest of the herd. 2-year-old male giraffe, Geoff, arrived at our Zoo in early December, and has been introduced to 14-year-old female, Layla. Layla was chosen out of the herd for the first introduction to Geoff due to her more easy-going disposition. The first introduction between Layla and Geoff went well, with the pair exhibiting positive signs such as rubbing on each other and following each other around their shared space. The second day of introductions, Geoff and Layla did well together again. 

There is a new species visible to guests in the Scott Aquarium! The purple-striped jelly, also known as the purple-striped sea nettle, is a large species native to the waters off of the California coast. When fully grown, the bell of this species can exceed 2 ½ feet in diameter, and the tentacles can grow to 15 feet. Our animals were raised here in Omaha from California-sourced polyps. This is a rare species in aquariums, in particular outside of the state of California. Raising and propagating these jellies is a complex and specialized process, but a skillset that our aquarists have demonstrated with multiple species.