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

Giant Otters; One in Tub

These giant otters were rehabilitated for eventual release into the wild by Diane Turk at the Karanambo Ranch in Guyana. They make a sport of playing, splashing, and contorting their bodies into small basins of water that were just big enough to squeeze into. (The otter on the left seems to be going through the motions, anyway).

At night, the otters stayed in their night house, which had been donated by the Philadelphia Zoo. Diane took them to the river every day, to let them explore a natural habitat, as well as to learn how to catch fish. Karanambo is a unique place where tourists can have a close up experience with giant otters.

Photo by J. Fletcher, Times Union

Awesome Otters

My favorite South American mammal is the giant otter seen on this postcard. Rare in captivity, only the Dallas World Aquarium, the Miami Metro Zoo, the Philadelphia Zoo, and the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens keeps the species in the United States.

From the 50's through the mid-80's, the giant otter was hunted for its hide, and populations had sunk to an estimated few thousand. Today, this otter has rebounded, with most fish healthy water habitats having good numbers of giant otters. The biggest threat to otters today is mercury pollution from mining that enters into the food chain. Mercury laden fish are toxic to otters and humans alike.

The giant otter is extremely social, and occurs in the wild in groups from six to a dozen individuals. Offspring stay with the parents and help rear their siblings, for up to five years. Otter families are extremely territorial, with sharply defined ranges. They are primarily fish eaters, but will consume other things they find, such as anacondas, aquatic birds, and black caimans. Caimans as well as jaguars occasionally take giant otters.

The following website give fascinating information on giant otters, as well as incredible photographs. It discusses the pros and cons of various models of giant otter ecotourism in Peru and Brazil. Six sites where wild otters are readily observed are listed, including the Karanambo Ranch in Guyana:

http://www.giantotter.org/Pterohome.html

Jaguars as Ambassadors for the Wild

The Range of the Jaguar exhibit at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens links the living cats to in situ conservation. In situ is a term meaning "within the natural habitat of a species," in contrast to ex situ, meaning "outside of the natural habitat of a species." In other words, in situ is the wild range and ex situ is captivity. The zoo's jaguars are ambassadors for jaguars in Guyana, South America, one of the range countries where the zoo has been helping with wildlife conservation.

The award winning exhibit currently has seven animals, the largest group of animals in any AZA (American Association of Zoos and Aquariums) facility. Jaguars are typically solitary, so they cannot all be on display at the same time. One, or two compatible animals are rotated into two different, side by side exhibits, while the other animals lounge in spacious off-exhibit housing.

The graphics introduce the visitor to the importance of jaguar symbolism to local peoples. To reflect the respect given the animal, jaguar comes from Yaouar an Amerindian term that means "a beast that kills its prey with a single bound."

In historical times, jaguars were worshiped by the Maya and the Olmecs, but today, there are serious conflicts between man and the predatory cat. Due to the displacement of wildlife with livestock ranching, there is less prey available for jaguar. The big cats also will hunt cattle and sheep, and in turn, they are destroyed as pests. There are also cats killed on roads. Finally, protected areas are often too small to provide sustainable populations because the animals have such large home ranges.

Photos by: D. Messinger

An Award Winning Exhibit

The "Range of the Jaguar" opened at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens in 2004. It won an exhibit award from the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), in part, because, besides the design, the exhibit had a direct link with conservation efforts in the wild.

The top photograph shows the entrance to the exhibit, and the second is a graphic that introduces the work that the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens has been doing in the country of Guyana, the former British Guyana, in South America. The first panel talks about the Neotropics and the people who live there, and where there are more species of plants and animals than anywhere else in the world.

The second panel explains that sustainable management is the use of natural resources over and over, generation after generation, without compromising the environment. The final panel introduces the international rainforest conservation, research, and development organization called Iwokrama, which takes a scientific approach to the sustainable use of rainforest. The Jacksonville Zoo is one of many partners, or stakeholders, in Iwokrama.

Photo: D. Messinger