Elephant Calves Measure Up
Posted at 3:04 pm January 7, 2009 by Emily RothwellRead the rest of this entry »
San Diego Zoo staff members Bryan Endress and Maren Peterson are currently in Vietnam to help put together a conservation plan for critically endangered Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys. They are keeping us posted on their progress. See their previous blog, Snub-nosed Monkeys: Meetings.
Our expedition to the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey habitat was yesterday. To get to the area, we hiked from 600 to 2,000 feet (180 to 600 meters) in altitude. We saw proposed reforestation areas, including family gardens, pastures, and corn and cassava fields. We stayed overnight at a ranger station with guides that patrol the forest.Things continue to go well in the den for sun bear Marcella and her twin cubs (see previous blog, Sun Bears: Growing Up Great). The youngsters are now nearly 2.5 months old and have grown by literal leaps and bounds. Their eyes have long since fully opened, and the cubs are able to take in the world around them. Now that they are becoming more mobile, they are able to interact with that world as well.
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San Diego Zoo staff members Bryan Endress and Maren Peterson are currently in Vietnam to help put together a conservation plan for critically endangered Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys. They are keeping us posted on their progress. See Maren's previous blog, Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkeys.
Yesterday was a series of meetings with the local conservation organization to discuss their proposed efforts. We had lunch - where we're getting better at using chopsticks - and then braved the traffic to visit the University of Hanoi's Forestry Department. They welcomed us with great kindness and excitement about potential collaborations. A number of professors gave presentations, and we toured their experimental forest. We then went to dinner and discussed conservation and research opportunities over many glasses of rice wine.
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What a way to end the year and begin a new one! Bryan Endress, division head of the San Diego Zoo's Applied Plant Ecology Division, and I traveled to Vietnam yesterday; it's a long 19+ hour flight. We will be meeting with collaborators from another conservation organization, governmental officials, university researchers, and local communities to discuss increasing our involvement in a Tonkin snub-nosed monkey (TSNM) conservation program. TSNMs were thought to be extinct; however, a few populations were discovered, and it is estimated there are around 200 to 300 left in the wild.
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Astute watchers of Panda Cam will have noticed that Su Lin has replaced Gao Gao in the right-hand viewing area at the San Diego Zoo's Giant Panda Research Station; but what is it about that place? During the recent cold rains, not two days into her tenure there, we were treated to a wild round of rain romping. Since it was a holiday week, there were lots of visitors there in spite of the rain, and her antics even brought the keepers out to watch the fun. It has been a while since Su Lin was inspired to this kind of swinging, climbing foul-weather play, and as she continues to get bigger and stronger, it becomes more elaborate and enjoyable for all of us.
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The arrival of heavy rain in San Diego County brought about many changes in animal behavior at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park. Some species enjoyed the change in the weather and became more active, while others took advantage of the shelter provided by well-designed enclosures and large tree canopies within the exhibits.
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This time of the year is my favorite with the meerkats. Our group is getting along well and all of the kids are growing nicely (see Laura's previous blog, Meerkats: Scent-Marking). The weather is cold and sometimes wet, which means the meerkats don’t do as much digging. Most of their day is spent basking in the sun and standing on their tippy toes trying to get their bellies warm.
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Thursday, December 18, was certainly a momentous day for panda fans in San Diego and elsewhere as the new loan agreement was signed, insuring that the pandas would be in residence at the San Diego Zoo for another five years. In anticipation of this day, lots of new plantings were placed in both of the viewing areas, in addition to the previously described modifications to the "lair" in the left-hand enclosure (see Ellie's previous blog, New Digs for Pandas). And yes, Zhen Zhen is already demolishing some of the plantings, even as more have been added over the last week.
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