Archive for the ‘What You Can Do’ Category

Nov
18

Procrasti-Nation and Cell Phone Recycling

Posted by in Africa,Chimpanzee,community-based conservation,Conservation,Endangered Species,Featured,Going Green,Gorilla,What You Can Do

Have you ever asked yourself: What are all these broken cell phones doing in the  drawer?  And then your “other” voice says:  They are not really in the way, I’ll throw them out later.

I had a friend bring me a bag of 6 phones and chargers last week. They were in a box in his garage for 2 years. 6 phones? There are 2 people in his family! We cannot keep up with the cell phone revolution and our landfills should not have to either. To make matters worse, every phone not recovered and recycled is equal to minerals and resources coming directly out of the African Congo. Everyone says – “What can we do?”. Here is what you can do and it really makes a difference.

Bring your cell phone to the zoo for recycling and help save wildlfe, and people, in Africa. Civil wars and rebel groups thrive on the illegal trade in the resources which make our phones,  laptops, digital cameras, and video games run. There is a mineral in our phones called coltan and it acts as a capacitor in your phone. Armed groups in eastern Congo that control minerals, mines and trading routes generate an estimated $180 million each year by trading four main minerals: tin, tantalum (colton), tungsten, and gold.

And with these groups comes habitat destruction, illegal poaching and bushmeat, as well as the loss of human life due to the civil unrest. Something as simple as a cell phone has created a power struggle over resources. By recycling that resource so that it can be refurbished and re-used, we cut down on the amount of product imported, and hopefully slow down the trade.

Want to start a company wide collection program? Schools, Scout troops? Wildlife can use everyone’s help. Contact conservation@houstonzoo.org for more information.

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Oct
19

Sea Turtle Rescue Yesterday at the Houston Zoo!

Posted by in Conservation,Sea Turtles,Texas,What You Can Do

Yesterday afternoon, Dr. Joe Flanagan, the Houston Zoo’s Director of Veterinary Medicine, called over to let us know that we had a wild sea turtle in the zoo hospital with a fishing hook lodged in it’s throat.

The juvenille Green sea turtle had been accidentally hooked by fisherman while they were fishing out in Texas City. The fisherman were very concerned and called the local game warden to come help the turtle. All injured or sick sea turtles are then handed over to the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) sea turtle biologists.  Much of the time, these sea turtles will come to the Houston Zoo to undergo diagnoses, surgery and/or treatment.

Dr Joe examines hook in sea turtle's throat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
After identifying the location of the hook and prepping the sea turtle, surgery begins to carefully remove the hook..
 

Removal of hook

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
After a long, delicate process, the hook is finally removed.
 

Hook that was removed from the sea turtle

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Sea turtle biologist and NOAA employee Lyndsey Howell will now take the sea turtle back to the Sea Turtle Barn in Galveston to let the little guy recuperate. He will then be released back into the wild. 
 

Lyndsey and Green Sea Turtle

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
If you are on the Upper Texas Coast and hook a sea turtle fishing or see a sea turtle that is in distress please call 1866TURTLE5!  To learn more about sea turtle conservation at the Houston Zoo visit our sea turtle page.
 
 
 

Sep
27

JOIN US FOR THE 3RD ANNUAL STATE OF THE PRAIRIE CONFERENCE – Building Prairies From the Back Yard to the Back 40

Posted by in community-based conservation,Going Green,Texas,Uncategorized,What You Can Do

JOIN US FOR THE 3RD ANNUAL STATE OF THE PRAIRIE CONFERENCE

BUILDING PRAIRIES FROM YOUR BACKYARD TO THE BACK 40

NOVEMBER 18-19 IN HOUSTON

 

Coastal Prairie Partnership and Native Prairie Association of Texas are proud to announce the 3rd Annual State of the Prairie Conference to be held in Houston, TX from Nov. 18-19 at the Houston Zoo’s Brown Education Center, followed by field trips to prairie remnants all over Houston. Each year this event attracts the sharpest minds in prairie conservation from Texas, Louisiana, and the Midwest to spark lively conversations and provide practical, real-world solutions to restore, conserve, and educate about local prairies for multiple uses.

 

We’ll have presentations and field experiences that focus on prairies and cattle production, landscaping with prairie natives, ecotourism, biodiversity, prairie wetlands and more. So if you are a rancher, conservationist, landscape architect, educator, naturalist, or just curious about building build prairies in rural or urban areas, this event is for you!

 

What: 3rd Annual State of the Prairie Conference

When: November 18-19, 2011

Where: Houston Zoo’s Brown Education Center – November 18. Various locations around Houston – November 19.

How Much: $50 for indoor session at Houston Zoo (student rate available) on November 18 and $10 – $25 for November 19 Field Experiences.

Registration: Full details and registration available at www.coastalprairie.org

 

Aug
09

Backyard Toad Spotters!

Posted by in amphibians,Conservation,Going Green,Texas,What You Can Do

I love it when our Houston Zoo patrons contact me to share their stories about native wildlife (especially amphibians) in their own backyards. I especially love it when they become so interested that they give these frogs and toads their own fancy names, observe their daily activities, and actually do things to make the toads more comfortable living in an urban environment. Lets face it, it has got to be hard for a little googly eyed toad living in the city and they can use all of the help we can offer them! Toads, and other reptiles and amphibians, are constantly dodging a gambit of dangerous threats such as moving cars, shovels, domestic cats, and concrete being laid on top of their heads!

Janet Denton is one such fabulous Houstonian who attended our Texas Amphibian Workshop back in May and now has become quite familiar with some of the little Coastal Plains Toads calling her backyard their home. These fantastic toads can live in Janets back yard for up to 10 years gobbling up mosquitos and other pesky insects. Go Janet Dentons toads! Do your thing toads!

Janet found that she also has several little toad tadpoles in her small,  man made pond in her back yard, so she has put in a ramp so that the little toads can hop out of the pond once they go through metamophosis. She has also offered them a nutritious and organic collared green leaf which is full of vitamins and nutrients for the little growing polliwogs. One of her little tadpoles has already come out of the water- SEE PHOTO BELOW! Did you know that tadpoles are vegetarians and adult toads are carnivores? They make the switch once they develop their lungs, grow their legs, and pop out of the water.

Here are some photos below of Janet Dentons backyard toads and tadpoles.

Do you have stories of your backyard creatures that you can share?

Toad Que sat on the wheel of our BBQ for three straight nights!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hopps is one of my favorites. Very brave, not scared of me or the dogs.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Piper likes to hang out in the overflow pipe to the pond and watch the world go by.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

You can see a few tadpoles enjoying their collard green.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I'm so excited to announce the sighting of my first toadlet! He (she?) was hopping across the patio at about 8:00 this morning!

 

Jul
29

Special Shelled Ones in the Orangutan Moat at the Houston Zoo- Come See!

Posted by in Borneo,Conservation,Endangered Species,orangutan,What You Can Do

Orangutans are big, orange, hairy, very endangered and unbelievably adorable. I know it’s really hard to look at anything else when you are looking at their big and fantastic ape faces. However, the next time you visit the Houston Zoo, I suggest that you take a second or two to peer down into the orangutan moat…look past the puckering Koi, and keep your eye out for little (and not so little) reptilian heads popping out of the water now and again.

If you are lucky enough to catch a glimpse of one of these little heads…you may have just seen some of the most endangered turtles in the world. One of which is on the TOP 25 most endangered turtles in the world! This turtles name is the Painted Terrapin, he is one of the most colorful turtles in South East Asia and in some areas is actually referred to as the Watermelon terrapin because in the breeding season they actually look like the colors of a watermelon! Males in breeding color also get pale white faces with a red stripe on the top of their head. This beautiful species is close to extinct in the wild because the eggs are relished as a delicacy and their meat is in demand as well.

Here is a picture of our Painted Terrapin accepting a monkey biscuit (their favorite treat) from Primate Keeper Tammy! She loves these turtles!

Painted Terrapin eating biscuit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Painter Terrapin Swimming

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another rare and beautiful turtle that is currently residing in the Orangutan moat is the Giant Malaysian River Turtle, Orlitia borneensis. This is personally one of my favorites. This gigantic and shy turtle is also becoming increasingly exploited for their meat in Southeast Asia and was recently up listed to critically endangered by the IUCN.

Giant River Turtle With Mouth Covered in Biscuits

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peeking out of the Water, So Shy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many turtle species in Asia are suffering shocking declines due to decades of illegal and unsustainable harvest. In addition to habitat loss, these animals are relentlessly collected and trafficked for the pet trade, consumption and medicinal purposes. The Houston Zoo is currently assessing how we may work with our partners in Malaysian Borneo to incorporate turtle research and conservation in the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary. Our partners are already supporting research and conservation efforts for charismatic animals like the Asian elephant and the Orangutan, and now they would like to set their sights on endangered reptiles and amphibians as well. More to come on these efforts so stay tuned!

You can help Southeast Asian turtles by NEVER eating or buying turtle meat, eggs or products when you are traveling overseas.

Jul
18

Vanity Fair: Agony and Ivory

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

Elephant in Hwange National Park. Credit P. Riger

Well, there is a first time for everything. I went to the store and purchased the August issue of Vanity Fair. Not for that perfumy smell we all enjoy, Society, Hollywood or event Style news. I am quite stylish as I am. This months magazine though features a quite good, and lengthy article on illegal poaching of african elephants for their tusks for the just as illegal ivory market.

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2011/08/elephants-201108

It is hard enough to find solutions to protecting wildlife and habitat among the ever growing human population and our need for increased use of natural resources but poaching of elephants and rhinos for cosmopolitan uses leaves us with that shake your head helpless kind of feeling. And it would all come to a stop if certain cultures would realize they do not need an ivory necklace to match their evening gown or to take rhino horn to cure their medical ailments when an aspirin or the latest ED medication will do just fine.

The victims are not only the wildlife but the local people who are employed to do the killing. Many local cultures typically coexist with native wildlife. The article notes directly that the Maasai ”rarely killed elephants, because they revered them and regarded them as almost human, as having souls like us“. But the need, and promise of, money has turned native cultures into hunters of wildlife they once revered. When you live below the poverty level and at times on $1,000USD or less and people are paying you to hunt wildlife, the financial security of your family comes first.

Poaching will continue to grow as long as people living among these species live below the poverty level with little food or water for their families. But not if the product is worthless on the consumer market.

Frolicking in Hwange National Park. Credit P. Riger

The Vanity Fair article touches on the complex problem from user demand to politically sidestepping of the issues and some may not agree with the numbers and discussions but that someone has decided to print such a detailed piece on the trade, in such a widely circulated magazine is applaudable.  Zimbabwe, the Congo, Kenya, Sudan, Central African Republic – all mythical places in many people mind still, those of deepest darkest Africa. Well, there are people and wildlife both struggling to survive in these places and even knowing a little of their struggles could help.

Separate photo piece here: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2011/08/agony-and-ivory-slide-show-201108#slide=1

What can you do? Buy the magazine, read the article and then find a elephant conservation project to support either through the Houston Zoo or our friends at Save the Elephants.

I may not stray far from reading National Geographic or Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine often, but I did manage to shuffle a copy of Vanity Fair through the Krogers check-out line hidden between my Gatorade and cupcakes while mumbling to myself about my favorite color of nail polish and only half the line noticed. And I also learned what Kate and Will were up to on their latest  US visit…

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Jul
06

Adventurous Families Wanted!

Posted by in amphibians,community-based conservation,Conservation,Field Research,Texas,What You Can Do

Sign up now for a unique Wild Winks opportunity to spend the night at the Zoo and assist Conservation Biologist staff from the Zoo in studying a population of wild amphibians!

Use Calipers to Measure Live Toads!

Imagine you and your kids equipped with head lamps and field equipment, something right out of your own National Geographic show! You will capture, measure and weigh live toads and assist an amphibian biologist to tag the animals for future tracking.

Round out the evening with a hearty field dinner of hot pizza and curl into your sleeping bag after a full night’s work in the wilds of the Houston Zoo.

The Toad Trackers program is quite the unforgettable experience. Whether you had childhood dreams of being a wildlife biologist or you have children with a budding interest in wildlife biology and conservation now, this program is for you. Connect with your family through experiencing nature and work as your very own scientist team!

Moms, Dads, photographic opportunity of a lifetime! You and Toads, oh my!

Sign up now for limited summer opportunities!

To learn even more about Toad Trackers visit here.

Toad Tracker Shows Off Her Toad Handeling Technique- Learn this skill and more in Toad Trackers!!!

Jul
02

When is the last time you visited your country’s first national park?

Posted by in Black bears,Carnivores,Travel,What You Can Do

Just in time to celebrate our independence, sign up to experience one of the wildest places in our beautiful country, our very first national park. Travel with a Conservation staff member to Yellowstone National Park September 20 – 24th 2011 and discover what wilderness was long ago. Our ancestors left us a magnificent gift that keeps on giving, our National Park system. Our National Parks ensure that your family and generations to come will be able to experience some of the most intact ecosystems in the United States of America and thereby connect with wilderness and feel whole again.

The Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park, known as “America’s Little Serengeti”,  is one of the only places in the U.S. that you can still see Bison, Pronghorn, Big Horn Sheep, Moose, Grizzly Bears, Black Bears, Wolves and Elk all interacting with each other. Not to mention all of the birds, super fuzzy cute rodents and bubbling geysers. You will go to sleep at night dreaming of wolves stalking and will wake up ready to embrace a hot cup of cocoa and get going again, searching for wildlife and wild places throughout this massive landscape. A highlight from our Spring trip was an afternoon hike to an abandoned wolf den where we were able to inspect the bones of old wolf kills and also identify spring wildflowers, a favored snack for sleepy and lumbering grizzly bears.

Take a look at some photos from our Spring 2011 Yellowstone Trip and contact conservation@houstonzoo.org to learn more or save your spot:


 

Jun
29

I am very dissapointed with you

Posted by in Africa,Chimpanzee,Conservation,Elephant,Endangered Species,What You Can Do

How is that Houston is not on the list of the top ten places for recycling cell phones in 2010? Have you not been listening to us? Have you not visited Willie the Chimpanzee in African Forest and said to yourself “what can I do to help wildlife”? Recycling cell phones help keep wildlife in Africa safe(r). Seems bizarre, but it’s true.

Here are a list of the cities and institutions who have cast shame upon you and will probably do so again in 2011 if you do not go home and empty your drawers of all unneeded cell phones immediately. Numbers to the right are how many they collected for recycling.

  1. Cincinnati Zoo, 10365
  2. Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, 5061
  3. San Diego Zoo, 2611
  4. Calgary Zoo, 2510
  5. Louisville Zoo, 2484
  6. Philadelphia Zoo, 1904
  7. Lion Country Safari, 1626
  8. Boys and Girls Clubs of Puerto Rico, 1626
  9. Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International (Zoo Atlanta), 1535
  10. Bluegrass PRIDE, 1482

 

How is it that a canadian city, someone who has pride in Bluegrass and a handful of zoos in cities smaller than ours managed to collect more cell phones than Houston – we were around #15 at 1,150 phones recycled in 2010 by the way. There are 2 million of you living outside our doors, and everyone of you has a phone!

Well, Houston can do better and our zoo has a special drop box at the front gate for your unwanted cell phones, digital cameras, iPods, laptops, MP3′s, portable hard drives and handheld game systems or you can simply mail them to the Houston Zoo. How about running a company cell phone drive? Boy Scouts? Summer Camp Program? Come on, I know these broken electornics are just lying around in your house reminding you about that bad purchase or how you dropped your phone in a bowl of tomato soup!

I will say this one time and one time only Houstonians:

Why recycle your cell phone? First, it can help the environment by recycling hazardous waste but it also may help animals in the wild. Columbite-tantalite, or Coltan for short, 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.

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Jun
28

Just what you wanted: Recycle This!

Posted by in community-based conservation,What You Can Do

More numbers and figures on recycling. Ready? Let’s go:

Recycling One Ton of Paper will save: 17 trees, 6,953 gallons of water, 463 gallons of oil, 587 pounds of air pollution, 3.06 cubic yards of landfill sapce and over 4,000 kilowatt-hours of energy.

How about One Ton of Glass? By the way glass is heavier than paper so you can reach a ton much quicker! Saves 1,330 pounds of sand, 433 pounds of limestone, 433 pounds of soda ash (the same stuff that maintains your swimming pools pH level) and 151 pounds of feldspar which is a mineral you can find in ceramics, glass and silverware.

Feldspar would also make an excellent name for your next pet. “Have you seen my Guinea Pig Feldspar around the house today?” ” Why, yes I have. He is out checking the pH of your pool with Gilgamesh the Sumerian Bunny”.

Plastic bottles can be recycled into other products such as fleece jackets, sleeping bags, carpeting and more beverage bottles.  And don’t forget aluminum, that is easily recycled everywhere.

So help conserve our natural resources, save energy and landfill space by recycling every product you community or county will allow. And while you are at it  – stop using styrofoam immediately or we will hire Feldspar to do your pool maintenance.

Great Pacific Grabage Patch. Yes, this photo is in the ocean somewhere..

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