Monthly Archives: September 2019

Name for baby orang at Little Rock Zoo announced

Posted on by

The Little Rock Zoo has revealed the name of the new female baby orangutan chosen by public vote.

And the winner is: Kasih (pronounced KAH-see)  (Malay), which means love

Kasih, a baby female Northwest Bornean orangutan, was born to mother Berani and father Bandar on July 28. She is the first infant born to Berani and the fifth born to Bandar.

She can be seen at the great ape habitat with Berani. The mother carries the baby with her while she’s outside but does often shield the baby from public view by turning her back.

Kasih’s birth came at the recommendation of the Orangutan Species Survival Plan® (SSP), a program that cooperatively manages orangutan species in zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) to further conservation goals.

This SSP Program coordinates species conservation, research, husbandry, management and educational initiatives. The Little Rock Zoo also participates in the AZA SAFE (Saving Animals From Extinction) program for orangutans. AZA SAFE programs combine the collective strength of AZA organizations to help save species in the wild.

Arkansas Arts Center Goes to China – Sept. 1, 1975

Posted on by

TIna Poe, Raida Pfeifer and Jeane Hamilton at the Great Wall of China (photo from collection of Jeane Hamilton)

On September 1, 1975, a group from the Arkansas Arts Center left Little Rock for a study tour of China. This was the first non-governmental group from the United States who had been authorized to tour the People’s Republic of China.

Fred Poe, of Poe Travel, and Jeane Hamilton were the organizers of the trip.  It was part of the annual travel seminars the Arts Center  would take to locations throughout the world to learn more about art and culture.  It took many months of planning as wells as mounds and pounds of paperwork to get this trip underway.

Persons interested in the trip had to apply and be approved by the Chinese government in order to participate in the trip.   The Chinese government selected eighteen AAC members from submitted applications and the group visited Beijing, Shanghai, Changsha, Kweilin, and Guangzhou.

The AAC Traveling Seminar participants in front of Mao’s birthplace. (Photo from the Jeane Hamilton collection.)