All work no play with the red pandas
Zane and Kevin Moriarty pose in front of the sun cover they built for Jacob the red panda. Photos by Kat Sheridan
Jacob the red panda using his sun cover to eat some lunch.
Zane Moriarty pets one of the office cats. 
One of the office cats find an alternitive way to enjoy their climbing wall. 
An office cats walks on the wall stairs. 
Jacob the red panda posing in front of his new sun cover. 
A keeper gives Jacob the red panda some snacks. 
Zane Moriarty poses with the cat wall he helped build. 
Jacob the red panda in his favorite spot. The sun cover is a close second. 
Zane Moriarty poses with Jacob the red panda in the background. 
Jacob the red panda preparing for a nap.
The wooden rope ladder.
Zane and Kevin Moriarty pose in front of the sun cover they built for Jacob the red panda. Photos by Kat Sheridan
Jacob the red panda using his sun cover to eat some lunch.
Zane Moriarty pets one of the office cats.
One of the office cats find an alternitive way to enjoy their climbing wall.
An office cats walks on the wall stairs.
Jacob the red panda posing in front of his new sun cover.
A keeper gives Jacob the red panda some snacks.
Zane Moriarty poses with the cat wall he helped build.
Jacob the red panda in his favorite spot. The sun cover is a close second.
Zane Moriarty poses with Jacob the red panda in the background.
Jacob the red panda preparing for a nap.
The wooden rope ladder.
NEW BEDFORD — The Buttonwood Park Zoo got a couple of upgrades thanks to Dartmouth Eagle Scout Zane Moriarty and his grandfather Kevin.
“I like animals, and I figured doing something for them would be pretty cool,” said Zane.
Zane wanted to do something unique for his project to become an Eagle Scout, a type of project that no one in Troop 74 has done before. He reached out to the zoo to see if there was anything they needed help with, and they did.
“Zane came to me, reached out asking if we had any projects and my keepers leapt at the chance,” said Kerri Donlan, the event and volunteer manager. “There’s always work to be done here.”
The zoo found two projects for him to work on: building a sun roof for Jacob the red panda, and a climbing wall for the three office cats.
“They needed some help with it, and we had the resources and ability,” said Zane.
He was able to complete the projects over the weekend of April 18 and 19. They were originally planning to complete the project in February, but the blizzard prevented this.
There were a few rules Zane had to follow before starting construction; due to Boy Scout rules, he cannot use power tools or climb a ladder over six feet tall.
Zane and Kevin didn’t do this alone; they received help from scout Joseph Joubert and his father Joe Joubert. To complete the project, Home Depot made a donation and Zane hosted a can drive to cover the rest of the costs.
Zane and Kevin pieced together the sunroof at Kevin’s home in Sandwich before bringing the roof to the zoo. At the zoo, Zane helped with clearing the bamboo and handing materials to Kevin and Joe to put the sun roof up.
“What I enjoyed most was watching him run the project,” said Kevin, “Although he made a few decisions that might have been better, he still learned from them all.”
In addition to the roof, Zane added a rope ladder for Jacob to enjoy, using pieces of wood that fell in his yard during the blizzard.
Kevin said that at first Jacob didn’t appear to enjoy having the workers there. He paced around his enclosement, hissing at them. However, Donlan said that within minutes of his roof and ramp being finished, Jacob started enjoying his new shade.
For the cat walls, Zane helped build the boxes and stairs that the cats could run on. His grandmother, Denise Moriarty, helped sew the cloth ramps.
Zane said his favorite part was watching the panda enjoy the work he did.
“I’m very proud of him,” she said.
