Conservation Update Summer 2013

CONSERVATION UPDATE T H E H E A RT A N D S C I E N C E O F S AV I N G W I L D L I F E ™

ConservationInspired Merchandise: It’s All About Dollars and Sense

By Corrin LaCombe

Brown Endowed Research Coordinator Conservation Education

I remember when I first read the article “Orangutans in Your Shopping Cart and Gorillas in Your Cellular Phone” by primatologist Lily Dietz. At first, I thought what on Earth is she talking about—there are no orangutans in my shopping cart or gorillas in my phone!

But as I made my way through her article, I began to realize what Lily was saying. You see, palm oil (used in everything from food to cosmetics) and coltan (a metal found in our cell phones and other electric devices) are harvested from prime orangutan and gorilla habitat, respectively. Lily was showing us that our consumption choices matter.

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Intrigued, I began acquiring additional information about how our dollars and decisions affect animals and ecosystems around the world. I dove headfirst into books, such as Jane Goodall’s Harvest for Hope, Colin Tudge’s Feeding People Is Easy, and Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael. And I quickly learned that with one choice, one meal, one conscious purchase at a time, we can contribute to conservation and improve our planet. I brought this focus to my work at the Institute for Conservation Research and am very excited that San Diego Zoo Global is doing quite a lot on both the consumption and production side of the market.

I quickly learned that with one choice, one meal, one conscious purchase at a time, we can contribute to conservation and improve our planet.

To address consumption, we recently signed on as an official member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The group represents an international network of producers, distributors, and conservationists dedicated to transforming the market to make sustainable palm oil the norm, which would reduce impact on animals like orangutans in Borneo as well as sun bears in Borneo and other parts of Asia. As a new member of this network, we are working to ensure that if and when we use products made with palm oil, our dollars will only support environmentally responsible palm oil producers and distributors. No more orangutans in our shopping carts!

To address production, we collaborate with local artisans in regions where we have active conservation projects. Our intention is to bring beautiful handicrafts and other unique

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products from our field sites to expanded markets, including San Diego Zoo and Safari Park gift shops. We recognize that conserving an ecosystem and its species can’t be accomplished if poverty prevails in the area. To create successful and sustainable conservation projects, we need a solid strategy that makes both environmental and economic sense for local communities.

Through training workshops and creative thinking, we collaborate with community members to find markets for their products as well as ensure a sustainable local ecosystem.

Through this process, alternative income sources are made available, providing artists and other community members with greater opportunities to earn a livelihood through craftsmanship and symbolic representation of plants and animals found in their own backyards.

Our first round of “conservation-inspired� products are currently being handmade by artisans (pictured) in the Lambayeque region of northern Peru, an area where our scientists have been working to understand and protect a population of Andean bears for the past seven years. As a collaboration with the Spectacled Bear Conservation Society, this initiative has created more than 200 environmentally friendly, sustainable job opportunities as well as adorable felt animals for sale.

We encourage you to harness your purchasing power by buying one of these unique pieces or any other product that helps support and conserve nature. Through our careful consumerism, we can all help to save species: it just takes one conscious purchase at a time.

Photos courtesy of the Spectacled Bear Conservation Society.

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James Danoff-Burg, Ph.D. Director of Conservation Education

L

By James Danoff-Burg, Ph.D. ife is what happens to you while you’re busy making

my own passion for conservation science (and entomology) to

other plans”: John Lennon’s words have defined my

the next generation of environmental leaders. So, I taught a lot,

own professional trajectory. My plans and goals have

creating 19 classes for graduate students, adults in continuing

changed dramatically since I was a young student, resulting

education, and even primary school teachers, and each class had

in a more fulfilling career than I could have ever imagined—

a conservation theme.

culminating with my position in 2011 as Director of the Conservation Education Division at the Institute for Conservation

People and their role in the landscape became my research

Research! So, you might ask, what makes a conservation

and teaching focus. I directed a conservation project in the

educator and researcher?

Dominican Republic, working with fishermen and other community members to help share best practices for upland and

I have always been interested in science and wildlife, ever since

reef management. Our goal was twofold: to improve biodiversity

my childhood days when I was clumsily cutting out photos

and to improve the well-being of local people. After a decade

from National Geographic magazine and putting them into their

of researching and advising my students in projects like this all

proper taxonomic arrangements, which my parents thought

over the world, this was my first opportunity to do it myself. The

was hilarious. Being outdoors always invigorated my family in

best part was working directly with local Dominicans, learning

Wyoming, so much so that I am as comfortable and relaxed

from them, and sharing things others have learned in similar

alone in nature as I am at home.

settings. Addressing local challenges respectfully is the key to any successful field conservation project.

At the University of Michigan, botany was my major, and then I decided to pursue graduate degrees in entomology at the

Now, what I do at San Diego Zoo Global is the culmination of all I

University of Kansas. There I learned that over 50 percent of

have learned, experienced, taught, and developed internationally.

all species known to science are insects, and 20 percent of all

I feel grateful to work with the passionate conservation educators

named species—more than 400,000— are beetles! As an ardent

in my division, often in support of projects led by talented

Coleopterist—a special type of geek who studies beetles—

Institute researchers and Zoo and Safari Park animal care staff.

working across tropical Latin America, I learned that beetles likely have the greatest number of endangered species, usually

Life has indeed happened to my “plans.” This new life is rich

due to habitat fragmentation and ecological degradation.

and has brought many transitions: from academia to the Zoo, from New York City to Southern California, and from beetles

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After an exciting postdoctoral stint at the American Museum

to people. My advice to anyone who asks is to be open to

of Natural History in New York City, I landed a job at nearby

unexpected career paths. I hope that your ensuing adventures

Columbia University. During my years there, I realized that

are as magnificent, novel, and filled with opportunities as mine

more than anything I loved teaching and wanted to transmit

have been.

CONSERVATION UPDATE

Kaitlin Croyle

RESEARCH ASSISTANT, Reproductive Physiology

By Karyl Carmignani, Staff Writer, Publications Department

F

ew can say that working with sperm is a dream come

These days,

true—unless you’re a researcher in the Reproductive

she works

Physiology Division. It was a circuitous journey,

during the

steeped in hard work, keen intelligence, unrelenting curiosity,

winter months on

and sheer optimism. In 2011, Kaitlin Croyle landed a summer

a hormone therapy

internship at the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation

project with African

Research, working with Dr. Barbara Durrant. A freshly minted

crowned cranes, which

graduate of the University of Maryland, she majored in Animal

will help them reproduce in

Science and had also taken several reproductive physiology

the off-season. In the spring, Kaitlin’s

courses. Kaitlin worked weekends at a fertility clinic but “wanted

duties shift to sperm detection in eggs thought to be infertile.

to work with animals more exotic than humans.” Veterinary

For instance, peeking into a brown kiwi egg and finding sperm

school was a possibility, but after a taking a position with the

means the birds are breeding and their reproductive tracts are

National Cancer Institute, she fell in love with research: “I love the

functioning, so the pair can remain together. She still doesn’t

idea of doing something that has never been done before!” While

want to miss a moment of her job!

helping to develop a therapeutic vaccine for prostate cancer, she was able to clone an experimental prostate stem cell antigen,

Kaitlin’s love for animals runs deep. While living back east, she

which was “the best feeling in the world.”

volunteered at Day’s End Farm Rescue that took in abandoned and neglected horses. “I’ve always been concerned with equine

But Kaitlin missed animal interactions. The internship at the

welfare issues,” she said. “I worked the night shift, sleeping in

Institute for Conservation Research was a “happy medium of

the barn with the horses to administer their meds throughout

animals and laboratory work”—she was over the moon! “I sent

the night.” Her sweet dog, Layla, a rescue from North Carolina,

that issue of Conservation Update to my parents because I was

donates blood to canines in need, and recently Kaitlin and Layla

so happy to be included in the group shot of summer interns,”

met the recipient—a co-worker’s beloved golden retriever: “I wish

she said, smiling. (Won’t they be pleased with this issue!) Rather

I could tell my dog that she is literally saving lives!”

than just planning for a summer adventure, Kaitlin had packed up her belongings, her beloved dog, Layla, drove across the

Looking back on her childhood, Kaitlin remembers that everything

country, and rented an apartment, her eternal optimism in tow.

that caught her interest was fair game: she tried out the violin,

The internship was all she had hoped for and more: “I cried the

flute, then piano, never settling on one thing long enough to

day I had to call in sick because I didn’t want to miss anything!”

become proficient. It was the same with sports. But at the Institute

Next, she volunteered her services in the reproductive physiology

she finally found her “forever” career. And every time she visits her

lab and was later hired by Dr. Tom Jensen, who was impressed

90-year-old grandfather in Santa Barbara, he tells Kaitlin to “Enjoy

with Kaitlin’s work and encouraged her to go to graduate school.

each day on purpose.” By all accounts, this wisdom has stuck.

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CO N S E R VAT I O N F O R T H E B I R D S :

SHEDDING LIGHT ON SPERM

By Kaitlin Croyle, Research Assistant, Reproductive Physiology

W

hen an egg doesn’t hatch, what went wrong? Captive breeding of critically endangered birds, where every egg counts, can be tricky. Here in the Reproductive Physiology Division, we are working hard to assist avian conservation programs by developing new fertility testing methods. One new method I am helping to develop is in ovo sperm detection.

Barren eggs are not uncommon, and every year we receive hundreds of potentially infertile eggs from the Zoo, Safari Park, and off-site breeding facilities. Numerous undeveloped eggs from a given breeding pair may indicate their inability to produce offspring. This can occur for a variety of reasons, including sterility, genetic incompatibility, or the absence of mating. Although discovering the absence of sperm within an egg does not provide all the answers, it is a key piece of the puzzle that can help narrow down the potential cause of a reproductive problem.

When eggs arrive in our lab, the yolk membranes are removed and stained for sperm. There is nothing more exciting than locating sperm under the microscope! Not only does this indicate that the male is producing viable motile sperm, but their presence also provides hope that offspring from that pair may be possible in the future. Most of the eggs received by our lab are partially incubated, and we know that sperm slowly degrade during the incubation process. Determining a sperm degradation timeline is especially helpful for kiwi conservation.

This species has an unusually long incubation period of

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almost three months, so its eggs spend a significant amount of time incubating before they are declared potentially infertile and sent our way for sperm detection. Although one of the female kiwis at the Zoo is producing eggs, none of them have hatched. But because we have been able to identify sperm in a few of their eggs, now we know that they are actively breeding!

In 2012, I also analyzed eggs from a San Clemente loggerhead shrike subspecies on that island, where we have managed a breeding facility funded by the U.S. Navy since the early 1990s. One of the captive pairs had laid a clutch and then abandoned it. The male was one of the program’s oldest birds, and Conservation Program Manager Dr. Susan Farabaugh suspected that he might be ready for retirement.

She brought several fresh eggs to the lab from the fruitless shrike pair, as well as a presumed fertile egg from a prolific pair that had accidentally broken during incubation. Upon inspection, I located a single sperm on the membranes from the unsuccessful pair, while the cracked egg contained numerous glowing sperm. This revealed the older male’s reproductive problem, and Susan immediately paired the female with a younger male. Her decision paid off, resulting in three additional chicks!

While sperm detection is not the only method for assessing breeding potential, it is an important management approach for our avian conservation programs. It is yet another tool for managers to more confidently assess breeding pairs, allowing us to hatch the greatest number of chicks before the end of the breeding season. For birds on the verge of extinction, every chick brings the species one step closer to recovery.

CONSERVATION RESEARCH

GIFTS & GRANTS

The Institute for Conservation Research is grateful to the following for their investments in imperiled species conservation:

Grants made by the Lorraine H. Akiba Charitable Fund of the U.S. Charitable Gift Trust, the Butcher Fund, and the Cheyney Family Fund at the San Diego Foundation were given in support of Institute operations. A gift in memory of Florence “Sis” H. Andrews will provide needed equipment for the Wildlife Disease Laboratories. The Arcus Foundation completed its pledge to the Ebo Forest Research Project in Cameroon. A grant from the Bay and Paul Foundations will establish exotic deer oocyte protocols through the Reproductive Physiology Division. A grant from the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation is funding Summer Teacher Workshops for San Francisco Unified School District science teachers.

Fullerton High School science students will engage in hands-on research at the Conservation Education Lab, thanks to a grant from the Beckman Coulter Foundation. The Colwell Family Fund at the San Diego Foundation is making possible an Avian Incubation Workshop at the Beckman Center. A grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations will make possible Summer Teacher Workshops in Conservation Science for high school teachers nationwide, develop conservation science classroom kits, and provide a detailed, multiyear program evaluation. Walter and Erica Erhorn and her family made a gift to support Reproductive Physiology’s okapi breeding efforts. A grant from the Hattie Ettinger Conservation Fund at the San Diego Foundation will fund the interpretive graphic panels and digital notebooks planned for the Conservation Education Division’s Outdoor Learning Lab. A gift from Dr. Bruce Rideout (Wildlife Disease Labs) was elected as Chair of the James and Sharon Givens will support conservation projects through Morris Animal Foundation Wildlife Scientific Advisory Board. the Wildlife Conservancy. The Caesar Kleberg Foundation for Wildlife Conservation gave a grant to purchase a liquid nitrogen freezer for the Dr. Michael Chase (Behavioral Biology) was invited to give a presentation Frozen Zoo® as well as for a Bovine Bead Array for genetic analysis of addressing conservation concerns and research highlights to Botswana’s endangered antelope species. A gift from Charles and Susan Lang will President, His Excellency Ian Khama. help giant panda conservation efforts in China. Life Technologies provided in-kind laboratory products for the Conservation Education Dr. James Sheppard (Applied Animal Ecology) was awarded 30,000 CPU resource units at the UCSD Supercomputer Center through the Extreme Science Laboratory. Grants in support of Institute operations were given by the Llagas Foundation, the Seidel Family Foundation, and the Joan and Engineering Discovery Environment Research Cyberinfrastructure Program.

M. Stevens Fund at the San Diego Foundation. Laurie Mitchell and Brent Woods made a gift to provide scholarships for Summer San Diego Zoo Global was honored by the City of San Diego’s Environmental Teacher Workshops in Conservation Science. A gift made in memory Services Department as one of the 2013 Recyclers of the Year. of David “Uncle Dave” Brian Null will support conservation efforts for endangered wildlife. The Art Pratt Foundation at Old Mission Rotary gave a grant for a welcome arbor and safety fencing for the Outdoor Learning Lab. The Steven and Carole Weinberg Lopez-Toledo, L., B. A. Endress, N. Anten, D. Ackerly, and M. Martinez-Ramos.

Foundation gave a grant to provide the Wildlife Disease Laboratories 2012. Resilience to chronic defoliation in a dioecious understorey tropical rain forest Division with an ultracold freezer to expand its archive of samples. palm. Journal of Ecology 100: 1245-1256.

The Charles and Shirley Sykes Family made a donation to support This experimental field study documented that frond defoliation in understorey the efforts of the Molecular Diagnostics branch of the Wildlife palms was faster in males than in females, proceeded gradually overall, and was Diseases Laboratories. The Giant Panda Conservation Program independent of plant size. received a gift from Women with a Paws, which will benefit pandas at the San Diego Zoo as well as research efforts in China.

Miller, L. J., and J. Andrews. 2013. Utilizing first occurrence, nursing behavior, and growth data to enhance animal management: An example with African elephants (Loxodonta africana). International Journal of Comparative Psychology 26: 19-25.

This article highlights how behavioral research in zoos can enhance animal management using African elephants as an example, with particular attention to how nursing rates and growth patterns can be used to verify normal development.

CONSERVATION ACHIEVEMENTS HONORS AND AWARDS

THE SCIENCE OF SAVING SPECIES™

Rhodin, A. G. J., A. D. Walde, B. D. Horne, P. P. Van Dijk, T. Blank, and R. Hudson.

2011. Turtles in Trouble: The World’s 25+ Most Endangered Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles. IUCN Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, Turtle Conservation Fund, Turtle Survival Alliance, Turtle Conservancy, Chelonian Research Foundation, Conservation International, Wildlife Conservation Society, and San Diego Zoo Global. 54 pp.

The co-edited report details the status of the 25 most endangered turtle species from around the world, including those most in danger of extinction without immediate conservation intervention.

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ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO Development Department Post Office Box 120551 San Diego, California 92112

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage

PAID

San Diego, California Permit Number 410

CONSERVATION UPDATE In Madagascar, our pathologists performed health assessments for critically endangered golden mantella frogs slated for relocation into safer habitat.

Our geneticists successfully extracted and amplified DNA from bighorn sheep fecal samples as part of a long-term study on their movement patterns across the U.S./ Mexico border.

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Betsy Sanders

Kelly Landen/EWB

With Elephants Without Borders, we documented two important new migration routes for Burchell’s zebra, one of which is possibly the longest transboundary mammal migration in southern Africa.

EDITOR

Mary Sekulovich

SPECIAL THANKS TO CONSERVATION UPDATE CONTRIBUTORS

The first wild-hatched California condor chick to fledge successfully has been observed feeding with its parents at our Baja California condor release site in Mexico’s San Pedro Martir Mountains.

San Diego Zoo Global recently became a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), pledging to raise awareness among our members and guests about palm oil and its impact on tropical wildlife.

Allison Alberts, Ph.D. Maggie Aleksic Karyl Carmignani Kaitlin Croyle James Danoff-Burg, Ph.D. Georgeanne Irvine Judy Kinsell Corrin LaCombe GRAPHIC DESIGN

Kara Bigelman Eganhouse PHOTOGRAPHS/ ILLUSTRATIONS

Ken Bohn, SDZG Photographer Kelly Landen, Elephants Without Borders Spectacled Bear Conservation Society

In support of the Andean bear project, we conducted two workshops for Peruvian teachers focused on conservation science investigations, brainstorming, and curriculum planning.

For more information about San Diego Zoo Global’s worldwide conservation efforts and how you can help us in our fight against extinction, please visit our website, www.sandiegozooglobal.org, and join the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Conservancy!

© 2013 Zoological Society of San Diego.

All rights reserved.