Great conservation efforts aren't only for employees...

Mandy Revak is the coordinator for the KidScience and ZooU programs at the Pittsburgh Zoo.  These are classes for middle school students (KidScience) and high-schoolers (ZooU) who express a strong interest in biology, animals, and conservation – strong enough that they are willing to come to the zoo all year round, giving up valuable weekend time.  Most don’t see it as a sacrifice, however.  They genuinely love to learn and to help out, and one of this semester’s ZooU classes, Species in Peril: Conservation Partnerships at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, gives them an extra chance to do so. 

Every ZooU course consists of six two-hour class sessions that meet once every two weeks.  It’s a mixture of hands-on learning and lecture style, and every session is absolutely packed.  Having had a chance to teach a marine biology ZooU course in the fall, I know just how hard it is to anticipate the challenging and thought-provoking questions the students pose, and I’m sure this one is no exception.  Even though I haven’t been able to sit in one of these classes yet this semester, I’m definitely excited about the relationship it has with this blog, focusing on, as the title says, conservation efforts at the Zoo.  

Mandy’s description of the course, which she is teaching, is as follows:  

“Ecosystems and species around the world are being threatened at an alarming rate.  However, it is possible to make a positive impact for conservation, even in Pittsburgh. This semester, Species in Peril is taking an in-depth look at many of the conservation efforts and partnerships currently being undertaken by the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium and its staff. Students are hearing directly from the keepers, curators, and veterinary staff working on the front lines of conservation programs.” 

Every week the students have been meeting with keepers, much as I’ve been doing, to take an in-depth look at some of the same projects, such as SECORE and the Sea Turtle Second Chance project (and even more that I’d love to focus on in future posts!).  However, it’s not just a passive activity.  As Mandy says, “students also have the opportunity to become involved in a conservation effort of their choice and design, as each student is be required to complete an action project.”  Although the action projects are still works in progress, there are some great ideas already, including local lake clean-up efforts, creating a brochure to educate Zoo visitors about the Palm Oil Crisis, and collecting fishing line to create habitats for local aquatic species while raising awareness about sea turtle conservation.  

These might sound ambitious for students who haven’t officially gone into a biology or conservation field yet, but it shows the depth of their passion for the subject.  After all, why wait until you have the job to start getting involved?  It’s never too early to start making a difference. 

Invertebrates need saving, too.

 

Two coral propagation tanks

It’s not only the charismatic species like sea turtles that can use our help.  Coral is only a tiny little invertebrate, but it’s an incredibly important part of marine ecosystems, and it’s having some trouble right now.  Stony corals build the reefs that harbor all sorts of life, from beautiful tropical fish to those sea turtles we talked about last time.  But between the rising ocean temperatures and human harvesting, many species of corals are classified as endangered, and almost all of them are threatened in some way.  Luckily, there are plenty of people who are willing to help out, like Bob Snowden, another aquarist at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium.  He is involved with SECORE (SExual COral REproduction), a program that was started in 2002 in Rotterdam with the goal of improving knowledge of sexual coral reproduction techniques, as opposed to the more familiar asexual budding. 

Newly settled Tubastrea larvae (the bright orange spots)

Bob has always been fascinated by coral, and he brought the Zoo’s attention to SECORE in 2005, and luckily, was met with full support.  The Zoo became a member of SECORE in 2006, and in 2008, they participated in a field project for the first time.  That first year, the scientists and aquarists traveled to Puerto Rico to collect the larvae of the spawning coral, but since then, a permanent field station has been established in Curacao.  At the station, the focus is on the endangered elkhorn and staghorn coral, the primary reef-builders in the Caribbean.  These corals have a mass spawning event in August every year, and the scientists, including Bob, are ready to collect them and help them settle.  An extremely tiny percentage of the larvae settle, and even fewer survive past their first year.  It’s painstaking work, but it’s worth it to get even one polyp to settle. 

The 6-month old Tubastrea polyps

In the meantime, back at the zoo, Bob is working with a different species of coral in order to practice the techniques he’s learned with SECORE.  Captive-raised coral can be used in exhibits at the Pittsburgh Zoo as well as shared with other institutions, which lessens the need to take coral from the wild, so this work is also extremely valuable.  Today, in the coral propagation center (conveniently located in the same room as the sea turtles!), I was able to observe the tubastrea, or sun corals.  They started releasing their larvae nightly towards the beginning of this month, after not releasing any since October, and Bob has been diligently collecting them and encouraging them to settle.  Today we looked at 47 larvae collected on March 13 – 8 of them had settled, while 30 were still zooming around.  Even I was able to see these guys, as they are bright orange, but the elkhorn and staghorn larvae in Curacao are so small and colorless that they have to count them with microscopes.  “It can be a tedious process,” Bob tells me.  It’s important, but it’s clearly not for those without a lot of patience – even the 6-month-old ones were less than an inch tall.    

Luckily, the word continues to spread.  This past year, the zoo’s photographer, Paul Selvaggio, was able to head to Curacao for the spawning event, and the resulting photos have been presented to students and zoo board members alike.  As more people learn about coral’s plight, more and more of them will be inspired to help, which can only be good news for this amazing and versatile animal.   

It's all about the turtles.

 

A hatchling being weighed

Sometimes, working with animals on a day-to-day basis can get repetitive, just like with any job.  So branching out to do an extra conservation project can be just the thing to reignite the love for the business.  For Josie Romasco, an aquarist at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, developing and working on the Sea Turtle Second Chance Program is an opportunity that’s both “professionally rewarding and personally fulfilling.”  The program started a few years ago when Josie rose to the challenge, but it would have taken much longer to get to grow as big as it has without the help of the Pepsi Refresh contest, in which the Zoo won $25,000 in order to help rehabilitate and release endangered sea turtles.  

Why sea turtles in Pittsburgh?  As Josie explains, “When we vacation, where do you think we go?  Where the sea turtles are.”  For those who live in coastal areas, the etiquette on how to protect and not disturb sea turtles is part of everyday life, but those of us in Pittsburgh might not be so well-informed.  By exhibiting the animals as part of an educational exhibit, visitors who might otherwise know nothing about these amazing creatures now have a chance to be exposed to their inspirational story. 

Two of the new tanks, which Josie helped to design

The Zoo has a partnership with the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, where people check recently vacated nests for any hatchlings that may have been left behind.  Most of the stragglers are sent back out to sea fairly quickly, but others need a little extra help, and that’s where the Pittsburgh Zoo can step in.  The North Carolina Aquarium sends nine hatchlings at a time out to other zoos, and Pittsburgh is lucky enough to hold three of those spots.  With brand-new, specially designed tanks, the zoo hopes to be able to display two hatchling turtles and a yearling to the public at one time, and then release at least one turtle per year back out into the wild.  

Last year, one of the first turtles that the Zoo acquired, Smitty, was released, and the public wants to know where he is and how he’s doing.  Sadly, there’s no way to find that out, but hopefully in future releases the turtles will be outfitted with satellite tags so that their progress can be tracked.  This will not only be fulfilling for the visitors and zookeepers who have come to know the turtles, but will help advance scientific knowledge as well.  

Yearling loggerhead L.C.

Three loggerhead turtles are currently in residence at the Zoo – L.C., who’s about a year and a half old, and Ghostbuster and Little Yinzer, who are about 6 months old.   Listening to Josie talk with such excitement about the plans for the turtles and the exhibits, I can’t help but share her enthusiasm.  This program definitely has the potential to have a big impact on turtles and people alike!         

What's the point of zoos, anyway?

Originally, zoos weren’t meant to do anything but entertain people.  Especially in a world with limited travel, seeing exotic animals could be pretty exciting.  Unfortunately, by making people happy, the welfare of the animals left something to be desired.  Animals were often kept and exhibited in tiny steel-barred cages with concrete flooring.  Easy to clean and access?  Sure.  Enriching and healthy?  Not in the least.  

Luckily, zoos have come a long way since then.  Although they are still focused on entertaining people, they are equally concerned with taking care of the animals.  Instead of merely showing the animals off in less-than-ideal conditions, zoos now aim to educate visitors on what they’re seeing and why.  In addition, zoos are now part of conservation and research efforts all over the world.  Zoos aren’t just about viewing anymore, but about taking an active role in saving species large and small.

Photo Credit:  Lars Haefner, Dec. 2003

Even though zoos have changed their focus, they still carry a stigma for many people.  It’s true that animals in zoos are going to have reduced space, but that gets balanced out with any number of advantages as well – fewer predators or competition for prey, access to veterinary care, and balanced nutrition, just to name a few.  And observing these animals in captivity can tell us so much about their wild relatives.  Zoos have no desire to see entire wild populations in captivity, but are interested in using the captive animals as ambassadors to make sure these species continue to thrive. 

This blog will focus on efforts being made by zoos and zookeepers to help species in the wild.  Humans have caused many of the problems affecting these animals, so it’s nice to be able to give back.  Each entry will showcase someone involved in a zoo setting who’s making an extra effort to help out in the wild.  Enjoy!