For more information visit www.elpasozoo.org May 3, 2007 Volunteer Coordinator s Corner by Annie Langenfeld May is the month we all hope we make it thru!! A look at the May calendar shows that El Paso schools are on the ball and requesting programs. An early THANK YOU right now for all the hours you will be putting in to accomplish all this. Two of you have already volunteered to take animals to the Gala on May 19. I need at least one more. Because it is most likely will be too hot to have the critters outdoors you will be in the foyer of the El Paso Country Club where it will be nice and cool. You all can go in one van. So give me a call to volunteer for this event. Some of you have not picked up your new polo shirts. They are in my office and I will bring them to the Volunteer meeting on May 14 th. Remember, we are meeting at 5:30pm now, in the Paraje. Our new Head of Security, Eduardo Armendariz, will be the headliner for our meeting. Please come out to meet and hear him tell us how we can be more involved on what happens on the grounds. Three Eagles, free again! On the far edge of the Texas Hill Country, out over the rolling landscape, three Golden Eagles sought and received their freedom again. Once downed due to wing fractures and leg injuries, they soared their way to the evening sun and once again the earth, nature and the eco-system is complete. The work to save these eagles was done by the Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife Rescue, Dr. Victoria Milne, El Paso Zoo veterinarian and Last Chance Forever/The Bird of Prey Conservancy San Antonio, Texas. See elpasozoo.org/press072606b.htm We are having a special training class for people who can only work on weekends. We always need volunteers for weekends, as we are so busy and have so many special events. Classes will be Saturday, May 12 and Saturday, May 26 from 9 to 12pm in the Facilities Training Room. If you know of anyone who has wanted to volunteer, but couldn t during the week, please let them know to contact me. THINGS TO REMEMBER---be sure to ALWAYS put an animal at program sign on any cage or area where you take out assigned animal or critter. If you can t find a sign, make one out of paper towel and put on cage or area. Keepers have found animal gone and no sign. Continued on page 2
Volunteer Coordinator Corner Continued from page 1 We are happy to hear that Laurie Bryant is much better after major surgery and will be able to help with programs. Mary Etta Skinner, one of our snow birds, has gone back to St. Louis for the summer, but will be back some time in September. Helen Stark and Nancy Bain went to a Wolf Conference in Flagstaff, Arizona last week where they encountered snow. Derrill is off to see more zoos and wildlife areas and spend time with his mom in St, Louis. Daria has jury duty staring her in the face and Jack Makepeace, having already spent time in Wichita and Kansas City, Kansas, is now going to Oregon to see his daughter and her family. Wayne Gailbreath has been gone, traipsing around, and will be back in May. Lucky Julie Rutledge is going thru house repairs and redecorating. Ashley Sterns boyfriend just returned from Iraq and she has a big grin from ear to ear! Helen is returning to Illinois for 5 or 6 months. I hope I can make it and keep my sanity until she returns. Dixielee had that horrible junk that has been going around but now is on the road to good health. I hope to see MANY of you at the volunteer meeting on May 12 th at 5:30pm in the Paraje. We have such a good time and learn so much and it is so good to be able to have time to visit with each other. Bouquets of May flowers and Happy Birthday Wishes Jeanette Surface May 10 Crystal Gallegos May 25 Sal Quintanilla May 28 Education Trailer Wish List Call 351-5350 or write langenfeldar@elpasotexas.gov for more information 1. Newspapers, without all the colored ad inserts 2. Pesticide free closed pinecones (birds love to pull them open for the seeds) 3. Towels, hand towels, wash cloths, sheets, pillow cases 4. Vegetable dyed wooden toys for the birds, also old phone books 5. Carry cages in good condition 6. Empty soda boxes or small cardboard boxes that candy or other smaller items come in. Little animals like to use them for hiding and the big birds like to tear the bigger ones apart. Remember to put your papers, etc in the grey container behind the bamboo fence on the side of the Administration Building We don t put things out by the ticket office anymore. Zoo Volunteer Phone Directory (915) Area Code Official Zoo website plus past issues of this newsletter: www.elpasozoo.org/edu New El Paso Zoological Society website: www.elpasozoosociety.org Volunteer Office 351-5340 Zoological Society 532-8156 Education Curator 521-1881 Education Specialists 521-1861 Emergencies 474-1456 Education Trailer 521-1862 Main Zoo Information 521-1850 (The main number will be your best bet if you can not reach staff at other numbers.) Upcoming Events Contact Anne Langenfeld at the Volunteer Office to sign up to exhibit host or for more information. May 12 May 19 May 19 May 26 June July 19 July 27 August 4-5 October 6-7 December Volunteer Training Zoological Society Gala Armed Forces Day Volunteer Training Zoo Camp Military, Fire and Law Day Members Party BugFest Elephant Festival Grand Opening Discovery Center
Malayan Tigers and Tapirs Rare species at the Zoo Malayan Tiger Panthera tigris jacksoni Status: Endangered. Name: Panthera tigris jacksoni (Malayan Tiger) discovered in 2004 as the 9th subspecies of the tiger. Named to honor the contributions of Peter Jackson, the former Chair of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Cat Specialist Group, who tirelessly labored for more than 40 years on behalf of tiger conservation. Distribution: The Malayan tiger is found only in the Malay Peninsula, southern tip of Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia. In Malaysia they are sparsely distributed from the northern transboundary forests contiguous to Thailand to the most southern tip of continental Asia. Besides the three main tiger landscapes: Main Range (ca. 20,000 sq km), Greater Taman Negara (ca. 15,000 sq km) and the Southern Forest Complex (ca. 10,000 sq km), tigers are still found in isolated small forests, secondary vegetation fields, and abandoned agricultural land in low human density and road density areas of the east coast. Majority (88%) of the tiger habitats are found in the four main states of Pahang, Perak, Terengganu, and Kelantan. Description: Morphologically similar to the Indo- Chinese tiger, but the size is closer to the Sumatran tigers with average weight of 265 pounds for adult males and 220 pounds for females. Reproduction: Births may occur throughout the year. 1-7 young, usually 2-3, are born after a 93-112 day gestation. Cubs wean at 3-6 months, may be able to kill their own prey by 11 months and separate from their mothers at 2-3 years. Females are sexually mature at 3-4 years; Females may give birth every 2-4 years. Behavior: Malayan tigers prey on sambar deer, barking deer, wild boar, and livestock. Tigers in Taman Negara also prey on sun bear. Whether their principal prey includes gaur and tapir is unknown. Tigers occur at very low densities 1.1-1.98 tigers per 100km 2 in the rainforest as a result of low prey densities, thus in order to maintain viable tiger populations of minimum of 6 breeding females, reserves need to be larger than 1000km 2. Biological/ecological research on the Malayan tiger is still in infancy. For example, information on dietary preference, morphological measurements, demographic parameters, social structure, communication, home range sizes, dispersal capabilities are all lacking. (Taken from SavetheTigerFund.org, 2007) Tigers depend more on sight and hearing to hunt than on smell. They may eat 88 lb (40 kg) of meat at one time. They successfully capture prey in 1-10 attempts at hunting. Captive tigers may be offered 11-13 lb (5-6 kg) of meat 5-6 days a week. These striped big cats are generally loners, coming together to mate or to share a large kill. Communication is by sound (roars, purrs, grunts); smell (urine, feces) and sight (scratch marks on trees). Tigers do not usually climb trees. They are excellent swimmers and jumpers, covering over 32 ft (10 m) in a horizontal leap. Tigers are responsible for more human deaths from direct attacks than any other wild mammal. This and the tigers' hunting of domestic livestock have contributed to their being exterminated. Did you know? Since the late 1980s, at least 500 tigers are thought to remain in Malaysia, which has carrying capacity of 493 to1480 tigers based on available habitat with known presence of tigers and expected mean density estimates of 1-3 adult tigers/100 sq km. The tigers are apparently near the carrying capacity in the Taman Negara National Park which has 91 adults and cubs corresponding to a density of 1.1 1.98 adults per 100km 2. In unprotected areas, tigers are threatened by logging operations, retaliatory killings resulting from human-tiger conflict and incidental killings due to wire snares set for other wildlife such as wild boars. Nearly 90% of Continued on page 4
Tigers Continued from page 3 tiger habitat is outside the protected areas where their status is uncertain and in need of further attention (Taken from SavetheTigerFund.org, 2007). Biology: A genetic analysis of the phylogeny of tigers in 2004 split the Indo-Chinese subspecies into two distinct subspecies: the Indo-Chinese tiger and the Malayan tiger and the authors argue that the captive populations for these two subspecies should be managed in a similar way to the other recognized subspecies but it is unclear how this information will be used by the zoo community. (Taken from SavetheTigerFund.org, 2007) Malayan Tapir Tapirus indicus Status: Endangered in parts of its range. Distribution: Southern Burma and Thailand, Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, possibly Laos. Habitat: Wooded or grassy areas with standing water other year. Their young are born with a dark coat marked with spots and stripes. Adult coloration is attained by the time young are weaned. Longevity: 11-30 years General Description: The tapir s nose and upper lips extend into a kind of short trunk with nostrils at the end. This allows the animals to breath while submerge in water. The Malayan tapir is the largest and most unusually colored of all tapirs. Its legs, head, neck, and the area above its front legs are black in color, while its back, rump, and belly are white. This pattern makes the Malayan tapir almost invisible in jungles at night, when vegetation becomes black and white in the moonlight. Behavior: The body shape helps these generally nocturnal mammals move easily through thick underbrush. Tapirs are able to do many things well: climb hills, run, slide, wade, dive, and swim. Their long nose helps them breathe while submerged. They can defend themselves by biting. Senses of sight and hearing are good. Communication is achieved with shrill whistling sounds and scent marking with urine. Did you know? In some parts of their range tapirs are hunted for food and sport. Some Indian tribes will not kill tapirs for religious reasons. All four tapir species are threatened or endangered because of habitat loss due to clearing of forests for cattle and agriculture. Where can you find them? Fragmented habitat in protected areas and other areas across their range. As of October 2003 there were 161 captive animals in 51 zoos around the world. In the US there are 55 captive animals in 23 zoos. Diet: (Herbivore) Wild-aquatic vegetation, leaves, buds, twigs, fruits of low-growing terrestrial plants; At the Zoo-grasses, grain, fruit, vegetables. Length: Head and body length is 70-98 in (180-250 cm) Shoulder height is 29-47 in (73-120 cm) Weight: Adults range in weight from 397-800 lb (180-363 kg) Reproduction: 1 young, rarely 2, is born after 383-405 days of gestation. It stays with its mother for 6-8 months. It reaches sexual maturity at 2-5 years. Female tapirs can give birth every Baby Malayan tapir born at the Zoo in 2005
Elephants = Passion and Emotion By Steve Marshall, Director comment on the physical health and psychological well-being of Juno and Savannah. She is respected and highly qualified in her field. She reports that our elephants are healthy and continue to respond positively to the Zoo's ongoing active management program including enrichment and free choices. Meanwhile wild Asian elephant populations are locked in an epic struggle of survival that we could not possibly understand. Elephants are losing their wild places to live and both elephants and people are losing their lives in the battle. Because of the support of this community and the inspiration of Juno and Savannah, the El Paso Zoo is able to directly assist elephant conservation projects in these areas of the world. We are as passionate and emotional about this crisis in the wild as we are about inspiring people to help. Savannah is now 55 years old. Activists seem to be passionate and emotional about the two Asian elephants at the El Paso Zoo. Good. That is just the reaction that people should have about elephants. My elephant keepers are absolutely passionate and emotional about Juno and Savannah. So am I. So is the rest of the staff at the Zoo. So is this community. Because of Juno and Savannah the keepers, the zoo staff, and the community are also passionate and emotional about wild Asian elephants and wild places on earth. Good. That is just the reaction that people should have when they are near an elephant. It is an undeniable human characteristic to be drawn to animals. It's what draws families to zoos and it's what draws people to work at zoos. Our mission is to reestablish a connection between humans, animals, and the natural world. It's good for us, it's good for future generations, and it's good for the natural world. Zoos are messengers. Our message is of hope. We passionately believe that individual action can help reverse the global downward trends in biodiversity and the weakening of ecosystems. What better way to tell the story of the value of animals than in a safe, family friendly experience that our zoo provides. At the El Paso Zoo, we care deeply about the well-being of Juno and Savannah. We provide for their physical, mental, and social health every day. Our zoo veterinarian is the most qualified to According to a 2005 Harris Poll, 95 percent of respondents agreed that visiting accredited zoos and seeing elephants and rhinos helps people appreciate them more and encourages people to learn more about them. During my interview for this position, in meetings with Council Members, the Mayor, the City Manager and her staff, the Zoological Society, and even my staff at the zoo, I was open to all possibilities including recommending an end to the elephant program here if I found anything that necessitated such action. Let me tell you what I found. My extensive review revealed that the facilities and management programs are outstanding and in some cases innovative. The physical and psychological wellbeing of our elephants is viewed by our staff as a continuum on which they tirelessly work to improve and exceed needs. I found no reason to send Juno and Savannah away. The City Council asked the right questions about elephants and the Zoo's ability to care for them. The City Council made the correct decision to accept the recommendation made by their zoo professionals. El Paso should continue to be home to Juno and Savannah because it enriches our community by having our children inspired by this experience. We should continue because having these animals directly and indirectly contributes to wild elephant conservation.