Giant Otter with Whiskers

Giant otters are diurnal, which means that they are active throughout the day -- except for brief periods of napping -- which provides quite a show for the visiting public at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. They cavort in their pool and dry their fur in the sand on the banks. These two brothers were born at the Philadelphia zoo, and are on loan to the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens.

The lower photograph shows the long vibrissae (whiskers) that help the otter "feel" the slightest shift in current that signals either obstacles to avoid, or prey to catch in the murky rivers of South America where they live.

Photos by M. Brickner

Oh, La, La, We've Moved!

When the six bonobos left Africa on loan, Kizito drew the animals traveling to Europe. Rosie carrying a backpack, is seen in front, followed by mother Zuani with the baby Liboso on her back. Hani and Molaso are hauling suitcases, and, in the rear, Mwindu is dancing to a boom box, without a care on his mind.

The letter that accompanied the tongue-in-cheek cartoon was mailed to all of the bonobo friends that I had made over the years. It was to inform them that the bonobos had arrived safely in Holland, and that a 25 year collaborative contract had been signed, to provide long-term funding for bonobos in the Democratic of the Congo:

"A change of address! We finally left our cramped quarters at I.N.R.B. in Kinshasa on 2 March 1998 for a two story condo in Apenheul Primate park in Holland. The maids here tidy up daily and provide room service, starting with hot tea every morning.

"Balanced meals include succulent delicacies like kiwi, chicory, persimmon, celery, and grapes. The beds are special -- imagine choosing between straw lofts, canvas hammocks, thick rubber shelves, swinging nets and giant hanging Baskets! Our rooms (We wouldn't call them cages) are full of climbing poles, games, ropes, puzzles, swings, and toys. The floor is deep in wood chips so we can dig. Our new caretakers have promised a vacation each summer on an island complete with trees, pond, grass, stream, boulders, herb garden, marsh...what more could a bonobo ask for?

"Here in Holland, we've already made new friends with four resident bonobos -- Mobukisi, Joey, Lomela, and Jill, who is expecting. Speaking of which, with the excitement of getting ready to leave, I didn't have time to announce our new arrival...yes, I'm a mother now! Liboso (for the "first one" born in captivity in the Congo) entered this world in mid-January. Some people were surprised that I had no trouble, as I am still slight in frame at only 17 kg! (37 pounds). All my bonobo girlfriends want to help raise my baby.

"News from the rest of us -- Molaso is jealous of my little family and has gone off of birth control. (She had problems with spontaneous abortions and the doctor had put her on the pill.) Rosie is a typical teenager with new friends and Mwindu and Hani are glad to have guys to hang out with. A real clown, Mwindu has already come up with new twists on "catch me!"

"Part of the reason for our move is that we've been promoted! We are now "Bonobo Ambassadors" for a half million annual Apenhuel visitors. The job is strictly 9 to 5, and pretty relaxing, just being ourselves, and doing what bonobos do naturally. We can take a break from work anytime we want by going downstairs to escape the gaze of our admiring public. The only thing we miss is sugarcane, but all in all, there are no complaints.

"Well, that is not quite true. We miss our neighbors in Kinshasa, but we heard that they will be moving soon to better accommodations. On the serious side, Apenheul will provide permanent care for the bonobos left behind at I.N.R.B. Our hearts will always be in the Congo and because of this, Apenheul has guaranteed support for research and studies to benefit bonobos and other Congolese animals for the next quarter century. So we six fortunate ones feel like a catalyst for a lot of future good happenings in our homeland!"

Bonobo Dunkin' Biscuits

From behind a post, one sees a bonobo hand and floating monkey biscuits. Lorel, an adult female bonobo at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, has just thrown part of her meal into the exhibit moat to soften them. The bonobos regularly soak their biscuits, so we can guess that they prefer the texture and the flavor of the wet biscuits over the dry ones.

In the second photograph, Lorel is gathering her meal, and in the bottom, she has one biscuit in her mouth while she harvests the rest. Bonobos are so curious and intelligent that they "test" and utilize everything in their environment to maximize their sense of well-being.

Photos by M. Brickner

Conservation Commerce in Zimbabwe

Wendy Blakeley was my room mate at the Zoos and Aquariums Committing to Conservation (ZACC) Conference in January, in Houston. She works with "conservation commerce," in conjunction with a painted dog (years ago they were called "African Wild Dogs") project in Zimbabwe.

"Conservation commerce" is the latest buzzword in the conservation world, because it represents a real link between the haves and have-nots, and can be a deciding factor in that ever-elusive human element in the protection of wildlife and habitat. Without local community buy-in, outside interests will surely fail.

Simply put, a product that has some intrinsic value is produced by a community, and then shipped to distant markets for sale. Profits stay local. This, tied with educational messages, tacit understandings, and specific incentives (such as additional perks for no poaching incidents) will lead to an equitable trade off of jobs gained from animals protected.

The first photograph shows Wendy with her wares, which were sold to the ZACC delegates, some of whom were purchasing for their own facilities' gift shops. Items included jewelry, beaded work, and realistic wood carvings of painted dogs (second image).

The Painted Dog project has some interesting twists. A material used to create animal art is the wire from collected snares (third photograph of a snare-wire sculpture). This use provides a double incentive to collect the illegal snares, and can be viewed as anti-litter, as well as anti-poaching.

One of the challenges in the past has been a lack of knowledge of marketing, importing, logistics, and retailing of articles. Up until now, conservation commerce has been mostly individual field researchers bringing products back in suitcases. Clearly, this hit and miss method, although altruistic, led to frustrations. A broader approach, in consultation with marketing experts, will result in more sustainable benefit to local conservation efforts.

The painted dog project has many goals including research, rehabilitation, education, and alternative sources of income. Their goal is to have a "stable" of zoos that exhibit painted dogs or other African carnivores, that will retail the art and jewelry made in Zimbabwe. Today, some knowledgeable customers are seeking unique merchandise that will directly benefit wild animals.
For more information, see http://www.painteddog.org/

The Fascinating Congolese Animals

This was the first page of a draft cartoon that was called "The Fascinating Animals of Zaire" (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Kizito and I collaborated on the story and artwork in 1992.

In the tale, the main character, named Biselenge (a self-portrait of the artist), says, "In Kinshasa where I grew up, I was a kid without ambition. I went to school, I liked playing with my friends, and...in short, for me, that was all there was to life."

In the cartoon, Kizito's dad, seeing the boy coming home from a game of ball, exclaims, "Biselenge! Come here! You've been playing with your worthless friends again? He grabs Biselenge by the ear and says, "Playing, always playing, never time for homework! Well then, I think I'll send you to your uncle in Kisangani. He at least, will keep you under his eye."

Biselenge says, "It was at Kisangani where I got the taste of nature. I devoted my studies to zoology. Animals became my passion." He continues against views of a chimp and a herd of zebra, "I could observe animals for hours, whether they were in a zoo, or in complete liberty in the wild."

In the final panel, Biselenge is talking against the main street in downtown Kinshasa. One can almost smell the smells and feel the frenzy of the hustle. A thief with a stolen wallet is darting from behind a truck and a cop has stopped a dented yellow cab, while a scantily clad woman turns her head at honking.

Biselenge says, "I returned to Kinshasa, but everything has changed! Too much life for me: the crowds, the noise, the dust, the vehicle fumes....I suffocate. I miss the open spaces."

This booklet was designed to appeal to urban youth living in Kinshasa, the capital. We wanted the reader identify with a local kid who comes home, and then goes on to talk about unique and interesting local wildlife.

Bonobo "Kissing" a Ball

Lucy is a five year old bonobo living at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. She is seen here pursing her lips at a heavy plastic ball that the keepers have provided for enrichment. It would be anthropomorphic to suggest that she is kissing it, but in reality, a young bonobo's sense of curiosity and exploration can be likened to that of a adolescent human. Lucy may be testing the roundness of a hole in the ball, or feeling the texture of the plastic against her lips, or even tasting the taste of whatever the ball has rolled in.

In fact, the keepers say that this picture was of Lucy after she had dipped the ball in the moat, to fill it with water. The bonobos often use their toys to collect water to drink. After drinking, Lucy passed the ball behind her. She walked a few steps with it held it close against her back with her long arms. She also laid on her back, and balanced the ball on her outstretched feet. This sequence of behavior lasted only a minute and a half.

Photo by M. Brickner

Second Exam for Jaguar Cub

This past Friday, the un-named jaguar cub was caught up for his second exam and vaccinations. He is still small enough to be captured and restrained with thick leather gloves, seen in the first photograph. Although at first he growled, hissed, and spat, within minutes he calmed down and seemed resigned to the procedure, in the middle image. (Note that his eyes are changing from baby blue to adult golden yellow.)

In the bottom scene, the team, after taking blood, and giving the shots and a dewormer, is transferring the cub to a plastic dog kennel, which was then weighed. The cub now is 7 kilograms, or around 15 pounds.

The entire procedure was done quickly, so that the mother was not stressed. She had been lured to a second den with meat, and kept distracted with food for the entire procedure. Staff is now planning the steps to introduce the mother and cub to the exhibit sometime in early April. This grand event will be a treat for Jacksonville Zoo goers! At that time, his name, which was auctioned off at an ExZOOberation event, will be announced by the lucky winners.

Photos by D. Messinger

The Most Famous Thumb in the World

In 1993, after the second uprising in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), the Skansen Aquarium in Stockholm supported the orphaned bonobos I was caring for in Kinshasa. Skansen is a small facility located on the grounds of the Skansen Institution, an open air museum that was founded in 1891.

The Skansen aquarium is known for its fresh and salt-water life, reptiles, rain forest exhibit, small mammals, and primates. They have bred hundreds of pygmy marmosets, and the offspring are scattered in zoos around the world. The pygmy marmoset put Skansen on the map, and a baby marmoset on the director's thumb made it on the cover of Reader's Digest. The director's thumb and "passenger" became Skansen Aquarium's logo.

Cat Wants a Wife

For many years, I made ends meet in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) by providing health care for expatriate pets. I saved the actual note above, stained and blurred, to illustrate a funny story in Grains of Golden Sand:

"Spaying and neutering were the most requested surgeries for pets in Kinshasa. Because no invasion of the body cavity is called for, castrating tomcats is a simple procedure and I had been doing it for years. But spaying females was abdominal surgery and this was another thing altogether. By 1994, I was asked so often for this operation that I knew I had to make the effort to master the technique.

"Fortuitously, the American Embassy Recreation and Welfare Association, AERWA, was swarming with wild cats. As a favor, I agreed to trap them. I caught more than 30 cats and euthanized the weak and sick ones. A few males were neutered and released, and I “practiced” spaying a half-dozen females. They all survived and were released back at the club. I then spayed two of the institute’s cats and a few for a doctor friend. We were in the neutering business. Of the 60 cats and a dozen dogs that I spayed, all survived. A compulsive note-taker, I kept an anesthesia record of each operation, total surgery time, and even the type of sutures used.

"Surgery added new dimensions to my knowledge of medicine and rounded out our clinic’s ability to help animals. My earnings permitted me to cover personal expenses and even save for travel home once a year. I kept a few letters from satisfied “customers,” and my favorite is the felt-penned explanation that arrived one morning with a yowling tom in a pink plastic airline crate.

"Good morning, how are you? I’m sending you “Mimo,” his vaccination card is with you. He needs to be “Castré.” I don’t know how to tell ya in English, he wants a wife so he’s feeling hot. This morning he wants to kill himself from my verandah. Since yesterday 20:00 I’m not giving him food. If you can make the operation for him today I will appreciate. If not, please keep him until tomorrow, I send food, because I’m afraid he’ll kill himself.

"It was requests like that, so easy to “fix,” that made me realize that caring for pets was a contribution, no matter how minor, to the overall health of the restricted expatriate existence in Kinshasa. After all, who else could have prevented lovesick tomcats from committing suicide by leaping off high-rise apartment balconies?"

Manatees in Guyana Zoo

It was drizzling rain in Georgetown, Guyana, when we visited the Guyana Zoo in January 2006 to solidify collaboration between the Jacksonville Zoo and various conservation entities in the South American country once called British Guyana. The Guyana Zoo is located on a small site within a larger city park complex.

One of the most interesting sights at the zoo was a body of water (where the public could walk right up to the edge!) full of manatees. While we were there, zookeepers dumped vegetation into the shallows and the lumbering beasts gathered, and almost exited the pond, in their haste to eat. Dr. Nick Kapustin, Senior Veterinarian at the Jacksonville Zoo, is photographing an animal at the water's edge.

The West Indian manatee is considered to be a single species that ranges from Florida to north east Brazil. Taxonomists believe that the DNA evidence points to three subspecies, with the Florida subspecies being the largest (can weigh over 3,000 pounds) and the most studied. All of them are endangered, from hunting in South America to boat strikes in the United States.

Manatees are slow-moving, non-aggressive, nearly hairless animals that have no hind limbs. They consume up to ten percent of their weight daily in aquatic vegetation and sea grasses. They can tolerate brackish waters and have a maximum life span of around 50 years. Manatees are generally solitary, with the exception of the mating herds. Calves stay with their mothers for two years.

Photos by J. Fletcher, Times Union

Jaguar: Momma's Little Cub

The little male jaguar at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens is around nine weeks old in the above video. He has gotten to that rough and tumble stage, where his anxious mother is having a devil of a time in keeping him corralled. He is stepping over the doorway leading to the outdoors in an off-exhibit, dirt-floored holding pen with a giant plastic tube, logs, and other play toys.

The unnamed cub has started playing with all of the toys available, but he especially likes his mother's tail. Occasionally, she is seen trying to herd him back inside, but he won't have it. Sometimes she puts her huge mouth over his shoulders, as if to scruff him, and carry him back inside. But he is too big to lift now, and she gives up.

The Zoo is planning an event to celebrate the new arrival, when he goes out on exhibit, within the month.

Video by S. Staaden

A Real Dragon in the Window

Last week, the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens moved two Komodo dragons -- one from a holding area, and another from the hospital quarantine, to their new exhibit for a member preview. The grand opening of the Asian Bamboo Gardens and Komodo Dragon Exhibit will be Friday, the 6th of March.

The Zoo has two Komodo males, both on loan from other accredited institutions. One is nearly seven feet long, and weighs around 80 pounds. The larger animal is nine feet long and weighs nearly 120 pounds. The photographs show the larger male being shifted into the transport crate. The custom-built box is designed with multiple openings for veterinary access. For example, the base of the tail can be manipulated for blood draws, and there is room below to insert X-ray cassettes.

I was there when the Komodo was lured into the crate (you can see his head to the lower right). Instead of forcing him to enter, a red laser light was jiggled to shine on the bottom of the crate. The dragon associates the red dot light with food (rats, mice, silversides fish as a special treat), so, with a flickering of his forked tongue, the animal was neatly enticed into the box. Wooden yokes were inserted before and behind his legs to position him so he couldn't move for blood sampling.

In the middle photograph, the dragon has just been released into the outdoor exhibit, planted to resemble the sparse, scrub look of the Komodo islands. He assumes the usual alert, head-up pose of a dragon that is surveying the landscape for moving objects. In the wild, Komodo dragons are effective hunters that have been known to go after deer, wild boars, domestic stock including horses, and even humans.

A bite from a Komodo dragon, even if not immediately fatal, often leads to death from infection, a strategy that fits right in with the carrion-eating habits of the giant lizards. Dragons mouths are teaming with bacteria that are inoculated into the bite wounds. The dragon has a keen sense of smell (guided by the forked tongue that carries chemical particles to the Jacobson's organ, located at the base of the brain, which "tastes" the air.) The dragon simply follows the trail to the dead or dying prey.

Not all is rosy for Komodos -- they are endangered, with only a few thousand remaining in nature. Baby Komodos, hatched from eggs, are eaten by the adults, so they have adapted to climb trees, where the older, heavy-bodied animals cannot follow.

The final photograph shows the Komodo dragon coming inside for the first time. He is extremely intelligent and responded to the keeper, who opened the shift door and called his name. Testing the air, the dragon gingerly entered the heated stall. He investigated the pen, checking out the pool and eyeing the staff who crowded around to admire him. The dragon quickly found and flattened out his body to catch the warmth of an overhead spot heater. Like their mythical namesakes, dragons like it hot -- one hundred degrees is a nice basking temperature.

Photos by D. Messinger

ZACC In Situ Conservation Conference

Every two years, zoo professionals and field researchers hold a meeting about in situ (occurring in range countries) conservation projects. This year, the "Zoos and Aquariums committing to Conservation" (ZACC) meeting was hosted by the Houston Zoo, from 22 to 26 January, 2009. Nearly 200 attendees representing 135 organizations from 27 countries met to share stories about unique solutions for habitat and wildlife protection.

Unlike many other professional meetings, the ZACC sessions are held consecutively, which means that all of the presentations are available to the delegates. As conservation is based on passion, it is important to have personal contacts with the field researchers, and ZACC is a great venue to meet field researchers. Savvy zoos send their conservation decision makers to "shop" among a smorgasbord of projects ("I found a great jaguar project to compliment our exhibit, now I need something for South American birds").

The ZACC conference is one of my favorite meetings. I learned about work on the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit, California condors, Attwater's Prairie chickens, and the discovery that bats that have taken up residence in urban bridges actually seem to have greater survivorship than individuals of the same species that roost in caves.

For the African continent, there were presentations on wattled cranes, ungulate migration routes in Tanzania, Gabon ecotourism, bonobos, and cheetahs. For Asian conservation, the delegates learned about Przewalski's horses, snow leopards, sun bears, and sea turtles in Sri Lanka. For Central and South America, there was research presented on cotton-top tamarins, lowland tapirs, amphibian conservation in Panama, and yellow-tailed woolly monkeys.

There were also presentations on carbon offsetting, new guidelines from the IUCN species survival commission, the global amphibian crisis, emerging wildlife conservation heroes, artists for conservation, and sustainable conservation commerce.

Through sponsorships, the conference also awards funding to worthwhile field projects, that are also presented at the meeting. The grantees for 2009 include:

A community wood fuel project in Uganda, where inexpensive, locally produced stoves use less wood, thus sparing trees.

Using health care incentives to protect wild orangutans in Sumatra.

Satellite tracking and social behavior of the Bornean elephant in Malaysia.

Protecting snow leopards through an insurance compensation scheme in India.

An integrated approach to ecosystem conservation in the Rift Valley of Kenya.

Improving the infrastructure of ostrich breeding in Niger.

Scarlet macaw conservation in Guatemala.

The first ZACC conference was held in 1995 at the Columbus Zoo in an effort to build a global network for wildlife conservation by linking zoos, aquariums, and stakeholders in in situ projects. The next meeting, will be hosted by the Woodland Park Zoo, in Seattle, Washington, in 2011. (ZACC has become so successful and popular, that European Zoos are planning a similar meeting in the "even" years.)