SAN DIEGO ZOO GLOBAL WILDLIFE CONSERVANCY: Wildlife conservation today cannot afford any downtime, so our team is Our Multifaceted working every day around Conservation the world to protect Earth s irreplaceable animal and Partnerships plant species and their Worldwide: habitats. It is thanks to the Wildlife Conservancy that this work is possible. When the wild disappears, animals from the smallest to the largest have nowhere to call home. So whether our team is evaluating where to translocate Pacific pocket mice in Southern California or planning migration corridors for elephants in Botswana, many of the same challenges surface: balancing human development needs with wildlife habitat needs. Bringing Species BACK FROM THE BRINK...
Achieving More with Our Conservation Partners Spectacled Bear Conservation Society in Peru Andean bears (also known as spectacled bears) are a flagship species vital to the health of their South American ecosystem. Our team is working with the Spectacled Bear Conservation Society to study these elusive bears using GPS technology, mentor Peruvian conservationists, and help local communities coexist with the bears as an important part of their habitat. Maijuna Reserve Peru s newly created Maijuna Reserve is 22 percent larger than Yosemite National Park it s a rain forest reserve covering 4 million acres! With the support of the Wildlife Conservancy, our team of scientists partnered with Nature and Culture International, George Mason University, and the Maijuna people to help develop a conservation management plan for the new reserve. Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project Saving amphibians from the deadly chytrid fungus is one of our priorities in the Wildlife Disease Laboratories. In partnership with the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project, we re happy to say that 60 species in Central and South America have been saved, and 12 at-risk species have reproduced in our care! Little Green Guards Launched this year with our Chinese Partners, the Little Green Guards conservation education program helps schoolchildren develop an awareness and empathy toward wildlife not to mention excitement and joy! Kelly Landen/ Elephants Without Borders Elephants Without Borders A new research camp is being built in Botswana s Okavango Delta for Elephants Without Borders. This field camp will serve as a living laboratory for studying elephants, rhinos, and other species while defining how the environment is affecting wildlife. Henderson Endowed Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Michael Chase and his team report deploying radio collars on giraffes, zebras, buffalo, sable antelope, and 11 more elephants! Chia Tan, Ph. D.
Unraveling More Koala Secrets Koalas intrigue our researchers and their partners at the University of Queensland, Central Queensland University, and Queensland National Parks. For close to 100 years, there have been koalas on St. Bees Island, off the coast of Queensland, where a small colony has flourished and now numbers close to 300. Every year, we get closer to understanding what affects koala reproduction in this island population and every bit of data brings us a step closer to understanding why this wild population thrives and how it can help other wild populations. Attaching radio collars and then releasing koalas translate to long hours in the field for our conservation team. Our goal is to learn more about what koalas need to survive: how they use their habitat, how they communicate, and how interactions with other koalas influence their health and mating strategies. Technology that makes this possible: listening in on their vocal interactions as well as tracking them with GPS radio collars that some koalas wear for a few months. When collars are fitted and removed, researchers collect health data. We work with our Australian partners to ensure legal protection for declining koala populations: they were declared a threatened species by the government just this year, which will give them even greater protection in the wild.
Candid Cameras in the Forest For field researchers, a picture really is worth a thousand words! Wildlife everywhere can be shy and elusive, especially if people enter their habitat, so our team has a new strategy in place in Central Africa, China, and Peru: video camera traps. A new addition created by Dr. Mathias Tobler is our Camera Base database, now used by researchers worldwide and a great tool for analyzing data from camera traps. Local outreach and training in-country conservation managers help keep these programs running year-round. Southwestern China: Endangered Guizhou snubnosed monkeys are the focus of a project run by Dr. Chia Tan and her Chinese colleagues. This led to a surprising discovery: the monkeys were photographed moving through the trees at night while looking for snacks. No one knew they were this active when the sun went down! Cameroon s Ebo Forest: Camera traps help Dr. Bethan Morgan and her team learn more about primate behaviors, habitat needs, and anything that might threaten the lives of endangered forest animals, such as chimpanzees and gorillas as well as birds, antelope, and forest elephants. Recently, 30 video cameras were added to specifically monitor chimpanzee populations. Every bit of information helps in efforts to create Ebo National Park: our Central Africa Program is working with local village chiefs to champion this cause. Northern Peru: Our work with Andean bears continues in Peru s tropical dry forest, where team leader Dr. Russ Van Horn recently traveled to work with partners from the Spectacled Bear Conservation Society. One goal was training the field team in how to collect and manage data from camera traps. SDZ Global/Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve Chia Tan, Ph. D.
Glenn Gerber, Ph. D. Wild Reintroductions Whenever we think of saving an endangered species from extinction, the natural wish is to breed and then reintroduce those animals back into native habitat. This is a great goal but only if we can reestablish or increase a population in the wild that can be sustained. Sometimes we need to move a species from one habitat to a safer one, so species are translocated. This has been successful for rhinos as well as mice! Every animal species prepared for reintroduction receives a great deal of attention and care from biologists, veterinarians, and other animal care staff nothing is simple about planning reintroductions! 5 Grand Cayman blue iguanas The most endangered lizards in the world were hatched at our iguana nursery at the Anne and Kenneth Griffin Reptile Conservation Center at the Safari Park. Celebrating the release of Caribbean 22 puaiohi: A beautiful mele, Often the first step for a vulnerable species is being raised in an dances, and drumming were or song, along with chants, performed to bless AZA-accredited zoo or field facility this event. for future release. Endangered rock iguana species have been hatched by our team and others over the past 20 years and raised in head start facilities on various islands, then released when they are larger and have a better chance of survival. Photo by Michael Teruya Hawaii Our goal for nearly 20 years has been preventing extinction and promoting recovery of endangered Hawaiian birds. Several species bred at San Diego Zoo Global s bird conservation centers on Maui and the Big Island were successfully released into the wild. Alala: The population soared past 100! Puaiohi: 222 birds total reintroduced! Nene: Continue to thrive! Michael Teruya
Dr. Bibhab Talukdar/IRF India There s more good news for greater one-horned rhinos: in March 2012, two more females and two males were released into Manas National Park in Assam, bringing the number moved there to 18. We support our conservation partner, the International Rhino Foundation, with a goal to reach 3,000 Indian rhinos in the world population by 2020. Translocating Indian rhinos takes months of planning and involves dozens of team members from around the world. Once released, the radio-collared rhinos are closely monitored for years. Southern California Saving wildlife in our own backyard isn t just a catchy slogan for our team, it s an ongoing process. We have persevered to save California condors since the 1980s one of our great conservation success stories! and we are always adding more names to our Bringing species back from the brink of extinction list: Mountain yellow-legged frog Coastal Cactus wren Desert tortoise Light-footed clapper rail Pacific pocket mouse Stephens kangaroo rat Our Diverse AZA Awards San Diego Zoo Global is proud to have partnered with the following organizations honored in 2012 by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA): North American Conservation Award: 2012 Significant Achievement SeaWorld San Diego/San Diego Zoo Global for the Light-footed Clapper Rail Recovery International Conservation Award: 2012 Top Honors San Diego Zoo Global/ Smithsonian National Zoological Park/Memphis Zoo/Zoo Atlanta for Scientific Approaches Burrowing owl San Clemente loggerhead shrike Seed Banking for RARE plants Peninsular pronghorn to Conservation of Giant Pandas and Their Habitat 2012 Top Honors San Diego Zoo Global/Grevy s Zebra Trust/AZA: A Model of Collaborative Endangered Species Conservation
Technology with a Conservation Purpose From tracking animals with GPS radio collars to observing them with video cameras positioned in forests to mapping their genomes or listening in on how they communicate, scientists in the field and in the lab are discovering secrets unimaginable just a decade ago. Our New Frontier: Innovative Spatial Tracking Methods Lori Sandström Dr. James Sheppard tracks animal migration at various conservation sites. In a small office at the Beckman Center there s new technology that s making field researchers lives so much easier: the Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation Spatial Ecology Lab. Who would have believed that scientists could pinpoint animals movements anywhere in the world from their labs? For many projects, gone are the days of tracking animals on foot, across steep terrain, through rivers, and up mountains. Cocha Cashu Field Station First there was radiotelemetry, so animals fitted with transmitters can be tracked in the wild using a handheld antenna and receiver to follow the radio signal. This is still the technology used for many small species. Then GPS (Global Positioning System) collars became the standard, using satellite telemetry to track animals as large as elephants. Next came satellite photos of entire regions, with clear close-up views of habitat and animals. Cocha Cashu Biological Station in Peru gave us our first detailed images of the region. Now a novel technology, the 3-D home range estimator, developed by San Diego Zoo Global and our partner, the U.S. Geological Survey, takes tracking another step forward: 3-D mapping that shows elevation and other topographical details. Condor Migration 3-D Mapping
Thousands of mammal, bird, reptile, fish, and amphibian species now have their chromosomes represented as karyotypes in digital format. Since 2000, our Genetics Division has completed work on over 3,500 animals one of the largest collections anywhere! Genetics and Reproductive Physiology worked together on an avian stem cell program, a promising new avenue for conserving endangered birds. More Genetics Technologies, More Successes Koalas, now officially listed as a threatened species in Queensland and New South Wales, are getting help from our geneticists and their Australian partners. New genomic technologies will answer questions about genetic diversity within the species so we can identify those groups at high risk of extinction and needing our immediate attention. Unusual new species are now represented in our Frozen Zoo, including the red-crowned Manchurian crane (pictured) and Roti Island snake-necked turtle. This was a great year for our geneticists, who added 184 cell cultures, with 31 new species, to the Frozen Zoo. Top: A host chicken embryo receives stem cells from an endangered bird species, eventually passing on the donor s valuable genetic information. Below: The San Diego Zoo has hatched more than 70 Roti Island snake-necked turtles, among the rarest in the world.
Much more to come: Conservation Education Lab Spectacled Bear Conservation Society We partnered with SBCS to help support our work with Andean bears and local communities. Above: This group of Incahuasi women formed a cooperative where they raise sheep, spin wool, and weave textiles into lovely products. Opposite: We helped train women in the craft of wool felting and these adorable felt animals create alternative income for them. These wildlife-friendly products are now in our San Diego Zoo and Safari Park gift shops!
It s amazing to follow all the directions our educators are taking with students and teachers: local classes, workshops, and overnights as well as outreach to other countries are all on the agenda! California Condor Educational Kit Debuted a classroom educational kit about California condors for middle school and high school life science teachers so they can reach thousands of students. Our Vision: To become catalysts for conservation as we work to bring species back from the brink of extinction. High Tech Fair Engaged with 3,000 students and community members at the San Diego Science Alliance s High Tech Fair, featuring interactive demonstrations of how we use this equipment and methods to monitor biodiversity in the wild. Kids First Fair Welcomed 5,000 families to the 17th annual Kids First Fair at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, where we helped create the first Nature Area using hands-on activities that bring nature to life. education outreach Helped develop conservation classes in India, part of our larger master s degree program with Miami University of Ohio, as well as education outreach in Borneo. Spectacled Bear Conservation Society