Archive for the ‘South America’ Category

May
10

Wildlife Heroes Profiles: Tapir Conservation

Posted by in Animal Origins & Fun Facts,Central America,community-based conservation,Conservation,Field Research,South America

Join us on May 19th and 20th for wildlife Heroes weekend.  On May 20th we welcome Jeff Flocken, co-author of Wildlife Heroes: 40 Leading Conservationists and the Animals they are Committed to Saving for a book-signing and presentations by zoo staff on the focus species of the book. Wildlife Heroes will be available for sale at the zoo on May 20th, quantities are limited!  Books are also available for  pre-order on the Houston Zoo website at: http://www.houstonzoo.org/wildlife-heroes/for a dicounted price until May 17th.

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. Patricia Medici, Lowland Tapir Conservation Initiative

The Houston Zoo has been a fan of Pati Medici’s going back nearly a dozen years.  Chair of the IUCN (World Conservation Union) Tapir Specialist Group, Dr. Medici assists in directing conservation activities for all four species of  Tapir – 3 from Latin America and 1 from Malaysia.

Tapirs are what we would call “landscape architects”. They not only create trails through the thick underbrush of the forest for other animals, but they also manage the forest because of the plants they eat and the seeds they disperse.

The Lowland Tapir Conservation Initiative aims to establish a long-term Tapir Research and Conservation Programs in all key Brazilian biomes. Specifically, basic ecology, population demography, habitat use and animal movement, genetic profile, and health status will be evaluated in each biome. The main goals of this project are to use the data collected to assess the conservation status and viability of the lowland tapir populations in the Brazilian biomes, and to design specific set of recommendations for the conservation of the species in each one of them.

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May
09

Wildlife Heroes is an awesome book, and we have the author coming to the Zoo!

Posted by in Africa,amphibians,Bats,Birds,Borneo,Bumblebees,Carnivores,Central America,Chimpanzee,community-based conservation,Conservation,Cotton-top Tamarin,Elephant,Endangered Species,Field Research,Going Green,Gorilla,Okapi,orangutan,Painted Dog,Panama,Rhino,Sea Turtles,South America,What You Can Do

Join us on May 19th and 20th for Wildlife Heroes weekend at the Houston Zoo.  On May 20th we welcome Jeff Flocken, co-author of Wildlife Heroes: 40 Leading Conservationists and the Animals they are Committed to Saving for a book-signing and presentations by zoo staff on the focus species of the book. Wildlife Heroes will be available for sale at the zoo on May 20th, quantities are limited!  Books are also available for  pre-order on the Houston Zoo website at: http://www.houstonzoo.org/wildlife-heroes/for a dicounted price until May 17th.

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!

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Mar
03

A Tribute to the Monkees from the Monkeys

Posted by in Endangered Species,Field Research,South America

When I arrive at the Zoo in the morning I am often serenaded by our gibbons at the Zoo.  Have you ever heard a gibbon sing?  They have amazing pitch and range!  This morning I could have sworn they incorporated notes from The Monkee’s song, I’m a believer.   I deduced that this was a tribute to Davy Jones, lead singer of ’60s pop band The Monkees, who sadly passed away recently.  Let me be clear, gibbons are apes not monkeys, but I think they too have a great appreciation for 60’s pop.

Being fellow monkeys, I am sure our troop of Cotton-top tamarins are mourning in there own special way.  Their voices are a bit higher so their tribute selection is more likely something like Daydream Believer, but make no mistake their chirps and tweets can invoke plenty of emotion.  A wonderful Cotton-top tamarin conservation project in Colombia called Proyecto Tití have done a lot of research on the Cotton-top tamarin’s vocalizations, they have found that this species uses 38 distinctly different sounds.

Knowing those Cotton-tops they have probably added a few jazzy dance steps as well.  They have such amazing 60’s pop hair!   Small monkey species can be very difficult to keep track of, so Proyecto Tití researchers have discovered that dying those flowing white locks on the tops of their head makes it exceedingly easier to identify wild individuals as they bounce around in the forest canopy.  This technique has enabled researchers to collect valuable data on this endangered little monkey.

In conclusion, I am quite sure that monkeys everywhere would agree that Davy Jones will live on through his Monkee music.

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Oct
08

The Wildlife Care Center of Belize

Posted by in Endangered Species,Field Research,South America

Black Howler

The black howler (Alouatta pigra) monkey of Belize, Guatemala and Mexico is an endangered species under the IUCN Red List.  One of the top three threats to this species includes the illegal trade in pets which results as a by-product of hunting for sale of bush meat in local and international markets.  The confiscation of black howler monkeys from the pet trade is overwhelming the Belize Forest Department and the Belize Zoo.  As a viable alternative to leaving monkeys with their owners, confiscated pet black howler monkeys are transferred to the non-profit organization called the Wildlife Care Center of Belize (WCCB) directed by Robin Brockett.  WCCB rehabilitates these pets and reintroduces them into the wild.  Over the past ten years the center has released 28 howler monkeys into the Monkey Bay National Park and Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.

The Houston Zoo Primate Department is helping to raise awareness about the WCCB and the illegal pet trade.  We are holding our 2nd annual “Howlerween” Spotlight on Species event on October 23rd and 24th.  We will have educational activities, keeper chats, and also be selling a variety of merchandise to help raise money for the WCCB.  “Howlerween” will coincide with Zoo Boo and from 9 am to 3 pm on both days at the Wortham World of Primates.

Written by, primate keepers, Lucy Dee Anderson and Cheka

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Jul
06

Lowland Tapir Conservation: Brazil

Posted by in community-based conservation,Endangered Species,South America,Travel,What You Can Do

Photo Patricia Medici

The four living species of tapirs occur in the tropics of Central America (Baird’s tapir), South America (lowland tapir, and mountain tapir), and Southeast Asia (Malayan tapir). The lowland tapir has the broadest range of the four living species extending from north-central Colombia and east of the Andes throughout most of tropical South America down to north eastern Argentina and Paraguay at elevations up to 2,000 masl. The species occurs in 11 different countries including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, French Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.

The Lowland Tapir Conservation Initiative
The Atlantic Forest Tapir Program has demonstrated that tapirs are a keystone species that play a critical role in shaping and maintaining biological diversity and forest structure, and are essential for key ecological processes such as seed dispersal and predation. In order to advance scientific knowledge and promote the conservation of this widely spread but seriously imperiled large mammal, Patrícia Medici has now launched a country-wide Lowland Tapir Conservation Initiative that will establish tapir research and conservation programs in other key biomes of Brazil. The first of these is a new Tapir Research and Conservation Program in the Brazilian Pantanal, where no tapir research has ever been conducted. The Pantanal is increasingly threatened. Deforestation is now widespread throughout the region, threatening tapirs and other wildlife with local extinction.

The Pantanal Tapir Program was established in 2008. The study areas of the Pantanal Tapir Program are the Hotel Fazenda Baía das Pedras in the Nhecolândia sub-region of the Pantanal, and the Pousada Xaraés and Fazenda Nossa Senhora do Carmo in the Abobral sub-region. The main goals of this new long-term program are to collect ecological, demographic, epidemiological and genetic data to assess the conservation status and viability of tapir populations in the Brazilian Pantanal.

Link here for more on Tapir Conservation on the Blog da Anta website

You can travel to the Pantanal with the Houston Zoo and visit with the Pantanal Tapir Program in August 2011. Just link here for an itinerary.

Giant Anteater-Pantanal Tour 2009

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May
28

Spotlight on South America

Posted by in Carnivores,community-based conservation,Field Research,South America

A message from the Houston Zoo’s carnivore department:  

Jaguar

There will be a Spotlight on South America event this weekend (May 29 and 30, 2010) at the Zoo.  The event is designed to foster awareness and appreciation of some of our beautiful animals from that region.  The proceeds earned from this event will go to supporting two community based conservation projects that work tirelessly to ensure the survival of South American species in the wild.  

The first is the Bigal River Biological Reserve, it is a 1000 hectare preserve in Ecuador.  This area is community owned and is home to a variety of species of plants and animals (including Jaguars).  It is part of a much larger track of tropical rain forest along the eastern slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes.  The Reserve extends both inside and outside of the Sumaco National Park (which is 190,562 hectares and is one of 3 Biosphere Reserves found in Ecuador).  Approximately 6 km of the Reserve comes in direct contact with the National Park and acts as a buffer zone.  

The Bigal River Conservation Project was created to help better understand the conservation status of the endangered species present in the area and to find solutions that will ensure their long term survival.  The four main goals of the project are:  1) to create an environmental awareness and encourage protection of local biodiversity within the local communities through education, 2) to facilitate community participation in actions oriented towards natural resources management and biodiversity’s data recollection process, 3) to generate long lasting incomes for the members of the communities from environmentally friendly activities and 4) to protect the Reserve and what is left of the tropical rain forest in the area.  These goals will be accomplished through education, scientific research and surveillance and monitoring of both the Reserve and Park. 

Maned wolf

The second is the Maned Wolf Conservation Project, which also combines research, conservation and education.  It was started in 2001 to improve the conservation of Maned Wolves by assessing the changing landscapes of the species survival.  It is located in the Serra da Canastra, a mountainous region in the Minas Gerais State in southeastern Brazil which contains a variety of Savannah habitats.  The Serra da Canastra National Park encompasses a total of 200,000 hectares, 1/3 of which is regulated and managed by the Brazilian government.  The remaining 2/3 is still under private ownership.  

The project captures and monitors (via radio collars) Maned Wolves year round.  To date they have captured 43 individuals in the study area.  The goal is to gather as much information as possible about Maned Wolves in order to establish conservation actions such as habitat restoration, creation of corridors and management of maned wolf populations.  In addition to studying the wolves, the project also strives to educate the people living in communities in the area about the species and how to live peacefully with them.  The group also mediates conflicts between wolves and farmers to help improve attitudes towards the species.  One way the project is doing this is to provide a prototypes of chicken coops designed to keep out wolves to a dozen farms.  Since the initiation of this project, economic losses have been reduced, chicken production has improved, and many farmers are now advocates for the wolves. 

Come and join us this weekend, and don’t miss the ”Carnivore Store” where a variety of paintings of assorted sizes, magnets, photos, and more will be available.  There will also be docents and keepers presenting interesting biofacts to look at and touch in our events area located in front of our newly renovated Jaguar exhibit.  Click here for more details about this event.

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