Posts Tagged ‘Ocelot’

Apr
17

Guest Blogger Carolyn Jess Discusses the Ocelot

Posted by in Conservation,Endangered Species,Guest Blogger,What You Can Do

Carolyn Jess is an 11 year old student who has agreed to be our special guest blogger about wildlife conservation. We first met Carolyn in October 2011 when she came out to the Zoo to meet our special guest Jack Hannah, who was visiting the Zoo to speak at our Conservation Gala. If you would like to contact Carolyn or have comments, you may send them to conservation@houstonzoo.org.

 

Ocelots

 

Four years ago, I first learned about an endangered animal that has become one of my favorites – the ocelot. The ocelot, which is a cat, has a beautiful coat with spots.  It is about twice the size of a normal house cat.  The ocelot lives in the low shrub lands of southTexas.  There are only about 100 ocelots left in theUnited Stateswith half of them living inTexasat the Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge.  The reason why the ocelot is endangered is because their habitat is being destroyed due to housing and other developments.  People are also killing them for their beautiful pelts and some ocelots get hit by cars.

Two years ago, I traveled to the Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge in hopes of spotting an ocelot.  I knew my chances of seeing one were very slim, but I hoped for a miracle that day.  Well, my miracle didn’t happen.  I did not get to see my ocelot out in the wild.  I did manage to see a stuffed one in a display case – he had been killed by a speeding car.  I was disappointed but this helped me to be even more concerned with the ocelots’ survival.

I have continued to raise funds for the endangered ocelot.  A great place that I found to send my donations to is the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Center at Texas A&M Kingsville.  Dr. Michael Tewes works directly with the ocelot and is the director of feline research.  He has used my donations to purchase camera equipment to monitor the ocelot population in Texas.  Mike really cares about the ocelot and works really hard to help these big cats have a fighting chance.

If you would like to see one of the few remaining ocelots, you can visit Novia at the Houston Zoo. She has overcome many obstacles in her life.  She is beautiful and agile and is probably one of the few live ocelots you and I will get to see.

Are you ready to help the ocelot?  If you answered yes, there are some things you can do.  First, you can visit my website:  www.ocelotrescue.webstarts.com.  This website gives facts about the ocelot and other great information like why you should help this big cat.  You could learn more about the ocelot by checking out a book from the library or searching on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.  One of the BEST ways to help is to go see Novia at the Houston Zoo and tell your friends about how close the ocelot is to disappearing forever.

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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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