WildCare Institute

Saint Louis Zoo

Many Centers, One Goal. The WildCare Institute is dedicated to creating a sustainable future for wildlife and for people around the world.

WildCare Institute A Remarkable Journey From an Urban Park, Down the Stream, Around the World ...... 6 The Story Behind the Saint Louis Zoo’s WildCare Institute ...... 8 Some of the Institute’s Top Achievements...... 11 Center for American Burying Beetle Conservation...... 16 Center for Avian Health in the Galápagos Islands...... 18 Center for Cheetah Conservation in Africa...... 20 Center for Conservation in Forest Park...... 22 Ron Goellner Center for Hellbender Conservation...... 24 Center for Conservation in the Horn of Africa...... 26 Center for Conservation of the Horned Guan (Pavon) in Mexico...... 28 Center for Conservation of the Humboldt Penguin in Punta San Juan, Peru...... 30 Center for Conservation in Madagascar...... 32 Center for Native Pollinator Conservation...... 34 Saharan Wildlife Recovery Center...... 36 Center for Conservation in Western Asia...... 38 Organizations Supported by the WildCare Institute ...... 40 Partners...... 44 Honor Roll...... 45 You Can Help...... 50 A Remarkable Journey From an Urban Park, Down the Stream, Around the World

The Saint Louis Zoo has been By extending our reach beyond Knowledge Transfer Helps involved in saving endangered the Zoo’s fence to places like Animals in the Wild species and their habitats around the forests of Madagascar, the The WildCare Institute also the world for decades and with foothills of Armenia, the vast relies on the expertise of its much success. For example, tracts of the Sahara desert or the Zoo veterinarians, researchers, we have hatched and reared streams of Missouri, the WildCare scientists and animal division over 46 endangered Institute ensures that our work at curators, managers and Micronesian kingfishers since home is intimately connected to keepers: By studying the 1986. Since 1974, 38 cheetah conservation in the wild. health, reproduction, nutrition cubs have been born at our Zoo. We also understand that the and behavior of Zoo animals, Leading the creation of the WildCare Institute, In 2000, we performed the first very future of many of the our scientists can better help Jeffrey P. Bonner, Ph.D, is Dana Brown successful artificial insemination animals both in our care and the animals in the care of our President and CEO of the Saint Louis Zoo. of a piping guan, and in 2004 we in the world can only be conservation centers, where we In April 2002, Dr. Bonner was appointed to sent 13,000 Puerto Rican crested guaranteed through dedicated study range size, seasonal activity the top position at the Zoo, and in 2009, toad tadpoles back to their native research and conservation, and patterns, habitat preferences and his position was endowed by the Dana homeland to ponds that were through collaboration with a demography. With our partners, Brown Charitable Trust. He is past chairman specifically constructed for range of institutions. we also conduct censuses of their recovery. animal populations, investigate of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums In fact, a hallmark of our the causes of a decline of and has recently chaired the Amphibian Ark, However, it was with the 2004 WildCare Institute is our desire a species within its range the International Species Information System, establishment of the Zoo’s to work with others in places and initiate long-term and the Madagascar Fauna and Flora Group. WildCare Institute that we began where animals are threatened protection plans. He has served on the board of the World to devote our efforts to specific by shrinking habitats, poaching Association of Zoos and Aquariums and conservation programs globally and disease. Our conservation This report offers many success currently serves on several boards including and in our own backyard. teams include recognized experts stories that give us hope for the the Conservation Breeding Specialist The WildCare Institute takes a from a range of organizations. future, but we realize science Group. Dr. Bonner received his Ph.D. from holistic—but focused–approach Over the past 10 years, more alone cannot save a species. Columbia University in New York City and is to troubled ecosystems. than 180 zoos, universities, That’s why we work shoulder-to- a Burgess Fellow, Traveling Fellow, Fulbright Rather than try to do too much governmental and non- shoulder with local people to help Scholar, President’s Fellow and a recipient in too many places, we are governmental organizations promote a spirit of cooperation of the National Research Service Award. Dr. more deeply involved in a dozen have been our partners. and self-sufficiency. We realize Bonner is the author of numerous articles and critical initiatives. that conservation is also about books, including “Sailing with Noah, Stories improving their lives so that they from the World of Zoos.” see the benefits of sustainable come and go, but today, almost That’s our mission. We all must practices. We work to identify half of all amphibian species do everything we can to preserve solutions that meet their needs are themselves threatened with life on Earth. It is our sacred to feed themselves and their extinction. Addressing this crisis obligation to ourselves, families in ways that still leave represents the greatest species to one another, to our children room for wildlife. These involve conservation challenge in the and their children. professional and technological history of humanity. But they are Thank you for your interest in training, educational workshops, not alone. The International Union the WildCare Institute and in and professional development for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) the future of saving wildlife and opportunities. Culturally sensitive recently released its Red List wild places. programs that offer opportunities of the world’s most threatened for improvement encourage those plants and animals. They range who live daily with wildlife to from macaques to water buffaloes become engaged in conservation. with habitats stretching from Madagascar to Spain to Canada. According to IUCN, of 63,837 Only Together species assessed, 19,817 are Can We Save Animals threatened with extinction, Dr. Eric Miller, DVM, is Senior Vice President The Institute’s accomplishments including 41 percent of all Sincerely, and Director of Zoological Operations at the highlighted in this report are only amphibians, 33 percent of reef Jeffrey P. Bonner, Ph.D. Saint Louis Zoo. He is also Director of the the most important of many. In building corals, 25 percent of Dana Brown President & CEO Zoo’s WildCare Institute and current chair 2012 alone, we announced some mammals, 13 percent of birds, of the Madagascar Fauna and Flora Group. major milestones—from the first and 30 percent of conifers. Dr. Miller earned his undergraduate and reintroduction of an endangered veterinary degrees from Ohio State University species in the state of Missouri This report shows you what we and in 1981 came to the Saint Louis Zoo, to approval for the creation of a are doing. What you can do to where he worked on his residency through nature reserve in Niger that will be help is to offer support for our a joint Zoo and University of Missouri- the largest in Africa. WildCare Institute and other Columbia program. He has served as conservation organizations so President of American College of Zoological However, while all this sounds that together we can make a Saint Louis Zoo encouraging, we continue to lose Medicine (ACZM), and the American difference. It really isn’t up to zoos Eric Miller, DVM, Dipl, ACAM, the battle as humans destroy wild Association of Zoo Veterinarians (AAZV), or conservation organizations Director, WildCare Institute populations and their habitats and in 2003, received their Dolensek Award alone to preserve the wealth of Senior Vice President, at an ever increasing rate. Take for “exceptional contributions to animals on our Earth. It’s up to Director of Zoological Operations amphibians alone—they play the conservation, care and understanding of all of us. The cumulative effect of Saint Louis Zoo an important role in the global zoo and free-ranging wildlife.” He has served individual actions can result in on the Board of the Association Zoos and ecosystems as indicators of great changes–all of us, working environmental health and Aquariums (AZA). He has authored or together can arrest and even turn co-authored more than 60 scientific articles contributors to human health. back the tide of extinction. They watched the dinosaurs and textbook chapters, and with Dr. Murray Fowler, has served as co-Editor of the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th editions of “Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine.” The Story Behind the Saint Louis Zoo’s WildCare Institute The Saint Louis Zoo has greatest and our progress could That mission is to conserve conservation programs; support supported conservation for be easily monitored. animals and their habitats for chimpanzee, orangutan and decades through a range of After a year of planning, the Zoo through animal management, Asian elephant conservation; projects across the globe and formally launched the WildCare research, recreation, and and in the worldwide crisis in its own backyard. The Zoo Institute to focus on wildlife educational programs that related to vanishing amphibian has been very active in captive management and recovery, encourage the support and enrich species, financial backing for conservation—leading the conservation science and support the experience of the public. captive breeding activities to nation with the greatest number of human populations that coexist The WildCare Institute initially create assurance colonies of of active Association of Zoos with wildlife in about a dozen included 12 centers. Many of the amphibian species in Quito, and Aquariums (AZA) Species conservation hotspots, or centers, original centers remain active. Ecuador. Other projects include Survival Plans (SSPs). SSPs are around the globe and in Missouri. Others have been replaced support for the conservation of long-term programs for The new approach was the because our work was completed; Marianas Island birds, partula conservation breeding, habitat result of this planning exercise, for example, we completed our snails in the South Pacific and preservation, field conservation, which included all Zoo curators, conservation and community okapis in the Congo. reintroduction and supportive veterinarians and researchers; assistance goals in the Bosawas Approaching its 10-year research for threatened and they were charged with identifying Region of Nicaragua. Still other anniversary, the Saint Louis Zoo’s endangered species. areas of particular conservation centers have been added as new WildCare Institute has built a For many years, the Zoo has need–areas where staff expertise opportunities have arisen—in strong reputation not only as also sent its experts to support could be used most efficiently 2004, we added a center in a highly effective conservation field programs across the globe, and effectively. Punta San Juan, Peru, to work organization but as a and in 1997, it launched the Having Zoo staff select the with others in conserving the collaborative institution that Field Research for Conservation focus for each of the conservation habitat of Humboldt penguins uses its funds to leverage Program. In 2002, the Zoo centers meant that each and other wildlife there. In 2011, support from other sources. established a companion field director and his or her staff are we added a Missouri-based WildCare Institute partners have conservation program to support most passionate about each center dedicated to conserving included more than 180 entities non-research conservation center’s mission. The Institute’s pollinators. Today, the WildCare ranging from other zoos to initiatives involving education, creation resulted in support for Institute has 12 centers. universities to non-governmental training and provision of supplies. saving both charismatic species, and government agencies. zebras, cheetahs, and less The Institute effectively involves Smaller Initiatives Save charismatic species—American other zoos that wish to commit Strategic Analysis Led Snails, Birds, Frogs burying beetles and Near Eastern smaller amounts to projects to Focused Approach Over the years, the WildCare by giving them identifiable However, in 2003, the Zoo vipers. This approach also kept Institute has supported several our conservation activities closely roles in these projects. Partner began to strategically address smaller initiatives to establish institutions know their funds its approach to conservation of connected to the Saint Louis Zoo connections with ongoing and its operations, reducing are part of a larger approach wildlife and wild places. The goal Saint Louis Zoo activities. to conservation and that their was to take a holistic approach the chance that the Institute Described in more detail later would become an independent contributions are more likely to to saving animals in specific in this report, these include have a significant impact than areas where our impact could be organization that did not reflect African and Asian elephant the Zoo’s overall mission. any they pursued independently.

8 The Search for Support The challenge for all conservation organizations is finding sufficient funding. Sustained by a $16 million endowment from the Saint Louis Zoo Association and annual revenue from the Mary Ann Lee Conservation Carousel, the WildCare Institute is also privately funded by grants, partnering corporations and wildlife enthusiasts from around the world. The funding earmarked for the WildCare Institute does not include staff salaries and benefits, which the Zoo accounts for in its total labor costs. We continuously seek new funding sources—from foundation grants to corporate contributions and from individuals interested in supporting successful field conservation work accomplished by a proven, results-oriented organization. For more information or to assist with the progress and success of the Saint Louis Zoo’s WildCare Institute, please contact: (314) 646-4691 [email protected] Or you can give online by visiting: stlzoo.org/donate 10 Some of the Institute’s Top Achievements

Center for American Burying published articles reported education programs related to »» This assessment is only one of Beetle Conservation findings that are helping the cheetah conservation in East many center research projects »» In 2012, this center and its Galápagos National Park craft and southern Africa. and educational initiatives partners became the first to management policy. »» To address the desire for on native wildlife ecology and reintroduce an endangered healthcare as a benefit of management in an urban park. species in Missouri. Hundreds living with carnivores, the of Saint Louis Zoo-bred burying Ruaha Carnivore Project (RCP) Ron Goellner Center for beetles were reintroduced in in Tanzania has equipped June to locations across the Hellbender Conservation a healthcare clinic in Kitisi »» In 2012, this center and 4,040-acre Wah’ Kon-Tah village, in the heart of the its partners released 50 Prairie in Southwest Missouri. rural pastoralist area. The RCP endangered Ozark hellbenders The American burying beetle worked with the village and into the wild—the Ozark rivers was the nation’s first insect local government to build the that are the native habitat for species ever to be designated Zoo Pathologist Dr. Mary Duncan, clinic, and with Tanzanian this salamander. as endangered. Ph.D., (left) and Kate Huyvaert, Ph.D., medical authorities to ensure it graduate of the University of Missouri- »» This augmentation marked »» Offspring from this colony have had all the equipment it needed St. Louis, inspect a waved albatross the third in four years and not only provided nearly 2,500 to establish a rural clinic, on the island of Espanola, Galápagos. followed an even more exciting beetles for two reintroduction including examination couches, milestone: In November 2011, projects, but have also »» The center has signed its hospital beds, a microscope, the center announced the provided starter colonies second, five-year Memorandum fetal heart rate monitors and first-ever captive breeding of for three other institutions. of Understanding with the much more. Ozark hellbenders. The Zoo In addition, this center’s Galápagos National Park and is home to 75 percent of the record-keeping on this colony’s the Charles Darwin Foundation. world’s Ozark hellbenders. success has been integral This official agreement to Center for Conservation to several research projects continue this partnership in Forest Park »» In 2012, this center launched investigating the biology of this focused on understanding a program that brought endangered species. disease threats in Galápagos. students from an inner-city school to the park to document Center for Avian Health in the Center for Cheetah box turtle movements and their Galápagos Islands Conservation in Africa health status in urban and »» In 2012, this center published »» This center has focused on rural areas in and around 12 scientific papers (bringing developing an effective cheetah St. Louis. Previous studies the total number of published census technique, reducing conducted across the globe papers to 71) and five book livestock conflict, conserving show that turtles are being chapters (with a total of cheetahs outside protected threatened by vehicles, habitat Scientists return Ozark hellbenders to their native habitat. eight chapters) on its work areas, resolving veterinary and loss and disease. in Galápagos. Many of these health issues and providing

11 Center for Conservation in »» The Saint Louis Zoo is the the Horn of Africa only U.S. zoo to exhibit the »» This center and its partners highly endangered horned have supported community- guan (or pavon), which lives based coalitions and actively in isolated populations in the established a variety of high montane pine and oak conservation, research and forests of southeastern Mexico education programs, striking and Guatemala. a lasting balance between the needs of community members and the imperiled existence of Center for Conservation of the several rare species in Kenya, Humboldt Penguin in Punta San Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. Juan, Peru »» This center worked with its »» This center and its international partners in the summer of 2012 partners in 2007 created the to complete Punta San Juan’s Grevy’s Zebra Trust—now third sustainable guano harvest well-known as the world’s only since 2001—protecting the conservation organization threatened Humboldt penguin devoted entirely to preserving in Peru, where some of the this endangered species, world’s most fertile guano A visiting scientist uses the laboratory of Ivoloina’s Conservation Training Center its habitat and the livelihoods (bird excrement) fields provide (ICTC) to hold a workshop on fish taxonomy and anatomy for University of of people living in range substrate for nesting burrows. Tamatave students. ICTC was largely funded through the WildCare Institute. communities. that secured Punta San Juan as Betampona and has included a protected area. Punta San science that has led to a greater Center for Conservation of the Juan and 32 other important appreciation of Betampona’s Horned Guan (Pavon) penguin breeding sites were importance. The permanent in Mexico incorporated into Peru’s presence of researchers in » The leading U.S. organization » Protected Areas System the forest has proven to be a dedicated to the conservation in 2009. deterrent to illegal poaching of this species and its habitat, and logging activities that this center is working to save Humboldt penguin. plagued other parks over the the horned guan through Center for past few years. habitat management, the Conservation in Madagascar development of environmental »» Since 2004, this center and its »» This center works under the »» Madagascar was starting education programming, partners have also conducted auspices of the Madagascar to make some progress studies based on life histories an annual comprehensive Fauna and Flora Group when a 2009 political coup and captive management. penguin census of the entire (MFG), which has built a sank the country into even Peruvian coast—a critical step robust research program in deeper levels of poverty and toward species management Betampona Natural Reserve. environmental degradation. and recovery, and they Research there has exposed the The WildCare Institute’s have also entered into a extraordinary number of plant commitment to building memorandum of understanding and animal species that inhabit critically important individual

12 and institutional capacity to »» This center designed and for and participated in such conserve biodiversity is found published the Missouri Bee ventures as wildlife surveys in its support for Malagasy Identification Guide with in Mali, Algeria and Niger; graduate students’ pursuit of its partner, the Missouri repatriation of addax and Masters and Ph.D. degrees Department of Conservation, scimitar-horned oryx to Tunisia; and for advanced training in and helped organize and carnivore studies in Niger; conservation medicine. launch the International Union the establishment of Africa’s The Institute also supported the for Conservation of Nature largest protected area; the construction of a conservation Species Survival Commission development of a breeding training center that hosts Bumble bee Specialist Group. center for Saharan red-necked university classes and This center also pursues ostrich in Niger; and the Center Director Jeff Ettling takes blood workshops in subjects ranging a range of outreach and planning of a future major samples from a viper for a health assessment. from composting to amphibian educational initiatives related reintroduction of scimitar- disease detection. to building gardens in public horned oryx in Chad’s government decision to areas and promoting the Ouadi Rimé/Ouadi Achim declare two new protected protection of pollinators. Game Reserve. Center for Native areas—Arevik National Park and Pollinator Conservation Zangezur Sanctuary. »» Newly established in 2011, »» In 2012, this center expanded this center has been awarded its geographic reach and the an $86,000 grant from the scope of its conservation American Association of mission from mountain vipers Museums for its P.A.U.S.E.: of the Near East to a much Pollinators/Art/Urban larger region that now includes Agriculture/Society/and the all wildlife of Cyprus, Turkey, Environment project. Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, This joint project involves The Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, both the National Museums Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia and of Kenya in Nairobi and the the Republic of Georgia. Tohono Chul Park in Tucson, Arizona. Teams of youth age 17 to 22 from each of the cities will develop projects focused on urban gardening, Release of Zoo-born addax into Tunisia’s Djebil National Park. native pollinators, artistic creation as habitats, and the Saharan Wildlife Center for Conservation in use of outreach tools. Native Recovery Center Western Asia pollinators and community »» This center joined the zoo »» This center played an important gardening will be the platform community in establishing role in the establishment of for exploring cultural identities Sahara Conservation Fund two protected areas in Armenia through food, artistic design, (SCF), the only NGO devoted to help ensure the survival of a definition of community, and exclusively to conserving mountain vipers. The center’s the youth’s relationship with Saharan wildlife. In partnership studies of Armenian vipers their communities. with SCF, it has raised funds contributed to a 2009 Armenian

13 Polar Bears

Missouri Native Species

Hellbenders Pollinators American Burying Beetles

Horned Guans

Amphibians Galápagos Birds Humboldt Penguins

WildCare Institute Centers Locations of organizations the WildCare Institute supports

14 Mountain vipers

Birds

Orangutans Grevy’s Zebras Asian Elephants

Lemurs African Elephants Partula Snail Cheetahs Chimpanzees, Gorillas and Okapis

Saharan Wildlife 15 Center for American Burying Beetle Conservation

In 2012, the Center for American Burying Beetle Conservation and its partners became the first to reintroduce an endangered species in Missouri. In June 2012, hundreds of Zoo-bred burying beetles were placed in locations across the 4,040-acre Wah’ Kon-Tah Prairie in Southwest Missouri. The American burying beetle was the nation’s first insect species ever to be designated as endangered.

The reintroduction site in Last Seen in mid-1970s North St. Clair and Cedar counties is America in Missouri jointly owned and managed Once found in 35 states, by by the Missouri Department of 1989 the only known population Conservation and The Nature was in Rhode Island. Since Zookeeper Bill Borchardt digs a brood Conservancy. In addition, for the its listing as an endangered chamber where he can place a pair of June reintroduction, a special burying beetles to reintroduce them species, field surveys have into a natural habitat. designation was sought from discovered populations in six U.S. Fish and Wildlife, which has other states. Four of these states— beetles in habitats with similar authority over the nearly 7,000 Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska and soil to several of Missouri’s captive beetles the Zoo has bred Oklahoma—share portions of natural divisions, such as prairies, since 2005. their borders with Missouri. All savannas and Mississippi four of these states have found lowlands. With adequate research days, the eggs hatch into larvae. Why does this insect’s fate Both parents feed their offspring matter? In recycling decomposing by eating some of the dead flesh components back into the and regurgitating it into the environment, this beetle is a larvae’s mouths. This goes on necessary part of our ecosystem. for about six to 12 days, until the “Insects, like this, are often the larvae begin their next stage of proverbial ‘canary in the coal development: pupation. After 45 mine,’ providing warning to us of to 60 days, the new generation something harmful because of of beetles emerges from beneath their sensitivity to environmental the soil. changes,” Merz adds. “With “Our contribution to breeding adequate research on what has this beetle and returning it to caused this animal to become parts of its former range is the lost, we hope this species will beginning of our recovery of thrive in Missouri once again.” this beautiful insect,” says Saint Louis Zoo Zoological U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Missouri Department of Conservation and Zoo employees Manager for Invertebrates dig chambers for beetles at the beetle reintroduction site in Southwest Missouri. Bob Merz. Merz is also Director of this center. on what has caused this animal’s WildCare Institute Center— loss, this species may thrive have worked with other again in Missouri. conservation organizations to The beetle was last seen in search for existing American Missouri in the mid-1970s, burying beetles. In addition to and for the last decade, breeding captive beetles, the Saint Louis Zoo—and now the the center’s genetic work is providing a basis for other reintroductions and breeding programs. And our educational initiatives have helped spread the word about the need to save this beetle.

The Great Undertakers The American burying beetle is named for its practice of burying its food—carrion. Pairs bury the Zoo Alive teen volunteers, who assist Dr. Carrie Hall, then a Ph.D. candidate, conducted a pheromone analysis for carrion cooperatively. The female with educational opportunities and reproductive studies on the burying beetles. events, learn about burying beetle beetle lays her eggs near the field survey work. preserved carcass. Within four

17 Center for Avian Health in the Galápagos Islands

This center and its partners developed the first-ever avian health program in the Galápagos Islands. The year, 2012, marked progress for the center in not only saving some of the world’s rarest and most fascinating species but also in helping to save captive birds, since lessons learned on these islands can be used with birds in the care of conservation organizations. In addition to supporting several studies on the health of South these unique birds, center staff is training America Ecuadorian scientists and rangers to recognize and test for diseases. In contrast to the high number However, the cumulative of bird extinctions in other effect of human population, island ecosystems, the avian tourism and the introduction populations in Galápagos of new forms of disease pose As part of a health assessment, have not been devastated by a universal threat to the UMSL Ph.D. Candidate Iris Levin introduced avian diseases. In islands’ remarkable wildlife. (left) and Zoo Veterinary Technician fact, not one endemic bird Sarah O’Brien weigh an adult great species has gone extinct. frigatebird on the island of Española. Establishing Early some dangerous Warning System pathogens and are Student Projects “A small number of Galápagos studying their arrival Are Varied species are on the brink of and transmission in extinction. One cause may be that hopes of being able Current student projects include: to eliminate them and the sheltered Pacific environment 1. understanding the threats prevent further arrivals.” that ‘protects’ these birds also associated with the introduction makes them immunologically The Saint Louis Zoo has of exotic pathogens such as naïve and vulnerable to sponsored a veterinary avian malaria (a primary cause introduced pathogens,” says scientist in residence of Hawaiian bird extinctions) and Dr. Patty Parker, Center Director at the Charles Darwin avipox virus on endemic birds and and the Des Lee Professor in Station in Galápagos, working to minimize these threats; Zoological Studies at University of conducting field and Field assistant Jason Pogacnik and Sarah O’Brien 2. determining infectious and Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL). “Our laboratory research work with Nazca boobies on Española to collect parasitic agents in domestic center and our partners recognize with colleagues there. samples for population studies and health poultry, as these birds pose an this risk and have established an In addition, 20 UMSL assessments. increasingly important threat at early warning system based on graduate degrees have sustainability of conservation in the “wildlife-domestic animal long-term disease monitoring of been awarded to students the Galápagos,” says Dr. Parker, interface” in Galápagos; Galápagos birds to prevent the who spend summers on the who adds that the Galápagos spread of avian diseases similar islands conducting genetic and 3. using a number of native bird Islands are particularly important to those that have devastated health studies on a variety of species and their naturally in that they are iconic for the the bird populations of Hawaii avian species (see sidebar occurring parasites to scientific study of nature and and other Pacific island systems. on this page). understand the circumstances Unfortunately, we have found are among the most remarkable under which parasites move from oceanic ecosystems in the world. one individual to another, or from Natives of Ecuador at Center The area’s isolated location, one species to another. Leading these efforts is Dr. Parker, volcanic activity and tropical Also, center staff members work who is the first scientist to hold currents have combined to closely with the Galápagos an endowed professorship create an environment that National Park and the Charles Darwin established to merge the research has often been described as a Foundation to continue monitoring interests of the university with living museum and nature’s own efforts, to establish policy to those of the Saint Louis Zoo. laboratory. The area is home to a discourage arrivals of new diseases, Dr. Parker brings a wealth of highly concentrated selection of and to conduct studies measuring the invaluable knowledge and unique species that can be found effectiveness of park management experience to her role as a mentor nowhere else. The distinctiveness practices. The ability to monitor to some of the best and brightest of Galápagos wildlife contributed parasites and diseases, such as graduate students worldwide. to Charles Darwin’s formulation avian pox, will provide the ability to Many student participants of the theory of evolution by detect, prepare for and ward off the and collaborators are native to natural selection. debilitating effects of contagion. UMSL undergraduate student Ecuador. “The seeds for the future Maranda Evans helps with seabird are being sown today with the research on the island of Wolf. active engagement of those with a vested interest in the long-term Center for Cheetah Conservation in Africa

This center is focused on developing an effective The world’s fastest land animal, the sleek and long-legged cheetah census technique, reducing livestock cheetah is losing its race for conflict, conserving cheetahs outside protected survival. Historically, cheetahs areas, resolving veterinary and health issues, and ranged widely throughout Africa and Asia dating back to the providing education programs relating to cheetah Great Ice Age. Today, fewer than conservation in East and southern Africa. 12,000 cheetahs inhabit a broad section of Africa, including areas of North Africa, the Sahel and the eastern and southern parts of the continent. Over the past 50 years, cheetahs have become extinct in at least 13 countries. Their two remaining strongholds are in Africa Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa and Namibia and Botswana in southern Africa. “Although the cheetah faces different problems throughout its range of various geographic areas, loss of habitat, ranchers Project partner, Maurus Msuha, Ph.D., a local Tanzanian whose doctoral killing animals, poaching and program was partially funded by this center, is surveying Masai elders near competition with large predators Tarangire National Park to learn about their attitudes toward the cheetah are primary factors behind its and its impact on their cattle. decline,” says Saint Louis Zoo Curator of Carnivores and Center offspring, but much more Director Steve Bircher. “Added research is needed to create to this is the fact that cheetahs similar successes for threatened are difficult to breed in captivity. cheetahs in the wild. The global cheetah population’s “We will continue to educate lack of genetic diversity makes it the public about cheetah more susceptible to ecological conservation, to support sound and environmental changes and scientific research and to develop disease threats.” programs in Africa so that the cheetah’s race will be one of survival, not extinction,” Expanding Census, Monitoring To combat these factors, the says Bircher. center has expanded its census and monitoring efforts to include all 35 carnivore species in Tanzania and is teaming up with researchers and project managers Dr. Sarah Durant, Tanzania Carnivore Project Research Scientist, and a research in Kenya, Botswana, Namibia, assistant are placing an infrared-triggered game camera in Serengeti National and South Africa to promote Park to capture photos of cheetahs and other carnivores for census and conservation through research, monitoring purposes. awareness and community participation in these Breeding Cheetahs range countries. is Challenging Since 1974, the Saint Louis Zoo The center continues to support has been a leader in cheetah the Global Cheetah Action Plan research and captive breeding. & Global Cheetah Forum in South One project, a cheetah mate Africa, through its participation choice study, was designed to in workshops and educational test whether female cheetahs can programs aimed at people living determine relatedness of males near cheetahs. by investigating the male’s urine The center will also continue to scents and ultimately select the participate in the Association of best genetic partner. What began Zoos and Aquariums’ Cheetah as an interest in discovering what Species Survival Plan (SSP), makes these animals so selective created to manage a genetically in mating has now become an healthy population of cheetahs international cooperative effort in North America. This genetic to link captive breeding programs reserve of cheetahs may provide with research and protection in insurance for wild populations in cheetah range countries. Steve Bircher, Zoo Curator of Carnivores and Cheetah Center Director (right), the future. and researcher Cosmas Wambua set a cheetah trap with a live goat in the The Zoo’s cheetah conservation Salama region of Kenya. Captured cheetahs are fitted with GPS collars to track center has already successfully their movements. Traps are checked twice daily, and the goats returned to local produced 38 captive-bred herdsmen with a cheetah’s capture, or after several days.

21 Center for Conservation in Forest Park

This assessment is only one of many center research projects and educational initiatives on native wildlife ecology and management in an urban park. The center conducts these projects in cooperation with Forest Park Forever, the St. Louis Department of Parks and other St. Louis-based educational and cultural institutions.

To learn about nature, area students explore Forest Park’s Kennedy Woods, which is filled with native plants and trees. North America In 2012, the Center for Conservation in Forest Park launched a program that brought students from an inner-city school to the park to document box turtle movements and their health status in urban and rural areas in and around St. Louis. Previous studies conducted across the globe show that The Zoo’s “Observing Nature Project” involved bringing a native owl to a turtles are being threatened by vehicles, habitat city school classroom, where students loss and disease. sketched it. The 1,371-acre Forest Park in children toward wildlife and Cole Elementary School in in the center of St. Louis, where wild places,” says Alice Seyfried, St. Louis a multi-faceted program the Saint Louis Zoo is located, Fred Saigh Curator of the Emerson that used Forest Park for the is home to more than 200 bird Children’s Zoo and Director of the study of native wildlife and for species and an astonishing Zoo’s WildCare Institute Center conservation education. Center array of mammals. In the park’s for Conservation in Forest Park. staff brought a range of animals Kennedy Woods prairie and “Our center has a strong track from snakes to an owl into the savanna, native plants pre- record for addressing challenges classroom for conservation dating the arrival of western to local ecosystems and for discussions and art projects. settlers have once again taken educating youth. We also Students visited the Saint Louis hold: wild white indigo, yellow know from earlier studies that Art Museum to view nature- A St. Louis charter school ecology crownbeard and Ohio horse mint, conservation-minded adults are oriented paintings and decorative club member tracks box turtles in Forest Park. among scores of others. These likely to have spent time in nature arts and reflect what they had reintroduced plants present a as children and that playing in seen in their own art. Students colonization. They used this clear welcome to a host of new nature has a profound effect on enjoyed nature excursions in data to improve and modify birds and butterflies. childhood development. With this Forest Park, where they observed park habitat. educational work and research, and sketched the local habitat. we support our own promise to This program brought together The center followed this study Educating Youth make the places where we live art and science and in a way that with a 2009 collaborative “One of the most important goals better for living things.” helped students develop their program to eradicate honeysuckle, of our conservation projects is using a group of five goats to For example, in the fall of 2010, observation and critical thinking to use all the natural wonder of remove invasive honeysuckle the center offered students from skills, while gaining an awareness Forest Park to develop empathy of their local environment. bushes crowding out the native plants that provide food and cover for local wildlife. Eradicating Invasive This experiment sent a strong Plant Species conservation message to the Another example involved both St. Louis community about park improvement and research the critical need to reinstate in a 2008 survey of pollinator native vegetation. populations in the park’s restored Future center wildlife prairies. About 90 percent of all conservation projects will flowering plants need the help continue to focus on issues of animals to move pollen from pertinent to native wildlife flower to flower for the production ecology and management in an of fruits and seeds. Armed with urban park. The center will also digital cameras, guidebooks continue to work to develop and field journals, area students, empathy in youth and adults serving as citizen scientists, toward animals and nature gathered information about through a variety of methods, The Zoo’s goats got involved in conservation work when they removed the diversity and abundance including hands-on activities that invasive plant species. of pollinators and about involve science, art and history. invertebrate populations and

23 Ron Goellner Center for Hellbender Conservation

During the summer of 2012, fifty endangered Ozark the amphibian was added to the federal endangered species list in hellbenders were released into the wild. These October 2011. juveniles were from a 2007 egg clutch that was Also known as the “snot otter” collected in the wild and hatched at the Missouri and “old lasagna sides,” the Department of Conservation’s Shepherd of the adult hellbender is one of the largest species of salamanders Hills Hatchery. At three months of age, they were in North America reaching lengths transferred to the Saint Louis Zoo so that they could of 20 inches. With skin that is brown with black splotches, be head-started for release. This augmentation the Ozark hellbender has a marked the third time the center and conservation flattened head and body that department have released hellbenders into moves easily through water and North can squeeze under rocks on the America Ozark rivers over the past four years. And this bottom of streams. major achievement followed another even more exciting milestone: In November 2011, the center announced the first-ever captive breeding of Ozark hellbenders. ​Due to the drastic decline of central Missouri and adjacent hellbender populations, captive Arkansas once supported up propagation efforts became to 8,000 Ozark hellbenders. a priority to ensure long-term Today, fewer than 500 exist in Three-week-old Ozark hellbender recovery. Rivers in south- Missouri streams—so few that larvae are from the world’s first captive breeding of this salamander. Efforts Took A Decade “The Saint Louis Zoo has had an Captive propagation efforts for ongoing interest in hellbenders Saint Louis Zoo the hellbender started at the for 40 years,” says Ettling. “Who Honored for Saint Louis Zoo’s Charles H. better to help than the Zoo with Hoessle Herpetarium in 2002 its history of successful captive Hellbender Work where there is a fully-functioning, breeding of amphibians and

indoor 32-foot-long man-made involvement in local, as well as Missouri stream that simulates international conservation? The At the awards ceremony during its the water and weather conditions Hellbender Conservation Center’s 2012 annual meeting, the Association of a natural Ozark river. The Zoo establishment of a successful of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) The native habitat of the Ozark has recently constructed two breeding program for hellbenders announced that the Saint Louis Zoo hellbender is southern Missouri. outdoor 40-foot long streams will help ensure the future for was selected for two of the AZA’s for maintaining two additional this unique amphibian. The place three coveted awards recognizing top breeding groups of Ozark to save the hellbender, like all conservation initiatives. A Canary in a Coal Mine hellbenders. In addition, wildlife, is in its native habitat.” Requiring cool, clean moving AZA’s most historic award, the 2012 the center also has two water, the Ozark hellbender Edward H. Bean Award, went to the climate controlled rooms in the is an important barometer of Zoo for its “Propagation, Head-start basement of the Herpetarium the overall health of that and Conservation Program for the for head-starting hellbenders for ecosystem—an aquatic Ozark Hellbender.” The Edward future release. “canary in a coal mine.” H. Bean Award recognizes a truly significant captive propagation “Prominent folds of skin on the effort that clearly enhances the hellbender’s body and legs conservation of the species. absorb oxygen directly from the water—as well as hormones, The Edward H. Bean award not only heavy metals and pesticides,” honors the Zoo’s captive breeding says Center Director Jeff Ettling, efforts but also underscores the Saint Louis Zoo Curator of importance of an initiative that moves Herpetology and Aquatics. us toward a better understanding “If there is something in the water of the overall health of the aquatic that is causing the hellbender ecosystem of streams and rivers here population to decline, it can also in Missouri. be affecting the people who call In addition, in 2010, this center the area home.” Other factors received the Missouri Department contributing to hellbender decline of Conservation (MDC) Outstanding include habitat alteration and Collaborator of the Year Award in destruction, diseases, illegal recognition of the Zoo’s Herpetarium collection for the pet trade staff, veterinary and life support and predation. departments as key players in conservation efforts for hellbenders. Outdoor streams and the life support facility are home to two populations of Ozark hellbenders. Center for Conservation in the Horn of Africa

In recent years, the countries in the Horn of Africa have endured enormous hardships from drought, famine and political turmoil, and outside assistance is often needed to nurture and grow their fledgling conservation efforts. The Center for Conservation in the Horn of Africa is playing a key role in sustaining critically endangered wild species and habitats found in this unique region. By supporting community- endangered across its range, based coalitions and actively with less than 150 in Ethiopia Africa establishing a variety of and, perhaps 2,500 in conservation, research and northern Kenya. education programs, this With less than a half of a center is striking a lasting Center Director and Zoo Curator of percent of the Grevy’s zebra Mammals, Martha Fischer (right), and balance between the needs of range falling within official Grevy’s Zebra Trust Director, Belinda community members and the national parks and protected Mackey, work together in northern imperiled existence of areas, this species’ survival Kenya to place a tracking collar on a several rare species in Kenya, depends heavily upon the Grevy’s zebra. These tracking collars Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. attitudes and engagement of are providing vital data on The largest of all wild equids, people in community areas. Grevy’s zebra movements. the Grevy’s zebra is considered Conserving an Ethiopian Treasure The mountain nyala is a critically Saint Louis Zoo endangered species endemic Wins Award for to Ethiopia. Little is known of this species, and research and Work in Africa education projects through At the awards ceremony during its MELCA Ethiopia and Bale Beauty 2012 annual meeting, the Association Nature Club, two emerging of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) conservation organizations announced that the Saint Louis Zoo in Ethiopia, will help lay a was selected for two of the AZA’s foundation for a conservation three coveted awards recognizing top plan to ensure a future for conservation initiatives. this incredible species, a true Ethiopian treasure. Conservation AZA President and CEO Jim Maddy programs for other rare and recognized the Saint Louis Zoo as endemic species, such as the a leader in wildlife conservation— both at home and abroad. The 2012 In recent years, the land available to the mountain nyala in the highlands of hirola, a critically endangered southeastern Ethiopia has become more and more restricted because of Kenyan antelope, and the International Conservation Award human encroachment, agriculture and sport hunting. This center is supporting Ethiopian wolf, the world’s went to the “Grevy’s Zebra Trust research, education and conservation programs to preserve this endangered most endangered canid, and AZA: A Model of Collaborative species in the Bale Mountains National Park, Ethiopia. are also receiving support Endangered Species Conservation from this center. Program.” The International Conservation Award recognizes As the Center for Conservation communities through field exceptional efforts toward habitat Engaging Communities in the Horn of Africa pursues Toward this end, this center conservation and education preservation, species restoration and its goals, vital and long- supports the Grevy’s Zebra programs. Residents of one of support of biodiversity in the wild. lasting partnerships are being Trust, an independent wildlife the 18 Northern Rangelands established. The WildCare This award recognizes decades conservation organization Trust communities, Kalama, Institute’s Center for Conservation of work by Curator of Mammals, established to address the urgent have already stepped forward in the Horn of Africa unites Ungulates and Elephants, need to conserve Grevy’s zebra to manage their land to develop with an impressive array of Martha Fischer, Director of this center, in the community rangelands of a sustainable, self-sufficient international partners in its which supports the Grevy’s Zebra Kenya and Ethiopia. The Grevy’s conservation strategy for their efforts to conserve the wildlife of Trust and other partners involved Zebra Trust is working holistically community. Cooperative multi- this region. with the Trust. to secure critical resources and community habitat restoration safeguard this species from programs, coupled with extinction across its range by community-led grazing plans, are “Nkai (Samburu God) has engaging communities in the proving to be successful within protection and monitoring of the communities, re-establishing given us that heart of taking Grevy’s zebra. important wildlife-friendly care of wildlife and people areas and historical This center also supports the are supporting us to do this. migratory corridors for all of the Northern Rangelands Trust, a wildlife species in the region. Let’s come together, work community-led initiative that together and be united.” forms a true union of Kenyan ~Rikapo Lentiyoo, Grevy’s Zebra Trust Regional Coordinator for Laisamis Center for Conservation of the Horned Guan (Pavon) in Mexico

The Horned Guan Conservation Center is serving “The role the guan plays in the regeneration of montane as the leading U.S. organization dedicated to the forests and its basic ecological conservation of this species and its habitat. requirements are not well The center is working to save the horned guan understood but are of paramount importance when developing a through habitat management, the development recovery plan for any species,” of environmental education programming, says the Zoo’s Curator of Birds and Center Director life histories studies, captive management, and Michael Macek. “Even basic active involvement in two international committees biological data is still required dedicated to the conservation of the horned guan for this species, due to its small/ disjunct populations and remote and its habitat. The Saint Louis Zoo is the only U.S. distribution. We are currently North supporting the collection of data America zoo to ever exhibit the highly endangered horned guan (or pavon), which lives in isolated populations in both Mexico and Guatemala.” in the high montane pine and oak forests of Identifying Threats southeastern Mexico and Guatemala. By the early Since 2002, Michael Macek 1930s logging, coffee farming, and hunting had has served as a member on the Cracid Specialist Group greatly reduced its numbers. Today, only 1,000- of the International Union for 2,000 birds exist in the wild. Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This sub-group of the world’s of action plan items and helps oldest and largest global maintain a momentum that is environmental network focuses often lost 10 years after a PHVA. its efforts on the conservation In 2007, the center joined the of cracids—the horned guan is a Cloud Forest Ambassadors member of this most threatened Program, established by its family of neo-tropical birds. partner, Africam Safari Zoo in In 2002, the Cracid Specialist Puebla, Mexico. The Cloud Forest Group hosted the first Population Ambassadors membership and Habitat Viability Assessment includes zoos from around the (PHVA) of the Horned Guan. world. This consortium of zoos This assessment identified the promotes at an international threats faced by the horned guan level the conservation needs and evaluated the likelihood of the horned guan, generates that this bird will persist funds to be used in the in-situ over a given time period into the conservation efforts of the horned future. The plan then identified guan and its habitat, and strives necessary research and data The pine and oak cloud forest habitat in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, to improve captive breeding via collection, assessed different is home to the horned guan. ex-situ research. vulnerabilities of the plan, and The center is currently focusing its identified and prioritized various efforts in working with partners to action plan items. initiate local education programs to strengthen community conservation participation. Focusing on Education, These programs coupled with Ecotourism One action plan item was the enforcement action will help establishment of the International reduce the threats caused by Committee for the Conservation illegal timber removal, cattle of the Horned Guan and its grazing and hunting. habitat. This committee, of which The sustainable management the center is a member, primarily of organic coffee plantations includes the key stakeholders in and the formation of additional Mexico and Guatemala. reserves offer potential for The committee meets on a eco-tourism, providing alternative bi-annual basis to discuss economic opportunities for advances in horned guan local communities. conservation and review action plan items. The establishment of this committee provides for Michael Macek, Curator of Birds and Center Director, observes horned guans in El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas, Mexico. the continued re-assessment

29 Center for Conservation of the Humboldt Penguin in Punta San Juan, Peru

The center worked with its partners in the summer of 2012 to complete Punta San Juan’s third sustainable guano harvest since 2001. The threatened Humboldt penguin is found only along the rugged Pacific coast of Peru and Chile, where some of the world’s most fertile guano (bird excrement) fields provide a soft substrate for penguin nesting burrows. Punta San Juan sustainable harvest protocols have reduced the direct harvest impact from a 10 percent penguin population loss to zero. Since 2004, the center and its partners have also conducted an annual comprehensive penguin census of the entire Peruvian coast—a critical step toward species management and recovery. The conservation coalition also entered into a memorandum of understanding South that secured Punta San Juan until it and 32 other important penguin breeding America sites were incorporated into Peru’s Protected Areas System in 2009.

The Saint Louis Zoo has been managed by the Humboldt Declining Population home to Humboldt penguins penguin species survival plan. However, the center’s goal is to since 1977. In 2003, the Zoo’s Through this plan, the Zoo secure the future of the Humboldt Penguin and Puffin Coast habitat has worked closely with many penguin in Punta San Juan— opened, providing a new home other institutions to ensure the home to almost half of the entire for Humboldt penguins. The Zoo’s breeding of a healthy and Peruvian Humboldt penguin penguins are part of a North genetically diverse captive population. There, the continental American population that is population of Humboldt penguins. shelf comes very close to the genetically and demographically coastline creating an upwelling of cold nutrient rich water— Michael Macek, who is also of the population first discovered conditions that provide a fertile Center Director. “Disruption of in the 19th century along the environment for the anchoveta, the fragile ecological balance of same coastline. the primary food source of the Humboldt penguins’ region is penguin and many other sea another large threat to birds and marine mammals. the species. Peru’s largely Striving to Improve Fisheries unregulated fishing industry Management “In the wild, the Humboldt The center is striving to secure the penguin faces an uncertain future not only removes the Humboldts’ food supply, but also places funding necessary to maintain brought about by increasing permanent trained personnel human disturbance, underwater them at risk of entanglement in fishing nets.” to continue the collection of natural gas pipelines that emit biological data and protect Punta toxic seepage into the water, Estimates show the total San Juan. Center support also recurring El Nino Southern combined population of birds goes toward improving Peruvian Oscillations and vulnerability in Peru and along the coast of fisheries management and to non-native predators,” says Chile is at only 40,000 Humboldt increasing local awareness of Saint Louis Zoo Curator of Birds penguins—a tiny percentage marine conservation issues. Mandi Nordin, Saint Louis Zoo keeper, works with a Humboldt penguin chick during a health assessment in Punta San Juan, Peru.

By forging a bond between the staffs of North American zoos, Peruvian partners, government and non-governmental organizations, the center has taken the first steps in forming a true conservation coalition.

Michael Macek, Saint Louis Zoo Bird Curator and Center Director, and WildCare Institute partner Michael Adkesson, DVM, Brookfield Zoo, An educator from WildCare Institute partner ACOREMA works to educate students about conservation in examine an adult Humboldt penguin Pisco, Peru. in Punta San Juan, Peru.

31 Center for Conservation in Madagascar

Madagascar, the fourth largest island in the world, is a conservation hotspot due to the island’s levels of endemism—the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location–and in the number of plant and animal species threatened with extinction. Although rich in biodiversity, Madagascar has been historically recognized as among the world’s poorest and least developed countries. The challenge facing conservationists is the dual need to increase the Malagasy people’s standard of living, while decreasing factors that Africa contribute to environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity. Christian Rambeloson, Manager This center works under the office is located in Tamatave, of MFG Ecoagriculture Program, umbrella of the Madagascar where the program manager demonstrates alternative soil Fauna and Flora Group (MFG). and a staff of over 40 management and planting practices While MFG’s international Malagasy work to conserve to local villagers. headquarters is at the Madagascar’s biodiversity. Saint Louis Zoo, its in-country Supporting Conservation research projects on feeding Research ecology and on how different Forty kilometers west of Ivoloina environmental features affect is Betampona Natural Reserve, habitat use by lemur species and a nearly 5,570-acre lowland health surveys. An amphibian rainforest where the MFG has survey that revealed Betampona served as research partner to harbored an exceptionally high its governing agency for over number of species (76) for its 20 years. The MFG has taken a size was funded through holistic approach to addressing the WildCare Institute. Our conservation problems by partnership with Dr. Wasit building an integrated and Wulamu, remote sensing expert multidisciplinary program that from Saint Louis University, has focuses on four strategies: produced a GIS database that research, education, capacity integrates floral and faunal data building and conservation action. with satellite images to analyze Our WildCare Institute has made the spatio-temporal dynamics of significant contributions to the Betampona. This powerful tool After collecting biological samples and radio-collaring an indri, veterinarian Fidy MFG’s conservation objectives. will significantly advance science- Rasambainarivo monitors the individual animal as it awakens from anesthesia; based conservation planning. conservation medicine is one component of the MFG’s research program in We have supported lemur Betampona Natural Reserve.

Building Madagascar’s Capacity students, under the tutelage of The MFG manages Parc Ivoloina, the MFG’s Ecoagriculture Advisor a 692-acre conservation facility Dr. Christof den Biggelaar, use that encompasses a small the ICTC to do research on such zoo, tree nursery, agriculture topics as alternative farming demonstration area and Ivoloina’s methods that, if successful, are Conservation Training Center critical to reducing slash and burn (ICTC). Largely funded through the farming practices. In addition to WildCare Institute, ICTC includes building institutional capacity, a meeting room, laboratory, the WildCare Institute supports dormitory and refectory. It was the professional development of built because Tamatave’s political individuals. Veterinary student and education leaders identified Fidisoa Rasambainarivo received it as a priority for educating an internship for advanced conservation practitioners. training in exotic animal Tamatave University signed a medicine at the Saint Louis Zoo, memorandum of understanding and Lala Randriatavy’s Ph.D. At right, standing, is Lala Randriatavy, whose Ph.D. research focused on with the MFG and now includes program is funded through the evaluating four methods of manually removing guava from Betampona ICTC’s lab and field site into WildCare Institute. Natural Reserve. Guava is among the world’s worst invasive plant species class curricula. Their graduate and unchecked, will out-compete many of the reserve’s endemic plants and ultimately lead to the local extinction of some animal and plant species.

33 Center for Native Pollinator Conservation

Newly established in 2011, this center has been awarded an $86,000 grant from the American Alliance of Museums for its P.A.U.S.E.: Pollinators/ Art/Urban Agriculture/Society/and the Environment project. This joint project involves both the National Museums of Kenya in Nairobi and the Tohono Chul Park in Tucson, Arizona. Teams of youth age 17 to The American bumble bee is 22 from each city will develop projects focused disappearing across its range. on urban gardening, native pollinators, artistic creation as habitats, and the use of outreach tools the state’s agriculture North and environment. America from traditional to cutting edge. Native pollinators “Creating a garden at the state and community gardening will be the platform for fair demonstrated the critical exploring cultural identities through food, artistic importance of pollinators and design, the definition of community, and youth’s of cultivating the kinds of plants that attract pollinators,” says relationship with their communities. Center Director Ed Spevak, In 2012, the center also worked design a pollinator garden at the Curator of Invertebrates at the with the Missouri Department Missouri State Fair held in August Saint Louis Zoo. “The garden also of Transportation (MoDOT) in Sedalia, MO, to promote demonstrates our commitment and the Xerces Society for the importance of pollinators, in working with MoDOT and Invertebrate Conservation to especially bees, to the future of the Xerces Society to develop future pollinator roadsides along In 2008, the Saint Louis Zoo Missouri’s roads to help reduce and the University of Illinois at mowing costs and increase Urbana-Champaign, produced pollination for nearby crops. the first comprehensive bumble The roadside gardens will also bee guide for Illinois and help motorists better understand Missouri. The Zoo has the importance of protecting conducted bee surveys within pollinators and what they can the St. Louis area to examine do to help.” bee diversity and abundance and to identify possible areas of conservation concern. Reaching Out to Community Spevak has long worked with Nationally, the Zoo also community garden groups to organized and hosted, with educate individuals about native the Xerces Society, University bees and develop best bee of Illinois, and the USDA-ARS practices to ensure optimal fruit Bee Research Laboratory, a and vegetable production, Species Conservation Strategy while working to save bees and Workshop for North American Ed Spevak surveys for bees in St. Louis’ Forest Park to determine the abundance other pollinators. Bumble Bees. Experts from across North America, Europe and and diversity of pollinators in this urban park.

Japan representing universities, organizing a worldwide network government agencies, and of bumble bee researchers who conservation organizations, met will examine all 250 species of to develop a comprehensive bumble bees to establish their conservation and research conservation status. action plan for North American These activities reflect the bumble bees to help direct the collaborative research and conservation and research efforts education programs that are the of the center and the work of focus for this center as it works to other organizations dedicated to expand public knowledge about bumble bee conservation. the importance of conserving bees and other pollinators and their habitats. Organizing Network of Researchers Internationally, the Zoo’s new

pollinator center helped establish and organize the International Center Director and Zoo Curator of Invertebrates Ed Spevak photographs Union for Conservation of pollinators for a field guide for the public to help people better identify—and Nature (IUCN) Species Survival protect—pollinators. Commission Bumble Bee Specialist Group. This group is

35 Saharan Wildlife Recovery Center

On March 6, 2012, Niger’s Council of Ministers The Sahara and its fringe of arid grasslands (the Sahel) are home decreed the establishment of the Termit & Tin to species exquisitely adapted to Toumma National Nature Reserve. At 37,450 life in this desert environment. square miles (roughly the size of Indiana), this Yet this African region has been overlooked and under-funded reserve is now Africa’s largest. This decree resulted for conservation action. The from years of joint effort by the Saint Louis Zoo, silent crisis of extinction in the Sahara has already claimed one Sahara Conservation Fund, the Republic of Niger, antelope: scimitar-horned oryx, the Convention on Migratory Species, and other once numbering in the tens of partners. The last viable wild population of addax thousands, are now found only in captivity. antelope has moved one step closer to protection. An alarming number of species are following in the fading Africa footprints of this oryx, including the addax, dama gazelles, striped hyena and Barbary sheep. Desert cheetahs cling tenuously to survival. Even Saharan red- necked ostrich, the largest birds on the planet, have vanished across 95 percent of their range.

A herd of addax in Tin Toumma, Niger. The recent creation of the organize the return of scimitar- Termit & Tin Toumma National horned oryx and addax from U.S. Nature and Cultural Reserve and European zoos to fenced benefits addax and more. reserves in Tunisia. In Niger, A host of species share this the center helps support an region, including fennec, ostrich ranch with genetically pale, and Rüppell’s fox; pure Saharan ostrich in hopes Nubian and Sudan bustards; of one day releasing birds back desert cheetah, sand cat and to the wild. This site not only African wildcat; golden jackal supports ostrich production but and striped hyena; Barbary sheep raises local awareness about their and dama gazelles. plight to build support for their return. In Chad, it is providing assistance with the planning Focusing on Returning process to reintroduce scimitar- Animals to Wild horned oryx to the Ouadi Rimé/ In areas where local extinction Ouadi Achim Game Reserve. has already occurred, the center focuses on the possibility of A spectacular Saharan sandscape. returning animals in human care to the wild. In 2007, it helped to

Raising Conservation Awareness connect this effort to meaningful While habitat loss and conservation action within the 14 disturbance contribute to range states that are touched by the decline of species, the the three million square miles of introduction of automatic the Sahara. weapons and four-wheel-drive In places like the Termit/Tin vehicles to North Africa during Toumma region of Niger, where a World War II led to decades of significant assemblage of these unsustainable hunting practices species still exists, the center without a management plan to focuses on raising awareness make hunting sustainable. In about the unique opportunity to many places in the Sahara today, save so many Sahelo-Saharan habitat and the will to restore species in one place, and on wildlife are not in short supply. supporting the necessary field The animals, however, are. work to document their presence Fortunately, zoos and others and abundance and provide maintain breeding populations critical data on their ecology to of numerous Sahelo-Saharan help develop a management plan species in human care. The to ensure their future. Saint Louis Zoo’s Saharan Wildlife Oryx in Tunisia’s Dghoumes National Park. Recovery Center looks for ways to

37 Center for Conservation in Western Asia

The Center for Near East Mountain Viper Conservation was a leading force in helping to establish two protected areas in Armenia to help ensure the survival of mountain vipers. The center’s studies of Armenian vipers contributed to the Armenian government’s 2009 decision to declare two new protected areas–Arevik National Dr. Erika Travis surgically implants a Park and Zangezur Sanctuary. Then, in 2012, our transmitter into an Armenian viper. center expanded its geographic reach and the scope of its conservation mission. It is now the reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals native to Western Asia. WildCare Center for Conservation in Western Asia. Asia ​As the biological crossroads Azerbaijan, northwestern Iraq and between Europe and Asia, northeastern Iran. These areas Leading Mountain Viper Western Asia is home to a have experienced an 88 percent Conservation Efforts Over the past decade, the unique assemblage of species decline in viper population Zoo’s studies of captive vipers found nowhere else. Since numbers over the last 20 years. have already provided useful 2004, the Zoo’s WildCare The new center is building on the information on reproduction and Institute has focused its efforts WildCare Institute’s Armenian behavior. The center’s research on the Armenian viper, with viper program by working to team is using radio-telemetry to its fragmented distribution conserve other mountain vipers, study the spatial ecology in Armenia, eastern Turkey, and habitat preferences of eventually other countries Armenian vipers. In addition, in the region, and emerging genetic analyses are being partnerships will help us develop used to study population alternative, non-disruptive ways structure to see if gene flow to make use of natural resources,” has been affected by human Ettling adds. “Although we alterations to the landscape. can collect the data needed to As a result of these and other develop a conservation strategy studies, the boundaries of for a species, the success of a Armenia’s Khosrov Forest State conservation program ultimately Reserve have been enlarged, and depends on ‘buy-in’ and support the center’s data was used as the from the people who live with basis for establishing Zangezur the wildlife. Sanctuary and Arevik National “We’ll be working hard to get Park. Plus, the research protocols that support.” developed for the Armenian viper will be used to study other mountain vipers in the future. While the new center will continue to combine ecological Center Director Jeff Ettling (left) and Levon Aghasyan of the National Academy field studies and taxonomic of Sciences, Armenia, record data on the geographic location and habitat of the investigations, it now covers a Armenian viper. much larger region—including Cyprus, Turkey, Israel, Lebanon, “The greatest threats to Syria, Jordan, the Arabian biodiversity in Western Asia Peninsula, Iraq, Iran, Azerbaijan, are overgrazing, mining, Armenia and Republic of Georgia. agricultural development, poaching and overharvesting of “Three of the 34 biodiversity timber for fuel wood,” says Ettling. hotspots designated by “Our ultimate goal is to create Conservation International a sustainable future for both occur in Western Asia,” the biodiversity and people says Center Director and Curator inhabiting the region.” of Herpetology and Aquatics Jeff Ettling. The three—the Mediterranean Basin, Caucasus Building Community buy-in and Irano-Anatolian Hotspots— The new center will continue to harbor a large percentage of work with local communities to the world’s plant and animal help them understand the need biodiversity, many of which are to protect wildlife. Jeff Ettling radio tracks Armenian vipers in Shikahogh State Reserve in endemic to these regions. “Educational programs and southern Armenia. materials will involve local communities in Armenia and

39 The WildCare Institute Also Supports

Ecuadorian Amphibians amphibian populations today, Aquariums (AZA) With the world’s amphibian these assurance colonies become institutions, including the populations in drastic decline the last hope for many unique Saint Louis Zoo, have worked the Saint Louis Zoo’s WildCare amphibian species. in the Commonwealth of the Institute made a decision to Northern Marianas Islands support Luis Coloma, Ph.D., collecting birds on the islands and his ongoing conservation The Marianas Avifauna and relocating them to safer and sustainability of Conservation (MAC) Project areas (snake-free islands). In the Ecuadorian amphibians. past year, the Saint Louis Zoo’s With the development of Dr. staff collected 24 golden white- Coloma’s Centro Jambatu de eyes on the island of Saipan and Investigación y Conservación relocated them to the uninhabited de Anfibios/Fundación Otonga, island of Sarigan. An additional the Saint Louis Zoo is continuing 12 rufous fantails and 12 golden to offer yearly support. Centro white-eyes were sent to AZA zoos Chimpanzee Jambatu is a great example for captive breeding. The project of scientific research, captive Golden white-eye has reported success in recent breeding and strong collaborative years with evidence that bridled requires immediate conservation effort ensuring species survival. white-eyes are breeding in their activities to effectively address The goal of this coalition of zoos, Due to the factors affecting wild new location. these threats. The Goualougo government organizations and Triangle Ape Project (GTAP) was universities is to proactively formed by Dr. Crickette Sanz, protect island birds and other Chimpanzees and Washington University in St. species from the fate of the Gorillas Conservation Louis, and Dr. David Morgan, Micronesian kingfisher and The Northern Republic of Congo Wildlife Conservation Society, Guam rail, now extinct in the has long been considered a with the mission to protect wild because of the introduction stronghold for the conservation chimpanzees and gorillas by on Guam of an aggressive of chimpanzees and western applying conservation research, predator—the brown lowland gorillas; however, enhancing protection of their tree snake. The MAC Project these apes reside in a rapidly habitats and strengthening works to conserve threatened changing landscape. Most ape local capacity to implement birds by relocating them to other populations in this region are conservation programs. islands within the Marianas and likely to experience alterations Onore’s harlequin frog by establishing captive breeding in their habitat, the pressures of GTAP has made progress towards protocols. Since 1994, staff commercial bushmeat hunting, these goals over the years, but members from participating and/or the emergence of disease. perhaps its most significant Association of Zoos and Ensuring their long-term survival achievement occurred in January

40 2012, when the President of research of Asian elephants. The Zoo involves other AZA the Republic of Congo made a Since 2004, the WildCare institutions, elephant care major and lasting step towards Institute, in close cooperation organizations and concerned the conservation and protection with its partners, has also private donors in supporting of biodiversity in his country. supported in situ conservation the efforts of the International Through Presidential decree, and welfare initiatives to secure Elephant Foundation; this he extended the borders of the viable wild populations of Asian foundation links dedicated Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park and African elephants. conservationists at zoos with to grant protected status to those in the field and fosters the Goualougo Triangle. In the Asian Elephant Support partnerships to provide long- meeting summary from President The endangered Asian elephant term support to wildlife programs Sassou’s council of ministers, once numbered in the hundreds around the world. Since 2004, the minutes specifically mention of thousands throughout most WildCare Institute has provided the chimpanzee population and of Asia, but today as few as nearly $225,000 to Asian unique opportunities to study 35,000 remain in the wild. Loss elephant conservation in situ, behavior. But GTAP’s conservation of habitat to the growing human supporting projects in Sumatra, mission also extends to population and the increasing Sri Lanka, Myanmar increasing the survival prospects commercial demand for forest- and Cambodia. African elephant of apes residing in logging derived products have tragically concessions outside of the park’s African Elephant Support Trust (NRT), a community-led boundaries. To that end, GTAP has The African elephant is a organization in Kenya of 19 developed a unique collaboration vulnerable species that is at existing or emerging community with the local logging company risk of further decline outside conservancies covering an to formulate and promote of protected areas where estimated 16,000 km2. sustainable forest management it continues to suffer from Since 2004, WildCare Institute via forest policy reforms. GTAP anthropogenic degradation of its has provided $670,000 to NRT’s survey teams maintain a research habitat, competition for resources community conservation efforts. and monitoring presence in the with domestic livestock, human- With these partnerships and the concession to assess ape density elephant conflict and poaching. expansion of land devoted to and distribution patterns in The long-term survival of conservation in northern Kenya, response to timber harvesting elephants in Kenya is inextricably migratory corridors are being and associated activities. linked to the support of local re-established and migratory communities that share the land species, like the African elephant, with this species. Involving local are greatly benefiting. Projects to Save Elephants communities in the ongoing in the Wild Asian elephant work to protect and monitor The WildCare Institute’s support elephants and raising awareness for elephant conservation focuses of the benefits of elephant on preservation of Asian and reduced the range for this species conservation are critical African elephants in human care and increased the incidence of prerequisites for success. and in the wild. For decades, human-elephant conflict to an the Saint Louis Zoo has had a WildCare Institute joins with other alarming level. strong commitment to ex situ AZA institutions and donors to conservation, propagation and support the Northern Rangelands

41 Marine Conservation conservation issue, 4) providing the Saint Louis Zoo and WildCare The WildCare Institute has educational opportunities and Institute have provided $165,000 become a founding member of capacity building, 5) seeking to okapi conservation in situ. the International Consortium community-based solutions, and The okapi or “forest giraffe” was for Marine Conservation, an 6) where appropriate, promoting first described by scientists in initiative led by the Mote policy changes. There may also 1901. Even today, the okapi Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, be opportunities for the WildCare largely remains a mystery to the Florida. Mote is an independent, Institute and Mote Laboratories outside world. nonprofit organization with seven to cooperate on freshwater issues The Okapi Conservation Project facing wildlife in Missouri rivers. was initiated in 1987 to secure a protected area for okapi in the wild, while preserving the Okapi Conservation The Saint Louis Zoo is a biological and cultural dynamics participant in the Association of the Ituri Forest. This program of Zoos and Aquariums’ is dedicated to protecting and AZA Species Survival Plan (SSP) preserving the flagship species of the Ituri forest in the Democratic for okapi and has supported Sumatran orangutan ex situ and in situ conservation Republic of the Congo, promoting Beluga whale of okapi for 20 years. the okapi as an ambassador representing the incredible Orangutan Conservation diversity of species found in the Hutan is a grassroots non- centers for marine research, the Okapi Wildlife Reserve, where profit organization working to public Mote Aquarium and an forest elephants, chimpanzees, build innovative approaches Education Division specializing antelopes, birds and thousands to conserve orangutan and in public programs for all ages. of plant species thrive. other wildlife populations in Mote Marine Laboratory has been In 1992, the Okapi Wildlife the forests of Sabah. In 1998, a leader in marine research since Hutan set up the Kinabatangan it was founded in 1955. Today, Reserve was given official protected status creating a Orangutan Conservation the organization incorporates Programme (KOCP) with the Lower public outreach as a key part reserve in a portion of the Ituri rainforest, one of the Kinabatangan community and of its mission, which focuses the Sabah Wildlife Department. on developing science-based most biologically diverse Okapi places on earth. This project Hutan-KOCP’s highest priority solutions for addressing marine was intensive training to help conservation challenges. provides support for training The Saint Louis Zoo’s WildCare and equipping wildlife guards, local staff conduct high quality The Consortium’s approach is Institute, in close cooperation community assistance (clean research and conservation holistic and includes: 1) building with Gilman International water, medical services, school activities. Hutan-KOCP’s collaborative, interdisciplinary Conservation and White Oak supplies, etc.) to the people living 40-person, highly skilled teams; 2) supporting studies Conservation Center, the AZA next to the reserve, conservation team is from the native to determine perceptions Okapi SSP and many AZA education for people and care for Kinabatangan community. and values of the people partner institutions, supports a managed breeding and research In the past 15 years, Hutan- involved, 3) communicating in the in situ okapi conservation group of okapi in the reserve. KOCP successes have included a culturally sensitive manner efforts in the Democratic Republic discoveries on the ecology of to all stakeholders in a of Congo. Since 1992, the orangutan and other wildlife

42 species; wildlife population Polar Bears International (PBI) programs to inspire, inform assessments; monitoring Concerned with the rising threats and empower people to make and support for creation and to polar bears in the wild, the a difference by reducing carbon management of protected areas WildCare Institute forged a emissions that contribute to (e.g., the Lower Kinabatangan partnership with this non-profit climate change. Wildlife Sanctuary); and organization that is dedicated to Finally, as the Arctic melts, development of sound state- worldwide conservation of the more polar bear mothers are wide wildlife conservation polar bear and its habitat. PBI’s choosing to den on land, possibly policies. Hutan is also working leaders believe that zoos play an sensing that the sea ice is too in commercial timber production important role in this initiative unstable. Understanding their forests with high orangutan Partula snail because the more people who denning behavior is critically densities to establish the wildlife have an opportunity to see polar important. The WildCare Institute conservation plans that are bears and understand their survives in captivity. When the is supporting a maternal den required for sustainable forest plight, the more likely we are to study conducted by PBI scientists management certification. In the French Polynesian government alter our warming path to save allowed the importation of African on the Alaska North Slope to Kinabatangan floodplain, Hutan- them. PBI supports the global document such behavior as when KOCP actively participates in land snails as a food source, it Polar Bear Project, which is indirectly spelled doom for many bear mothers and cubs typically efforts to recreate a forest corridor helping scientists pinpoint areas emerge from their dens; how long along the river by developing Partula species. When the African where polar bears might survive land snails began eating local the families remain at the den a systematic conservation as sea ice diminishes due to site before heading to the sea ice planning framework; engaging crops, yet another predatory climate change. The PBI Polar snail was brought to the island to to hunt seals; and how sensitive private stakeholders (e.g., oil Bear Sustainability Alliance has they are to disturbances. palm plantations); and directly control it. But the predator snails involving local communities in the ate the Partula snails instead protection and management of of the African snail. By 1987, wildlife and habitat through the many species of Partula snails Honorary Wildlife Warden scheme had gone extinct on Tahiti and and a community-based forest nearby Moorea. Fortunately, a restoration program. limited number of Partula snails survive in zoos. A number of zoos, including the Saint Louis Zoo, Partula Snail Project are breeding them with the goal The WildCare Institute has of returning them to the wild. been involved in Partula snail These zoos also support a field Polar bear conservation for many years. researcher who is monitoring wild Nine species of Partula snails populations of both Partula snails developed a set of contingency were once common on the Study results will help wildlife and the introduced snails that plans to assist management South Pacific island of Tahiti. managers and governing have caused their demise. authorities in a rapidly warming Sadly, three of the them are authorities develop plans to This field work will help us Arctic, and the Saint Louis Zoo now extinct. A fourth species, better protect and preserve polar determine the locations where has been actively involved Partula nodosa, is thought to bears for future generations. the snails can be safely returned with PBI in providing education be extinct in the wild and only to their native islands.

43 Partners Phoenix Zoo A truly unique international collaboration has Center for Conservation in the Reid Park Zoo Teens Program Horn of Africa been formed that brings an unprecedented level Albuquerque Zoo Riverbanks Zoo of conservation. Below are the current partners for Amersfoot Zoo Sacramento Zoo each of the 12 centers. Amsterdam Zoo Safari West Basel Zoo Saint Louis Zoo Brevard Zoo San Antonio Zoo Cheetah Conservation Fund, San Diego Zoo Global Center for American Burying Busch Gardens-Tampa Namibia Sedgwick County Zoo Beetle Conservation Calgary Zoo U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Zoological Society of London Chester Zoo Smithsonian National Zoo The Missouri Department Tanzania Wildlife Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Stuttgart Zoo of Conservation Research Institute Chicago Zoological Society/ Tampa’s Lowry Park The Nature Conservancy Tanzania National Parks Brookfield Zoo Toronto Zoo Roger Williams Park Zoo Association Cincinnati Zoo Utah’s Hogle Zoo U.S. Army (Fort Chaffee, AR) Cheetah Conservation Botswana Cleveland Metroparks Zoo White Oak Conservation Center Action for Cheetahs in Kenya United States Forest Service Columbus Zoo Woodland Park Zoo Kenya Wildlife Service Missouri Department of Dallas Zoo Zoo Atlanta Transportation Wildlife Conservation Society Denver Zoo Zoo Landau Detroit Zoo Zoological Society of London Center for Conservation Disney’s Animal Kingdom Center for Avian Health in the Universities in Forest Park Edinburgh Zoo Galapagos Islands Addis Ababa University Des Lee Professorship in Academy of Science Fresno Chaffee Zoo Oxford University Zoological Studies at the Forest Park Forever Houston Zoo University of Missouri-St. Louis Missouri Department of Jackson Zoo Princeton University Charles Darwin Research Station Conservation Jacksonville Zoo Purdue University Galápagos National Parks Saint Louis Art Museum John Ball Zoo University of Oslo Genetics, Pathology, St. Louis Department of Parks Kansas City Zoo University of Wyoming Epidemiology Laboratory of Knoxville Zoo Galápagos Zoo Organizations Ron Goellner Center for Leipzig Zoo The Zoological Society of London AAZK (National) and at Brookfield, Hellbender Conservation Lincoln Park Zoo California Desert, Cincinnati, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Lisbon Zoo Denver, Lion Country, Los Center for Cheetah Conservation Missouri Department of Living Desert Angeles, Oklahoma City, Rocky Conservation in Africa Los Angeles Zoo Mountain, St. Louis, San Diego International Union for Arkansas Game and Fish Marwell Zoo zoos, and Zoo Atlanta. Conservation of Nature/ Commission Minnesota Zoo AZA Conservation Breeding Specialist Missouri University of Science Mulhouse Zoo AZA Antelope & Giraffe TAG Group Global and Technology Oklahoma City Zoo AZA Conservation Cheetah Forum Missouri State University Oregon Wildlife Foundation Endowment Fund University of Missouri-Columbia Oregon Zoo AZA Equid TAG

44 AZA Grevy’s Zebra SSP Lewa US Center for Conservation of The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation AZA Somali Wild Ass SSP Lewa Wildlife Conservancy the Humboldt Penguin in Missouri Department of Dutch Zoo Helps! Liz Claiborne-Art Ortenberg Punta San Juan, Peru EAZA Equid TAG Foundation The Brookfield Zoo Transportation EAZA Grevy’s Zebra EEP Madaras Gallery The Philadelphia Zoo Museum of Natural History, EAZA Somali Wild Ass EEP MELCA-Ethiopia AZA Humboldt Penguin SSP London WAZA Mpala Research Center AZA Penguin Taxon University of Illinois at Urbana- Nasuulu Community Conservancy Advisory Group Champaign, Department of Other Partners Northern Rangelands Trust Colchester Zoo, Britain Entomology Africa Wildlife Foundation Office Nationale du Tourisme Woodland Park Zoo Missouri State Beekeepers Bale Beauty Nature Club Djibouti Sedgwick County Zoo Association Canyon Colorado Equid Sanctuary Ol Pejeta Conservancy Centro Para La Sostenibilidad Forest Park Forever - William Gruenerwald Safaricom Foundation Ambiental Missouri Botanical Garden Chicago Board of Trade School Supplies for Kenyan Kids Harewood Bird Garden, Britain Pollinator Partnership Conservation Fund Sea World/Busch Gardens Acquario di Cattolica, Italy North American Pollinator Communities of northern Kenya Conservation Fund Alteris, Netherlands Protection Campaign Communities of southern Ethiopia The Nature Conservancy Moody Gardens IUCN SSC Bumble Bee Specialist Group Denver Explorers Tusk Trust Tom Leiden Gateway Greening Disney Worldwide Conservation Wildlife Conservation Society USDA-Agricultural Research Fund West Gate Conservancy Service (ARS-Logan Bee Lab Earthwatch Institute WildCODE Center for Conservation Eritrea Wildlife Department in Madagascar WildCRU University of Missouri-St. Louis Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Wildlife Conservation Network Missouri Botanical Gardens Saharan Wildlife Authority Wildlife Trust Recovery Center Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Madagascar Fauna Group AAZK-Dallas Zoo Program Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo AAZK-Kansas City Zoo Fauna and Flora International Center for Conservation of the University of Antananarivo Abilene Zoo Frankfurt Zoological Society Horned Guan (Pavon) in Mexico University of Tamatave Addax & Oryx Foundation IUCN: The Cracid Specialist Group Globe Foundation Washington University in St. Louis Al Ain Wildlife Park & Resort Grevy’s Zebra Trust Association of Zoos and Ivoloina Zoo Aquariums (AZA) Galliformes AZA Conservation Endowment Gilman International Conservation University of Missouri-Columbia Taxon Advisory Group Fund Holistic Management (Veterinary College and Animal AZA Ratite Advisory Group The Nature Conservancy Nutrition Department) International BirdLife International AZA Antelope & Giraffe Advisory HOR-Ethiopia Instituto de Ecologia Group International Livestock Research Fundacion Natura Center for Native Pollinator Bamberger Ranch Preserve Institute Nairobi The International Committee for Conservation Berlin Zoo Irwin Andrew Porter Foundation the Conservation of the Horned Missouri Department of Beyond Motion Productions Isaqbini Hirola Community Guan and its Habitat Conservation Brevard Zoo Conservancy The Cloud Forest Missouri Department of Bronx Zoo IUCN Antelope Specialist Group Ambassadors Program Agriculture Brookfield Zoo IUCN Equid Specialist Group Tohono Chul Park (Tucson, Buffalo Zoo Kalama Community Wildlife Arizona) Calgary Zoo Conservancy National Museum of Kenya Chester Zoo (Nairobi, Kenya) Kenya Wildlife Service Cincinnati Zoo

45 Convention on Migratory Species La Fondation Internationale pour Sacramento Zoo Zoo Atlanta Dachser Logistiks la Gestion de la Faune Safari Enterprises Zoo d’Amneville Disney’s Animal Kingdom Le Pal Zoo Safari West Zoo de la Palmyre Dublin Zoo Lisbon Zoo Sahara Conservation Fund Zoo Hannover Emirates’ Center for Wildlife Living Desert Saint Louis AAZK Zoo Miami Propagation Longleat Safari Park Saint Louis Zoo Docents Zoo New England Erie Zoo Los Angeles Zoo San Antonio Zoo Zoo Osnabrück European Union Marwell Wildlife San Diego Zoo Global Zoo Praha Exotic Endeavors Mohamed bin Zayed Species Sedgwick County Zoo Zoo Zlin Lesna Exotic Wildlife Association Conservation Fund Smithsonian National Zoological Society of London Fonds Français pour Mulhouse Zoo Zoological Park l’Environnement Mondial Nashville Zoo Steadfast Engineering Fossil Rim Wildlife Center North Carolina Zoo Stuttgart Zoo Center for Conservation in Fresno Chaffee Zoo Nurnberg Zoo Western Asia The Living Desert The Ministry of Nature Protection Gilman International Conservation Oklahoma City Zoo The Wilds – Republic of Armenia, Houston Family Oregon Zoo WAZA Scientific Center of Zoology Houston Zoo Peace River Wildlife Refuge West Midlands Safari Park and Hydroecology, IGF Philadelphia Zoo WildCRU National Academy of Sciences – John Ball Zoo Plzen Zoo Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium Republic of Armenia Kansas City Zoo Republic of Tunisia Woodland Park Zoo The Russian Academy of Sciences Kolmarden Zoo Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure Honor Roll

Ms. Myrta J. Pulliam William E. Weiss Foundation Mrs. Anita Siegmund $100,000 and above Anonymous Miss Betty-Mae R. Stienhans Mr. Carter Williams & Ms. Nancy R. Suelflow Mr. & Mrs. Harvard K. Hecker Mr. & Mrs. Michael Tanner Ms. Melissa Georges Mr. & Mrs. William Taylor Mr. Clarence A. Zacher $4,999 - $1,000 Mrs. Lucy E. Bailey $99,999 - $50,000 Mrs. Sue Dexter $24,999 - $10,000 $9,999 - $5,000 Mr. A. Dale Belcher Mrs. Karen A. Goellner Dr. & Mrs. Arthur I. Auer Mr. & Mrs. Michael T. Abbene, Jr. Mrs. Patricia Bick Fischer & Frichtel, Inc. Mrs. Ann P. Augustin Mrs. Walter F. Brissenden Mr. & Mrs. Van-Lear Black III Mrs. Ann L. Case Build-A-Bear Retail Dr. Thomas J. Blanke Mr. & Mrs. C. A. Case, Jr. Management, Inc. Jeffrey P. Bonner, Ph.D. $49,999 - $25,000 Dalco Home Remodeling Mr. & Mrs. Derick L. Driemeyer & Melody E. Noel BMO Harris Bank Ms. Patricia I. Emmerich The John Hall Family Charlotte S. Cohen Ms. Elizabeth L. Green Frank & Martha Fischer The E. Walter Hausstette Mr. & Mrs. Larry W. Crabill Harry & Flora D. Freund Charitable Foundation Mr. & Mrs. Carl J. Deutsch Memorial Foundation Kaye Campbell-Hinson & Phil Hinson Dr. & Mrs. W. R. Konneker Mr. & Mrs. Gilbert G. Early Lumiére Place Casino Mrs. Audrey L. Sczepanski Mrs. John W. Moore Elephant Care Team of the Mrs. T. Randolph Potter, Jr. Mrs. Audrey J. Steinfeld Peters Family Fund Saint Louis Zoo

46 Financial Management Partners $999 - $250 Mr. Donald Finkel Mr. & Mrs. Edward J. Koplar Martha T. Fischer Ms. Teel Ackerman Keith & Ann Fischer Mrs. Peggy M. Kosco Mr. & Mrs. William Forsyth Mrs. Harriett K. Anderson Mr. & Mrs. Warren J. Gelman Ms. Colette H. Kreienbaum Mr. & Mrs. Drew Franz Mr. & Mrs. Arthur E. Ansehl Mr. & Mrs. William M. Gerlach Mr. & Mrs. Kent Lannert Clark & Jeanette Gamble Arch Coal, Inc. Mr. & Mrs. Gregory J. Goellner Laughing Penguins, LLC Charitable Trust Mrs. Mary Randolph Ballinger Mr. & Mrs. Robert F. Goellner Mr. & Mrs. Thomas M. Leiden Mr. & Mrs. Joseph J. Goellner, Jr. Jocelyn P. Barton Mr. & Mrs. Sanford Goffstein Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey M. Levine Ms. Eleanor B. Hecht Mr. & Mrs. Ted W. Beaty Mr. & Mrs. Dean A. Graves Mr. & Mrs. Louis B. Loebner Mrs. Apphia H. Hensley Ms. Diane E. Beaver Ms. Carol S. Gronau Chris Loh Mr. R. Todd Hightower Mrs. Louise McKeon Belt Mr. & Mrs. Frank J. Guyol, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Philip H. Loughlin III Mr. & Mrs. Charles H. Hoessle Ms. Bonnie B. Bentler Mr. & Mrs. Gary A. Halls Ms. Noreen Marcus Mr. Bill Houston Drs. Jay & Susan Marshall Mr. & Mrs. Thomas A. Hutton Bob Merz & Melissa Miller Mr. & Mrs. Edward W. Jastrem Dr. Eric Miller & Mr. & Mrs. Michael V. Johansen “Having been the Saint Louis Zoo’s Travel Dr. Mary Jean Gorse Mr. Steven King Committee Chair for 14 years, followed by years Mr. & Mrs. Jack D. Minner Mr. Frank F. Kling as an Emerson Children’s Zoo volunteer, Nancy A. Norvell Ms. Ann C. Knichel and after many trips to Africa and Asia, I am Mr. Ralph Olliges, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Barry D. Koenemann Mrs. Judy Peil Mr. & Mrs. Brock M. Lutz acutely aware of the urgent needs of wildlife, Miss Amy Pumm Maritz conservation and endangered habitats worldwide. Ms. Linda R. Reifschneider Ms. Susan B. McCollum I couldn’t be more supportive of the WildCare Ms. Julie A. Rieffel Mr. & Mrs. Richard J. Mitchell Institute and its mission!” Mrs. Peggy Ross Mr. Alan Nagle & —Sue Dexter, one of the first private donors to the WildCare Mr. & Mrs. William C. Rusnack Dr. Patricia Parker Institute upon its creation in 2004. She is an advocate for the work of Saint Louis Zoo Mr. & Mrs. Kei Y. Pang the Center for Conservation in the Horn of Africa. Monday A.M. Docents Dr. & Mrs. David E. Perkins Mr. & Mrs. Robert E. Saur Thomas and Sue Pick Family Fund Ms. Kim M. Schaefer Ms. Ingrid J. Porton Dr. Terrence W. Bond Mr. & Mrs. J. Philip Hellwege Mr. & Mrs. Richard N. Schiff Mr. & Mrs. James S. Raby Mr. R. Jon Bopp Tom & Gayle Hofmann Mr. & Mrs. Thomas W. Schlatter Mr. & Mrs. Eric Reifschneider Mr. & Mrs. A. John Brauer III Mr. Fred Hood Ms. Johnine Hays Schlindwein Dr. Irene I. Riddle Mr. & Mrs. Cicardi A. Bruce, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Joseph H. Jacob Mr. & Mrs. William J. Schnyder Mr. & Mrs. Steven F. Schankman Ms. Bernice T. Bueler Sharon Janoski Family Tom Schwarztrauber & Mr. & Mrs. James M. Snowden, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Ralph Burgess Mr. & Mrs. Ken Jensen Sharon Danner-Schwarztrauber Mrs. Susan C. Strus Mr. & Mrs. Coleman Burton Mr. & Mrs. Kurt D. Junger Mr. & Mrs. William T. Skaggs Mr. Walter A. Suhre, Jr. Commerce Bank Mr. & Mrs. Ray Karpowicz Mr. & Mrs. Stephen G. Sneeringer Thrivent Financial David Cundall Miss Margaret A. Kiefer Mr. & Mrs. Warren G. Sullivan for Lutherans Foundation Mr. & Mrs. Bill Dennler Dr. & Mrs. David M. Kipnis Ms. Patricia Taillon-Miller Dr. Ray Wack & Mrs. Barbara E. Doering Mr. Patrick Kleaver Mr. & Mrs. W. Scott Thompson Dr. Nancy Anderson Mr. & Mrs. Mark A. Doering Mr. & Mrs. Ward M. Klein Mr. & Mrs. Daniel G. Tobben Mr. & Mrs. J. Gordon Will Mr. John R. Drew Ms. Loretto Kleykamp Kim Unger Mr. John C. Elwood Mr. & Mrs. Richard W. Kniep Mr. & Mrs. John A. Virant, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Timothy A. Fedele Mrs. Deborah Koenemann Mrs. Vickie S. Waller

47 Mr. & Mrs. Norman Wielansky Matthew Edgar Dr. Slayden H. Harris Joyce H. Korn Mr. & Mrs. James L. Wilhite Edward Jones Mr. & Mrs. Bob Harrison Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Kranzberg Mr. & Mrs. Gary Wolff Jerrold C. Epstein Richard & Diana Haynes Mr. & Mrs. Stuart J. Krawll Mr. Thomas C. Feissle Ms. Jo Ann Hediger Mr. & Mrs. Robert O. Kuhlmann Mr. John M. Femmer Dr. & Mrs. Richard B. Helfrey Mrs. Patricia Lane $249 - $100 1st Church of Christ Scientist Mr. & Mrs. William L. Foege Mr. & Mrs. Jay Henges Ms. Susan Latorre Mr. Robert Addis Ms. Mary R. Fogarty Mr. & Mrs. John B. Hess Dr. & Mrs. Gerard R. LeDoux Mr. & Mrs. James M. Alexander Ms. Marti Fowler Mrs. Mary P. Hessel Ms. Holly M. Leicht Dr. Todd Allen Mrs. Gerry Friedman Mrs. Sally Higgins Ms. Melissa E. Lindburg Mr. Richard Bakley Dr. & Mrs. Jerry Friedman Susan J. High Louis Lee Lohman Mrs. William E. Ball Mr. & Mrs. David P. Gast Wyndel & Peggy Hill Ms. Pamela S. Lombardi The Banks Family Mr. & Mrs. James W. Gidcumb Ms. Peggy Hlastan Mr. & Mrs. John Lorentzen Mrs. Robert Bard Mr. & Mrs. Michael A. Lueken Carolyn M. Baxter “We love visiting the Saint Louis Zoo and seeing many of the Mr. & Mrs. Ms. Elizabeth A. Biddick Kenneth C. Lynch Dr. & Mrs. John L. Bircher animals who are threatened or endangered in the wild. Having Mr. & Mrs. Mr. Steve Boggeman visited Africa and Madagascar on Zoo trips, we have seen the great Steve Majdecki Mr. Bruce W. Bohmke need for conservation of their natural habitats. We support the Miss Tina R. Martin Mr. Robert Boyd WildCare Institute for its efforts throughout the world to conserve John & Martha McAlister Dr. & Mrs. Harry Bozoian Mr. & Mrs. Mr. & Mrs. B. A. the animals’ habitats by working with local people and governments. W. Dudley McCarter Bridgewater, Jr. By teaching them to co-exist with wildlife, the local people can also Nancy & Randy McClure Ms. Vicki L. Brown- preserve their culture.” Ms. Judith A. McNamara Favazza Mrs. Dorothy W. Meehan Mr. & Mrs. William Brush —Ann and Mike Case, WildCare Institute donors, who have supported our conservation efforts with cheetahs, Armenian vipers and in Forest Park. Additionally, they conserved an Mrs. Betty A. Melby Ms. Jane D. Bryan animal figure on the Mary Ann Lee Conservation Carousel, which provides ongoing annual Mr. & Mrs. Mrs. Mary Jane Buchanan support for the WildCare Institute. W. Kenneth Menke, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Samuel M. Ms. Mardi J. Montello Cameron Mary C. Morgan Audrey Campbell Mrs. Myron Glassberg Mr. & Mrs. Dennis Holter Mr. & Mrs. Michael F. Neidorff Mrs. Gladyce M. Carpenter Mrs. Blanche Goldstein Mr. & Mrs. Glennon Hunn Nick Nicholson Ms. Dorothy A. Carter Ms. Jill A. Gordon Mr. Jeffrey L. Huntington Mr. Max A. Nickerson Roger Clawitter & Ann Day Ms. Joan M. Gossin Kelly & Lisa Irwin Mr. & Mrs. Joe Norton Terrie L. Correll Mrs. Evelyn M. Greaves Mr. Tom R. Johnson Ms. Anita Oebermann Ralph & Billye Curtis Mr. Donald J. Green Mr. & Mrs. Kurt T. Kaisler Mr. & Mrs. Terry O’Reilly Cyclone Car Care, Inc. Mr. & Mrs. Lowell E. Grev Mr. George Killenberg Mr. Edward P. Ortleb Ms. Ellen Darling Dr. & Mrs. Arnold B. Grobman Ms. Carol Kinsell Mr. & Mrs. Chris J. Ott Mr. & Mrs. Raymond A. Deffry Mr. & Mrs. Scott Guerrero Mr. Norman H. Klayman Mr. & Mrs. Jim Owen Ed & Dawn Diebold Ms. Dorothy M. Hanpeter Mr. & Mrs. David W. Klein Mr. & Mrs. F. Brooks Parriott Mr. Robert Dieckhaus Christina & William Hansen Mr. & Mrs. Donald B. Klingsick Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Pfeiffer Karen DuMontier & Jim Gilligan Mr. David L. Hardy Mr. & Mrs. Joseph B. Kloecker PGAV Destinations Mrs. Shirley G. Durfee Mr. & Mrs. Robert H. Harper KMOV Television - St. Louis Edward F. Poos Mr. Dennis D. Dvorachek

48 Mr. & Mrs. Bill Powell Conservation Nature Center Cleveland Zoological Society Northern Lights Chapter of AAZK Emma Jane Reilly Ms. Madonna G. Walker Dallas Zoological Society Oklahoma City Zoo AAZK Mr. & Mrs. Harry E. Rich Mr. & Mrs. John K. Wallace, Jr. Denver Zoological Oklahoma Zoological Society Ms. Cheryl Richards Mr. & Mrs. Mahlon B. Wallace III Foundation, Inc. The Philadelphia Zoo Mrs. Jean Rohrbaugh Mr. B. Jeffrey Watson Detroit Zoological Society The Phoenix Zoo Mr. Rial E. Rolfe Ms. Mary Beth Webb Dickerson Park Zoo Reid Park Zoo Teen Volunteers Mr. G. Harig Ruenzi, Jr. Mrs. Kathy Weber Disney Worldwide Rocky Mountain AAZK Bill & Joan Ruppert Mr. & Mrs. N. R. Wegusen Conservation Fund Sacramento Zoological Society Celeste Ruwwe & Geraldine Hufker Ms. Irene Weinmann Duke Lemur Center Saint Louis Art Museum Mrs. Lewis H. Sachs Dr. & Mrs. Kenneth G. Weston Erie Zoological Society San Antonio Zoological Society Saint Louis Zoo Friday Janet & Bill Whitmer Forest Park Forever San Francisco Zoological Society A.M. Docents Tonia M. Willekes Fresno Chaffee Zoo Sedgwick County Zoological Saint Louis Zoo Tuesday Dr. Jennifer S. Wine Friends of the Capron Park Zoo, Inc. Society, Inc. Afternoon Docents Ms. Kathleen L. Wright Galapagos National Park Seneca Park Zoo Society Saint Louis Zoo Wednesday Galveston Chapter of the AAZK Seneca Park Zoo Society A.M. Docents Gilman International Conservation Shepreth Wildlife Park Ms. Cynthia B. Sale Cooperating Institutions The Action for the Wild Charitable Globe Foundation Southern Tier Mr. & Mrs. James R. Savage Trust of the Colchester Zoo Greater Los Angeles Zoo Zoological Society, Inc. Mrs. Doris I. Schnuck Akron Zoological Park Association St. Louis AAZK Mrs. Florence M. Schreiter AAZK - Bay Area Chapter GROUNDSPRING.org St. Louis Herpetological Society Mr. & Mrs. Marvin E. Schuette AAZK - Tulsa Chapter The Harewood House Limited St. Louis Rainforest Advocates Nancy & Mark Schwartz Trust of the Harewood Bird The Friends of the Sunset Zoo Akron Zoo Garden Dr. & Mrs. Edward H. Schwarz Tokyo Zoological Park Society Alaska Wildland Adventures Hogle Zoo Mr. Wendell J. Sherk Toronto Zoo Allwetterzoo Munster Honolulu Zoological Society Mrs. Nanne B. Simonds Tucson Zoological Society, Inc. American Association of Houston Zoo, Inc. Mr. Daniel E. Snyder Zookeepers - Greater Tulsa Zoo & Living Museum Indianapolis Zoo Ms. Lynda F. Stair Philadelphia United States Army- Mrs. Mary Glenn Stark Arkansas Natural Heritage Isle of Wight Zoo Fort Chaffee, Arkansas Mr. Brett C. Stearns Commission Jacksonville Zoological Society United States Fish and Ms. Anne Steffens Art for Animals Foundation Kansas City Herpetological Society Wildlife Service Mrs. Sandra H. Stemmler AZA Conservation Kansas City Zoo United States Forest Service Endowment Fund Mr. & Mrs. Edward A. Striker Lemur Conservation Foundation University College, Cork Ireland Biodome de Montreal Mrs. Mary Jeanne Suppiger Lion County Safari AAZK Utah’s Hogle Zoo Brevard Zoo Mr. & Mrs. Christopher P. Tennill The Living Desert WCN California Desert AAZK The Philadelphia Zoo The Living Rainforest White Oak Conservation Center, Inc. The Calgary Zoological Society Mr. & Mrs. Norman J. Thomas Maryland Zoological Society, Inc. Wild4Ever Conservation Central Illinois Mr. Richard O. Thompson Milwaukee County Zoo Foundation Herpetological Society Missouri Botanical Garden Wildlife Conservation Network Ms. Kay Thurman Charles Darin Foundation Ms. Dixie R. Tipton Missouri Department of Wildlife Conservation Society Cheyenne Mountain Zoological Conservation Dr. S. E. Trauth William E. Weiss Foundation Society Mozilla Foundation Mr. & Mrs. William C. Ulz Woodland Park Zoo Chicago Zoological Society Naples Zoo University of Missouri-St. Charles Zoological Society of London City of Garden City The Nature Conservancy Volunteers & Staff Powder Valley Zoological Society of San Diego City of Springfield, Missouri Network for Good

49 You Can Help Together we have the chance to make a lasting investment in the preservation of some of the most unique wildlife found on the planet. Become a champion for the wild through the WildCare Institute. There are few other places where your investment can touch the lives of wildlife around the world so directly – and so cost effectively. For more information on contributing to the work of the Saint Louis Zoo WildCare Institute, please contact our Development Office at 314-646-4691. The Grevy’s zebra has undergone a catastrophic decline in numbers and range over the past 30 years and now only occurs in northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia. The Grevy’s Zebra Trust is playing a key role in global conservation by serving as a conservation champion for one of the world’s most endangered large mammals. Photos by: Aram Aghasyan Bob Merz Roger Brandt Jason Pogacnik Jeff Briggler Julio Reyes Vicki Brown Saharan Conservation Fund Luis Coloma, Ph.D. Andy Snider Juan Cornejo Ed Spevak Bill Graham Erika Travis Michael Jacob Mark Wanner Dan Koch Wayne Wehling Iris Levin Noah Whiteman Michael Macek Robin Winkelman Ray Meibaum