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  • The Zoo is going global with conservation efforts

    The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO
    May 5 2004


    The Zoo is going global with conservation efforts
    By Diane Toroian Keaggy
    Of the Post-Dispatch


    The St. Louis Zoo has spent 10 years and $70 million restoring its
    home in Forest Park. Now, it wants to help restore the planet.

    The Zoo will announce Wednesday a major conservation initiative that
    will put Zoo scientists and resources in 12 troubled habitats across
    the globe. Leaders say the St. Louis Zoo WildCare Institute will
    establish reserves, study endangered species and teach indigenous
    people how to best manage their land and wildlife.

    Zoo President Jeffrey Bonner calls the project "one of the most
    momentous steps the St. Louis Zoo has ever taken," and
    conservationists praise the effort as a comprehensive approach to
    ecology.

    "The Zoo is in fabulous condition," said Bonner, who joined the Zoo
    in 2002. "We've spent an awful lot of money on infrastructure and
    exhibits. We're now in a position to really make a contribution
    nationally and internationally. We have the talent and the
    expertise."

    The Zoo already participates in dozens of conservation initiatives,
    but Bonner says its efforts "have been a mile wide and an inch deep."
    Zoo scientists hope a more focused approach will lead to lasting
    change.

    "We went to our people and said pick something you're really
    passionate about, someplace where you think you can make a
    difference," said Dr. Eric Miller, who has been named director of the
    WildCare Institute.

    Miller, a veterinarian, has served as director of animal health and
    conservation for the past decade. "Conservation has always been very
    important at the Zoo, but we expect to make a real impact here."

    The Institute's work, which has started already in some locales, will
    span the globe. Conservation centers will be established in a dozen
    habitats: the Galapagos Islands, the Ozarks, Mexico, Guatemala,
    Nicaragua, Peru, Madagascar, Armenia, the Horn of Africa, southern
    and western Africa and Papua New Guinea. Some 40 universities,
    conservation groups and zoos will partner with the institute at the
    centers.

    The institute will primarily focus on species that live at the Zoo,
    such as Grevy's zebras, antelope, Humboldt penguins, echidnas and
    cheetahs. On the coast of Peru, for example, uncontrolled commercial
    fishing and farming have damaged the breeding ground of the Humboldt
    penguin. On the Galapagos Islands, introduced diseases threaten
    numerous bird species. And on the Horn of Africa, overgrazing has
    pushed Grevy's zebras off their land. Closer to home, in the Ozarks,
    river pollution could be killing off giant salamanders known as
    hellbenders.

    The strategies to protect these species are as diverse as the
    habitats they call home. Typically, conservation biologists will
    survey wild populations and assess threats such as disease, habitat
    loss and pollution. But scientists are not the only ones who will
    assist in conservation. In western Africa, lobbyists will fight for
    the ban of uncontrolled hunting. In Peru, guards will protect the
    fragile coast.

    And at every center, local people will work with scientists and
    educators to protect their native lands. The institute will provide
    teacher workshops in Papau New Guinea, train park rangers in the
    Galapagos Islands and employ local workers to survey animal
    populations in Nicaragua and Africa.

    "It makes no sense to work with Grevy's zebras if you are not
    working in the classroom with those little kids, ensuring when they
    grow up and become decision makers that value Grevy's and will
    continue to protect them," said Bonner. "In the end, the biological
    problems are the easy ones. It's the human dimension that creates the
    most intractable issues."

    Miller said local people valued their native species just as
    Americans valued the buffalo and eagle. Still, it's difficult to ask
    societies to consider the long-term good of the ecosystem when their
    children need to eat today. In those cases, the institute will appeal
    to the population's pocketbook. For instance, in Kenya, the institute
    will install permanent water for the community. In return, ranchers
    won't graze on the zebras' land.

    "At this stage of our development, it's easy to say, 'What are those
    people doing?' Well, at this point of our development in the U.S.,
    we've hunted the passenger pigeon to extinction and we nearly did it
    to the buffalo. So we're trying to help them not follow in our
    footsteps," said Miller. "Most of them don't set out and say, 'We
    want to trash our wildlife.'"

    If indigenous communities struggle to find the relevance of the
    Armenian mountain viper or lemurs in Madagascar, why on earth should
    St. Louisans care about such species? Because we have as much to lose
    as they do, said Bonner. As an example, he cites overgrazing in
    Africa, which has led to harsher weather patterns here.

    "The Sahara is getting bigger and bigger because there is less and
    less vegetation to hold it back. If the desert doubles in size,
    everything in our climate will change, and, in fact, everything is
    changing because of changes in Africa," said Bonner. "You cannot be
    divorced in St. Louis from what's happening in Africa. Everything is
    connected to everything else."

    That message will be brought home to the St. Louis Zoo through new
    exhibits, zookeeper chats, publications and even a new marketing
    campaign.

    "For years we've had the tagline, 'Can you come out and play?' and
    it's a fantastic tagline because it helps people understand that this
    is a delightful place to come and visit," said Bonner. "And we want
    to always be that. But you're also going to hear the message 'animals
    always.' Your concept of a zoo has to change."

    Conservationists applaud the Zoo's initiative. Though the Bronx Zoo
    is the undisputed leader in research and conservation efforts, zoo
    professionals and ecologists say the WildCare Institute boosts the
    reputation of the Zoo, already an authority in animal contraception
    and nutrition.

    "Their approach is absolutely correct," said Nat Frazer, chairman of
    the Department of Wildlife Ecology at the University of Florida and
    adviser to the institute. "They were one of the first zoos to become
    concerned not only about animals in captivity but in the wild. When
    they contacted me, I did not hesitate. They are an excellent
    collaborator and one of those places that really brings people
    together."

    The institute will be funded by a $19 million gift from the St. Louis
    Zoo Friends Association, as well as revenue from the Zoo's
    Conservation Carousel, grants, gifts and interest from a new
    endowment fund. No tax revenue generated from the Zoo-Museum District
    will be used.

    Still, Bonner hopes the community will support the endeavor, perhaps
    financially but mostly through continued visits.

    "When you go talk to Conservation International or the World Wildlife
    Fund, they envy us to the nth degree, because no one ever visits the
    WWF. It's a building in D.C.," said Bonner. "But we have 3 million
    people clamoring to visit us. It's the educational component that
    really makes zoos very unique and powerful forces for conservation
    and research. We can take the message to the public so they
    understand why caring for living things on this planet is such a
    critical endeavor."

    Zoo outreach

    The Zoo's conservation initiative will focus on the following species
    and habitats:
    Cheetah: The world's fastest land mammal, cheetahs number less than
    12,000.
    Armenian viper: Farming has led to an 88 percent drop in Armenian
    vipers over the past 20 years.
    Addax: As few as 200 addaxes may be left in Africa. Hunters consider
    them a prize kill.
    Hellbender: Hellbenders - an ancient breed of salamander - are
    disappearing from the Ozarks, and scientists don't yet know why.
    Lemur: Lemurs live exclusively in Madagascar, where logging has
    reduced the forests by 85 percent.
    Horned guan: Only 1,000 horned guans remain in Mexico and Guatemala,
    where loggers and coffee farmers have destroyed their habitat.
    Echidna: The spiky echidna is one of many unique species at risk in
    Papua New Guinea.
    Humboldt penguin: Farmers have damaged the rocky coastline where
    Humboldts breed.
    Grevy's zebra: Unlike the plentiful plains zebras, Grevy's zebras are
    losing their land and water supply to farmers and ranchers.
    American burying beetle: The American burying beetle, which once
    resided in 35 states, has not been seen in Missouri since 1982.
    Galapagos Islands: Introduced diseases threaten the wild birds of the
    Galapagos Islands. Though several species are critically endangered,
    none are extinct.
    Bosawas Biosphere Reserve in Nicaragua: The indigenous people of
    Bosawas are trying to stave off settlers who steal parrots, cut
    mahogany trees and practice slash-and-burn farming.


    Reporter Diane Toroian Keaggy
    E-mail: [email protected]
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