ZOO FACT: Since 1996, Denver Zoo has actively participated in 74 different conservation projects at the Zoo—helping to protect a range of species from condors to cheetahs.
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The conservation of wild populations is a top priority for Denver Zoo. Often, however, research studies involving our own Zoo collection animals provide a safer, more efficient, and more cost-effective way to obtain the critical data and insight needed to conserve species in the wild. Our highly-skilled and compassionate keepers, veterinarians and senior staff are involved in many in-house conservation and research projects every year. In 2010 we are working on several fantastic conservation projects at the Zoo, including the following four:
Cinereous vulture chick |
Developing assisted reproductive technologies for cinereous vultures. Denver Zoo’s Mary Jo Willis, with help from Dr. Julie Long and Dr. Jesus Pelaez (both of the USDA), has been working on this SSP supported program since 1996. This project is coupled with a field component in Mongolia, comparing reproductive rates of cinereous vultures in the Zoo with those in the wild. This comparative data will better enable us to evaluate zoos’ success in propagating a near-threatened species by improving captive breeding rates.
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Project Golden Frog. Denver Zoo has been heavily involved in the conservation of the Panamanian golden frog, Atelopus zeteki, a species that is highly endangered because of habitat loss and the spread of the deadly chytrid fungus. In response to the declines and disappearances of golden frog populations, Denver Zoo joined a group of concerned biologists and formed Project Golden Frog (PGF), a conservation consortium among scientific, educational, and zoological institutions in the Republic of Panama and United States. Tropical Discovery Area Supervisor, Tom Weaver, serves as merchandise chairman and treasurer for PGF /Atelopus Conservation Trust. Denver Zoo raises money and gives out small grants to people working in Atelopus research. We raised more than $20,000 in 2008 and 2009. Additionally, Denver Zoo is actively involved in the golden frog SSP committee and deeply committed to rearing assurance populations of this charismatic amphibian. For more information on the Amphibian Extinction Crisis, please follow the link or email, tweaver@denverzoo.org.
Double-crested cormorants
on Duck Lake |
Participation in Audubon Society’s annual Christmas Bird Count. Denver Zoo has been a participant of the National Audubon Society’s annual Christmas Bird Count since 1996. For more than 100 years, Audubon and other organizations have used data collected in this influential wildlife census to assess the health of bird populations and to help guide conservation action. Denver Zoo’s Brad Parks and his team of volunteers have sighted 115 bird species in the Zoo and the adjacent City Park. Parks annually records nesting double-crested cormorants, snowy egrets and black-crowned night herons through the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory’s colony watch. Two colonies in City Park have been designated as valuable bird habitats. The Audubon Society of Greater Denver conducts the Christmas bird count on New Year’s Day. For information on how to participate please contact Brad Parks at bparks@denverzoo.org.
Nias the orangutan swinging on rope enrichment
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Evaluating orangutan enrichment devices for application in Borneo. Loss of habitat and pet-trade captures threaten the survival of orangutans, found in ever-decreasing numbers on the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra. In response to these threats, organizations such as Bornean Orangutan Survival (BOS) created rehabilitation centers. With fewer wild habitats available to release orangutans, more orangutans spend longer times at these centers. As a result, the centers have asked for help with their animal care programs, including enrichment designed to meet the unique challenges, and needs of these intelligent primates. In 2009, Denver Zoo staff worked with Otto Environmental, Inc. to design puzzle feeders that mount from the outside of orangutan enclosures. Denver Zoo’s Curator of Behavioral Husbandry, Emily Insalaco, conducted an observation study to test the puzzle feeders’ effectiveness with Denver Zoo orangutans. The feeders significantly increased the amount of time animals spent off the ground and eating, while decreasing overall inactivity. In 2010, DZF staff including Primate Area Supervisor, Ronda Schwetz, travelled to Indonesia to deliver and install the feeders at the various rehabilitation centers. She also collected video of the devices being successfully used by the orangutans there.
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