Wild Conservation – A Houston Zoo Blog

Woohoo! We have the first Kemp’s ridley sea turtle nest confirmed on the Texas coast during
2010.  It was located at Padre Island National Seashore on the morning of April 24th, 2010.

Breakdown:

KEMP’S RIDLEY TURTLE

So far this year, 1 Kemp’s ridley nest has been confirmed on the Texas
coast including (north to south in state):
Bolivar Peninsula 0
Galveston Island 0
Brazoria County, just north of Surfside 0
Surfside Beach 0
Quintana Beach 0
Bryan Beach 0
Matagorda Peninsula 0
Matagorda Island 0
San Jose Island 0
Mustang Island 0
North Padre Island 1, including 1 at Padre Island National Seashore
South Padre Island 0
Boca Chica Beach 0

The Kemp’s ridley sea turtle is one of the most endangered sea turtles in the world and nests on Texas beaches from April – July. They are the only sea turtle species to nest during the day!

REMEMBER: If you are at the beach and see a sea turtle call 1-866-TURTLE-5!

To learn more about sea turtle conservation efforts at the Houston Zoo click here.

Do you think it’s easy to get a 40 foot shipping container delivered and parked at  the Houston Zoo behind the cheetah exhibit on a Friday afternoon in the middle of the medical center and Hermann Park?

Do you want the short answer? The answer is, no.

You may ask why we would insist on attempting such an unlikely and stressful action. Do you want the short answer?

It’s for the frogs. Panamanian golden frogs to be exact.

Because of a generous shipping container donation from  APL  and with financial assistance provided by Project Golden Frog & an Atelopus Conservation Trust grant, this container will end up at the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center in Panama and will be the new home for the extremely rare Panamanian golden frog, a cultural icon which is believed by some to now be extint in the wild.

This container will be transformed into a romantic spa getaway, amphibian style, with hopes of breeding many golden frogs that can hopefully be returned to their native streams in Panama once a solution to the deadly chytrid fungus can be found.

The container will likely live at the Houston Zoo for the next 6 weeks while it is equipped with needed materials and supplies, then away it goes on a journey to Central America.

Learn more about Amphibian conservation projects that the Houston Zoo is involved with both in Texas and in Panama.

For more information on shipping containers used in amphibian conservation.

Panamanian golden frog

Ever wonder how conserving water at home or work really does have a direct impact on Texas wildlife and habitats?

 The more water we use…the more reservoirs need to be created…the more we loose massive chunks of scenic rivers like the Neches…and the more pristine bottomland forest habitat is flooded that the amazing diversity of east Texas wildlife needs to survive…

Texas Monthly is featuring the beautiful Neches River with a 7-minute video and also with a piece in the May magazine. Texas Monthly tells about the Neches and efforts to have it designated as a National Wild and Scenic River.

 A few tips on what you can do to help save wild Texas rivers like the Neches:

 -Turn off the water when you brush your teeth!

-Only run full loads of dishes and clothing!

-Water your lawn in the early evening on late afternoon!

-Go native (I don’t mean streak naked through your lawn, but instead plant native plants) They require less water, are less susceptible to disease and attract native wildlife like bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.

-Limit baths, take shorter showers!

Last Thursday night I had the distinct pleasure of being one of the lucky few to catch a 1 hour sneak preview of the new Discovery Channel, 11 part wildlife documentary series, LIFE at the Landmark Theater in River Oaks.

If you liked Planet Earth, you are going to love, Life.

The cinematography was beautiful, the animal stories, narrated by Oprah Winfrey, were both educational and humorous in a way only the diva of day time television can deliver.

 The general overview of this part of the series was about amazing animal adaptations, their struggle to survive in a dog eat dog world, and the powerful drive that all living things share, the drive to procreate.

From a band of cheetah brothers teaming up to hunt ostriches, to an up close and personal look at the dedicated parental care of the strawberry dart frog, to capuchins using tools in genius ways to reap the rewards of a hard to crack fruit, to male stalk eyed flies that battle with their googly eyes, the images and stories in Life are truly a breath taking, touching and an intimate look at the individual lives of the amazing and sometimes strange creatures that exist on earth.

Documentaries like LIFE connect people to nature in a way that inspires us to want to preserve the variety of life on this planet, especially when we find that even the smallest creatures on earth are so much like us.

Be sure to check it out this Sunday on the Discovery Channel, you are going to be hooked.

Adult Cheetah, Masai Mara, Kenya

Since it is raining every day in Houston this week, let’s talk about the consequences of prolonged drought and weather pattern shift. Sounds like a weighty topic? It is which is why I am going to just give two examples of the effects changing weather may have on wildlife and people.

Africa 2009. Mali to be exact. Timbuktu! Who thought that was a made up place only seen in movies? Geography lesson – go to a search engine and find Mali within the African continent. Mali holds what is thought to be the last remaning population of desert elephants in Africa and being desert elephants, they have adapted to living in harsh conditions. According to Save the Elephants, each year, these elephants trek farther on the fringes of the Sahara to find water. They have the longest migration route of any in the continent, traveling “in a counterclockwise circle” of about 700 kilometers (435 miles).

Here is the lingering issue from what is perceived to be the worst drought in nearly three decades in that region. The lack of water has forced elephants to compete with the herdsmen who manage livestock for water resources such as waterholes and wells, many of them man-made for the livestock. The herdsmen need to feed their communities and the wildlife need to drink to survive so you can see the serious issue that can and did occur. In other parts of Africa, this scenario played out with the continents top predators such as Lions and Leopards.

In East Africa, drought sticken lands led to loss of vegetation so when the rains finally did arrive in the fall they brought with them mudslides, crop destruction, waterborne diseases and disrupted road networks accoridng to the the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Back home in Texas, drought hit Central and Southern Texas and is actually into it’s 3rd year and is effecting some of the areas natural resources such as the spring-fed Barton Creek, a popular tourist destination as well as wildlife, ranchers and agricultural operations.

Enjoy the wet weather while we have it. It is consistent weather patterns we need to break these erratic cycle worldwide.

I am just passing this along as I get ready to toss out the phonebooks under the counter from 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009…where do they all come from! I think I will build a fort with them first.

You can Opt Out of receiving these at the following website: http://www.yellowpagesgoesgreen.org/

You can recycle your unused phone directories at http://www.yellowpages.com/recycle

 This is completely your choice. If you use them, by all means do not opt out of the individual directories.

I hate year ending lists. So here is a year starting list of both children’s and adult books and video you may want to take a look at in 2010.

Disclaimer – I have read/viewed most of these and the opinion is my own and not that of the Houston Zoo’s. I just thought they were interesting to read. Since I read mostly field guides, this list will be extremely short-sighted…

Documentaries:

Ken Burns National Parks was on PBS this year and the series was excellent.

Planet Earth has been repeated on Discovery Channel quite a bit this year but try and catch Blue Planet which I believe came before the Planet Earth series. There is little on Earth which is more amazing then the unknown nature of the world’s Oceans.

On to the books…

Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems. Neither truly rat, nor mole, yet mostly naked – what happens when one wants to get dressed?

Stellaluna by Janell Cannon. 10 years later and still a classic. Check out Janell Cannon’s Verdi when you are done.

The Story of the Little Mole Who Went In Search of Whodunnit by Werner Holzwirth. Yes, kids do enjoy this topic.

The King of the Gobi. This children’s book by John Hare is only available through the Wild Camel Protection Foundation in the UK unfortunately http://www.wildcamels.com/ We are all familiar with Camels but few people realize the Bactrian Camel is only a few steps away from becoming extinct in the wild. John Hare’s The Lost Camels of Tartary and Shadows Across the Sahara are available in the US.

Gorilla Doctors: Saving Endangered Great Apes by Pam Turner. Great photos and takes you into the world of wildlife medicine in the field

The Rhino With Glue on Shoes And Other Surprising True Stories of Zoo Vets and their Patients. Lucy Spelman editor. An assortment of short stories from zoo veterinarians.

Rare Plants of Texas: A Field Guide. Texas A&M University Press. Not a sit down and read book but at 650+ pages – a very good guide to the rare plants of Texas which oddly happens to be the title.

Witness to Extinction: How We Failed to Save the Yangtze River Dolphin. Samuel Turvey. Makes you think twice about how things are supposed to work…

Living Light by Kevin Schafer. Fantastic book of photography images.

Mountain Gorillas: Biology, Conservation and Coexistence. This is a good introduction for anyone interested in mountain gorilla conservation.

Stories That Float from Afar: Ancestral Folklore of the San of Southern Africa (Texas A&M University anthropology series). Collection of folk stories from the “Bushmen” of Southern Africa

Orangutans: Geographical Variation in Behavioral Ecology and Conservation. Yes, I know, not exactly nightstand book but I read most of it and thus it makes the list.

Lastly, let me finish with this one:

Fragile: The Human Condition. Howard G. Buffett and Shakira Mebarak. Images are stunning and the reality of the messages will make you want to step back and hopefully motivate people to make a change. Sometimes we read books to relax and get away from the day to day. This book may just toss you right back in.