Archive for the ‘Elephant’ Category

Feb
17

Houston Zoo Wildlife Conservation is on Facebook!

Posted by in Africa,amphibians,Attwater's Prairie Chicken,Black bears,Borneo,Carnivores,Chimpanzee,community-based conservation,Conservation,Elephant,Endangered Species,Field Research,Galapagos,Going Green,Gorilla,orangutan,Painted Dog,Panama,Rhino,Travel

 

Booming chickens on prairies and adventures to find bear hair in the Big Thicket. Leech infested forests? Monsoons? Leg swallowing mud and Sea Gull poo? Wild Orangutans that use bridges and toads with implants.  Confused? Don’t be. Join us and interact with local and global conservation on our new Houston Zoo Conservation Facebook page. Keep up with the conservation department and our partners in the field, and don’t forget to comment along the way!

Link here and follow along: http://www.facebook.com/#!/houstonzooconservation

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Feb
07

Valentines Day Candy

Posted by in Conservation,Elephant,Endangered Species,orangutan

How is this related to Wildlife Conservation – really? Yes, there is a method and message, to our madness…

Palm Oil and The Great Chocolate Debate. It can help save the lives of Orangutans and many other species living on Borneo and Sumatra. Palm oil is a form of edible vegetable oil produced from the African oil plam tree (Elaeis guineensis) which has been planted on plantations throughout Malaysia and Indonesia, home to some of the world’s most endangered wildlife. These plantations replace tropical rainforest acreage in staggering numbers.

Rainforest? No. Palm Oil Plantation? Yes.

What we are asking you to do is to be a responsible consumer and purchase products from companies which either do not use palm oil or are part of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm oil. You can do that by taking a quick look at this Orangutan Friendly Palm Oil Valentine Guide.

To learn more about the issues facing wildlife and palm oil just link here.

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Feb
01

Elephant Health Grant Awarded

Posted by in Conservation,Elephant

 January 27, 2011 … Elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV) is the leading cause of death in Asian elephants under the age of 8 in the care of humans. Since 1978, 60 cases of EEHV in North America and Europe, as well as 20 EEHV deaths in Asia among wild and managed elephants, have been confirmed. This devastating disease is a significant threat to self-sustaining populations of managed and free ranging Asian elephants worldwide.
 
On January 24th and 25th 2011, more than 80 participants from 5 countries, including veterinarians, virologists, epidemiologists, elephant care specialists, and administrators gathered in Houston for the 7th Annual International EEHV workshop sponsored by The International Elephant Foundation, The Elephant Manager’s Association and the Houston Zoo. 
 
At the close of the workshop on January 25, Houston Zoo Director Rick Barongi announced that the Houston Zoo/Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) EEHV research collaboration has received a $550,000 grant from The Dan L. Duncan Family. 
 
“Finding a treatment or cure for EEHV is crucial to the sustainability of Asian elephant populations, not only in zoos but in many wild herds.  This grant from the Duncan family in honor of the late Dan L. Duncan will provide critical funding to support the collaboration’s ongoing EEHV research. We are honored and deeply grateful,” said Barongi.  “In the past two years, since the Houston Zoo/BCM research collaboration began, we have made more progress in EEHV research than at any other time since the elephant herpes virus was identified 16 years ago,” added Barongi. 
 
Due to the ground-breaking research carried out by the Houston zoo/BCM team, researchers now believe that all Asian elephants, captive and wild, regardless of geographic location harbor certain types of herpes viruses.  “A vital mission for the Houston Zoo/BCM research collaboration is determining why the virus is fatal for some young elephants and not others.  In addition the BCM research team is working to identify which human anti-herpesvirus drugs are most effective for treating EEHV-associated disease,” said Barongi.   
 
During the 7th Annual International EEHV workshop, participants re-affirmed their commitment to unraveling the epidemiology of the disease, developing a more sensitive and rapid diagnostic test, improved herd screening, more effective treatments, and ultimately a vaccine to protect young elephants from this deadly virus.   Workshop participants also reaffirmed that continued breeding of Asian elephants is critical to their physiological and psychological well-being.

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Jan
04

Borneo Field Research Part 1

Posted by in Borneo,community-based conservation,Elephant,Endangered Species,Field Research

The Houston Zoo has partnered with the Danau Girang Field Centre in Borneo on a number of conservation and research programs including elephants, carnivores and banteng projects for 2010-2011.

Danau Girang Field Centre is a collaborative research and training facility managed by Cardiff University and Sabah Wildlife Department.

It is situated in Lot 6 of the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary in Sabah, Malaysia and is surrounded by a mixture of lowland dipterocarp forest types, ranging from primary forest to disturbed secondary forest, in a  landscape with significant human impact including villages, small scale agriculture and oil palm plantations. 

The forest is divided into 10 lots, comprising fragmented sections of forest of varying sizes, bisected by the Kinabatangan river. It is thus an ideal location to study wildlife and the effects of  habitat alteration on biodiversity.

The elephant research program is focused on the habitat and social structure of the Bornean Elephant and is being overseen by Nurzhafarina Othman. A Malaysian student, “Farina” is also involved in the team of elephant collaring and has a great interest in environmental conservation. She has recently registered her PhD at Cardiff University, after graduating from University Malaysia Sabah and will be tracking a newly collared female Bornean elephant (named Aqeela) to observe social interactions and mating systems. Farina’s work is supported by the Houston Zoo Wildlife Conservation Program.

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Dec
06

Exciting new Bornean elephant pictures from the field

Posted by in Borneo,Conservation,Elephant,Endangered Species,Field Research

In the state of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, the Houston Zoo has partnered with the French non-governmental organization Hutan and the Sabah Wildlife Department - both of which support conservation programs in and around the 27,000-hectare Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary.   Dr. Marc Ancrenaz is the Director of the Kinabatangan Orang-utan Conservation Project.  KOCP participates in Bornean elephant conservation.  Dr. Ancrenaz took these beautiful Bornean Elephant shots the other day in Sabah.

Secondary forests of the Lower Kinabatangan are also home to approximately 200 of the 1200 to 1500 Asian elephants believed to remain in northeastern Borneo.  Recent research indicates that they may be genetically distinct and potentially separated from mainland Asian populations thousands of years.  Today this subspecies is only found in Sabah (although some individuals roam in Northern Kalimantan), making the State of Sabah the sole custodian of a unique sub-species of elephant.

If you would like to help support Borneo’s Elephant Conservation Unit, link here for more information and follow the page down to the support button.

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Nov
18

African Forest: Bushmeat

Posted by in Africa,Animal Origins & Fun Facts,community-based conservation,Conservation,Elephant,Endangered Species,Featured,Field Research,Galapagos,Gorilla

What is Bushmeat?

In Africa, forest is often referred to as ‘the bush’, thus wildlife and the meat derived from it is referred to as ‘bushmeat’.

The term bushmeat is now commonly used for illegally harvested and marketed wildlife in Africa, Asia and Latin America. “Bushmeat” applies to all wildlife species, including threatened and endangered species, used for meat including: elephant; gorilla; chimpanzee and other primates; forest antelope (duikers); crocodile; porcupine; bush pig; cane rat; pangolin; monitor lizard; guinea fowl and many others.
Unsustainable commercial take, many times illegally, is one of the primary causes in the decline of wildlife species in Africa. 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.
Rural communities have always hunted as a protein source for their diets. Sustainably managed, wildlife populations could survive under these circumstances. Today, wildlife is taken in large quantities not solely for personal consumption but for profit and commercial resale. Wildlife populations simply cannot rebound fast enough to maintain viable populations in these areas and are quickly becoming extirpated from many regions of Africa.
For more information and what you can do to slow the trade – link here to our African Forest microsite

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Oct
18

Zoo Confidential Part 2

Posted by in Animal Origins & Fun Facts,community-based conservation,Elephant,Endangered Species,Featured,orangutan,What You Can Do

Go behind the scenes at the Houston Zoo on Tuesday October 12 at 8:00pm when the three-part series Zoo Confidential premiers on Nat Geo WILD.

Zoo Confidential is an opportunity to get an insiders view of the Houston Zoo – from the birth of an Asian elephant and the newborns first nursing, to the breeding of the critically endangered Attwater’s prairie chicken.   Find out how Blanco, the leucistic American alligator gets a bath and how to entertain a Komodo dragon at meal time. 

Accompany the Houston Zoo’s veterinarians on their rounds and look over their shoulders during diagnostic and surgical procedures.  Join the Zoo’s keepers as they create engaging and unique devices to enrich the lives of their animals – from a floating ‘banquet table’ for a Malayan tigers to sway poles for the gibbons at Wortham World of Primates. 

Get behind the scenes at the Kipp Aquarium as keepers create a new home for the lion fish and find out what orangutan family planning is all about.

Episode Two – Operation Ocelot

Tuesday, October 19, 8 p.m. CDT

Two pairs of lemurs are moved in together, under the watchful eye of Zoo primate keepers; baby Asian elephant Baylor goes out into the exhibit with the other elephants for the first time; Novia, a female ocelot gets special attention from Zoo vets and vet specialists to track down the source of her kidney stones.

Episode Three – Urban Jungle

Tuesday, October 26, 8 p.m. CDT

Primate keepers at Wortham World of Primates install sway poles to entertain the gibbons; Kelly the female orangutan gets a little help from the vets with family planning; The first hatching of the 2010 Attwater’s prairie chicken breeding season is observed by Zoo bird keepers; Zoo vets perform surgery on a lizard that is unable to lay eggs.

Nat Geo WILD is available on the following cable systems in the greater Houston area.

U-Verse            266

Comcast           250

Episode One aired October 12th – watch for re-runs on the Nat Geo Wild channel: Episode One – Special Delivery

The elephant care team makes final preparations for Shanti to deliver her calf.  Blanco, the leucistic (white) American alligator gets a bath.  Nat Geo cameras visit the Attwater’s prairie chicken breeding facility at NASA’s Johnson Space Center; carnivore keepers construct a floating ‘banquet table’ for Pandu the Malayan tiger’s special meal time.

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Oct
14

Collaring Project Helps Understand Elephant’s

Posted by in Animal Origins & Fun Facts,Borneo,Elephant,Endangered Species,Featured

A 20 year old female Bornean elephant was recently fitted with a new radio collar in the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, Borneo, Malaysia, which will help field researchers studying social behaviour and reproductive strategies for the species. The information will also collect date on the dispersal and migratory corridors of the local elephant population which will assist the Sabah Wildlife Department in determining management strategies for the elephants and habitat along the Kinabatangan corridor.

A partnership between Sabah Wildlife Department and its Wildlife Rescue Unit, Danau Girang Field Centre and the NGO HUTAN and their Elephant Conservation Unit with support from the Houston Zoo, the 3-5 year study will concentrate efforts on the Kinabatangan elephant population, and gather information on the social behavior and mating strategies of the Bornean elephant, using three different approaches: (1) satellite-tracking of three individuals (one adult female, one adult male and one adolescent male); (2) behavioural observations of 3-5 family units; and (3) paternity and relatedness analyses using non-invasive genetic samples such as dung.

The Bornean elephant sub-species has recently been confirmed as a separate taxon, dramatically increasing its importance in terms of biodiversity. In a recent general survey, the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) estimated that about 1,200-1,500 elephants survived in Borneo. This survey showed that the remnant populations were mainly found in eastern Sabah, and were highly fragmented. The Bornean elephant is thus the world’s most endangered member of the Proboscidae family, highlighting the urgent need to undertake sound conservation action in the near future.

Oct
11

Last Call for Frans Lanting Tickets

Posted by in Africa,Animal Origins & Fun Facts,community-based conservation,Conservation,Elephant,Endangered Species,Featured,What You Can Do

There are still seat left but our first speaker event of the season is near capacity in our 285 seat Brown Education Center auditorium. Tickets are available at http://www.houstonzoo.org/lectureseries/.

October 13th we welcome world acclaimed National Geographic photographer Frans Lanting and videographer Christine Eckstrom to the Houston Zoo’s Brown Education Center. Doors open at 6:30pm for refreshments from FreeB!rds World Burrito. Speaker event begins at 7:00pm.

FRANS LANTING has been hailed as one of the great nature photographers of our time. His influential work appears in books, magazines, and exhibitions around the world. For more than two decades he has documented wildlife and our relationship with nature in environments from the Amazon to Antarctica. He portrays wild creatures as ambassadors for the preservation of complete ecosystems, and his many publications have increased worldwide awareness of endangered ecological treasures in far corners of the earth.

CHRISTINE ECKSTROM is a writer, editor, and videographer.  She is the author of Forgotten Edens, and is a contributing author of numerous books published by National Geographic, where she worked as a staff writer for 15 years.  Assignments have taken her to wild places on all seven continents, and for the past two decades she has worked with her husband and partner, Frans Lanting, on fieldwork from the Amazon to Mongolia. She collaborated with Lanting to write and edit Life: A Journey through Time), and to realize The LIFE Project as a traveling exhibition, an interactive website, and a multimedia orchestral performance with music by Philip Glass.  She has teamed up with Lanting to produce natural history and photography books, including Jungles, Penguin, Eye to Eye and Okavango: Africa’s Last Eden.

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Jul
29

Gorilla Country

Posted by in Africa,Animal Origins & Fun Facts,community-based conservation,Elephant,Endangered Species,Field Research,Gorilla

In the Republic of Congo, the Houston Zoo is partnering with the Mbeli Bai Gorilla Program in the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park. Mbeli Bai is the only long-term demographic study on western gorillas which uses direct observations to provide important baseline information on the social 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. 

Why should we care to protect wildlife in places so far away? Watch the video of wildlife living in and around Mbeli Bai in the Republic of Congo.

Did you watch the video? All 5 minutes? We would like to hear your thoughts on this 5 minute glimpse into a very special place.

If you would like to help support the Mbeli Bai Gorilla Program and the Houston Zoo’s efforts to save threatened wildlife in Africa, please click on the button below.

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