To give you an idea of the projects covered in the book, we thought we would highlight a few of the projects the Houston Zoo supports throughout the week:

Dr. Greg Rasmussen: Painted Dog Conservation

Painted Dog Conservation (PDC) was originally established as Painted Dog Research in 1992 by Dr. Gregory Rasmussen. During the first two years the human-induced incidents from snares, shootings and road kills accounted for 95% of all Painted dog (aka African wild dog) mortalities. Early public presentations showed prejudice and ignorance and it was clear that unless this situation was addressed, the species could become extinct. The initial emphasis was to identify the critical issues and develop a strategy that would make a substantial, lasting contribution to Painted Dogs, nature conservation and, very importantly, to the lives of the local people.

Today, PDC employs over 60 people from the local communities to run programs that ensure the survival of the Painted dogs and improvement the livelihoods of the local people.

PDC is a leading model for community-based predator conservation. By combining the most advanced modern technology with traditional knowledge of local communities, PDC has experienced great success – Zimbabwe’s wild dog population has increased from 400 to 700 individuals since the project’s inception. PDC’s model also brings direct benefit to local people with increased employment and unparalleled education opportunities.

Painted Dog in rehabilitation facility just before release back into the wild

Residents of PDC’s neighboring communities not only benefit from its programs but also actively contribute to them.  For example, community members are employed in anti-poaching units and produce beautiful and unique art from the confiscated snare wire.  They assist in systematic monitoring of the painted dog population and teach environmental educational.  The active engagement of local residents empowers communities, strengthens conservation, and raises environmental awareness. 

When you come to the Houston Zoo on May 19th and 20th for our Wildlife Heroes weekend visit the Painted dog exibit area, and try your hand at building your own snare wire sculptures.  Wire sculpture building will take place at 10am until 12 pm on both days .  Hope to see you there!

You can meet Dr. Greg Rasmussen at the 2012 Wildlife Conservation Expo on October 13th in San Francisco, CA

To give you an idea of the projects covered in the book, we thought we would highlight a few of the projects the Houston Zoo supports throughout the week:

Okapi Conservation Project, Democratic Republic of Congo – John Lukas

This not John Lukas but this is an Okapi in Epulu Conservation Station, DRC

John Lukas is the Executive Director of the White Oak Conservation Center in Yule, Florida and the founder of the Okapi Conservation Project.

There is very little that is not amazing about the Okapi. Perfectly colored to blend into the deep forest of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), this distant relative of the Giraffe looks like more like a relative of the Zebra from their striped hindquarters and legs. Currently believed to  exist exclusively in the Ituri Forest of the DRC, a country that is struggling with civil strife, illegal mining operations and illegal logging,  it is a flagship and iconic species for a region which is one of the most biologically diverse in the world.

The species was not discovered by scientists until 1901 which is even more amazing for a mammal the size of a horse

The Okapi is a conservation success story, in a very difficult region, all due to the workd of the Okapi Conservation Project. You can view the Houston Zoo’s Okapi right next to our Elephant exhibit.

John Lukas will be a presenter at the Wildlife Conservation Network Expo on October 13, 2012 in San Francisco, CA

Come and visit the Okapi exhibit at the Zoo on May 19th and 20th for our Wildlife Heroes weekend to learn about the alternate protein source effort the Okapi project is attempting to reduce the need for poaching.

To give you an idea of the projects covered in the book, we thought we would highlight a few of the projects the Houston Zoo supports throughout the week:

Raoul Du Toit: African Rhinoceros

Raoul Du Toit truly is a Rhino Hero. Raoul is the International Rhino Foundations African Rhino Program Advisor and the Director of the Lowveld Rhino Trust in Zimbabwe. He has worked for over 25 years to protect the Black Rhino and White Rhinos of Africa, two species whose populations sturggle due to habitat loss and immense poaching pressures.

The Rhinoceros has survived on our planet for millions of years and once occurred not only in Africa and Asia but in Europe andNorth Americaas well. But today, only five species of rhino survive. Four of these five species sit on the verge of extinction and the fifth, the White rhino, holds a population of less than 18,000 individuals across the African continent.

The Rhino is truly a species on the edge. Zoos, conservation organizations, and field researchers have worked together for many years to help fight for their survival. It is difficult to protect a species whose numbers have plummeted so quickly but when you consider the 25,000 rhinos worldwide are spilt between 5 species, it makes the challenge of recovery all that more daunting.

To learn more about the Houston Zoo’s work with Rhino Conservation or to support our efforts, follow the link.

My first heroes were animal people.  When I went to zoos my heroes were the zoo keepers and when I watched animal documentaries the researchers were my heroes.  We all need amazing people to inspire us and that is why the new book Wildlife Heroes is so wonderful. 

The book includes 40 people overcoming impossible odds to save endangered species all over the world.  If you are looking for real heroes for your children to look up to look now further! 

The unique stories in this book of local communities becoming involved in anti-poaching, education and research efforts for wildlife in their own back yard are immeasurably inspiring!  In one story a young boy, Thia grew up in Northern Vietnam watching his village hunt the very species he fights to save today.  His passion to help a unique species called the pangolin will warm your heart!
 
I have had the honor of meeting many of the heroes in this book (including the authors) over the years and they inspire me to move forward in my own wildlife conservation work.  These are real people making a real difference! 

This book introduces readers to pollinator and amphibian decline and other environment issues that continue to threaten our world.  But it also offers great messages of hope.  In the last chapter Jack Hannah suggests ways the reader can help, and the good news is that by purchasing the Wildlife Heroes book you are already helping- 100 % of the proceeds go to the projects featured in the book.  A win for everyone!

Hope to see you at the Houston Zoo for our Wildlife Heroes weekend May 19th and 20th!

Participants hailed from all over the US.  Many of them were from organizations having the same goal of conserving wolves, but not having a history of working well together.  The dissonance between the group was so palpable, that at first we were asked not to reveal where we worked.  By the end of the training, all of the organizations were working together in harmony and happily revealed who they were during the last case study.  It was a testament to the HWCC course itself to see these groups working together and watch a history of conflicts resolved by the end of the training.
The course focused on providing tools to maintain peace for continued progress in wildlife conservation efforts. It prepares participants to recognize the potential signs of conflict and handle them in the earliest stages. In the world of conservation, time is of the essence. Endangered species often don’t have time for humans to fight amongst themselves. Conflict can bring species protection efforts to a complete halt, which is why this training is so valuable in wildlife conservation.

We are always looking for practical ways to assist our wildlife conservation partners in the field.  HWCC held a training last week in Kenya, and we were able to fund a park guard from the Niassa lion preserve in Mozambique, the lead conservation biologist of the Niassa Lion project in Mozambique, the lead education officer of Painted Dog Conservation in Zimbabwe, and a researcher from the Senegal chimp project.

Niassa Lion Project in Mazambique, Painted Dog Conservation in Zimbabwe and Senegal chimps representitives sent to HWCC training in Kenya

These are a few of the responses we received from the participants after the training:

“Today we finished the training on Human Wildlife Conflict Collaboration at Ol Pejeta in Kenya. I would like to express my gratitude to you for every thing you have done to give to me the opportunity to participate in this training.
I will take this course seriously. I have learned as much I could to improve my contribution for conservation in Niassa National Reserve inMozambique. This course exceeded my expectation and I’m very happy to have this opportunity.”
Mbumba, Niassa National Reserve

“Well, I can honestly say that was the best and most useful workshop I have ever attended. Thank you and the Houston Zoo so much for not only introducing us to HWCC but also for sponsoring Mbumba and I and paying for the travel costs. We very much appreciate it. Both of us walked away  with lots of new ideas and tools to help us deal with conflicts and also make sure that we don’t inadvertently create more conflict  as we move forward. My head is buzzing!  The timing was perfect as NLP moves into engaging community guardians, finding solutions to bush meat snaring  and developing  the Environmental and Skills training centre. It was an amazing group of people that attended from Kenya, Uganda,Tanzania mainly with Kelly from Senegal and a few others from other projects. Peter from the Grevy’s Zebra Trust was there and it was good to see him again and speak about their Guardian programs, and I had a long talk to Wilton from PDC about the bush school program which he runs. So it was so productive on all fronts.
So thank you, it made a big difference. Already I am thinking of other people I need to encourage to do the course as I think it should be essential for anyone working in conservation.  
Kind regards, and many thanks again.”
Colleen Begg
Niassa Lion Conservation

We are very excited to announce that we are hosting the HWCC training at the Houston Zoo in November for our local partners.  Conflict has collapsed conservation efforts in the past, but this training is equipping armies of conservationists with the tools to advance in the battle to save wildlife.

Co-founder of EWCL, Jeff Flocken teaching about the importance of networking

Last week, I got to attend and assist with a unique training course called Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders.  The course was developed to provide support and inspiration to conservation professionals around the world.   There were participants from Ethiopia, Mongolia, Brazil, Europe and the US.  In this two year long program, participants come together for one week each year for workshops, training, and mentoring. The rest of the time is spent focusing on assigned conservation projects that they receive at the beginning of the course.  Participants put themselves into groups and are assigned to a species(one they don’t already work with) conservation effort.  The group then creates, implements and evaluates projects designed to enhance existing wildlife conservation efforts.

One group this year worked with a lion program in Africa.  The EWCL team found funding to purchase devices that park staff could carry to enable them to identify and mark individual lion’s locations while they are out on game drives with tourists.  They also designed a program to allow tourists to log onto a website to identify the lions they photographed while on safari.  The team had posters made for all of the safari lodges to advertise this ID program. This sustainable project benefits both the researchers and lions tremendously.  More eyes on the lions improves the ability to monitor the populations, and engaging the tourists fosters an ownership in the battle to save the species.

Bradford works to protect the St. Vincent's parrot.

The support this program offers to its participants is tangible.  Many of them are transitioning in their own careers and the network this program provides ensures these eager and skilled conservationists don’t slip though the cracks.  Some of the participants were a girl working in Snow Leopard conservation in Mongolia, a man working with St Vincent parrots on St Vincent island, a man working with bats and wind turbines in the US, and a girl lobbying for endangered species in the White house.  This is a dream team of conservationists training for the race to save endangered species!

In the summer of 2009, he led a University study team through countless rural communities in Rwanda working with 40 different sector veterinarians to visit over 450 families in Rwanda. The families that were visited had received cows from the Rwandan government in an effort to combat childhood malnutrition. In the “One Cow Per Poor Family” program, the cow is to provide milk and fertilizer in an attempt to increase the overall plane of nutrition for rural poor families in Rwanda. The concern is that the families were not experienced with animal husbandry and the project was designed identify areas of education that would help the families to better care for their livestock. The project was successful and Methode was recognized for his achievements.

Methode’s trip to the US is sponsored by Step One Foundation from Houston whose goal is to develop models for technology on farms that will improve animal welfare, farm productivity, and address environmental issues. This is Methode’s first trip to the US.

This video was created by the nonprofit organization Wild Lens Inc. Wild Lens works alongside other non-profit and governmental organizations to document and communicate to the public the various risks to habitat and wildlife species, particularly in understudied populations. Goals for scientific research projects go beyond publishing in scientific journals with documentary storytelling used to explain the issues behind the research being conducted.

For more information about vultures and vulture conservation, visit the blog VulturesRock.com.

Corinne Kendall(image courtesy of The Peregrine Fund)

Written by Houston Zoo Director Rick Barongi.

In a few months, Corinne Kendall should be getting her PhD. from the department of conservation and evolutionary biology at Princeton University.  Then this very gifted and dedicated individual will devote the rest of her career to wildlife conservation.

Why she chose this career path is probably due to a variety of early life experiences with animals and nature.  If you ask her which of these experiences had the most impact, she would rank her early zoo visits and subsequent volunteer work at the Houston Zoo at or near the top.

In Corinne’s case she was also blessed with parents that recognized and encouraged her passion for working with wildlife.  Our zoo provided the perfect opportunity for young people to engage with wildlife, and Corinne took full advantage.  As soon as she was old enough she became a teen Zoo Crew member and then went on to a volunteer keeper position followed by a seasonal internship during her summer vacations from Cornell University, where she was a straight A student.

Corinne went on to Columbia University to get her Master’s in Conservation Biology before settling on Princeton for her PhD. work studying vultures in East Africa.

While no one can scientifically prove that visiting and volunteering at a good zoo can change people’s lives,  there is no denying that good zoos can connect people with animal in ways that no computer, video or HD documentary can duplicate.  Corinne Kendall is living proof of the power that good zoos can have on young minds and hearts.

The Houston Zoo is more than a fun place to see animals. It is a living classroom that inspires and connects us to the natural world.  It is also a training ground for future Conservation Heroes like Corinne.

Watch and enjoy this fascinating short video of Corinne Kendall’s field work with vultures in the Masai Mara National Park in Kenya, East Africa.

It is not uncommon to see the local people (Malagasy) in Madagascar creating eco-tourism opportunities using lemurs and other species.  They know where the lemurs are and they know foreigners like to see them!  The people do appreciate nature, but as populations grow and the need for food increases they seek any means possible to survive.  There is a great need for conservation that can provide sustainable solutions for Malagasy people in Madagascar.  

Our next speaker for our call of the Wild Speaker Series is Dr. Jonah Ratsimbazafy, who is a Malagasy primatologist and conservationist.   Early in his career he studied Archaeology and Paleontology in Madagascar, spending many hours digging up ancient lemur fossils.  He once told me he spent three days digging up a full skeleton of one of the giant extinct lemurs that were the size of humans.  This work brought him in and around villages where he saw people eating lemurs.  He told me one day he looked at the bones he was dusting off at the time, then at a small species of lemur being placed in a cooking pot over an open fire, and said to himself, “The lemurs in the ground can wait, but the lemurs in the trees need my help now!”.  That was when he decided to commit himself to conserving species in Madagascar.        
 

Come to the Zoo to hear about primatologist Dr. Jonah Ratsimbazafy’s work saving lemurs and other species in Madagascar on February 15th at 7:00 pm.    Be one of the first to hear all about his recent discovery of a brand-new lemur species!  Enjoy beverages and tasty appetizers from Houston’s own Beaver’s restaurant and meet some of the Houston Zoo’s animals from Madagascar up-close.  CLICK HERE to purchase tickets.

If you are interested in journeying to this amazing land, join the Houston zoo on our trip to Madagascar in 2013. For more information CLICK HERE.