Vol 37 • No. 9
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August 2016
Happy 45th birthday Sedgwick County Zoo
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By Leslie Chaffin The Sedgwick County Zoo is the 7th largest zoo in North America, and is between 13th and 15th in the world by number of species and animals. In Wichita and Kansas this Zoo, which opened Aug. 25, 1971, is No 1. “This is a very, very positive reflection on this community,” said Mark Reed, director. “The years we hosted the mid-year conference of the Zoological Association, there wasn’t anyone who saw this zoo for the first time who wasn’t blown away.” Contributing to the success of the Zoo was the foresight 49 years ago to purchase 247 acres to allow for expansion, plus the public/private partnership agreement. “The plans were ahead of their time, allowing for water and electrical lines throughout the property, along with building a buffer zone that
enables visitors to be immersed in the zoo,” Reed said. The Zoo was the first among the 200 American Zoological Association members that had a written master plan and a conservation component. Reed came to the Zoo in 1979 with the intention of staying five years. Now, 37 years later, he is more passionate about its mission and future than when he arrived. An estimated 700,000 visitors will pass through the Zoo’s gates this year. As the Zoo has grown, there have been several instructive, and some amusing, events. On the first Zoo campout, no one thought about the sprinkler system. In the middle of the night a sprinkler head popped up in a tent. That didn’t dampen the program however. Overnight campout programs are still offered.
Courtesy photo
Thousands of Wichita area residents welcomed the opening of the new Sedgwick County Zoo on Aug. 25, 1971. “On one of the trips to bring chimpanzees to the Zoo,” Reed recalled, “the keepers had to sneak the crates into the hotel rooms. Of course, they were making typical chimpanzee
noises, but no one knocked on the hotel room door.” When the Koch Orangutan and Chimpanzee Exhibit was getting See Zoo, page 12.
to participate in the Being Mortal project through the Hospice Foundation of America. Wichita is one of 90 communities across the country accepted. In a darkened room, the screening of Being Mortal begins. The film takes the audience into homes and hospital rooms for conversations with doctors and patients about the end of life. All the patients are terminal: Bill, 46, has aggressive brain cancer; a grandmother wants to take the baby to Disneyland and wants the doctors to “find the right medicines so I can take my trip;” and Jeff, an older, pragmatic man, decides he wants “to go home to die and to be with my family and friends.” The doctors, surgeons, oncologists and palliative care specialists admit
their struggles to balance not giving up on options that will benefit their patient, or accepting when a treatment will hurt their patient more than help. The project is sponsored by the Medical Society of Sedgwick County and TPOPP Wichita (Transportable Physician Orders for Patient Preference). It includes screening the PBS Frontline documentary, Being Mortal; guided conversations with health professionals; and information with concrete steps to identify and share personal wishes and treatment preferences with health care providers and family members. A first step is filling out the TPOPP form, which is completed by the physician for a patient with
You can direct your end of life Editor’s note: This is the first of three articles dealing with the end of life and grieving. By Elma Broadfoot It is a conversation we all avoid, but it is the most important one we need to have with our doctor, our family and ourselves. What do we want the end of our life to look like, to feel like? Do we want our doctor to take every measure possible? Do we want our doctor to be honest with us and tell us we are at the end of life? Can we accept that and have a quality ending? It can be as difficult for a doctor to talk about the end of life as it is for a terminally ill patient. To start this conversation, a group of local health care providers applied
Questions about services?
Central Plains Area Agency on Aging or call your county Department on Aging: 1-855-200-2372
See Mortal, page 8.
Butler County: (316) 775-0500 or 1-800- 279-3655 Harvey County: (316) 284-6880 or 1-800-279-3655