Oakland Zoo 2018 Conservation Report

2018 CONSERVATION HIGHLIGHTS

TAKING ACTION FOR WILDLIFE

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...AT ...ATTHE THEZOO ZOO

A note to our friends The past year was a monumental one for Oakland Zoo. Unveiling California Trail in July, we invited the world to share in the stories of the animals in this remarkable exhibit: their individual journeys, their species, and their conservation challenges. With the help of our incredible, conservation partners we launched California Trail as a mission-driven project. We asked the public to join us in Taking Action for Wildlife, and you did.

...IN OAKLAND

...IN CALIFORNIA

...IN THE USA

Saving animals starts at the Zoo. We did this with you; our inspired community, visitors and wildlife advocates. Wildlife protection is more pressing than ever before, and we intended to make a tangible difference by offering people ways to take action through powerful and effective campaigns. These action-based campaigns were an accessible, easy, and fun way for people to aid conservation efforts with every trip to the Zoo.

We created postcard stations where guests of all ages could write messages of support and thanks to our conservation partners who are saving wolves and mountain lions in the field. We also sent thousands of postcards to our government, urging elected officials to reinstate the ban on trophy hunting. Campaigns like these make an impact, and we thank you for joining us in the forefront of this movement in wildlife advocacy and protection.

At every opportunity, we talked about the rescue stories of the animals at California Trail: How humanwildlife conflict brought many of them to us when release back into the wild wasn’t possible; and how people can live sustainably at home while helping support human-wildlife conflict solutions.

California Trail is a basecamp for our Taking Action for Wildlife initiative, helping foster education and action around sustainability. As a marker of our commitment to sustainability, we officially changed the name of our governing organization to the Conservation Society of California.

Dr. Joel Parrott President & CEO

...GLOBALLY

Amy Gotliffe Director, Conservation

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TAKING ACTION

BY NUMBERS

5

500

rescued, treated and cared for until a new home was found

collected by teens to name herons as the official bird of The City of Oakland

ORPHANED MOUNTAIN LION CUBS

SIGNATURES

20k INDIVIDUAL UP - CYCLED PAPER BEADS

sold to the Oakland Zoo community, supporting African women artisans & chimpanzees in Uganda

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STUDENT TEACHERS TRAINED

by Oakland Zoo educators in Madagascar, reaching over 400 children per year!

450k+ VISITORS

to California Trail

2k

SEA TURTLES released safely into their ocean home by the Oakland Zoo Taking Action for Wildlife expedition with ARCAS on the west coast of Guatemala

7.5k sent for wildlife campaigns to change hearts, minds & policies

4k

...IN OAKLAND

...IN THE USA

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MALE GRIZZLY BEAR brothers rescued from Alaska and given a forever home

for California Wolf Center by the children of Oakland Zoo’s ZooCamp

700 HOURS

of chopping fruit & cleaning enclosures to help ARCAS rehabilitate & release wildlife saved from the illegal animal trade in Guatemala

5

2586

treated for lead poisoning & released back into the wild

donated $4,000 through our gift shop’s Round Up for Wolves program

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$

RAISED

...AT THE ZOO

CONSERVATION PARTNERS GLOBALLY

CALIFORNIA CONDORS

POSTCARDS

HOURS

...GLOBALLY

332k

for Arroyo Viejo Creek Cleanup from local wildlife volunteers

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$

RAISED & DONATED

by Oakland Zoo to conservation partners & programs around the globe

COMPASSIONATE ZOO VISITORS

3k

BLACK BEARS a mother & three cubs given a permanent home, after being caught in the human-wildlife conflict and deemed unreleasable back into the wild

25+

...IN CALIFORNIA

NEW WATER REFILL STATIONS just in time for the Plastic Free July Challenge

PARTNERS IN TAKING ACTION

I would like to say that sharing a sense of humor and a profound human relationship defines who we are as partners, but I would be wrong. It is the desire to have animals feel like animals, and to keep the wild alive that drives the friendship and heartfelt relationship that we have. A friendship (because it is more than a partnership) that has seen animals be released and monitored, has seen welfare issues resolved and worked on, but mostly that looks to the future together, animals and humans alike.

ALEJANDRO MORALES DVM, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, ARCAS

North America Bay Area Puma Project Northern California Performing Animal Welfare Society Northern California Marine Mammal Center Northern California Butterfly Conservation Initiative USA Ventana Wildlife Society Big Sur, California; condors California Wolf Center Julian, California Golden Gate Audubon Society Bay Area; birds Iinnii Initiative Montana; bison BEAR League Northern California Mountain Lion Foundation USA Pinnacles National Park Condor Project California

Central/South America ARCAS Guatemala; illegal pet trade macaws/turtles Proyecto Tití Colombia Project Golden Frog Panama Kaminando Jaguar Connectivity Project Panama Asia Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre Malaysian Borneo Animals Asia China, Vietnam WCS Tiger Project Pan – Asia Hornbill Nest Project Thailand

Africa 96 Elephants East Africa Amboseli Trust for Elephants Kenya Reticulated Giraffe Project Kenya Ewaso Lions Kenya Budongo Snare Removal Project Uganda; chimps Uganda Carnivore Program Uganda; lions, leopards, hyenas Lion Recovery Fund Uganda Africa Matters Zimbabwe; community conservation Centre ValBio Madagascar; lemurs Global Seafood Watch Program Lubee Bat Conservancy SaveNature.org

Sparking the Joy of Sustainability Oakland Zoo took leaps in sustainability this year California Trail was built to help support native wildlife and inspire visitor action. Several water bottle refill stations were installed for our guests to encourage the use of reusable bottles. Brand new trash, recycling, and compost bins were installed as bear-and-wildlife-safe, offering detailed signage to ensure correct deposits by both staff and public. At the California Wilds! Playground, kids in the play area romp on a ground made of recycled tires. The Landing CafĂŠ offers compostable cutlery, shade grown coffee, and delicious vegetarian options. The Habitarium invites visitors to record the actions of the Grizzly bears with upcycled CDs, and inspires everyone to take eco-actions through an Action Tree pledge, a magnetic selfie wall, and profiles of Everyday Eco-Heroes.

A New Forever Home for Rescued Grizzly Bears The flag of California proudly displays an iconic grizzly bear, though they have not roamed free in our state since 1922.

When four young male grizzly bears became a public threat in Alaska and were non-releasable, they needed a home. Working with the Alaska Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Alaska Zoo, we at the Oakland Zoo arranged for the two sets of brown and grizzly bear cubs to be flown via special FedEx jet to our facility. They now enjoy a 2.5 acre habitat on the California Trail, where they inspire conversation about living with wildlife, and how to prevent future extirpation of a species in our state.

...IN THE USA

...AT THE ZOO

4

450k+

MALE GRIZZLY BEAR

VISITORS

to California Trail

9

brothers rescued from Alaska and given a forever home

Wildlife Emergency Response This year’s wildfires ravaged California, posing unique challenges for both wild and domestic animals. When the call came in from Oaklandbased Hopalong Animal Rescue asking for help evacuating dogs, an Oakland Zoo staff member collected supplies and headed to the burn area. She located the distressed dogs and drove them to safety. The zoo was called into action again in the fall when two young mountain lions were individually rescued by California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Oakland Zoo cared for and introduced the two to each other before sending them to their forever home at Como Zoo in Minnesota.

Providing Community Wildlife Resources This year we also collaborated on a statewide mountain lion brochure to help people better understand these magnificent carnivores, and worked together to educate people on how to protect pets and livestock. Every one of these actions creates good will and protects our native lions.

LYNN CULLENS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MOUNTAIN LION FOUNDATION

In order to serve the local community with any wildlife emergency need or issue, we developed and launched a resource hub on the Oakland Zoo’s website called Living with California Wildlife.

Oakland Zoo envisions a state where we understand and live sustainably with mountain lions. Therefore, we teamed up with Wild Futures, Mountain Lion Foundation, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and other organizations to produce a California Mountain Lion informational brochure that offers guidance on how to live in harmony with our native big cats.

The California Trail is going to be a game changer for wildlife conservation in our region!

That thrilling experience will motivate tens of thousands of people to want to take the next steps to help wildlife to thrive. As an Oakland Zoo/CSC partner, Golden Gate Audubon welcomes the prospect of so many more people eager to take action to benefit the native and migratory species that make California such a biodiversity hotspot.

CINDY MARGULIS, GOLDEN GATE AUDUBON

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20

STUDENT TEACHERS TRAINED

A New Hub for Public Conservation Action

by Oakland Zoo educators in Madagascar

Inspiration The Habitarium at California Trail served as a launchpad for a new research tent, creating a headquarters for California wildlife conservation.

Action We started a postcard campaign where guests could write to the U.S Department of the Interior, urging them to reconsider their decision about removing the ba0n on trophy hunting.

...GLOBALLY

Educators Take Action for Wildlife Oakland Zoo Educators, Teen Wild Guides and Docents!

Oakland Zoo’s Education Department trained 20 student teachers to engage local schools in the My Rainforest, My World project, which reaches over 440 children in Madagascar annually. Docents and educators worked together to start a new program to combine California condor conservation with encouraging girls in STEM. Conservation, Communities and Children: Working Together to Preserve Wildlife is a four-part program giving 22 girls the opportunity to learn about wildlife biology and gain field experience using telemetry and tracking tools. The Teen Wild Guides supported the Golden Gate Audubon Society, collecting more than 500 signatures to petition the City Council to make the Black Crowned Night Heron the official bird of the City of Oakland.

Guests learned the importance of picking up small bits of garbage which helps California condors in the wild.

Our new Taking Action for Wildlife Pop-Ups, hosted by our local Conservation Partners, gave our visitors more opportunities to connect and ‘Do Good’ in real time during their zoo visit.

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BAGS OF TRASH collected at Lake Merritt by Oakland Zoo Teen Wild Guides

...IN OAKLAND 13

...AT THE ZOO

Quarters for Conservation A focus on California wildlife.

2586 COMPASSIONATE ZOO VISITORS

donated $4,000 through our gift shop’s Round Up for Wolves program

Aligned with the grand opening of California Trail, our 2017-2018 Quarters for Conservation program focused on our local partners and native California animals. Long time partners California Wolf Center and Mountain Lion Foundation were joined by the Bear League as the three featured projects for the year. 2017 to 2018 we saw a full year of record-breaking attendance. This increase of attendance helped us raise an impressive $248K. We are so proud to be able to increase our commitments to our partners and conservation initiatives.

Our IMPACT Speaker Series highlighted these incredible projects, offered impactful action for our native species neighbors, and brought in record numbers of attendees, nearly doubling our average fundraising at these events!

332k

Conservation Spotlight: Our Gift Shop!

$

RAISED & DONATED

Oakland Zoo’s gift shop gives the opportunity to grab souvenirs with a cause.

by Oakland Zoo to conservation partners & programs around the globe

Now a visit to the gift shop is a way to take action for wildlife! Every guest who makes a purchase at the gift shop is asked if they want to “Round Up for Wolves?” This very popular program has raised $4000 for California Wolf Center’s Range Steward Program. In addition, the gift shop is now carrying more conservation-themed items including Kibale Bead jewelry from Uganda, Ellie Pooh paper from Sri Lanka, and Africa Matters re-used snare wire art from Zimbabwe, ensuring that artisans who live near wildlife have a sustainable livelihood.

SSA , the vendor who operates our gift shop, also made industry-wide advances by working with their suppliers to reduce plastic packaging and ensure that plush toys are stuffed with eco-friendly stuffing. To encourage a sustainable world, the gift shop offers reusable cups, and recycled glass art. They even encourage shoppers to purchase reusable bags by including a free toy.

...GLOBALLY

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Eco-Travel with IMPACT

...IN THE USA

When we make ventures around the globe on a Taking Action for Wildlife Expedition, we aim to change the world.

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FEMALE BISON part of the historic Pablo-Allard herd, joined our California Trail family this spring.

Oakland Zoo’s Conservation Department led the trip of a lifetime to work with our conservation partner, ARCAS, in Peten, Guatemala. They were joined by Oakland Zoo’s Animal Care Team and a band of intrepid delegates. They cared for animals caught in the illegal wildlife trade who were brought to ARCAS for rehabilitation and release.

With ARCAS, the Animal Care team checked for turtle nests hourly in Parque Hawaii in Monterrico, Guatemala. They also excavated old nests, patrolled the beach for poachers—and best of all—released thousands of determined tiny turtles into the sea.

A Historic New Partnership Oakland Zoo, Bison and the Blackfeet Nation people.

A herd of fourteen female bison, part of the historic Pablo-Allard herd, joined our California Trail family this spring. The female bison immediately took to their new home, and to our surprise and delight, they began giving birth – nearly doubling the size of the herd within a matter of weeks. With an aim to release offspring to Glacier National Park, this program will restore heritage bison to an area where they once roamed long ago. The return of this herd is of deep importance to the Black Feet Nation people, with whom we began a wonderful new partnership, called the Iinnii Initiative.

...IN THE USA

Released

1000s

Cultural leaders, elders, and members of the Blackfeet Nation from Montana, Canada, and right here in the Bay Area gathered for a ceremonial land blessing and welcoming of the bison. Correlating with our Earth Day event, our special guests offered a talk and ceremony for zoo visitors. We couldn’t be more honored to do this work.

of determined

TINY TURTLES 17

into the sea.

Animal Care Team Animal Care Team (ACCR) members led an eco-trip to Kenya, visiting many of our wildlife partners. The inspired travelers raised funds to provide Kenyan students with much needed beds and sanitary supplies. Giraffe keeper Jessica Chapman spent two weeks in Kenya working with the Reticulated Giraffe Project. The organization works to reverse the population decline of reticulated giraffes, which are threated by habitat encroachment, hunting, and drought.

The ACCR team also worked domestically, learning how to protect gray wolves in Northern California, and caring for Oakland herons.

...THE WORLD

Golden Gate Audubon has been delighted to partner with OZ/CSC to engage more people in helping us protect birds and their habitats all around us.

We were especially impressed by the zoo’s Teen Wild Guides and the creativity and energy these young people showed for the #OfficialBirdOakland campaign that will ensure a future for the #OaklandHerons.

CINDY MARGULIS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GOLDEN GATE AUDUBON

440+ CHILDREN REACHED

in Madagascar through ‘My Rainforest, My19World’ project.

TAKING ACTION FOR WILDLIFE

9777 Golf Links Road Oakland, CA 94605 OAKLANDZOO.ORG