Archive for August 2009

Aug
31

Wonderful World of Worms, Blog 1

Posted by Rachel in Going Green, Texas, Uncategorized, What You Can Do

This is what you have all been waiting for, I know. A blog series on the importance of worm composting and how you can have your very own composting bin at home. Well, people, you have waited long enough. You ask, you shall receive. (Ok, no one asked, but I know you just have not had time to ask).

Yellow Flowers

Introducing a three part blog series with the easy step by step process. You will reap juicy red tomatoes, your greens will be greener and your flowers will be brighter! You will also be helping the planet by keeping more paper and organic materials out of landfills!

What is worm composting you may ask?

Worm composting uses worms to turn food scraps, newspapers, and cardboard into rich compost that can be added to potted plants , lawns or gardens. It is convenient, and you can do it indoors (even in apartments) or outdoors. Some people who make leaf compost in their backyards also use worms to compost their food scraps and paper.

Why compost with worms?

Worm composting has several advantages over composting in a pile.

- It takes up less space. You can do it in 10 gallon containers

-It is less work. You dont have to build big piles and turn them. Even if you have limited capabilities you can worm compost.

-It is a faster way to compost paper. It is not easy to compost paper in a compost pile.

-It creates richer soil. Your plants will get more nutrients and will get them faster.

Tune in later this week for detailed instuction on the worms you will need to get, the materials, containers you will need, what materials to avoid, and how to get started.

Are there any composting aficionados out there? I would love to hear from you!

Ready to Go Green? Learn more about the Green Task Force at the Houston Zoo.

Information on worm composting was collected from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

gtf

Aug
14

Year of the Gorilla Part 10: Final Thoughts

Posted by Peter in Africa, Animal Origins & Fun Facts, Endangered Species, Featured, Gorilla, Travel, What You Can Do, orangutan

The Houston Zoo supports wildlife and habitat conservation through our Conservation Department. Our partners at Association of Zoo and Aquariums institutions (www.aza.org) spend upwards of $15 million combined every year on projects around the world. Many include the Great Apes. Our funds support the range country researchers and educators who live day to day in Rwanda, Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Zaire, and Uganda. You can pick out the countries on the map.  Specifically, this year we are supporting Gorillas and Chimpanzee efforts in the Republic of Congo and Orangutans in Borneo.

africa map

On August 3rd we showed these gorilla populations:

-Western Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) contains between 125,000 and 200,000 individuals remaining in the wild

-Cross River Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) only 250-300 individuals remain

-Eastern Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla beringei) may be as low as 5,000 individuals, down from 17,000 in 1995.

-Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) 700-740 individuals remaining

Look at the bottom three populations. Genetic viability and reproduction is at risk with numbers this low. The Orangutan on Borneo and Sumatra are at critically low numbers as well but why should they race to become the first subspecies of great ape to go extinct in our lifetimes?

What can North Americans do? We are not in Africa; we cannot change the behavior of a country and its people. Yes, we can.

- Pay attention to news from the region and put pressure on corporations working in the Central African countries to support protection of wildlife and habitat.

- Support zoos, aquariums and other non-profits dedicating conservation resources to these areas.

- Remember the blog on Coltan, mining and cell phones. It is for real, and your use of this resource makes a bigger impression than you think. There are more than 150 million cell phone users in the United States alone. With technology changing, the average lifespan of a cell phone is 14 months. There may already be 500 million unused cell phones in the United States, with as many as 100 million added each year. Capturing the components from these phones will make a difference.

IMG_0920- Learn. Whether a library, a cable documentary or lecture event, the appreciation of wildlife will inspire you http://www.houstonzoo.org/lectureseries/

- Travel. Experiencing nature inspires us to protect it. Cannot travel abroad? Here at home there are many wonderful places to visit and species that could use your support. It is much easier (and less costly) to keep a common species common than bring it back from the brink of extinction.

We wrote a few months ago that Africa has a mystique. It is awe-inspiring, a living place yet dark and formidable. We can never know Africa. It is full of cultures and heritage, wildlife and wild places. But, Deepest Darkest Africa is in danger. There is a Congolese proverb which says you do not teach the paths of the forest to an old gorilla. But what if those paths are gone forever? How will the gorilla find its way? And worse, what if the old gorillas have gone away, lost to humans? Who will show the young the paths of the forest?

200 years ago, Thomas Jefferson wrote for if one link in nature’s chain might be lost, another might be lost, until the whole of things will vanish by piecemeal. If we have the opportunity to protect and hold dear this chain; wildlife, habitat and human communities, then we must take that opportunity and act while the old gorilla can still teach the young, his forest path.

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Aug
13

Year of the Gorilla Part 9: A War for Wildlife

Posted by Peter in Africa, Endangered Species, Featured, Gorilla

I was trying to think about how to briefly write about the civil unrest in many parts of Central Africa and the toll it takes on not only the wildlife, but the stability of human communities, the setbacks in economic developments, the cultural divides. The tragedies which unfold in countries under conflict. But, we are a zoo and focused on wildlife so let’s try not to stray too much from the path.

There are people in this world that are wildlife heroes beyond our comprehension. They stand behind their beliefs in the face of incredible danger and some even die protecting the wildlife they have dedicated themselves to. Not only in Africa, but with gorillas as the focus, let’s stay in Africa for now.

I was reading a new book recently: Mountain Gorillas: Biology, Conservation and Coexistence. I went back to look for some material and on the first page is a dedication to the men and women of the Protected Area Authority (and I quote directly) “organizations in Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the field staff from the Karisoke Research Center who lost their lives while protecting the areas gorillas…” The names to date are listed and I stopped counting at 138. The wars and conflict continue and the loss of human life unfortunately continues. These dedicated people fight the war for wildlife on our behalves. They are rangers, scouts, camp staff, anti-poaching units and many more. In other countries we support Rhino Protection Units, Elephant Conservation Units and similar groups who want nothing more than to protect their natural resources.

521029In this case, that natural resource is the gorilla. Not at odds with humans but living on the landscape we have moved onto, people have forced a conflict onto the gorillas and yet we are the only ones that at the same time can protect them. The Rwandan genocide in 1994 killed nearly 800,000 people in three months forcing refugees to move across borders and into the Congo by the millions. The economy in shambles, political instability, people trying to survive and the forests and wildlife became an invaluable resource. Yet the gorillas hung on in the mountains of Rwanda and Uganda. Today the Democratic Republic of Congo, home to Eastern Lowland Gorillas, is once again caught in civil unrest. Yet the population is hanging on but this time just barely with numbers plummeting to only 5,000 individuals.

This blog is rambling a bit longer than usual but the point is there are people in this world that are fighting a war but on the side of wildlife. They are heroes in the truest sense of the word. The gorilla is now a natural resource; it has to be to survive. In 10 short years, Rwanda has climbed out of their tragic past and turned the viewing of these gentle animals into an economically viable venture. They, for once, are more valuable alive than dead in the marketplace. It has come to this to protect the gorilla in Rwanda and Uganda. In the rest of the countries, we depend on the dedicated rangers to protect the gorilla until their countries are strong enough to follow the Mountain Gorillas lead in being more than a natural resource; a international asset.

Tomorrow’s Blog: A Final Thought on Gorilla Conservation

The Houston Zoo is hosting Dr. Michael Cranfield, Executive Director of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project as part of our Call of the Wild Lecture Series September 10th, 20009. Please go to http://www.houstonzoo.org/lectureseries/ for ticket information.

This is part 9/10 in our Mountain Gorilla Membership Giveaway. Post a comment here and on 2 other mountain gorilla blogs to enter to win a free membership.

Aug
12

Year of the Gorilla Part 8: The Bushmeat Trade

Posted by Peter in Africa, Elephant, Endangered Species, Gorilla

No pictures today as we will touch briefly on the issue of illegal bushmeat and gather much of the information from the Bushmeat Crisis Task Force (BCTF). This will be just an introduction and then we can steer you to more detailed websites for information.

Bushmeat is simply defined as meat that comes from the “bush” and in Africa this means the forests. For generations, local communities carried out subsistence hunting, gathering animals as needed as a vital protein source. But at some point the hunting of bushmeat went from sustainable to the “Bushmeat Crisis”. It is defined on the BCTF website as “Commercial, illegal and unsustainable hunting for the meat of wild animals is causing widespread local extinctions in Asia and West Africa. It is a crisis because of rapid expansion to countries and species which were previously not at risk, largely due to an increase in commercial logging, with an infrastructure of roads and trucks that links forests and hunters to cities and consumers.”

Gorillas, chimpanzees, elephants, forest antelope, crocodiles, monkeys, birds, buffalo, hippo’s…are all taken as part of the trade, endangered species – protected or not. Again directly from the BCTF website: Though habitat loss is often cited as the primary threat to wildlife, commercial hunting for the meat of wild animals has become the most significant immediate threat to the future of wildlife in Africa and around the world; it has already resulted in widespread local extinctions in Asia and West Africa. This threat to wildlife is a crisis because it is rapidly expanding to countries and species which were previously not at risk, largely due to an increase in commercial logging, with an infrastructure of roads and trucks that links forests and hunters to cities and consumers. The bushmeat crisis is a human tragedy as well: the loss of wildlife threatens the livelihoods and food security of indigenous and rural populations most depend on wildlife as a staple or supplement to their diet, and bushmeat consumption is increasingly linked to deadly diseases like HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and Foot and Mouth disease.

Simply stated – if one village or community hunts wildlife as a sustainable resource, there are opportunities to protect endangered species and protect habitats. When wildlife is taken illegally, in mass quantity not for personal use but to sell for profit, and shipped across country borders, it is no longer sustainable.

Take a few minutes to learn about the issues facing wildlife not in only in Africa, but Asia and other developing nations at the Bushmeat Crisis Task Force website http://www.bushmeat.org

I will just add here that last year, nearly 300,000 pounds of Bushmeat was confiscated being flown into the US illegally. The problem is not simply related to only developing nations.

Tomorrow’s Gorilla Blog : A War for Wildlife

*This is part 8/10 in our Membership Giveaway. Post a comment here and on at least 2 other mt gorilla blogs to enter to win a free Zoo membership.

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Aug
11

Year of the Gorilla Part 7: What You Can Do?

Posted by Peter in Africa, Endangered Species, Gorilla, What You Can Do

Gorilla in Gabon. Paul Swen Photography

Gorilla in Gabon. Paul Swen Photography

#1: You have seen it on the blog everyday, come on out to the zoo on September 10th and hear firsthand from a wildlife veterinarian who spends a good portion of his time treating injured Mountain Gorilla’s in Rwanda . The Houston Zoo is hosting Dr. Michael Cranfield, Executive Director of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project as part of our Call of the Wild Lecture Series September 10th, 20009. Please go to http://www.houstonzoo.org/lectureseries/

 #2:  Back in May, we hosted a very special art gallery event called Images of Africa with local Houston photographer Paul Swen. Here is an opportunity to not only support wildlife conservation, but get a very special signed and limited edition photograph of some of the most unique views of Africa you will ever see. To view the photographs available for sale ttp://www.houstonzoo.org/imagesofafrica/. 

Gorilla Orphan at Evengue Rescue Center, Gabon. Paul Swen Photography

Gorilla Orphan at Evengue Rescue Center, Gabon. Paul Swen Photography

#3: Recycle your unwanted electronic goods. That includes cell phones, laptops, pagers and other electronic devices. We mentioned last week Coltan ore also called Columbite-tantalite. This is a dull metallic ore found in major quantities in the eastern areas of the African Congo. It is used in cell phones, laptops, pagers and other electronic devices. When refined, coltan becomes metallic tantalum, a heat resistant powder that can hold a high electrical charge.  Some types of Coltan mining may occur illegally in protected lands all across the Congo which in turn put wildlife such as Elephants and Gorillas of the Congo region at risk. Eighty percent of the world’s known coltan supply is in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There, it is mined by hand by groups of men digging basins in streams, scraping away dirt to get to the muddy coltan underneath. Recycling unused cell phones can help protect the wildlife, since reuse of the phones results in the need for fewer new ones, which reduces the need for coltan mining. The Houston Zoo accepts cell phones for recycling by mail or at our gift shop http://www.houstonzoo.org/Recycling/

#4 Want to step out on a limb? Our travel partner Terra Incognita Ecotours leads trips to Rwanda to see Mountain Gorillas in Volcanoes National Park a number of times a year. Actually, we are there right now (yes – I pre-scehduled this blog). Experiencing nature inspires us to protect it so take a look at our travel program http://www.houstonzoo.org/safari  or Terra Incognita at http://www.ecotours.com/dest_rwanda.html

Silverback-Gabon. Paul Swen Photography

Silverback-Gabon. Paul Swen Photography

 #5) Library, Bookstore, DVD, Online??? Take a few minutes and watch or read: Mountain Gorillas: Biology, Conservation and Coexistence, Gorillas in the Mist, Goodnight, Gorilla or even Gorilla Gorilla, In the Kingdom of Gorillas: Fragile Species in a Dangerous Land,  Saving a Species: Gorilla on the Brink (DVD), No One Loved Gorillas More: Dian Fossey-Letters from the Mist, The Year of the Gorilla, Mountain Gorillas: Three Decades of Research at Karisoke. You get the point…

Tomorrow’s Blog: The Bushmeat Trade

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Aug
10

Year of the Gorilla Part 6: Mbeli Bai Gorilla Project

Posted by Peter in Africa, Endangered Species, Gorilla

Mbeli Bai Gorilla Project: 

Nouabale Ndoki National Park (NNNP), Republic of Congo

We have talked about this on a past blog so briefly; the Mbeli Bai Gorilla Project is the only long-term demographic study on western gorillas which uses direct observations to provide important baseline information on the mbeli_mapsocial organization, demography and behavior of an intact population of gorillas. Detailed studies are also undertaken on the activity of other large mammal species using the bai, such as forest elephants, sitatungas, forest buffaloes as well as otters and many other species. Information and a video from the site can be seen at http://www.houstonzoo.org/gorilla-study/. Nouabale Ndoki National Park is situated in the northwest region of the Republic of Congo near the borders of both Cameroon and the Central African Republic 

The focus of this program is not only wildlife research but also supports a  very strong community education effort. Lead Researcher Thomas Breuer writes “If we want to ensure the long-term survival of the great apes and limit the risk of diseases transmission, we need to change the attitudes of locals towards the intrinsic value of wildlife in general and the importance of conserving the great apes in particular.” Wildlife research can neither be successful nor sustainable without support from the communities which depend on the same habitat used by the wildlife. Cultural heritage, community knowledge and partnerships are invaluable piece of any effort to protect wildlife and wildlife habitat.

Gorilla at Mbeli Bai. Photo Thomas Breuer

Gorilla at Mbeli Bai. Photo Thomas Breuer

Long-term studies, such as that at Mbeli Bai can provide crucial demographic and life history data which improves our understanding of life history evolution and adaptation and help to refine conservation strategies. Indeed recent findings from Mbeli Bai demonstrate that in this western gorilla population, infants are weaned at a later age (4 years compared to 3 years in mountain gorillas), have higher infant mortality (43% to age 3 compared to mountain gorillas (27.1%) and have much longer inter-birth intervals which could translate into a slower growth rate. Thus, the slow life histories of western gorillas could have major consequences for social structure, mortality patterns and particularly on population growth rates that will affect recovery from population crashes and prospects of survival of this critically endangered great ape species.

The Houston Zoo is hosting Dr. Michael Cranfield, Executive Director of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project as part of our Call of the Wild Lecture Series September 10th, 20009. Please go to http://www.houstonzoo.org/lectureseries/ for ticket information

Join us tomorrow for a few simple things you can do to help gorilla’s.

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Aug
07

Year of the Gorilla Part 5: Eastern Lowland Gorilla

Posted by Peter in Africa, Endangered Species, Going Green, Gorilla, What You Can Do

Eastern Lowland Gorilla:

Fading fast…This species only occurs in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The Year of the Gorilla website says it all: The Eastern Lowland Gorillas have been, and still are, severely affected by human activity, particularly since the 1990s when instability in their area of distribution escalated into civil war, and violence, human tragedy and economic disintegration overshadowed gorilla conservation. Law enforcement is usually one of the first casualties of war. Gorillas are hunted more than ever before in war-torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and their habitat is rapidly being destroyed and degraded by mining, agriculture and charcoal production.

DRC

But herein sits a moral dilemma. How do you set up a sustainable society and viable economic structure while at the same time protecting wildlife who live in and around the same resources the human population needs to survive? It is noted that 91% of the human population in the region practice subsistence farming, which requires them to convert the forest into agricultural land. Over 96% of these people rely on firewood, often harvested unsustainably, as their main energy supply for warmth and cooking. Forested parks are for many of them the last remaining source of fuel.

So let us talk about Mountain Gorillas again. Mountain Gorillas to the public are most likely the best known or at least the most seen on cable documentaries. They were made “famous” by Dian Fossey’s studies of the 70’s and 80’s and for some travel enthusiasts, are the easiest to reach if you want to see a gorilla in the wild. Many zoos even lead tours to Rwanda to see gorillas. Our friends at Terra Incognita Ecoturs www.ecotours.com go there a number of times a year. What has saved the Mountain Gorilla in part is that this species has become economically viable and “eco-tourism” to Rwanda and Uganda have become a part of those countries economies. This natural resource has saved itself by becoming a flagship species for the countries it lives within.

You can recycle your unwanted cell phone at the Houston Zoo

You can recycle your unwanted cell phone at the Houston Zoo

Back to Eastern Lowland Gorillas: 1995 population ~15,000-17,000. 2008 population is potentially ~5,000. How to you develop conservation in a country caught in civil unrest? You really do not, or at least do so safely and it is difficult to determine the extent of decline without field surveys in the area. The decline is attributed to the combined effects of the rise in demand for coltan ore and the warfare that engulfed the whole of the Eastern Lowland Gorilla range from the late 1990s onwards; armies, rebels, refugees and miners all lived off the land and consumed bushmeat. Coltan Ore? What is that? Coltan Ore is used in cell phones, laptops, pagers and other electronic devices. I will rant about why you should recycle your cell phone some other time but for now go to http://www.houstonzoo.org/Recycling/ . For now let’s just say that various armed and rebel groups fighting in the DRC are exploiting natural resources to finance themselves. The most important resources are diamonds, copper, cobalt, gold, tin and coltan.

Monday’s blog: Mbeli Bai Gorilla Project, Nouabale Ndoki National Park, Republic of Congo

The Houston Zoo is hosting Dr. Michael Cranfield, Executive Director of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project as part of our Call of the Wild Lecture Series September 10th, 20009. Please go to http://www.houstonzoo.org/lectureseries/ for ticket information

For more on Year of the Gorilla, go to http://www.yog2009.org/

*Part 5 of 10 in our membership giveaway. Post a comment on 3 of our mountain gorilla blog before 8/14 to win.

Aug
06

Visited our gift shop lately?

Posted by Peter in Africa, Endangered Species, Gorilla, What You Can Do

Gorilla carvings from sustainably harvested trees- Rwanda

Gorilla carvings from sustainably harvested trees- Rwanda

While we are chatting about gorilla’s – here is one way you can support conservation in Rwanda and bring home a unique gift at the same time. The Houston Zoo works with non-profits who support trade in local crafts as an economic incentive.

Far from large cities, villagers create works of art while balancing their traditional way of living. These communities are the closest neighbors to some of the world’s most precious wildlife. Their villages have little running water or electricity and the people  have traditionally made their living through subsistence agriculture and ranching but when offered the opportunity, these families develop and design local crafts in order to improve their lives with added earnings that have started to make a difference. The Houston Zoo Conservation Department supports efforts through the sales of these products in the zoo’s gift shop. Products are available from Partners in Conservation and Virunga Artisans-Rwanda, Proyecto Titi-Colombia, Snow Leopard Conservation-Mongolia and African Wild Dog-Zimbabwe.

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Aug
06

Year of the Gorilla Part 4: Cross River Gorilla

Posted by Peter in Africa, Endangered Species, Gorilla

Cross River Gorilla:

Looking for one of the most Critically Endangered primates on the planet? Well, you may have just found one in the Cross River Gorilla. According the Year of the Gorilla website, Cross River Gorillas are restricted to a limited area (<10,000 km²) of southwest Cameroon and neighboring parts of Nigeria:

cameroon2Nigeria: 75-110 individuals remaining

Cameroon: 125-185 individuals remaining

Remember that Harry Potter movie the Mountain Gorillas went to in Blog #2 of Gorilla Week? Well, this group could all fit in one screening room. 300 or less individuals of Cross River Gorillas left in the world, almost hard to believe a population of wildlife can hold so close to the brink of extinction. Add habitat loss and the Bushmeat Trade (more on this unpleasant topic in a later blog) to the problems facing this population and it is clearly high on the priority list.

Cross River Gorillas form the most northern and western of all gorilla populations and are separated from the nearest Western Lowland Gorilla population to the south by approximately 250 km. The Cross River area and the nearest outpost of western equatorial African forest occupied by Western Lowland Gorillas are separated by the grasslands and fragmented forests of the Cameroon highlands, and the relatively densely settled lowlands of western Cameroon, effectively isolating the Cross River Gorillas from the other west African gorilla populations.

Take into account that the 250-300 individuals are fragmented into at least 10 separate populations spread across 12,000 square kilometers and the difficulty in protecting this population becomes clearer. A current project to create and support Nigeria’s first community managed Wildlife Sanctuary in the Mbe Mountains will involve the establishment of a gorilla guardian monitoring network with 8 local communities in the Mowambi and Mbulu-Mone forest areas. This and other similair efforts are critical to the survival of the Cross River Gorilla.

The North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, NC is currently supporting conservation effotrs for the Cross River Gorilla and you can access their webpage at: http://www.nczoo.org/conservation/International/CrossRivGorilla.html

 The Houston Zoo is hosting Dr. Michael Cranfield, Executive Director of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project as part of our Call of the Wild Lecture Series September 10th, 20009. Please go to http://www.houstonzoo.org/lectureseries/ for ticket information.

Tomorrow: Eastern Lowland Gorilla

For more on Year of the Gorilla, go to http://www.yog2009.org/

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Aug
05

Year of the Gorilla Update

Posted by Peter in Uncategorized

Sorry to interupt our regularly scheduled blog… I was just forwarded a  very good article on gorilla conservation from New Scientist Online called Last Chance to Save the Gorilla:  http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327181.400-last-chance-to-save-the-gorilla.html

If you are reading the blog then definately go take a look at this as it conveys many of the issues facing gorillas today.

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