The Oceletter Oct/Nov 2020
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The Oceletter Oct/Nov 2020 Ocelots Web-based Presentation When: Thursday, October 8, 2020 5:00-6:00 pm Who: Steve Metzler What: Update on Eric the rhino Relocated from The Safari Park to Tanzania Our Mission The Ocelots enthusiastically support the efforts of the Zoological Society of San Diego through active involvement, commitment to education, and fund-raising. In This Issue A Note From The Head Ocelot 2 Mark Your Calendars 3 Reviews of Our Last 3 Webinars 4 A Review of Our August Webinar 5 A Review of Our September Webinar 6 Wes Potterton 8/22/1955-8/26/2020 7 Grants Program Update 8 Grants In Action 10 About the Ocelots 13 Visit our website http://www.sandiegozoo.org/society/ocelots.html Page 2 A Note From The Head Ocelot By Kim BidermanN Head Ocelot Fellow Ocelots, 2020 has come with many challenges I am proud of our Ocelot board who, in spite of many challenges, has pivoted and is now bringing you quality information via webinars and emails with updates These webinars, the auction, the Ocelot slogan survey; all these reassure me that we are helping bring a respite from these Covid quarantine requirements while keeping all of you informed and continuously engaged by our love of the animals we all cherish Our work continues unabated! Grant request letters have been sent Our October webinar is all set, and the November webinar is in the planning stage I hope to see you all online and look forward eagerly to the time when we can all get back together for dinner and some time with our animal ambassadors Kim Bidermann Visit our website http://www.sandiegozoo.org/society/ocelots.html Page 3 Mark Your Calendars You won’t want to miss a single Ocelots event this year! Oct 8: Steve Metzler: Update on Eric the rhino Nov 5: Autumn Nelson: Black-footed cats Please note: The Ocelot schedule is currently in flux. In the midst of the Corona Virus crisis we are unsure as to when we will be able to resume our scheduled activities. As soon as San Diego Zoo Global is able to let us know when we will be able to we will schedule and resume our great dinners, special events, and presentations. Please know that your Steering Committee is working to get things back to normal as soon as possible. Please note that these dates, venues, speakers, and topics are tentative and are subject to change. There is construction scheduled for the Children's Zoo and our access to the Zoo Party Area (ZPA) may be affected. Our speakers are staff members of SDZG and their schedules may change necessitating a change in our programs. Contribute to the Contact Us Oceletter! The best way to reach a member of the Steering Committee is to use the following e-mail address: sdzgocelots@gmail com We invite you to submit articles and Oceletter photographs for the . This e-mail account is monitored frequently, and questions can be routed to the member of All content should be submitted the Steering Committee who should handle them. electronically to the Oceletter Editor, Paul Brooks, at The following people can be reached directly: [email protected]. Kim Bidermann–Head Ocelot (619) 233-7600 [email protected] Theresa Low–Grants/Logo Wear (858) 391-8616 [email protected] Paul Brooks–Oceletter Editor (619) 889-9051 [email protected] Visit our website http://www.sandiegozoo.org/society/ocelots.html Page 4 Reviews of Our Last 3 Webinars Kim Grey, Curator for Herpetology and Ichthyology for San Diego Zoo Global, presented her webinar “Herpetology Field Conservation Programs and Tools Used to Save Species” the evening of July 9. A recording of the presentation can be found at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v8S1OcI5nZM6Em89mRzQWzLXgjoo_VH3/view Kim explained that zoo and aquarium programs with reptiles and amphibians in the past have been in response to disaster, step- ping in after a fire, drought, or habitat loss. Catastrophic events such as Chytridiomycosis (Amphibian chytrid fungus disease) impact- ing so many animals globally sound quite ominous, so the professional try to look at the bright side in offering help. More recently, zoo staff and conservation partners around the world joined in the rescue effort after the confiscation of a truckload of about 4000 critically endangered Palawan Forest Turtles in the Philippines, estimated to be a large percentage of the total adult population of that reptile. They also went to Madagascar to provide husbandry care and support for the rehabilitation of 11,000 radiated tortoises confis- cated from wildlife traffickers. Kim, as a member of the IUCN’s Crocodilian Specialists Group, is involved in an IUCN study of crocodilian species’ status around the world (The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the organization that compiles data to determine the con- servation status of species globally). She is the coordinator of the Species Survival Plan (SSP-a pedigree of sorts of the animals of one species in managed care, with the goal of maintaining a healthy population of the species for at least one hundred years) for the slender-snouted crocodile. In the wild, SDZG field biologists are studying the situation of the wild crocodilians in West Africa, collect- ing data on the population and sharing information on improved husbandry methods to further the conservation efforts by countries that are home to those animals. The other crocodilian species Kim highlighted was the Indian gharial, found at the zoo on The Reptile Walk. Although SDZG does not currently breed this species, the organization supports research and conservation efforts in the field. SDZG is also involved in conservation efforts to save the critically endangered Figi iguana. Within the zoo community the organization manages the SSP for this reptile and is involved in the breeding both for zoo facilities and to head-start individuals for release back to their native habitat. In partnership with 15 global and local organizations, SDZG supports education outreach programs in Figi, enables habitat rehabilitation, and provides long term monitoring of the wild individuals. The collaborative conservation project for the western pond turtle in San Diego County is an example of SDZG working to end extinction on the local level. The goal of this multi-agency program is to expand on the wild population of Southern California’s only native freshwater turtle. This project has looked at various aspects of conservation, including preferred land and ponds, the pros and cons of head-starting populations (looking at similar projects in other states and regions), and how to harvest eggs from females for the head-starting of hatchlings. Kim summed up the motivation for the various herptile conservation efforts with a quote from author Simon Sinek, “Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress: working hard for something we love is called passion.” Visit our website http://www.sandiegozoo.org/society/ocelots.html Page 5 A Review of Our August Webinar On August 13th Lauren Yang, Senior Avian Care Specialist at the Avian Propagation Center, told us all about “The ABCs of the APC: Who We Are, What We Do, and Why it Matters. The APC is a department of the San Diego Zoo separate from the Bird Department, but one that often works together through information sharing and support for bird rearing. The APC is located up the hill from the Afri- can Marsh area, off public view, and works primarily with birds that are rare or genetically valuable. The staff specializes in incubation and hand-rearing, and will step in with zoo birds when parents cannot care for their eggs or chicks. The APC breeding section is divided into parrot and passerine focused strings, labeled as APCII and APCIII. Breeding season for most of the birds at the SDZ, similar to that of the native birds, is May to September. The staff, including three avian care specialists, provides natural habitats with seasonal enrichment for the birds in residence. The Ocelots have helped by fulfilling a grant request for a greenhouse, where care staff can now grow such items as pumpkins, snapdragons, sunflowers, zinnias, and rainbow corn. Five full-time specialists and one seasonal staff member are employed at the Incubation Team Facility (APCI), the second main division of the APC. The care specialists work on incubation and hand-rearing in this facility built for temperature control and ease of cleaning. Eggs come to the APCI when parents abandon or are unable to care for eggs, when they come from certain endangered species, and for fertility checks. The care specialists have developed their expertise for hundreds of species. An Ocelots grant of an incubator has helped in their success, along with detailed data collection on egg and chick development. Chicks are raised in the brooder room, staffed by second part of the APC team Hand-rearing protocols varies with each order, fam- ily, or species of bird. Altricial species rearing (the unfeathered, helpless chicks) is much more intensive than that for the precocial species (down-covered chicks that can feed on their own). Growth is tracked in detail to ensure chicks grow into healthy chicks. To prevent im- printing on humans (a strategy not needed for colony species or for ambassador candidates), the avian care specialists use a method called ghosting, wearing some sort of clothing to hide their human appearance. The APC staff also applies their skills beyond their physical center. Through partner projects they have assisted in the raising of ‘akeke’e and ‘akikiki chicks in Hawaii, mangrove finch for the project in the Galapagos Islands, and seabird chicks for SANCCOB in South Africa.