Fading Out of Focus

I was doing a field trip talk for a group of elementary school students once, when we stopped at the front of our red wolf habitat.  I had the students, not the teachers and chaperones, just the kids - count themselves off, then had them stand together in a clump.  Then, I asked the class to imagine if there were only that many people left in the entire world.

That, I explained, was the situation for the red wolf just a few years ago.  Their numbers were ranked in the low double digits... and seemed to be falling.

It's one thing to tell people how few members of a species are left in the world.  It's another entirely to find a way to show them.  One cool visual representation which I just found was this series of pictures of endangered animals.  Each consists of as many pixels as there are individuals left in the world.  I'd love to see zoos posting these on their graphics to really help drive home how rare many of our animals are.  (Not that numbers is the only determining factory in how endangered a species is - some animals have low numbers for a variety of reasons and may be in safer condition that a more "common" species - it's really trajectory that counts).  

Still, some of these images are haunting.  And many are only likely to get blurrier in the future.

I'm glad that they didn't even try vaquita.  It would just be a few gray dots.

The Summer Interns

Recently, a pair of African penguin animal ambassadors from the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore paid a visit to a Penguin Randomhouse Books warehouse to lend a hand... err... flipper?  Besides generating some positive PR for both the zoo and the company, it also encouraged Penguin to make a donation to African penguin conservation programs.  A good win all around!

Congratulations, it's a ... Hippo?

This recent video clip from Capital of Texas Zoo, where a hippo was happy to help with a gender reveal, crushing a Jello-filled watermelon to help the parents uncover the sex of their new child.  Some folks have expressed disapproval, partially over feeding the hippo so much food coloring (I mean... it's a hippo... it weighs thousands of pounds.  It'll be fine), most over the father's audible relief over the gender of the baby.

(For another hippo-centric photo, check out Cincinnati Zoo's Fiona photobombing a proposal).

Birthday parties, weddings, family reunions are all great ways to help people build happy memories of zoos and zoo animals.  It helps us make new friends and sometimes sneakily share a message about our animals.

Congrats to the happy couple... and congrats to the hippo for scoring a watermelon.

Species Fact Profile: King Penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus)

King Penguin

Aptenodytes patagonicus (JF Miller, 1778)

Range: Sub-Antarctic Islands in South Atlantic and Indian Oceans, vagrants found as far north as Brazil, South Africa, New Zealand
Habitat: Sparsely-Vegetated Islands
Diet: Cephalopods, Small Fish
Social Grouping: Colonies of Tens of Thousands
Reproduction: Monogamous.  Males call for females by calling while displaying courtship rituals (bowing, shaking, stretching, bill-shaking).  Breed at the end of their molt (usually the end of October).  Single green-white egg is laid in November or December, incubated on top of the parents' feet.  One penguin will incubate while the other goes to sea to feed.  Incubation is 54 days.  Independent at 14-16 months, mature at 3-5 years old
Lifespan: 25 Years
Conservation Status: IUCN Least Concern

• Second-largest of the living penguins after the emperor penguin.  85-95 centimeters tall, weight 9.3-17.3 kilograms (average 11-12 kilograms).  Females are slightly smaller than males
• Both sexes look alike.  Very dark (nearly black) head with orange/yellow spots on either side of the head and orange area on the throat.  Back and wings are gray-black with a silvery sheen.  Stomach and breast are white.  The beak has a stripe on the lower mandible, red or yellow in color, though to denote health and breeding status.
• Chicks are dark brown when born.  After their first molt, they resemble adults, but with duller coloration.  They reach adult coloration at about three years of age
• Primarily communicate with a 3-7 syllable call unique to each bird, which parents are able to identify and locate their chicks by when returning from the sea
• Pursue prey underwater, can swim underwater for up to 10 minutes and reach speeds of up to 12 kilometers per hour.  Dive to depths of over 300 meters.  Build up fat reserves to survive the molt period, when they cannot swim
• Not territorial, but will compete for positions at the center of their colonies, possibly for increased protection from predators and the elements.  Breeding pairs will defend an area of a few square feet as a breeding site
• Predators of adults include orcas, leopard seals, and fur seals.  Eggs and chicks may be preyed upon by petrels and skuas
• Two subspecies - the nominate (found in the south Atlantic Ocean) and A. p. halli, found in the south Indian Ocean
• Populations currently appear stable, may be increasing, though some populations have undergone major declines, possibly due to overfishing
• Several king penguins were released in northern Norway in 1936, but none have been reported since the 1950s
• King penguins are integral to the history of the Edinburgh Zoo, which received its first king penguin from Roald Amundsen in 1913 and was the first zoo to breed the species.  The zoo houses Brigadier Sir Nils Olav, a mascot and honorary colonel-in-chief of Norway's King's Guard, which has been passed down through several generations of penguin

Taking a Bite Out of Common Sense

"When a dog bites a man, that is not news... but if a man bites a dog, that is news."

- John B. Bogart

As much as keepers care for their animals, there is always the realization that they are still wild animals, and as such many are potentially dangerous.  Still, even the largest of carnivores or the most venomous of snakes pales in danger compared to the most unpredictable creature within the park - the public.  Fences exist not only to keep animals in, but also to keep animals out.


Sometimes, they fail... and the results can be peculiar.


Louisiana Woman Bites Camel's Testicles in Self-Defense


To be clear, I certainly don't think this set-up - one that allowed two dogs, and later two idiots, access a camel is a good one.  Historically, many zoos lacked perimeter fences.  Stuff like this is presumably what folks had in mind when they decided that fences were a good idea.  Still, ultimate responsibility goes to the people who put themselves and their pets at risk in this silly stunt.  I'm happy to hear that the camel is doing okay with no lasting physical harm, though it probably needs the zoological equivalent of psychotherapy to unpack what just happened.


As for the woman in question?  She's been issued a citation... and I hope she never gets the taste out of her mouth.

Sporcle Quiz: Sporcle at the Zoo - Orangutan

Sporcle at the Zoo: Orangutans

Our Sporcle at the Zoo series continues with a few quiz focusing on orangutans!

The Yorkshiremen and the Office Chair

There was a political cartoon that I remember from the 2008 presidential campaign, during the primaries.  I tried to find it, but couldn't.  It featured stylized versions of the three Democratic frontrunners at the time - Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards - sitting on a dilapidated porch and dressed in shabby clothes, trying to one up each other with stories about how poor they were growing up.  "When I was little, we could only ever afford a shot of moonshine for dinner."  "A shot?  You guys could afford a whole shot?" 

Years later, I saw Monty Python's "The Four Yorkshiremen" sketch and it reminded me of that cartoon.  It also vaguely reminded me of something else, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Then I read this article and remembered.  It was the zoo.  Or at least, the non-animal portions of it.

Your Crappy Chair Is Not a Badge of Honor

There is never a lot of money in wildlife conservation, or most nonprofits, really.  We make do with things on a shoestring, and try to devote as many of our resources as possible to go towards a) our animals and their facilities and b) in situ conservation.  As far as many of us are concerned, the rest of the place can fall apart as long as the animals are okay.

I was fine with that mindset for a longtime.  When office staff would complain about conditions in our office building, I'd scoff (to myself... because I was slightly terrified of them poisoning the coffee).  Sure, it would be "nice" to have money for a better AC unit, or chairs that didn't cause severe joint issues, or a floor with more tiles and fewer holes.  But if we had the money for that, I for one would rather have put it towards more enrichment objects.  An expansion of some of our exhibits.  Better filters for some of our aquatic exhibits.  You know... animals first.

This article has made me reconsider that.  Maybe holding the rest of the zoo together with duct tape, zip ties, and hope isn't the solution.  It can make our facilities seem sketchy, unprofessional, and unreliable.  If you work in a conventional office and would like to help, perhaps consider donating your (gently) used items to your local zoo - or any other nonprofit in the area - when you get replacements.  It'll keep it out of the landfill, and will be greatly appreciated by others.

This article has also made me think upon a subject which has been bothering me for some time... staff salaries.  I consider myself fairly decently paid (though many of my former college classmates would probably drink hemlock if they had to survive on what I may compared to what they make now), but salaries for entry level keepers at many zoos can be brutal.  All too often, keepers treat this as a badge of honor, especially those who have since gone on to earn a little more and look back with fondness at "the good all days," viewing newer keepers as whiners who are idiots for suggesting that maybe they should be able to afford rent AND food.

Saving species, both in the zoo and in the field, isn't something we dabble in.  It's our profession.  And if we don't view ourselves as professionals and act accordingly, how can we expect anyone else to treat us as such?

We don't need to blow our budgets, and we certainly don't need to start using dollar bills as toilet paper, but we can stop fetishizing our frugality and taking pride in our lousy working conditions.  It's okay to want better.

Coleslaw, Anyone?

In today's "Zoo Death Match" - giant weasel versus giant cabbage!  Wait... cabbage?  Well, this wolverine, Olga from the Alaska Zoo, seems to be enjoying the one-sided battle.  Perhaps the keepers could put her to work in the commissary...

From the News: New giant salamander species is the world's largest amphibian

New Giant Salamander Species Is the World’s Largest Amphibian

An exciting discovery, made from an animal that lived decades ago at the London Zoo.  This is the second case I've heard of in recent years where re-examining an animal that was held at a zoo revealed a new species.  It just goes to show, we never stop learning from our animals, even after they have passed on.

Advice from Eras Gone By

When going through some papers recently, I found this document tucked into an old book.  Published by the Zootrition Company, it contains 105 suggestions for zoo directors on how to run their facilities.  Some of them are very valid bits of advice to this day.  Others are a bit... dated.  I mean, who paints with lead paint anymore?  Still, it's fascinating to get a glimpse into the thought process of what was considered revolutionary or cutting edge, even half a century ago.

Zoo Review: Phoenix Zoo, Part II

Continuing the exploration of the Phoenix Zoo from yesterday, we will resume with the third area of the zoo, Tropics Trail. 

The next two exhibits I got a huge kick out of, for reasons apart from the animals.  The first exhibit on the trail was the giant anteater habitat.  Visitors can survey the pampas yard that houses shuffling anteaters, sharing the yard with maned wolf.  The second exhibit was Monkey Village.  Plenty of zoos have walk-through aviaries.  Fewer have walk-through primate exhibits, and I don’t think I’d ever seen one with primates the size of squirrel monkeys.  Under staff supervision, visitors can pass through the double doors and take a walk among a troop of squirrel monkeys.  It’s possible to get very close to the monkeys, but feeding and touching are prohibited.  So, what made these two exhibits so special to me?  The anteater exhibit in particular reminded me of Betty Webb's zoo mystery novels, starting with The Anteater of Death.  Webb based her novels on her experiences volunteering at the Phoenix Zoo, and was fun to see some of the exhibits from her books in real life.  I almost caught myself looking for a body as I peeked over the railing of the anteater exhibit.  Outside, a small pool houses African spot-necked otters.

Down the trail, visitors pass by Chilean flamingos, greaterrheas, and crested screamers, before suddenly finding themselves in what appears to be a small South American marketplace.  This is the Forest of Uco, a side trail leading through a forested pathway.  Tucked along the trail are small habitats for birds, primates, and reptiles, including a tree that houses boa constrictors and a little tunnel with tarantulas.  All of these side exhibits are on the outside of the path; the inside is dominated by a spacious habitat of Andean bears.  The bears can be seen from a variety of vantage points, through glass, wire, and across moats, which provides opportunities to get great views depending on whether they are climbing, splashing in the pool, or just dozing on rocks.  There was a lot of great signage about Andean bears around the exhibit, which pleased me very much, as I think this is the first zoo that I had ever been to where Andean bears were treated as a signature exhibit animal, with their own dedicated region of the zoo.

Continuing on Tropics Trail, visitors will encounter some of the zoo’s newest exhibits, habitats for Sumatran tigers, Komodo dragons, Chinese alligators, and orangutans.   Also included are a big dusty yard for Asian elephants (kind of unimpressive, but they are working on it), a swamp for American alligators, and a towering mesh-enclosed set of habitats for jaguars.  The nucleus of the zoo’s bird collection is found on this trail, most of it along Tropical Flights, a series of bird exhibits that hugs the central lagoon.  Among the species encountered on this loop are a breeding group of rhinoceros hornbills (I really liked a little recreated hornbill nest next to the exhibit, which gave visitors an inside-peek as to their unique breeding biology), green peafowl, and an impressive assortment of rare doves and pigeons, from huge crowned pigeons to pretty little fruit doves.  There is also a walk-through aviary, as well as lagoon-side viewing of pelicans.  Set into the lagoon are island habitats for gibbons and lemurs.

As busy as I was with all of the other exhibits, I almost missed the Children’s Trail, which would have been a mistake.  Crossing the covered bridge to get there, passing Galapagos tortoises, I first saw what I was expecting to see – Harmony Farm, a barnyard.    Nothing against domestics, of course, it’s just that I had a lot to see and not much time, so I was going to pass on the goat petting.  Past that, however, I found a sprawling set of trails featuring several exotic species, such as Visayan warty pigs, spectacled owls, golden lion tamarins, sloths, and caracal, as well as a small reptile house.  There were lots of statues to climb on with educational, kid-friendly signage.  A footbridge leads back to the main zoo, passing an island of siamangs on the way.

The central plaza of the zoo features the main visitor amenities, as well as a carousel, 4D theater, and stingray touch tank.

There was considerable construction going on during my visit, most notably for an expansion of the elephant habitat.  Looking at the website, I saw that many more exhibits were slated for renovation, or entirely new construction, while several of the exhibits that I had seen on the Tropics Trail were new entirely (I especially admire the orangutan exhibit).  What makes all of this especially impressive to me is that Phoenix Zoo doesn’t receive any funding from taxes or other government sources.  It raises everything itself.  That they are able to continually expand and develop great new exhibits while at the same time supporting an innovative, multifaceted conservation program for all sorts of endangered species across the state just amazes me.

One thing I would encourage visitors to keep in mind is the climate.  Arizona is hot.  Very hot.  Not only are you at risk of heat stroke if you come at certain times, but you also won’t see anything… except whatever heat stroke related hallucinations occur.  Many of the animals at the zoo are evolutionarily predisposed to hide in the shade and not do anything when it is too hot.  We should definitely follow their example.

Zoo Review: Phoenix Zoo, Part I

Phoenix, Arizona is one of the largest cities in the United States… which makes it all the more surprising that it didn’t have a zoo until the 1960’s.   While there had been several tentative discussions to open a zoo, one did not come into being until 1962 at the direction of Robert Maytag.  The Maytag Zoo, shortly after renamed “Phoenix Zoo,” opened in Papago Park, on the site of a 1930’s era fish hatchery, the remnants of which can still be seen at the entrance.

Few zoos have their origin and story so closely tied to the fate of an endangered species.  Not long after its opening, the zoo was selected as the site for “Operation Oryx,” a last ditch effort to save one of the world’s rarest antelope.  Every known Arabian oryx, captive and wild, was rounded up and sent to the Phoenix Zoo to form what became known as the World Herd, which, at nine strong, may not have seemed the most promising of enterprises.  The World Herd was originally set to be based out of Kenya, but disease concerns forced conservationists to consider alternate sites, with Phoenix eventually being chosen due to its climate.  Thankfully, the herd flourished (the first birth actually taking place as result of a conception that occurred while the animals were en route to Phoenix); by 2002, over 200 oryxes had been born at Phoenix, eventually resulting in the reintroduction of this species to the wild.

The animals and exhibits of the Phoenix Zoo can be seen along four looping trails, roughly positioned around a central lagoon.  For many visitors, the first exhibit area that will be explored is Arizona Trail¸ which displays the impressive wildlife of the state.  Visitors begin their experience in a walk-through desert aviary, where quails, waterfowl, and other birds fly overhead or dart about their feet.  Exhibits of tortoises and lizards, such as chuckwallas, are stationed around the aviary.  A gallery building on either side of the aviary features an impressive collection of reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates from Arizona.  The rattlesnake collection is especially impressive, but visitors can also observe a variety of non-venomous snakes, as well as tarantulas, toads, and lizards, including Gila monsters.  I especially enjoyed the horned lizards; I saw more varieties of these armored little lizards on this one day than I had in my entire life up until that point.  For some of the species, the enclosures feature underground burrows stationed up against the glass, allowing visitors to see the animals in their burrows.

More birds can be seen outside of the aviary, including burrowing owls, bald and golden eagles, and perhaps the most charismatic of desert birds, greater roadrunners, as well as a small town of black-tailed prairie dogs.  You can also see many of Arizona’s larger mammals.  Collared peccaries and pronghorn occupy open, dusty yards, while pumas and bobcats have meshed-in habitats.  The latter two might have been some of the less-impressive habitats on the trail, perhaps too dependent on gunite and fake rockwork than in natural exhibit features.  Far more impressive to me was the habitat for endangered Mexican gray wolves, which bore pups shortly after my visit.   I also liked the white-nosed coati habitat, though I wasn’t able to see the animals themselves.  Tucked along the trail are two large aviaries for two of the rarest birds in the southwest: thick-billed parrots, now sadly extinct in Arizona, and California condors, which have been reintroduced to the Grand Canyon, just a few hours away.

The Phoenix Zoo’s commitment to the conservation of native species extends far beyond exhibition.  Elsewhere on zoo grounds is the Arizona Center for Nature Conservation.  Largely off-view to the public, though a few windows provide a peak into some of the rooms, the center is a multi-building compound devoted to the breeding of some of Arizona’s most endangered species.  Perhaps most famous of these to the public is the black-footed ferret, but the center does not limit itself to the cute and fuzzy.  It also maintains research and breeding programs for snakes, frogs, and even aquatic mollusks.

One final exhibit of Arizonan wildlife, and perhaps the zoo’s flagship exhibit, it located on a cactus-lined side trail that loops off of Arizona Trail.  It can take a bit of a hike to get to the Desert Lives trail, but visitors who do make it will be rewarded with an impressive view.  A herd of desert bighorn sheep clambers atop the massive mountain that looms over the trail, or may come down to feed at its foot.  Nearby is a habitat for Arabian oryxes.

The animals of the dry plains of East Africa are just as much at home in Phoenix as are many of the natives.  Africa Trail begins at the sweeping Savanna Yard, where giraffes and antelope share their plains with ostriches, storks, and vultures.  Giraffes can be seen eye-to-eye in a wooden tower at the front of the habitat.

Following the trail, visitors will pass a habitat of fennec foxes (maybe the best I’d ever seen for this species) before coming face-to-face with considerably larger carnivores – lions and spotted hyenas in moated yards.  Down the trail, two more yards, more spacious and grassy than those for the lions and hyenas, house two additional African predators, cheetahs and African wild dogs.  Gerenuk, white rhinoceros, warthog, and Grevy’s zebras each occupy separate yards along the trail.  Among the most popular of the exhibits for visitors is the baboon area – visitors can observe mandrills and hamadryas baboons for a small courtyard, with viewing windows into each habitat on either side of the path.

 To complete the African experience, visitors may have the chance to ride a dromedary camel.  This is an experience that many zoos used to offer, but relatively few do these days.  Part of it, I suspect, is worrying about the message that the image of riding an animal conveys (most zoo visitors don’t recognize that dromedaries are domestic animals), and part might be welfare concerns.  I do know that I rode a few camels as a kid and found the experience to be highly memorable.  If done properly, as it seemed to be done at Phoenix, with plenty of breaks, water, and limits on the workload (and above all, plenty of supervision), I see no problem with allowing camel rides.

The completion of the Africa Trail takes us about halfway through the Phoenix Zoo.  We’ll take a break for now and resume the trip tomorrow.

Phoenix Zoo and Arizona Center for Nature Conservation

Why Do Birds Suddenly (Dis)appear?

Late last year, I took a visit to Colorado, during which I paid my first visit to the excellent Denver Zoo.  There were a lot of things that I really enjoyed about Denver, from the beautiful Predator Ridge to my first ever view of a Lake Titicaca frog, but there was one feature that I enjoyed the most.

They have a bird house.  And they will continue to have one… for the next few weeks.

Denver Zoo To Close Bird World Exhibit In October

It was just announced that Denver will be shuttering its Bird World this fall, after which it will be demolished to make room for new exhibit spaces.  While some of the species, such as the African penguins, will be retained, most of the 200 birds will be sent to other facilities. 

When I read that, my first reaction was… where, exactly?

The truth is, there are not that many bird houses left anymore.   The few that I’ve seen in recent years, such as those at Riverbanks Zoo, Cincinnati Zoo, and the BronxZoo, are absolute gems.  Many zoos have greatly scaled back (feathered back?) there bird collections.  Penguins, flamingos, and ratites (ostriches and their kin) are still well-represented, but many other bird species, including some very endangered species, are in decline in zoo collections, and the worrying trend is largely attributable to a lack of spaces.

Many zoos still have aviaries, especially walk-throughaviaries, but those aren’t always the answer to species sustainability.   First of all, not all species do well in those aviaries, either for reasons of aggression, shyness, competition for food and other resources, or just plain difficulty in management.  Some species may live long healthy lives in these aviaries, but not be able to breed successfully.  Perhaps the adults will do fine, but chicks or eggs will be vulnerable to predation from other birds in the exhibit (I’m looking at you, motmot) or birds might be compatible for most of the year, but aggressive and territorial in breeding mode.  Rarity can also be a factor – as few Guam rails as there are, for example, it just wouldn’t be worth it to risk one in an aviary where one could be accidentally injured or allowed to escape by a visitor.

Bird houses also provide a degree of flexibility – with several habitats, each well suited for birds, it’s easier to shuffle birds around in response to changing circumstances, such as separations and introductions.

I understand where Denver is coming from.  At 45 years old, their building is old and the effort and expense needed to repair it could have been prohibitive.   Still, I regret that it came to this, as I know all of the bird keepers at Denver must as well (though if I am reading the articles correctly, they will be keeping their off-exhibit breeding facility).  Hopefully the future of Denver Zoo will include a renewed commitment to birds.  Many of my best zoo memories have been the result of a diverse world of birds, from flightless giants to tiny, flitting jewels.  I would hope all of them would have a future in our zoos.

For that to happen, they need a place to call home.

Toss the Tusk

Zoos have a few options of disposing of ivory, rhino horn, and other valuable wildlife products when their animals pass away.  But what about you?  Any ivory heirlooms collecting dust in your attic that you just don't feel that great about having?  Easy - Toss the Tusk!

On September 22, several US zoos, from Los Angeles Zoo in California to the Franklin Park Zoo in Massachusetts, are hosting an event called Toss the Tusk.  Unwanted ivory trinkets and jewelry can be turned in for proper disposal, helping to remove these items for circulation.

Because, after all, only an elephant needs ivory.*

*Except for all of the other animals which have ivory, like hippos** and walruses.  They need that, too.

** Fun hippo ivory fact.  George Washington's teeth were not, as is commonly stated, made out of wood  - they were made out of hippo ivory

That Which Remains

Last month, CITES confirmed its commitment to legitimizing markets for elephant ivory, rhinoceros horn, and many other products obtained from endangered species.   Among other things, that means that stockpiles of confiscated ivory, or ivory taken from animals that were culled or died naturally, will be either warehoused or destroyed.  But what about the ivory from elephants in zoos, or the horns of rhinos in zoos?  What happens to those very valuable wildlife parts?

Sometimes, these products can be kept at the zoo to serve as biofacts – educational teaching tools.  These tools can provide a hands-on experience for visitors to gain a new appreciation of an animal, from witnessing the powerful jaws of a big cat up close (and safely) to running their hands across a length of elephant tusk and learning about how the demand for that substance has been responsible for the devastation of elephant numbers in Africa and Asia.   Depending on the animal, it may require a special permit from the government to legalize its possession, and its disposition or destruction must be reported to the government as well.  This is to prevent these materials from winding up on the black market. 

Recently, I was preparing a set of rhino horns, taken from a deceased animal, for shipment.  Another staff member walking by paused to watch me for a moment.   Before she walked off, she commented that we could probably have built a new exhibit or two with what those horns were worth. 

She was joking.  Not everyone in that position would be… nor would they be thinking of the zoo as the recipient of that wealth.

Another option is to turn those materials over to the government.  The Fish and Wildlife Service may use it for training purposes, such as teaching dogs to sniff out wildlife products being smuggled into the country.  They may use it for research.  Or, they may destroy it to make sure that it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

In some cases, the government may have a new recipient in mind for a wildlife product.  Dead bald and golden eagles, for example, are sent to a federal depository.  From there, feathers, talons, and other body parts can be dispensed to indigenous peoples for use in their rituals and regalia.  It is illegal for private citizens to keep feathers from these birds; a zookeeper who takes home the feather of a favorite eagle that she cares for is breaking the law and violating the terms of the permit that the facility is caring for the birds under.  Zoos that wish to have bald or golden eagle feathers or parts for educational purposes must have their permits amended to reflect that.  Even then, the terms of the permit will be quite specific.

A final option?  Just destroy everything.  After the necropsy is done and the vets have had their say, often a zoo animal is incinerated (sometimes buried, but then, if it is buried, you run the risk – albeit unlikely - of someone coming to dig up those horns or tusks).  In one sense, it may seem bitterly ironic to for the perpetually cash-strapped conservation field to watch those very valuable rhino horns go up in flames.  In another sense, the horns never really were worth anything, at least certainly not compared to a real, live rhinoceros. 

The challenge continues to be in getting the rest of the world to accept that point of view.

Species Fact Profile: Bearded Barbet (Pogonornis dubius)

Bearded Barbet

Pogonornis dubius (Gmelin, 1788)

Range: Western and Central Africa

Habitat: Open Woodland, Dry Savannah

Diet: Primarily fruit, young and growing birds are fed insects, possibly on small lizards and frogs

Social Grouping: Small flocks of 4-5 (often a breeding pair and their grown offspring)

Reproduction: Breeding can occur year round, most often from May-September.  Usually 2 small white eggs are laid inside a cavity in a dead tree.  Eggs incubated for 16 days, chicks fledge at 40 days.  Both parents care for the chicks, and may be assisted by the offspring from previous clutches

Lifespan: 8-10 Years

Conservation Status: IUCN Least Concern

·         One of the largest barbet species.  Body length about 25 centimeters.  Weight 80-108 grams.  Males and females are roughly same size.  Fairly plump body with a short neck and fairly large head.  On each foot two toes point forwards, two point backwards

·         Males and females look alike.  The crown, back, and tail are black.  The throat and stomach are bright red, separated by a band of black.  The eyes are surrounded by a whitish or yellowish patch, and the rump is white. 

·         The bill is very large and yellow, with grooved “teeth”.  At the bottom is a clump of black, bristly feathers, for which the species is named

·         Courtship displays consist of offerings of food, vocalizing (grating, croaking, cawing sound), and flicking the tail, with courtship starting 1-2 months prior to nesting

·         Related to the woodpeckers; uses its massive beak not only to feed, but to help excavate holes in dead tree trunks

·         Not threatened, tolerant of human disturbance and will forage in gardens and plantations.  Sometimes encountered in the pet trade and private aviculture

Book Review: Horn of Darkness - Rhinos on the Edge

“Perhaps skeptics of this project had been correct all along.  During our earlier planning and correspondence, Raoul du Toit, a Zimbabwean monitoring black rhinos in his country, had written, ‘What we don’t need are more Americans bumbling around in the bush.’”

African elephants may have taken center stage at last week’s CITES Conference of Parties in Switzerland, but there was plenty of room left on the sidelines for drama concerning Africa’s second largest land mammals, the rhinos.  Proposals to loosen restrictions on the trade of rhino horn, with the hope that the funds generated could be used to support conservation efforts, were defeated.  This mirrored the debates swirling around elephants and their ivory.  The main difference between an elephant’s rusk and a rhino’s horn is that, in the latter case, it’s possible to relatively easily separate the two and leave the animal unharmed.  Decades earlier, some African governments decided to put that theory into practice.

In Horn of Darkness: Rhinos on the Edge, American wildlife biologists Carol Cunningham and Joel Berger recount their journeys through the newly-independent nation of Namibia in pursuit of the endangered black rhinoceros.  The Namibian government was conducting its controversial new plan to save rhinos by removing their horns and, the theory went, thereby removing the incentive for poachers to kill them.  I hope it won’t be too big of a spoiler, but that fact that rhinos are still highly endangered should serve as an indication that all did not go according to plan.  In their shared narrative, Cunningham and Berger help explain why.

Horn of Darkness reads almost like a spin-off on one of my favorite African conservation books, Cry of the Kalahari.  Both detail husband-wife teams of American field biologists (in this case further complicated by the presence of their infant daughter) in a southern African nation, told through alternating chapters (some by him, some by her), trying to study wildlife in an inhospitable desert setting while navigating the dangers of the bush and those of the political arena.   One key difference is that Mark and Delia Owens focused their conservation studies on the relatively obscure, unnoticed brown hyena, while Cunningham and Berger were working with one of the most high-profile endangered species on the planet. 

As they were to learn very quickly, conserving a mega-herbivore with the financial equivalent of gold or diamonds growing from the end of its snout is a complicated endeavor.

I can’t say that I was a huge fan of the narrative style – there were times when I felt like some minor anecdotes were harped on incessantly, while more interesting topics that could have been discussed in more debt were brushed by quickly.  A lot of the book is spent regaling the reader with the backroom deals and politics of conservation in Namibia, to the point where an entire glossary of government and NGO players is required at the end to help the reader make sense of it all (I wish I’d noticed it before I got to the end – it would have really simplified my read).

One feature that I did enjoy was the introduction and extensive featuring of Archie Gawuseb, the biologists’ guide, tracker, and friend, who proved to be vital to the success of their research.  Archie was a former tracker turned rhino poacher, and not surprisingly persona non grata through much of Namibia’s conservation community.  Despite their initial misgivings, Cunningham and Berger found him to be an invaluable member of their team.  Glancing through the list of publications at the end of the book, I was pleased to see that Archie was included as a coauthor on some of the scientific papers resulting from this research.

So much of the conversation about rhinos in Africa inevitably turns to demonization of the poachers.  Poaching of rhinos, elephants, and other wildlife is an awful crime.  In many cases, however, it’s one that people are forced into by desperation, as Archie was.  The real money is not going to poor rural Africans who put themselves in danger to harvest horns, and we should be concentrating our ire on those who are fueling this illegal trade, not the poor people who are caught up in it.  As long as there is a demand, there will be poaching, with folks like Archie being as expendable of a commodity on the international market as the bullets that they use.

As it happens, Cunningham and Berger ended up making themselves persona non grata as well.  It turns out that the answers they found to certain questions were perhaps not what the government wanted to hear.   Black rhinos continue to disappear across their range, and the future of the species in the wild looks grim, though not hopeless yet.    Despite all of the hours that scientists like Berger and Cunningham have spent in the bush, the final solution to this problem probably isn’t going to come from greater understanding of rhinos.  It’s got to come from changing the human perspective.

Horn of Darkness: Rhinos on the Edge at Amazon.com

Life of the (Conference of) Parties

This past week, delegates from almost every nation, accompanied by representatives of many conservation and animal welfare organizations gathered in Switzerland for the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) Conference of Parties.  Every three years, signatory members of the world's biggest treaty on the trade of endangered wildlife meet for an intense few weeks to review the status of endangered species and decide what, if any, steps need to be taken to further protect these species.  This year's meeting was originally scheduled to be in Sri Lanka, but was relocated to Switzerland following the tragic Easter bombings earlier this year.

Perhaps better than any other occasion, CITES highlights the brewing controversy in how governments should protect endangered wildlife.  Placing animals and plants on Appendix I effectively bans international trade in that species, with movements being restricted to all but the most stringently justified, noncommercial ventures.  That puts emphasis on the question, "Can international commercial trade in endangered species or their parts be good for conservation?" 



The consensus from this year's Conference of Parties seemed to be leaning towards the "no."  Many species were uplisted, reducing the likelihood of legal trading in the future.  Asian small-clawed otters received CITES I protection, a response to concerns of otters being taken from the wild to stock cute little "Otter Cafes" in Japan, where patrons can pet otters while they drink coffee.  Many reptile species considered threatened by the pet trade were either listed for the first time or, for some species already listed (Indian star tortoise, pancake tortoise), moved from Appendix II to I.  Giraffes were placed on CITES Appendix II, making it more difficult for trophy hunters to export hides and heads back home with them.

Proposals for Amendments to CITES Appendices I and II

Much of the controversy swirled around two of Africa's biggest mammals.  African elephants are always a lightning rod of controversy at CITES.  The governments of eastern Africa want to protect their remaining herds by tightening international protections.  The governments of southern Africa, which have more robust populations, want to sell off their stockpiles of ivory to raise more funds for conservation.  They also have expressed interest in selling live elephants, especially to Chinese facilities (but obviously of interest to zoos worldwide, some of whom have received elephants that were slated to be culled due to overpopulation in southern Africa).  Similar issues have raged around white rhinos, with the southern Africans open to the idea of sending off rhinos to be commercially farmed for their horns.  The votes came down in favor of the east Africans, with tighter protection and reduced trade opportunities.

As an interesting side note, this CoP saw the first ever debate about listed an extinct animal on CITES - the woolly mammoth.  Some parties were concerned that dealers might try to bypass ivory bans by claiming that the tusks of elephants were actually from mammoths (an increasing amount of ivory is being exposed as the permafrost melts).  This motion did not pass.

Zoos are represented at CITES, as are many other professions relating to animals, sometimes to advocate for stricter protections, sometimes to caution about the unintended impact that other restrictions may have.  CITES doesn't just govern the transfer of wild-born animals to zoos; permits are also required to send zoo-bred animals from one facility to another as part of breeding programs (such as a snow leopard from Canada to the United States).  It's fair to say that the elephant issue was the one being watched most closely item of the agenda, as it makes it extremely unlikely that additional elephant rescues will be allowed (or at least a lot harder). 

I am worried that the governments of southern Africa, finding themselves with bigger and bigger herds that they cannot reduce through other means, will increase culling, which will then just result in more stockpiled ivory. 

There are few easy answers at the CITES Convention of Parties.  Everyone wants the same thing - populations of endangered species to be secure and safe in the wild.  The problem is just that no one can agree on how to get there.