The Black Birder

Earlier last week, before the tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis captured the nation's attention, the nation was preoccupied with another story of racial bias and discrimination.  African-American birdwatcher Christian Cooper was enjoying his day in Central Park when he (reasonably) informed a woman that her dog was supposed to be leashed in accordance with park rules, in part to protect the birds nesting in the area.  She responded by threatening to call the police on him for "threatening" her, a situation which could easily have had a very unhappy ending for Mr. Cooper.

Mr. Cooper's experiences were held up as yet another example of black Americans having the police called on them for just going about their daily lives.  Among the naturalist community, it also called to mind a realization - there just aren't that many black birdwatchers.  In large part for reasons like this...

Birding While Black - by J. Drew Lanham

I've earlier thought about the under-representation of African-Americans in zookeeping.  I hadn't thought about the barriers in place to even going birding.  Birdwatching is a great activity for budding citizen scientists, as well as a gateway activity for getting people interested in caring about and preserving the natural world.  It's a hobby that anyone can participate in anywhere,  even in the midst of the largest city in America.  Still, if people feel that they can't be outdoors, minding their own business, if they have to a have a reason or a "pass" to be somewhere, if just standing out on their own is enough to be construed as threatening, they won't do it - or at least won't feel safe doing it.

We should be trying to remove barriers that keep people from getting out and experiencing the natural world.  This week has been set up to celebrate black birdwatchers, to encourage and make others feel welcome to join the community.  Sharing a passion for all things feathered is not, in itself, going to make an enormous change in the racial politics of America.  But it can help make a start.

Sporcle Quiz: Sporcle at the Zoo - Bald Eagle

It's been a while since we've featured a new quiz in our series, Sporcle at the Zoo.  Today, we test your knowledge about one of the most well-represented, well-known birds in American zoos, the bald eagle.  Enjoy!

Sporcle at the Zoo - Bald Eagle

Mary J. Wilson of the Baltimore Zoo, Rest in Peace

It's been a pretty rare moment over the course of the last three months when Coronavirus hasn't been near the front of my mind.  There have been so many things to worry about - economic fallout, job security, stability of the zoo, transmission to zoo animals, conservation impacts, cancelled plans (both personal and professional) - that sometimes I overlook the big picture.  That COVID-19 is a dangerous disease, and that it takes lives - over 100,000 in the United States already.

Among them was Mary J. Wilson, the first African-American keeper at The Baltimore Zoo, today's Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.  Ms. Wilson was a true pioneer in the field, starting in an era when zookeeping was definitely seen as a man's job.  Today our professional demographics are much shifted towards women, though African-Americans still remain highly underrepresented in zookeeping. 

By all accounts, Ms. Wilson was a fantastic keeper, both in terms of the care that she provided her animals (once offering to take a nursing infant primate with her on her days off so it wouldn't miss her) and for the mentoring that she provided her younger colleagues, some of whom are still in the field today.  That fact that she was able to achieve such a senior position despite the biases of the time speaks even more to her skill, professionalism, and determination.

Condolences to her family and friends during this hard time.

Mary J. Wilson, first African-American senior zookeeper at the Baltimore Zoo, dies of the coronavirus

Species Fact Profile: Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles)

Masked Lapwing

Vanellus miles (Boddaert, 1783)

Range: New Guinea, Australia and Tasmania, New Zealand
Habitat: Wetlands, Beaches, Grasslands
Diet: Insects and other invertebrates, seeds, leaves
Social Grouping: Pairs, Small Flocks
Reproduction: Breed mostly year round.  Long-term monogamous pairs.  Both sexes build a simple scrape nest in open ground, care for the 3-5 brown/yellow mottled eggs for the 28-30 day incubation period.  Chicks are capable of leaving the nest and feeding themselves within hours of hatching.
Lifespan: 15 Years +
Conservation Status: IUCN Least Concern

• Largest member of the plover and lapwing family.  Body length 30-37 centimeters, wingspan 75-85 centimeters, weight 230-400 grams.
• Plumage is primarily white on undersides with brown wings and back and a black crown and (in the southern subspecies) collar.  The long, slender legs are red.  A pair of large yellow wattles covers the face, the origin of the common name.  Sexes look alike with no seasonal variation.  Juveniles resemble adults, but tend to have darker plumage on their wings and back
• On the wrist of each wing is a thorn-like spur, yellow and tipped with black.  The spur of the male is larger than that of the female.  The spur is used in defense.  There is a traditional local belief that the spur can inject venom, but this is false 
• Both sexes defend the nest site, dive-bombing intruders.  They may also build and defend decoy nests.  If this does not work, a parent may feign an injury and limp off, attempting to lure the predator away from the nest.  Their refusal to move in the face of danger, coupled with their willingness to build their nests in very open areas, has made them a recurring hazard at airfields
• Some birds in urban or suburban areas may never breed successfully because they spend all of their time defending themselves and their nest sites against real or perceived threats, such as people, cars, and domestic pets.
• There are two commonly recognized subspecies: the nominate, or northern, which is smaller and has a pure-white neck, and the southern (V. m. novaehollandiae), which is significantly larger, has smaller wattles, and has a black stripe on the neck.  The  northern birds are sometimes called spur-winged plovers, not to be confused with an African lapwing of the same name, (V. spinosus).  The two subspecies intergrade in northern Australia

From the News: Hitler's Pet Alligator

84-year old alligator rumored to belong to Adolf Hitler dies in the Moscow Zoo

It's Memorial Day, a day on which our nation remembers the sacrifice of its Armed Forces.  Animals have a long, intertwined history with the military.  Sometimes it is as combatants - dogs and horses, most famously, but also pigeons, marine mammals, elephants (historically), and, in one odd example, bats.  Often times they are casualties, either intentionally (wildlife hunted to feed armies, as often happens in West and Central Africa) or unintentionally (such as the habitats destroyed by exfoliates during the Vietnam War).  Other times, they are trophies.

Few have stranger wartime stories than Saturn the alligator.

Okapi Abomination

Europe Goes Wild

When you go to a zoo, you expect to see animals from around the world.  Africa, of course, is the home to many of the most popular zoo animals, but several also hail from South America, Asia, and Australia.  Many North American species, such as bison, prairie dogs, and alligators, are also fixtures of many zoos.  Even the frozen coasts of Antarctica are the home to penguins (although most of the penguins we see in zoos are from more temperate lands).

But what about the seventh continent?  The one that wildlife lovers often think of as "the tame one" or "the boring one"?  What about Europe?  Who's ever heard of going on safari in Ukraine... let alone France or Spain?

It turns out that Europe, one of the smallest and most population-dense capitals, is moving in the opposite direction.  Whereas Africa, Asia, and South America are seeing their wildernesses shrinking rapidly, to the point where some species are becoming more common in zoos than in the their natural state, Europe is getting wilder.

For centuries, Europe's forests and fields and mountains were being increasingly tamed by its people until it seemed that there was no room left for wildlife, except maybe in the furthest reaches of its eastern frontiers.  In recent years, however, a host of native species have been on the rebound.  Some have opportunistically been reintroducing themselves, taking advantage of a more tolerant atmosphere of humanity to expand back into their former range.  Others have been the beneficiaries of managed breeding and reintroduction programs.

Depending on where you go in Europe these days, you can find brown bears and grey wolves, river otters and wild cats, or one of the two species of lynx that roam the continent.  The forests house wild boars and an array of deer, from the diminutive roe deer to the towering moose (called "elk" in Europe, but not to be confused with North American elk), and even the reintroduced wisent, or European bison.  In the mountains there are several sheep-and-goat-like hooved mammals - ibex, chamois, mouflon.  Big birds are also making their comeback in the form of imperial eagles, bearded vultures, common cranes, and white storks.

So much of our cultural history of wildlife originated in Europe.  Storks bringing babies?  Those were based on the European white storks, now returning to Great Britain.  Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs didn't meet the Big Bad Wolf outside of Yellowstone, but in Europe.  The mythological association of salamanders with fire comes from the brilliantly marked fire salamanders, found in the leaf liter of European forests.   The bears who found their home rudely invaded and porridge devoured by a selfish brat named Goldilocks weren't grizzlies - they were European brown bears.

Some species will not be returning to Europe any time soon.  Lions once roamed the continent (featuring prominently in Greek myth), but I don't expect to hear about them prowling the streets of Athens any time soon.  Similarly, the islands of the Mediterranean once sheltered dwarf species of elephant and hippo, now long gone.  The aurochs and tarpan, wild ancestors of the domestic cow and horse, respectively, have been extinct for centuries, despite some... creative breeding efforts during the last century.  At the same time, it really is inspiring to continue to read the good news out of Europe, to hear about wolves in France and bears in Germany and wild asses running the steppes of Ukraine. 

Wild donkeys to roam the Danube Delta again   

Nine eggs mark storks' first successful attempt to breed in England in 600 years

Belgium Becomes "Wolf Crossroads" of Europe 

It's a reminder that, if wildlife can survive there, maybe there's hope for it anywhere.

Bumble, Bumble, Toil and Trouble

As grossed out as I was by the Earth-Child-Lady who insisted on prancing around the zoo barefooted, I must admit that I've done similar stuff before, which I've decided I'm okay with.  Most of the time there's just been a situation where I knew my feet were going to get soaked (such as having to go into the water after an animal) and I decided that I'd rather not go through the rest of the day with sopping-wet socks and shoes.  There was one day, however, when I made the deliberate decision to clean one of our grosser exhibits bare-footed.  All in the name of animal welfare, of course.

I made sure to get to the American flamingos first that morning so I could be done before any visitors arrived and saw me.  Then, I pulled off my shoes and socks, hiked up the legs of my pants, checked the soles of my feet for any cuts or scratches, and, finding none, set to work.  Throughout the entire routine, indoor and outdoor, I asked myself two questions every other minute: 1) Is this mud or... not mud? and 2) Does anything hurt?

Mostly the second question, mind you.  I knew it wasn't mud.

Flamingos, like many birds, are susceptible to a condition of inflamed feet, known loosely as "Bumblefoot."  It results in sores on the soles of the feet which can get infected, cause lameness, and possibly even death.  It usually first presents as a small, shiny reddish patch on the foot, often caused by abrasion.  Flamingos in the wild spend most of their lives on soft mud and sand, and so they are especially susceptible to this condition.  My self-appointed mission that morning was to feel for myself what they were feeling as they walked around their habitat and their indoor holding and to see if I could identify any potential rough spots which might cause them foot problems.

Treating bumblefoot is a pain that often involves soaking the bird's feet and administering antibiotics.  As with most things medical, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure, so it's easier to find problems and fix them before birds have problems.  In perching birds, such as raptors, the secret to preventing bumblefoot is to provide lots of different perching of various sizes and textures.  In ground-dwellers, especially species found in areas with soft substrate, like flamingos, you need soft surfaces to walk on.  Most of the outside area was sand and soft soil; it had been grass, but hordes of hungry geese flew in and ate it all.  In the indoor area, padded floor mats provided cushioning for their feet.

When I proudly told my director about the results of my investigation later that day, he didn't say much, but I'm pretty sure I saw him reaching for his pocket flask as I walked out of the room.  No matter - a little eccentricity in the service of animal care never hurt anyone... though I did have to spend the next hour soaking my feet in a bucket of scalding soapy water.

Images of flamingo bumblefoot cases, Photo Credit: Adriana Nielsen

The Barefoot Bandit

"I love my eyes, my ears, my mouth and my nose,

But everybody knows I love my toes!"

- Classic Children's Song

As Coronavirus chugs along, many people are becoming increasingly frustrated by the restrictions that are placed upon them in the interest of public health.  Few of this requirements have provoked as much of a backlash as that of wearing face masks.  Yes, they are uncomfortable.  I try to wear mine as little as I need to.  I still consider it essential to have.  When I go for a walk in the evening, I always have it with me, and while I may not be wearing it for most of the time, I put it on at the first hint that I'll be in close proximity (which I define as twenty feet) of anyone.

Many businesses have had to deal with angry customers who don't want to wear masks.  One retail worker on the news mentioned that it wasn't much different from the concept of "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service."  And boy, did that bring up a memory for me...



About two years ago, I came across a zoo visitor who staunchly refused to wear shoes in the zoo.  I should mention that we were a free zoo, so there was no ticket-taker at the gate who would have caught her upon entry and denied her access.  I happened to get see her, happily strolling down the main path.  There was bird poop splattered all over the trail, as well as the occasional fish, compliments of the heron colony that was nesting overhead.  I had seen children throw up on that path.  Keepers (including me) have accidentally tipped over wheelbarrows of manure on it on their way to the compost area.  All of us had walked it in boots with soles caked in dung and foul bedding.

In other words, the asphalt is not super clean.  The "5-second rule" does not apply here.

Being an open, public space, there's also always the risk of, say, broken glass or other debris, or nails that keepers drop while working on projects.  We try to keep the path as clean and safe as possible, blowing it often and picking up or cleaning up obvious hazards.  Still - it's a public path in a public zoo.  Shit, quite literally, happens.

None of that phased this woman.  She was convinced it was in her right to be barefoot here.  She even tried to give me a card which I'm sure she was carrying for just such an occasion claiming that state law allowed her to walk barefoot wherever she wanted to for religious and health reasons.  I kept the card and googled it later.  It was printed off the internet and had no basis in law.  Or reality, for that matter.

After she had left and after I'd done some perfunctory research, I advised the rest of the staff that, should she come back, she was to be politely but firmly told that shoes were required to be in the zoo.  Thankfully, we never encountered her again... or if we did, it was while she was wearing shoes and we didn't recognize her.

Some people will always be convinced that the rules don't apply to them - and sometimes, there are reasons for rules to be broken or given some flexibility.  For example, dogs aren't allowed in the zoo normally, but service animals are.  Still, it's frustrating how many people will insist that they are bound by no rules, even those that are in place for reasons of health and safety, and that they can do whatever they want.

I wonder if that lady is wearing a mask these days...

Book Review: Drawn from Paradise - The Natural History, Art, and Discovery of the Birds of Paradise

Sir David Attenborough is known to millions as the narrator and host of many beloved BBC nature programs, such as Planet Earth and Blue Planet.  His career in nature programming began as the host of ZooQuest, where he traveled the world for the London Zoo, documenting the collection of animals for the zoo.  One of his most remarkable trips was to the island of New Guinea, where he was in search of the bizarrely beautiful songbirds that Europeans had sought for centuries - the birds of paradise.  The family must have made an impression on him.  Several of the Attenborough programs that I've seen over the years have prominently featured the birds, and especially their striking courtship displays.

Attenborough teams up with artist Errol Fuller to give these incredible but mysterious birds their due in their book, Drawn from Paradise: The Natural History, Art and Discovery of the Birds of Paradise. It is perhaps the most comprehensive book on the birds that I have ever come across.  The book is divided into chapters by genus.  Each details the species in that genus (or closely related genera), how they survive in the wild, and their history with humans.  The later is a particularly fascinating subject, running the gamut from the native New Guineans who utilized the plumage of the birds in their traditional regalia to the European and Asian traders who were first presented with specimens that they couldn't comprehend, to the biologists who study the birds today.  

Drawn from Paradise makes a wonderful coffee table book.  It has several chapters of interesting text, outlining the story of how humans and New Guinea's most spectacular birds have interacted over the centuries in a variety of ways.  For most readers, however, the real attraction will be the illustrations.  This is a large book, which allows for large, detailed illustrations - life-size, in some cases - of the birds, allowing the reader to truly appreciate the radiant colors, bizarre feather formations, and striking poses of the courting birds.  I think it fair to say that most people who buy this book would be most interested in the artwork, though the text is also fascinating. 

Only a handful of bird of paradise species are represented in zoos and aviaries (the Raggiana bird of paradise is the species that I see most often), and visitors only rarely get to witness the spectacular breeding displays.  For that reason, I'd always enjoyed TV specials such as Planet Earth that allow everyone to see these incredible behaviors.  Somehow, devoid of sound or motion, Fuller's illustrations prove to be equally evocative.  Maybe it's because, in an age of photography and video, they just look and feel so... old.  It's easy to hold this book and page through it and imagine that you're in the 1800's, looking at some fresh prints of birds from the other end of the world and seeing them for the first time.

Drawn from Paradise: The Natural History, Art and Discovery of the Birds of Paradise on Amazon.com

Endangered Species Day

Today is Endangered Species Day.  It's worthwhile to remember that, even as the world seems to be shut down by Coronavirus, the work of saving endangered species continues.  Endangered species are being bred and reared, even as the zoos and aquariums that house them are closed. Even as Brazil emerges as one of the most heavily-hit countries by the disease, with over 800 fatalities daily for the past few days, biologists are getting ready to reintroduce the critically endangered Spix's macaw to the wild.   Pressure is being placed on governments to close the wildlife markets which allowed the disease to emerge in the first place.

I don't know how much longer the pandemic will go on - in some parts of the world, communities, including zoos and aquariums, are already reopening, in other places, we seem to be in for the long haul.  Whatever the case, when the world gets back to a relative state of normal, endangered animals will still be there, and they will still need our help.

Another Corona-Crisis

Since the pandemic began, I've been spending a lot of time fretting about how zoos and aquariums are holding up to the loss of revenue caused by closures.  This is in no small part driven by the fact that my paycheck comes from one.   Unfortunately, zoos and aquariums aren't the only places that are seeing a disappearance of visitors in these chaotic times.  If people aren't breaking their quarantine to go down the street to their local zoo, you can certainly bet that vacations abroad - including vacations that are ecotourist in nature - are also on hold.

That undoubtedly has made a lot of people very sad - I remember how excited I was to go to Africa, and how upset I would be if the chance to go was snatched away at the last minute.  It can also be bad for animals.

In many parts of the world that are economically poor but rich in biodiversity, wildlife tourism is a major source of revenue.  Tourism provides local governments with the financial resources to protect their wildlife and provides local peoples with a vested interested in protecting wildlife, and maybe even turning a more-tolerant eye to some of the less-convenient aspects of living in proximity to wild animals, such as crop-raiding elephants.  If those cash cows dry up, suddenly protecting wildlife doesn't seem like such a great investment for people who, biodiversity or not, need to make a living.

Park rangers and guides can find themselves being laid off.  Tour operators, hoteliers, and restaurateurs find themselves with no business.  Some folks may find themselves with no other options than to poach, illegally cut wood, or perform other exploitative and unsustainable practices.   If they do, they'll probably find fewer paid park employees to stand in their way.

At the same time, some ecotourism options may have to be shuttered even after the pandemic ends, at least until we better understand it.  How awful would it be if some American or European trekker on vacation in Rwanda accidentally gave the last mountain gorillas coronavirus and pushed the species over the edge?

In the two months or so since this disaster has began, it's become kind of a tacky cliche that people claim that the natural world is rebounding ("Earth is healing... we're the real virus... blah, blah, blah").  In truth, we're all in this together.  Sure, theoretically the natural world will survive the tanking of our economy... but I'd hate to see what kind of damage we'd do on our way down.

Life Goes on at the Zoo

Shortly before Coronavirus kicked into overdrive, an animal that I used to work with a few years back - one that I was pretty close with - gave birth at a zoo across the country.  Pics and video have been shared on social media, and they're pretty freaking adorable.  I'd planned a trip to go and see her and her newborn, the first time I would have seen her in years.  Unfortunately, the guano hit the fan.

Every time I see a new picture or video online, I think, "Man, the damn kid is going to be full grown and with kids of its own before I get a chance to see it."

Earlier this week, I heard about the death of the bull moose, Tahoma, at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.  Tahoma was a magnificent animal, the first and so far only bull moose I've ever seen, with a magnificent rack of antlers and a towering physique.  I'm sorry for the keepers who lost the privilege of working with such a special animal.  I'm glad that I got to see him a few years back.

At zoos and aquariums across the country, life continues to go on - in some ways.  Animals are born and eggs hatch.  Animals die.  Some construction projects lumber on.  Others were halted.  Introductions and separations take place, but transport between zoos is on hold, frustrating many breeding and transfer plans. 

More than anything else, we are missing one major aspect of our facilities - all of you.

We hope that you enjoy all of the online content in the form of tours, interviews, activities, and meet-and-greets with our animals that we've shared these past two months.  We've got enough material to last us forever, but it's not the same with a screen in between.

We look forward to welcoming everyone back once it's safe to do so.  There's so much that you've missed while you've been gone.

Satire: Sure, the Velociraptors are still on the loose, but that's no reason not to reopen Jurassic Park

SURE, THE VELOCIRAPTORS ARE STILL ON THE LOOSE, BUT THAT’S NO REASON NOT TO REOPEN JURASSIC PARK

By Carlos Greaves

World Migratory Bird Day

Coronavirus may have completely upended things for our species, but around the world life goes on for a host of other animals.  Spring is here, putting us in the middle of bird migrations.  Today, we celebrate World Migratory Bird Day!  Migratory birds are an important component of many ecosystems, serving as a link between different habitats across the globe.  They are, unfortunately, also a group that is suffering tremendous decline.  Take a look at the birds below.  How many have you seen in your backyard lately?



Unlike many endangered species across the globe, there are plenty of actions that we ourselves can take on a daily basis to improve the survival of our migratory songbirds, many of which are fairly easy.  They include:

• Reducing pesticide use - pesticide poisons accumulate in the bodies of birds that feed upon them and may make them sick, or even kill them
• Buy bird-friendly coffee (it has a special certification), which helps preserve the Central and South American forests were many songbirds overwinter
• Don't let your cat range freely outside - cats kill an estimated 1 billion birds a year, as well as many other small native animals.  It's also not great for the cats - outdoor cats tend to live shorter, more stressful lives than indoor ones.  If you can, consider building an enclosed "catio" to give your cats some outdoor time while keeping them - and native wildlife - safe
• Report songbirds that you see being kept as pets or sold (this is especially prominent in Florida, where singing bird competitions are popular among some communities).  Native songbirds are protected federally and their capture and sale is strictly prohibited
• Switch your lawn over to native plants - fewer chemicals needed, less watering needed, and more likely to provide food and habitat for native birds
• Reduce bird collisions with your winds - keep your blinds closed and turn off lights when you're not around, and consider adding decals to your windows to help birds see them
• Go birding!  By using eBird and other apps, you can help scientists monitor species in your area and help them study trends and declines 

Bear in a Bathtub

Here's a quick pick-me-up for these depressing days, an American black bear at the Oregon Zoo taking a splash in a tub, thoroughly enjoying some enrichment.  Zoos and aquariums large and small have been doing a great job these past few weeks using online content to reach out to their communities and spread some joy.  Already more and more are starting to reopen, depending on the policies in the various states.  What happens next remains to be seen, but we'll hope for the best!

Species Fact Profile: Helmeted Curassow (Pauxi pauxi)

Helmeted Curassow

Pauxi pauxi (Linnaeus, 1766)

Range: Western Venezuela and northern Colombia
Habitat: Cloud forests between 500-2200 meters.  Avoid disturbed habitat and forest edge
Diet: Seeds, Fruits, Insects, Small Animals
Social Grouping: Pairs or small family flocks (parents with chicks)
Reproduction: Monogamous.  Female lays two cream-colored eggs, which are incubated by the female alone for 29-32 days.  Nests are built in March, about 5-15 meters up in the trees.  Young hatching out in mid-May.  Male assists in raising the chicks
Lifespan: 20 Years
Conservation Status: IUCN Endangered, CITES Appendix III (Colombia)  

• Measure 90 centimeters in length, weigh 3.5 kilograms
• Sexes look alike.  Primarily black plumage with white-tipped tail feathers and a greenish-glossy mantle and breast feathers.  White on the underside.  Both sexes have a large blue-gray casque on the forehead, for which the species is named.  The casque is slightly smaller in females than in males.  The bill is red, the legs are opaque colored.
• A rare color morph exists in females which are sometimes rufous-brown with fine barring lined with black, the underside still being white.  The head will still be black, and the tail will be black tipped with white or buff.
• Usually found on forest floor or in low undergrowth, but will roost higher up in the trees.  Males may also go into the higher branches to call
• During the breeding season, the male sings in a low, droning boom, about 6-10 drones per minute.  Said to sound like the groaning of an old tree.  Hunters sometimes use these grunts to track curassows in the forest.  When alarmed, call is a soft, repeated tzsuk tzsuk
• Two subspecies – the nominate, the Merida helmeted curassow, which has a larger, more egg-shaped casque, and the Perija (Pauxi pauxi gilliardi), in which the casque is smaller and more cylindrical in shape.  Gene flow between the subspecies may have been halted
• Primary threats are hunting (primarily for food, at least historically for use in traditional jewelry) and habitat loss, both due to cattle ranching and narcotics cultivation
• U’wa Indians of Colombia also hunt the species for its casque, which is believed to have aphrodisiacal properties.  Some Indians remove eggs from nests and bring them home to incubate under chickens, then raise the chicks as pets
• Captive breeding programs have been established in Colombia and have been proposed in Venezuela for reintroduction into the wild.

May the Fourth

Happy Star Wars Day!  Today, we celebrate the real hero of Return of the Jedi, the rancor keeper from Jabba's palace.  Condolences on the loss of your charge.  Seriously, though - faulty guillotine doors are no joke.  You should really look into getting that fixed before your next USDA inspection...

Rethinking the Landscape

Oklahoma City Zoo to reopen for reservations

In another new solution to adapting to a Coronavirus world, the Oklahoma City Zoo will be partially reopening, by appointment only.  Visitors will have the option of purchasing time-stamped tickets (a select number available per day) and touring the grounds.  Well, not all of the grounds.  Indoor exhibits - such as the reptile house and aquarium - will be shuttered temporarily.

It's not ideal (at least I feel so - I love Oklahoma City's Herpetarium), but the zoo probably figures that it's better than nothing and it'll at least bring in some revenue.  It got me thinking...

OKC Zoo Sumatran tiger, credit Andrea Johnson

What would zoos look like if this was going to be forever and we had to adapt accordingly?  Or, if we were rebuilding facilities (or planning new ones)for a world were this kept happening, every year?

We would essentially be imagining a zoo without crowds.  For one thing, that would likely mean phasing out indoor exhibit areas.  That would seriously diminish exhibits of small mammals, especially reptiles and amphibians.  We'd probably only have crocodilians, giant tortoises, and a few species of large lizard, such as iguanas and Komodo dragons.  Small mammal exhibits would be greatly diminished too, especially nocturnal species.  Aquariums wouldn't be facing too bright of a future either.

Even with species that could be exhibit outdoors, the emphasis would move to larger animals that could be seen easily by a group of people spread out.  I could imagine moated exhibits making a comeback, replacing glass- or mesh-fronted habitats.  Keeping animals distant from visitors and viewing areas means that visitors aren't crowded at a window if the animal comes close.

With fewer visitors allowed in during the busy summer, there would be a stronger need for the zoo to be a year-round attraction.  Without indoor exhibits, however, that would mean adjusting animal collections to species that could be comfortably housed outdoors year-round, or at least mostly year-round.  Southern zoos might not experience a tremendous change, but northern ones might have to readjust their collections to feature more cold-hardy species.

It's possible that zoos could shift towards a safari-park plan, where visitors stay in their cars and are contained (with their germs) that way.  It would seriously limit the variety of species that the zoos could work with, though - even many hoofed mammals don't work out great in such situations.

Lastly, as projected incomes would shrink, so would zoo collections and the variety and number of species held within them.  The zoo of the hypothetical Coronavirus-permanent world look a lot like the computer game Zoo Tycoon - a few dozen species of large, popular animals, almost all mammals, with an emphasis on getting visitors in, then getting them out.  Support of conservation and research would take a hit.  Intimate moments - meeting a tiger face-to-face at a viewing window - would be lost.  Walking through a muggy tropical rainforest, separated from the winter snows by a glass dome, would be a thing of a past.  The many unique, critically-endangered species of reptiles, amphibians, birds, small mammals, fish, and invertebrates would be phased out.

So, if I wasn't already looking forward to this ending, I really am now.  Zoos and aquariums can and should always strive to improve... but this isn't the direction I would want to see them go in.

The Beckoning Gates

Across the world, the reaction to the novel coronavirus continues to play out.  In some parts of the world, it seems to be slightly loosening its stranglehold on the populace.  In other parts, it's only getting worse.  In plenty of places, wishful thinking can make it hard to tell the difference.

In the United States, each of the states seems to be going in its own direction.  Some states are beginning to open back up.  In some areas, the zoos are beginning to reopen too.

I am extremely ambivalent about this.  On one hand, yes, let's be honest, money is nice and we need more of it.  Caring for animals is expensive (to say nothing of funding conservation and research programs) and we can use all the help we can get.  Zoos are also probably a safer place than many essential areas.  Since COVID-19 began, I've had to go to the grocery store once every week or so, as well as two (non-coronavirus) hospital runs.  Each time I go, I get nervous as heck - both places were packed with people showing no common sense, getting way too close, and often taking their masks off as soon as they thought no one was looking.  Compared to that, a wide, spacious, outdoor zoo seems fairly safe.  It should be possible to meter the public, close off high-traffic areas (such as animal buildings), and enforce safety rules, such as social distancing and wearing masks.

Guidelines from the Red River Zoo in North Dakota for their pending reopening

That being said, a lifetime spent working with the public at zoos has kind of left me with the impression that they aren't always the best of rule-followers.  People break plenty of rules that are far less-irksome than wear a mask or keep your distance or washing your hands.  Salt Lake City's Hogle Zoo just announced that they were going to reopen, but recommended that visitors wear masks.  From the complaining in the comments section, you'd have thought that they were proposing spraying each visitor with mace as soon as they came in through the gate.

Zoos are spacious, but people often congregate in tight crowds, especially if an animal is being fed, playing with an enrichment object, or engaging in some other activity.  I've practically body-surfed on some weekends at work.  People have been cooped up for so long, I feel like plenty of them will be acting like dogs just let off a leash.

I really, really want us to be open again - and I also really, really want to go visit some more facilities.  But I also don't want to be responsible for another break out.  

And so, I'll be watching the next few weeks as a few zoos open, looking at them like a coal miner would watch a canary.  We're all in uncharted waters now... it's just time to see what happens next.