Wild Conservation - A Houston Zoo Blog

Artwork Auction to Benefit Haiti Recovery

Peter — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:33:00 +0000

Nebula by By Houston Zoo Elephants: Thai, Methai, Shanti, Tess and Tucker

Our orangs and elephants have created 2 unique, beautiful paintings which we are auctioning off on eBay. All proceeds from this painting will go to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.

Previous zoo art sales have raised money for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, in which more than 200,000 people died, and for wildlife conservation.

To bid on these items, go to:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260561583318

or

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260561586452

Check out the Houston Chronicle March 10th article by Allan Turner at http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6907358.html

Return from Rwanda

Peter — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:00:29 +0000

I just returned from a short visit to Musanze, Rwanda and the Art of Conservation program. While there, we taught in both the Rushubi Primary School and Nyange Primary Schools 5th grade classes.

Arts and Crafts projhect are part of the teaching experience in the Rushubi Primary School class. Photo by Molly Feltner.

Art of Conservation, Inc. educates Rwandans about conservation and the importance of maintaining a healthy environment for both people and animals while instilling them with an understanding and respect for themselves, their peers, and the natural world. AoC is led by Julie Ghrist and her team, Valerie Akuredusenge, Eric Mutabazi, Innocent Uwizeye, Olivier Habimana, and Fahad Ndangiza.

Showing photos of endangered animals from around the world to the students. Photo by Molly Feltner.

The visit gave us the opportunity to interact with the Art of Conservation and their students to see how the Houston Zoo could help with the development of their program.

We are looking forward to working with The Art of Conservation and their students. Check back for more information on this effort in the coming weeks ahead.

East Texas Black Bear Educator Workshop a Success!

Peter — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:55:28 +0000

Several months in the making-on February 27th we held our first ever regional Black Bear Teacher Workshop. The workshop was a joint effort between the Houston Zoo and the National Park Service Big Thicket National Preserve. We had an outstanding 85 teachers and wildlife educators in attendance representing 7 different school districts in the East Texas region and several Houston ISD teachers as well. Individuals from the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler as well as several NGO’s, Texas Master Naturalists, state and federal agency representatives were participants in the workshop as well.

Educators were given packets including the Houston Zoo’s Educators Guide to the Black Bears of East Texas, as well as many other resources and educational materials pertaining to black bears. Presentations were given by both Houston Zoo and National Park Service staff. Participants learned about the ecology, history and present status of black bears in Texas, participated in activities that can be duplicated in their classrooms and integrated into wildlife education programs. They also earned 3 credit hours of state education continuing credit hours. The morning was rounded out with a leisurely walk in the Preserve lead by park service staff. Pre and Post evaluation surveys were conducted on participant’s attitudes and misconceptions about black bears and their return to Texas.

There were 13 black bear sightings in Texas in 2009 and already a handful in 2010. Education and outreach is the key to the successful return of this charismatic, yet often misunderstood important animal back to our proud state.

Wildlife of Africa in Bronze and Art

Peter — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:00:20 +0000

The Wildlife of Africa with Wildlife Sculptor Rob Glen and Artist Sue Stolberger, Kenya and Tanzania’s Ruaha National Park

April 22- 29, 2010, Houston Zoo’s Brown Education Center

Please join the Houston Zoo for a special exhibition as we welcome Sculptor Robert Glen and Artist Sue Stolberger for a weeklong event: The Wildlife of Africa

Both Robert and Sue hold a special place in their hearts for Ruaha National Park, Tanzania. As their home for many years, this vast area of virtually untouched wilderness teems with wildlife and stunning scenery, providing endless inspiration and motivation for the artists.

Robert Glen Sculptures in Bronze http://www.robertglen.com/

African Art by Sue Stolberger http://www.suestolberger.com/

Prairie Chicken #2: History of the Attwater’s Prairie Chicken

Peter — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:00:18 +0000

The Attwater’s Prairie Chicken (Tympanuchus cupido attwateri) is a species of grouse that once numbered at least a million along millions of acres of the coastal prairies of Texas and Louisiana. As people became more and more industrialized, more and more native grasslands were plowed for crops and pastures. By 1919, the Attwater’s prairie chicken had vanished from Louisiana and their numbers in Texas were dwindling. By 1937, hunting of the Attwater’s ended because only around 8,700 of the birds were left in Texas. In 1967, they were listed as endangered and in 1973 they were protected by the Endangered Species Act. Now these birds are down to just three small tracts of prairie land – The Attwater’s Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge (APCNWR), The Nature Conservancy’s Texas Prairie Preserve (TNC), and some private land near Goliad, Texas.

So few Attwater’s Prairie Chickens were left in the wild, that a captive breeding program had to be created to save the species. The program began in 1992 and the Houston Zoo joined the effort soon after that.

The Houston Zoo works in cooperation with five other zoological institutions as part of the Attwater’s Prairie Chicken Recovery Team: Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, San Antonio Zoo, Sea World of San Antonio, Caldwell Zoo, and Abilene Zoo. These facilities work in conjunction with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and The Nature Conservancy in order to help the Attwater’s Prairie Chicken population grow in the wild through captive breeding, rearing, and release into the wild.

Attwater Prairie Chicken Part #1 was posted 2/16/10

Rwanda: Alternative Fuel Sources

Peter — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 13:00:53 +0000

Hey – he’s just stealing other peoples blogs! Don’t re-create the blog I always say and I am fairly confident you are just not going to stumble across this by yourself.

How do you heat your home or cook on a stove when you do not have electricity? You cut down your forest trees and turn them into charcoal. The illegal charcoal trade is a serious issue in many Central and West African nations. One project we are familiar with is the Kibale Fuel Wood Project managed by the New Nature Foundation.

Back to the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project and some blog thievery on my part. In January, the Agriculture Project Coordinator for the MGVP One Health program helped introduce fuel briquette technology to the community, reducing their need for charcoal and turning it into a business opportuntiy. Click on the link for the full blog.

So – no direct plagiarism on my part and I am standing here in Rwanda staring at a fuel briquette which gives me at least some rights to steal their blog.

Rwanda: Gorilla Doctors

Peter — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:00:52 +0000

These are not your ordinary veterinarians, and they do make house calls – even if it takes trekking 6 hours up a mountian to get there…

Gorilla Doctors work for the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project (MGVP, Inc.)–one of few conservation programs in the world to provide health care for an endangered species in its natural habitat. MGVP’s mission is to improve the sustainability of Mountain Gorilla populations using an integrated, or “one-health,” approach that combines health care, research, capacity building, information sharing, and strategic partnerships.

Follow their blog here. The stories are inspirational, amazing and sometimes heartbreaking. The note that the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project dedicate every minute of the day to our amazing patients: the gentle giants of the forest, the critically endangered Gorillas.

I am lucky enough to know some of the Gorilla Doctors and they truly are 100% dedicated to the wildlife and communities they serve. Even today – in a worldm ired in technology, there are people who still do inspire others.

Rwanda

Peter — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:00:05 +0000

I am off to Rwanda to visit the town of Musanze at the base of the Volcanoes National Park, home to half of the worlds remaining 700+ Mountain Gorillas. This trip unfortunately will not bring me to the gorillas, but I will be spending time with our friends at Art of Conservation.

Art of Conservation works in poor rural communities surrounding Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, teaching schoolchildren about the importance of maintaining a healthy environment for both people and animals and instilling them with an understanding and respect for themselves, their peers, and the natural world.

The Houston Zoo believes that the health of wildlife is directly linked to the health of the people with whom they share their habitat, as well as the health of the people living in the communities surrounding those habitats. Education and community health initiatives are equally important as wildlife research efforts. For a program to be successful, the three pieces cannot be separated from one another.

Long term education programs have to be put in place with the aim of changing the attitudes of local people to the value of wildlife. If we want to ensure the survival of wildlife and wild-places in the future we also have to address our conservation effort to the future generation – the children. At the same time, we have to help these communities find sustainable resources and economic solutions for those resources.

Spain has Picasso. France has Monet. The Houston Zoo has Cheyenne

Peter — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:00:03 +0000

Cheyenne's Electric Passion, 2008

Artists come in all shapes and sizes, all ages and skill levels, and now – in all species. Cheyenne, a 36-year-old orangutan, is our local art scholar. She is known for having a multi-faceted personality, which is reflected in the wide-range of art she has produced.

Whether she is being silly, serious, or serene, Cheyenne’s art is widely considered to be the most beautiful and impressive at the Zoo. So much so that one of her paintings was once featured on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Cheyenne’s limited edition artwork will be part of our next Pongos Helping Pongos Art Event and Auction to raise funds for Orangutan and Elephant conservation programs in Borneo. Visit Cheyenne’s webpage at https://www.houstonzoo.org/meet-cheyenne/

Red List of Threatened Species

Peter — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:00:49 +0000

We use the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species to determine the conservation status of a species. IUCN is the International Union for the Conservation of Species and the IUCN has for more than four decades been assessing the conservation status of species, subspecies, varieties, and even selected subpopulations on a global scale in order to highlight taxa threatened with extinction, and therefore promote their conservation.

For example, they list over 35,000 species by taxonomic group in their database. From crustaceans to arthropods, birds and frogs to mammals and plants, the IUCN evaluates every species they possibly can to help define its conservation need.

Pop on over to their website www.redlist.org type in the name of an animal and you will be taken to its designation along with maps, natural history and notes on the species conservation need.