Conservation News

Snared Black Rhino - We lost him

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:13:18 +0100

To hear that a rhino has died is always a sad day, but to know that it was a senseless death caused by poachers is horrific.

For those of you who have been following this story we’ve just received this sad news from our partners in Chyulu.

Despite some encouraging progress in recent days the injured rhino bull sadly died on Friday from the injuries caused by the snare.

We received the following message from Richard Bonham, Director of Operations in Chyulu.

One of our ground teams found the injured rhino tracks and called in support on the ground. The helicopter arrived and finally, after six long weeks, the immobilization dart went in. But it was too late. The injuries caused by the snare had taken their toll and the rhino, so weak, never came round.

As you can see from the pictures, it is astonishing that the rhino lasted so long with such a horrific wound. The wire cable had cut its way down to the bones of his neck, severing tendons and filled, by this stage, with deep infection and maggots. There was nothing anyone could have done and by his dying, at least saved us the decision of having to put him down.

It’s been a long 6 weeks, constituting at least 10,000 man hours, 20 hours of Chopper time and 35 hours of Super Cub flying time. The costs attached to all this are difficult to calculate but the whole operation has probably cost close to £23,000. We have asked ourselves (and others have also questioned us) was this investment worth trying to save one animal. The answer to this is simple – YES. We could not give up for two reasons.

The first is that none of us could live with ourselves if we had turned our backs on an animal that must have been in such agony and secondly, this rhino bull constituted one of our best hopes of making the precarious population of Chyulu rhino viable. We now only have one other breeding bull in our small population so all our hopes now rest with him.

We have all learnt so much from this last six weeks. We’ve been encouraged by the level of commitment that everyone involved has shown and all of the resources that have been invested; our rangers who worked from dawn to dusk; and dedicated individuals have dropped everything to support our search. Perhaps more importantly it is now clear how much we have to do to stop another population of black rhino toppling into extinction.

We have always known that the best protection the Chyulu rhino have is their dense and inhospitable habitat. This is illustrated so well by the fact it took us so long to find the injured bull. We also know a very important component is the use of camera traps and need to bring this to a much more sophisticated level by creating a unit who are dedicated to camera trapping - not only to monitor the rhino – but also poachers.

We need to supplement the 6 camera traps we have with another 25, that will cover entry and exit points of poachers and also the more heavily used areas by rhino. This will undoubtedly be a huge deterrent as I am sure once in place it won’t take long for us to identify those responsible for the death of this rhino.

We know that Chyulu area is a potential strong hold for rhino in the future and there is a plan to translocate more rhino to boost the population. However, before this can be done, there is a lot of work to do. We have to make more water available, secure the eastern boundary, increase security outposts and fund the camera trap operation. So as usual, so much to do!

It has been a disappointing outcome but still we would like to thank all of you who encouraged and supported us.

We would like to thank those of you who have already donated to the Rhino project on our Act for Wildlife website, but we need your support more than ever now.

The project desperately needs another 25 cameras to stop this sort of horrific attack happening again.

Can you help? Please visit our Act for Wildlife website and donate anything you can to help us to support the team in Chyulu.

We promise that 100% of your money will be used to protect rhinos. Thank you.

Snared Black Rhino Appeal - latest update from the search team in Kenya

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 17:07:33 +0100

Thanks to all of you who have been following our appeal for support in the search for the injured Black Rhino.

Over the weekend we received the following update from the search team, first with exciting news and then dismay…

‘Our routine has been pretty standard, up at 5.00am and then airborne in the super cub at first light with the thermal imaging equipment whilst the ground teams deploy to their various sectors to search for the rhino's tracks.

Then yesterday we had a break. I was flying the cub with Ian Craig in the observer’s seat operating the thermal equipment. On our first run of the area I hear an excited shout over the intercom.

''I think I have him, he's down there in the lava.''

We swoop down and sure enough there was a rhino. As we got closer it was clear we had the right rhino as around his neck was a crimson band of congealed blood. It did not look good as he hardly moved and Ian and I both thought we had found him too late and he was on his last legs, weak and unable to move.

From there on it was a blur of activity. We landed in a nearby clearing where the ground teams met us and Ian took off on foot with his dart gun believing it would be an easy job from here on. But when he got to where we had seen him there was no rhino. He had done another of his disappearing acts so Ian asked me to get in the air again to see what I could spot, , but again nothing as he had moved back into a thicket.

Our only hope now was a helicopter which arrived exactly two hours later and was positioned waiting for a call by the ground teams. It did not take long in coming. The rhino was spotted, a smoke canister was set off to guide him in.

He was on it in no time and circling above in the cub I saw the rhino galloping through the bush with the helicopter hovering above it. I thought.at long last, we'd got him! Then the worst news possible came through the radio, It was Ian…'' It’s the wrong rhino, it’s not injured!"

Reading the tracks, the ground crew could see that the injured rhino had joined up with another and he had held his ground whilst the other rhino had shot off with the helicopter following in hot pursuit. The crew got back on the right tracks and here disaster nearly struck.

The rhino had not gone far and exploded out of thick bush, charging straight towards them. Everyone went for a tree – the only escape from a rhino in this situation. Joseph, the senior rhino ranger, was not close enough to a tree and became the target of the rhino’s charge.

By luck there was a big rock just in front of Joseph which the rhino stumbled on at full speed and tripped, casting Joseph aside like a leaf in a storm before disappearing back into the thicket. From here on we don’t really know what happened but somehow the rhino managed to evade being spotted by the helicopter and the super cub from the air.

You can imagine the despondency of the whole team. After so much effort and expense ionly to lose him after five long weeks of dawn to dusk searches. We have been so close and having been that close, and having seen the extent of his injuries, it has made it even worse.

The last two days we have been searching for him using every means possible but have been frustrated by what normally we would call the blessing of heavy rain, making the job almost impossible. Today we are all finding it difficult to remain positive, but tomorrow is another day.

We gave the game scouts a choice of taking a day off yesterday as they were exhausted – mentally and physically but they turned it down saying we can’t give up, we have to help this rhino. So with that attitude we still have a chance.

The search for the snared rhino is draining funds. Every time a plane or helicopter goes up it costs a huge amount of money that the team cannot afford.

Every gift will make a difference, however small so please support the project now and make a donation today. 100% of donations to Act for Wildlife go to our conservation projects around the world.

Emergency appeal to help save a snared rare black rhino in Kenya

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 17:07:33 +0100

A shocking image of a critically endangered black rhino with a snare around its neck has been picked up on one of our cameras in Africa.

Donate now on our Act for Wildlife website and help save this rhino >

The image has triggered an urgent search for the rhino in the Chyulu Hills region of Kenya, leading us to launch an emergency appeal for help.

The rhino – a known important breeding bull – was the target of a botched poaching attempt and experts believe it will not survive unless they can reach him soon to remove the snare and treat him.

Around 40 rangers from the Kenyan Wildlife Service and conservation organisations the Big Life Foundation and the Maasailand Preservation Trust, who all work with Chester Zoo to protect the region’s highly threatened black rhinos, have been deployed on the ground.

However, with the terrain being of thick and dangerous bush, so far their efforts have been in vain.

Our Head of Field Programmes and Conservation, Roger Wilkinson, said:

“We’ve launched an emergency appeal as we desperately need to send funds to the teams who are frantically searching for this precious rhino, to give them every chance of tracking him down before it’s too late.

“Search teams on the ground have been trekking tirelessly through the thick bush and by following his tracks they have come close to finding him on a couple of occasions.

“However, given the almost impossible terrain, it’s by air that we’re going to have the best hope of finding him. To keep a helicopter in the sky costs $9,000 a day and so that’s why we need help. It’s expensive but if we can reach him it will be well worth every single penny”

The number of black rhinos in Africa is plummeting as a result of a dramatic surge in illegal poaching. A global increase in demand for rhino horn to supply the traditional Asian medicine market, where it is wrongly believed to be a cure for everything from nightmares to dysentery, has intensified the situation in recent times.

This attrition is being driven by the astonishing street value for rhino horn, which fetches £40,000 a kilo - more than gold.

Find out more on our Act for Wildlife blog, or donate now and help save a rhino at risk in the wild. 100% of donations to Act for Wildlife go to our conservation projects around the world.

Update from our orang-utan partners

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 17:09:53 +0100

Our partners in Borneo, HUTAN – KOCP, have a dedicated orang-utan research team composed of 10 research officers working in a research site that is home to around 20 wild orang-utans.

Image © HUTAN / Mohd. Daisah Bin Kapar

HUTAN-KOCP have been studying these orang-utans for the past 15 years.

We're really proud to support the great work that HUTAN-KOCP do and were thrilled to receive news about one of the orang-utans called Jenny.

Read the blog on our Act for Wildlife website

Thank you from families in Uganda

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:33 +0100

Home to the densest primate population in Africa, Kibale National Park in Uganda is sadly being cut down for firewood.

Threatened primates such as the chimpanzee and red colobus monkey - plus many other species of mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles, are losing their homes.

Over 95% of the people living around Kibale rely exclusively on wood for cooking– and this wood often came from the national park, until the Kibale Fuel Wood Project began.

The project has developed four science centres which are free of charge to visit and act like natural history museums, libraries, meeting places and demonstration areas. Inside them are artifacts including animal skulls, skeletons and skins, insect specimens and other educational materials.

The centres are a real draw for the local communities and a great place to teach the local children about the importance of the National Park and the animals and plants that live in it.

We have been supporting this project since 2010 and were delighted to receive thank you letters from some of the children that had recently visited the centre.

We know our support is making a difference but receiving letters like the one below from Lillian and seeing the images of them enjoying the books proves it.

Since we’ve started working in these communities the number of families collecting wood from the national park has dropped from 30% to 11.5%, and 50% of the families surveyed now use fuel efficient stoves (an increase from 5% since the start of the project).

On top of this, more and more families are also starting to plant their own firewood at home – a real success story.

Rare Bird Returned to Bali

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:33 +0100

The future of one of the world’s rarest birds looks brighter after conservationists from Chester Zoo helped release eight Bali starlings back into central Bali for the very first time.

Four pairs of the rare birds, classed by conservation organisations as critically endangered, were released by Begawan Foundation into a carefully selected area in the heart of the Indonesian island.

Illegal poaching reduced numbers to a critically low level in 2001 when the wild population was estimated at just six birds, but conservation breeding efforts have since seen a small recovery to between 50 and 115.

However, this number is still perilously low which is why the release marks a significant step forward for the long-term survival of the species. Begawan Foundation has bred these birds since 1999, and after conducting a feasibility study, and working together with Green School, situated adjacent to its Bali site, and local communities and government, made the decision to release four pairs into the surroundings.

Dr Roger Wilkinson, Chester Zoo’s Head of Field Conservation and Research, said:

“This stunning starling is critically endangered because it has an extremely small range and a tiny population, which is suffering from illegal poaching for the cage-bird trade.

“However, a lot of hard work by dedicated people who care enough to try and save this wonderful species, has now seen us reach this momentous moment where we’ve been able to help release eight birds into the wild.

“The area they were released was specially picked as it was well protected and had staff able to monitor the rare birds. Quite a crowd turned out as most people local to the area had never seen a live Bali starling before.”

Chester Zoo provides skills, expertise and funding for an important breeding centre in Bali and, alongside Begawan Foundation and Jurong Bird Park, assists in the breeding and release programme and monitoring of wild populations.

Andrew Owen, the zoo’s Curator of Birds, added:

“This is really great news but it’s only the start. Whether or not they now go on to reproduce and ensure that youngsters survive and the colony expands is the next significant step. There’s an awful long way to go but things now look a little brighter for the future remarkable species.”

Rare Giant Armadillo Birth Recorded

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:33 +0100

The birth of a rare giant armadillo has been recorded for the first time in Brazil.

Researchers studying the mysterious animals spotted this four-week-old armadillo emerging from its burrow with its mother thanks to automated camera traps provided by a number of conservation organisations including Chester Zoo.

Dr Arnaud Desbiez, co-ordinator of the Pantanal Giant Armadillo Project said: "Documenting the birth of a giant armadillo is an exciting step forward to helping us better understand the biology and reproduction of this cryptic species and ultimately help us conserve it."

Since July 2010, the Pantanal Giant Armadillo Project has successfully established the first long-term ecological study of giant armadillos in the Brazilian Pantanal.

The main goal of the project is to investigate the ecology and biology of the species and understand its function in the ecosystem using radio transmitters, camera traps, burrow surveys, resource monitoring, resource mapping and interviews.

Currently there is virtually no information on giant armadillo reproduction. The species has never bred in captivity and no observations have ever been made in the wild.

Acquiring reproductive information on the species is crucial to understanding its population dynamics and to plan for any type of conservation of the species, which is why this remarkable footage is such a brilliant sight to see!

Image © Pantanal Giant Armadillo Project Baia das Pedras

Footage © Pantanal Giant Armadillo Project

Act for Wildlife Sponsors First-ever Maasai Olympics!

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:33 +0100

Killing animals as a show of ‘manliness’ has forever been part of Maasai culture. However, Chester Zoo’s Act for Wildlife has been involved in a new, history-changing approach to stop the killing, protect wildlife and show Maasai warriors that there are other ways to display bravery.

The first-ever Maasai Olympics – where newly empowered young warriors competed among themselves not for how many lions they could each kill but for how many medals they could each win – has taken place in East Africa, thanks in part to sponsorship from Chester Zoo’s Act for Wildlife...

Read the full blog on our Act for Wildlife website.

Saving Frogs in Madagascar - Part 2

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:33 +0100

There is a strong and firm commitment by the European Association of Zoo and Aquaria (EAZA) to support conservation programmes in Madagascar and Chester Zoo is keen to take a key role being active in amphibian conservation in the island.

This is going to be part of our global conservation plan for Amphibian Conservation here at Chester Zoo as one of our Field Programmes.

The approach to Amphibian Conservation will be multi-faceted and capacity building in terms of training is essential to start seeing in-country initiatives develop in the medium/long term.

Read the full blog on our Act for Wildlife website.

Saving Frogs in Madagascar - Part 1

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:33 +0100

Chester Zoo's Gerardo Garcia is on a mission to save the frogs of Madagascar from a deadly fungus.

I never know how it happens but I always manage to leave all the packing until the very last minute instead of having it all done on time and in a relaxed way when I am going on a field trip.

So the night before I was taking my long flight to Madagascar, I was collecting equipment from around the zoo. From the Herpetological Department to the Aquarium... water pumps, marking equipment, bits for the filters and a never-ending list of gadgets related to amphibians and captive husbandry...

Read the full blog on our Act for Wildlife website.

UK zoos join forces for mission to help protect Madagascar's frogs

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:33 +0100

Madagascar is one of the only places in the world where a killer fungus that has wiped out populations of amphibians does not exist.

However, experts fear that if the deadly chytrid fungus ever did strike, then up to 500 species endemic only to those shores would be gone for good. That’s why a trio from Chester Zoo and Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust have helped create an action plan to try and protect all of Madagascar’s frogs…

Chester Zoo’s curator of invertebrates and lower vertebrates Dr Gerardo Garcia and head vet Javier Lopez, and Durrell’s head of conservation Jamie Copsey are travelling to Madagascar to implement a new strategy to protect its frogs from a killer fungus, which has devastated amphibian populations around the world.

They are leading a course designed to equip local conservationists with the skills needed to establish safety-net populations of amphibian in captivity, out of the reach of the deadly chytrid fungus should it ever wind up there.

Amphibians all over the world are being affected by the fungal disease, which thickens their skin and prevents the movement of fluids, causing a chance of heart failure.

Dr Garcia said: “Amphibians already face lots of threats, most notably from habitat destruction and alteration, however the chytrid fungus could be the last nail in the coffin. It threatens most of the wild amphibian species around the globe with extinction and it’s probably the first time ever that a disease has threatened to wipe out an entire class of animals.

“There’s a very real chance of a new epidemic here and that’s why it’s vitally important that careful, professional ex situ (captive) programmes are in place to protect against chytrid - it’s that big of a threat.

“On top of that, there are lots of unanswered questions about frogs in Madagascar full stop. Working with them in an ex-situ setting could reveal some vital information and help us understand how we can protect them in their own environment and how to restore wild populations, should it ever become necessary.”

Although 290 species of amphibian have been described in Madagascar, many more have been discovered and are yet to be named. More than 90% of these are endemic to the country. An introduction of chytrid fungus could therefore have a “devastating effect”.

Head of Durrell Conservation Academy, Jamie Copsey said:

“We already know that a number of the amphibians unique to Madagascar are sensitive to the fungal disease and so should chytrid fungus ever arrive, it could have a devastating effect.

“By working with local conservation organisations Durrell and Chester Zoo hope to exchange skills and increase the number of institutions within Madagascar with the capacity to establish captive populations that are most at risk from the disease.”

Dr Garcia added:

“We are determining how we can use locally-available materials, such as plastic bottles and sponges, to make cheap but effective alternatives to equipment we have at home.

“The aim is to establish locally-run and effective captive breeding programmes that will make a significant contribution to the conservation of Madagascar’s unique and diverse amphibian fauna.”

The Chester Zoo Act for Wildlife and Durrell team will be joined by amphibian experts from the ICUN Amphibian Specialist Group and Turin Museum. The course will be based at the Mitsinjo Amphibian Centre in a national park in central Madagascar – renown for being one of the world’s most bio-diverse areas.

Dr Franco Andreone, co-chair of the Amphibian Specialist Group for Madagascar, concluded:

“A great deal of ingenuity and imagination is being injected into conservation efforts in Madagascar by local organisations, in particular Mitsinjo who are a local community-based conservation group. This additional support from the likes of Durrell and Chester Zoo will now really help us to push these efforts on.”

EAZA (European Association of Zoo’s and Aquaria) have provided much of the funding.

Tomorrow Gerardo Garcia will be blogging about his trip to Madagascar and his mission to save the frogs.

Orangutan Translocations

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

This week is ‘Orangutan Caring Week’…so we thought we’d bring you some great news from our partners in Borneo!

We updated you last week on the saltwater crocodile project we’re supporting in Borneo, run by the Danau Girang Field Centre and Sabah Wildlife Department.

These two organisations also work in close partnership with HUTAN, who we support via our Bornean Orangutan project.

Recently, an orangutan translocation and release was carried out by the three organisations. Two orangutans were released near Danau Girang within a few weeks of each other, a female followed by a male.

Both animals were translocated from a small forest on a private land which was about to be cleared to make way for oil palm plantation.

The NGO HUTAN and Sabah Wildlife Department were contacted by the land owner, and the Sabah Wildlife Rescue Unit captured the two orangutans and translocated them to an area of forest in the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary close to the field centre.

This was a fantastic collaboration between the organisations.

Check out the photos from the translocation on our Act for Wildlife blog.

Photos © Rudi Delvaux

Sabah Croc Update

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

Check out these fantastic photos we’ve received from one of our supported projects in Borneo.

Researchers at Danau Girang Field Centre and Sabah Wildlife Department are studying the saltwater crocodiles in the Kinabatangan – and in particular the human-wildlife conflict which occurs in the region.

We've got four sets of great photos - click on each of the images to see more on our Act for Wildlife website.

All photos © Sabah Wildlife Department/Danau Girang Field Centre

Tagging Lias

Genetic Sampling

Too small to be collared

Siganas

Armadillo News

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

A few months back we showed you some amazing footage of armadillos from one of our supported projects.

We’ve just heard from the project team and they’re getting some fantastic results.

Despite a few months of no sightings, three armadillos were captured and tagged within days of each other.

Project leader Arnaud sent us this blog recently:

“The best part of this project is that it feels we make new discoveries each day. One night we observed one of the giant armadillos make 5 feeding holes over 80 cm deep in less than 15 minutes.

"Even armed with a shovel we would have a hard time doing that! Or what about the speed at which they blast through termite mounds? These animals are just amazingly powerful. We are monitoring termite mounds predated by giant armadillos to see if they recover or not.

"One night we observed one of our armadillos blasting a termite mound and set a camera the next morning. That night the armadillo returned to the mound and we got some amazing pictures of the animal – see the photo below.

"It actually climbed on the termite mound and ripped out the chimneys. These chimneys are like pure cement. We could never make them budge unless we used a sledge hammer.

"Another exciting behaviour we registered was our very first giant armadillo 'ROMANCE'.

"For the first time we have evidence of giant armadillos sharing a burrow. Isabelle, a beautiful adult female we have been monitoring since November 2011, went in a burrow she had dug a few days before.

"A little over 30 minutes later, Zezinho, an adult male, showed up and after some very “macho” digging around the entrance he went in with her. Both of them returned for two nights.

"There is no real information on giant armadillo reproductive behaviour, gestation period or even number of young. It is estimated that the gestation period could be around 4 months.

"Zezinho and Isabelle were registered together on the 10th of June for the first time. Maybe in my next update I will be sending you information on the birth of giant armadillos”

Of course, here at Act for Wildlife we can't wait for Arnaud's next update and will share it wilth you as soon as we can.

Officer Jazz, we salute you

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

Last year we bought you the sad news that Bosco, one of the anti-poaching bloodhounds at a conservation project we support in Kenya’s Chyulu Hills, had passed away.

Bosco had been the only dog on active duty and, as his check-ups at the vet had suggested there may be problems, it was realised there was a need for new dogs.

So the team at the Maasailand Preservation Trust (MPT) purchased two new tracker dogs, Belgian Malinois called Max and Jazz in October last year.

The rangers underwent a dog handling course in Tanzania and both dogs settled in well and were integrated into the existing operations.

Unfortunately, Max also died after developing complications suspected to be caused by tsetse fly bites during field operations. Max’s death was a huge setback, leaving Jazz as the lone anti-poaching dog.

However we’re really pleased to say that Jazz has performed superbly and has facilitated successful arrests of 14 poachers and the recovery of four tusks from November 2011 to March 2012.

MPT plan to purchase another dog in the not too distant future when/if funding becomes available.

Jazz (and Bosco before him) is a major deterrent to poachers, and an important part of anti-poaching activities. With more anti-poaching dogs, the project can catch more people undertaking wildlife crimes before it is too late for the animals they’re hunting.

Well done Jazz – we think you’re an incredible animal and one of Chester Zoo's Act for Wildlife heroes!

Please visit www.actforwildlife.org.uk and donate what you can to help us save wildlife all around the world.

Elephant conservation in the UK and abroad

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

Hi, I’m Stephanie, an Aussie vet and conservation scientist who has just completed an exciting elephant research project with support from Chester Zoo.

You might be thinking what could have possessed an Aussie elephant lover to leave the sunny beaches for the UK, a place that isn't exactly synonymous with elephants?

Well, in truth, the UK is a hub for the coordination of international elephant conservation and Chester Zoo is very much involved.

A Chester Zoo studentship helped me to work with endangered Bornean elephants in the jungles of Sabah, Malaysia. I wanted to combine my veterinary and conservation training to investigate the interaction between two key threats to endangered species survival, habitat loss and disease.

Following a conservation medicine or One Health approach, I focused on connections between ecosystem and animal health: how do changes to the environment affect the health of all its inhabitants?

In a rapidly changing world, this is an urgent question. In my search for answers, I embarked on a dream field expedition.

An elephant can weigh more than a Ford Focus but makes a whole lot less noise. We’d be trekking through the undergrowth and without so much as a peep, suddenly a tell-tale trunk or wiggly grey bottom would appear, swaying behind a tree.

Kneeling silently on the forest floor, we observed the wild Bornean elephants. On one occasion, when I was trying my hardest to stay still and quiet, there was a sudden POP! POP! POP! sound from overhead. The elephants started trumpeting and the jungle went from silence to cacophony in a matter of moments.

An orangutan making the ‘popping’ vocalisation had blown our cover! Despite the challenges, with the help of my collaborators in Sabah, I collected over one hundred faecal samples from elephants in fragmented compared to continuous habitat.

In order to see if habitat loss has an effect on infection dynamics I compared parasite prevalence, load and diversity between elephants living in the two different sites.

I hope that this will provide insight into the links between ecosystem and animal health, the profound effects of habitat loss on endangered species survival and also inform future management decisions about habitat connectivity.

After falling head over heels in love with Asian elephants many years ago while volunteering in Thailand, I’ve since been lucky enough to have worked with them in different countries and settings.

I hope to continue my involvement in elephant conservation ‘til I’m just as wrinkly as one of them! They are such incredible creatures not only because they are simply unique, possess untold cognitive abilities, serve as seed dispersers and sculptors of the landscape and are a flagship for wildlife conservation.

They are simply incredible because once you’ve stood beside an elephant, you can’t help feeling this overwhelming sense that the world is a richer place having been graced with their presence.

I am Stephanie Hing, and I Act for Wildlife

*This project was completed as part of a MSc in Conservation Science at Imperial College London with key support from the Sabah Wildlife Department, Danau Girang Field Centre and funding assistance from the Rufford Small Grants Foundation, Chester Zoo, ZSL Erasmus Darwin Barlow Expeditions Grant and Imperial College.

Dormouse Survey

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

We've been out looking for dormice again, giving them a health check and recording the data. This time we took lots of photos and even had a short video created...

Dormice are a rare native species protected in the UK and Europe and we survey them in Denbighshire in north Wales and Cheshire as part of a joint project with our partners the Countryside Council for Wales, Forestry Commission Wales, Natural England, the Wildlife Trusts and North East Wales Biodiversity Partnership.

The project aims to deliver more effective dormouse conservation in the region and the data collected is providing important information on dormouse habitat use, life expectancy, population size and breeding behaviour.

The dormice at this Denbighshire site are doing very well because of woodland management by Forestry Commission Wales. The management is creating a diverse woodland with trees of different species and ages that provide lots of food and shelter for dormice.

With your support we can keep making sure that this species is monitored and keeping healthy in Cheshire and North Wales.

Biogas stoves in China

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

The use of biogas stoves in one of the nature reserves we work in China has made a huge difference to our habitat protection work in China. But you may be wondering what a stove has to do with wildlife conservation.

Every community in Laojunshan National Nature Reserve burn firewood in their everyday life – it’s a basic need for every family in the community and is particularly used for cooking their food.

But the traditional method is a large open fire in the middle of the main room of the house and, a large amount of wood is used fuel the fire.

Unfortunately, in the Sichuan area of China, habitat destruction is one of the biggest threats to native wildlife and although the amount of wood taken by each family is relatively small, if each family in a community has to take wood from the nature reserve it adds up to a huge amount.

A big part of our work in China has been to work with local communities to find more sustainable solutions to protect the local habitat.

One of the ways we do this is through biogas stoves. Instead of using wood, biogas stoves run on the methane gas produced from the dung of domestic livestock like pigs. Most families living around Laojunshan Reserve have two or three pigs.

If the dung from these is channelled into a sealed pit beneath the pig sty it breaks down, producing methane gas as a bi-product. This can be piped into the house at a controlled pressure and used to fuel stoves for cooking.

In fact, we found that each biogas stoves leads to the householders using 80-90% LESS firewood during the course of a year. That’s a huge saving on the amount of trees cut down in the reserves - and also a huge saving on peoples time taken to collect the wood.

In return for the new stoves, local villagers are using some of the time that has been freed up to help the nature reserve staff with patrols to prevent poaching and disturbance.

A total of 12 stoves have been installed by the project so far – with a further 6 due this year. Who would’ve thought that a new stove could help to save China’s endemic wildlife?

For more on our great conservation work visit www.actforwildlife.org.uk.

Emergency appeal to save rhinos in the wild

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

Chester Zoo has launched an emergency campaign to help save rhinos from extinction.

The move was triggered after staff from the conservation charity were left ‘sickened’ by the killing of a black rhino at a Kenyan national park – the first poaching incident in well over three years at the zoo-supported reserve.

An adult bull was found dead by rangers working inside Chyulu Hills National Park hours after seven gun shots were heard.

Chester Zoo’s Conservation Officer Scott Wilson said:

“We’ve worked so, so hard with the teams on the ground to protect rhinos in this area and until now, we’d been very successful in doing so. But this killing is a sure sign that the gruesome increase in rhino poaching seen in other areas of Africa is spreading. We’re all completely sickened by this.”

A dramatic surge in poaching had seen the number of black rhinos in Kenya plummet from around 20,000 in 1970 to as few as 500 at present.

But in areas where Chester Zoo is working to conserve the species, very few incidents have occurred until now.

'Unprecedented fight'

Mr Wilson said:

“Rhinos are facing an unprecedented fight for survival in the wild.

“Chester Zoo’s Act for Wildlife has long supported national parks and sanctuaries in Africa and the rangers, patrol teams and those running them do an incredible job there to protect rhinos.

“But the situation is becoming so dire, the demand for rhino horn so insatiable and rhino poaching such a problem, that we need help.

“Poachers are better equipped than ever, they’re using state-of-the-art weaponry and finding new ways to enter places where rhinos were once safe. That’s why we’ve had to issue an emergency appeal now.

“With extra funds we can stop them. We must stop them.”

A global increase in demand for rhino horn to supply the traditional Asian medicine market, where it is believed to be a cure for everything from nightmares to dysentery, has brought about this alarming hike in poaching.

It is driven by the astonishing street value for rhino horn, which fetches more per gram than gold and cocaine.

Mr Wilson added:

“Rhino horn is merely keratin, the same substance our finger nails are made from – that’s all it is. It has no medicinal properties so it’s ridiculous that these incredible animals are being hunted and killed, in their numbers, for something that has offers no proven health benefits to humans whatsoever.”

Chester Zoo has over a decade’s experience of working with endangered rhinos in the wild. The Sounding the Horn for Rhinos campaign will fund the conservation charity’s work in Africa, where over 60 mainly local staff are working to save rhinos in the community.

To donate, please visit www.actforwildlife.org.uk/get-involved/help (Please note that this page contains images which some people may find disturbing and upsetting).

Every penny given goes directly towards protecting black rhinos in the wild - funding the likes of security posts, fencing, ranger teams and camera traps.

Crisis at Okapi Project

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

We were devastated to hear that six people and 13 of 14 Okapi were brutally killed in the Okapi Faunal Reserve in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Okapi Conservation Project here is one that we have given financial support to for a number of years.

Anyone who has seen the Okapi here at Chester Zoo knows just how beautiful and majestic these creatures are and we were so moved by what happened that we made an emergency donation to help the people concerned.

Following the devastating attack by poachers and illegal miners on Epulu, efforts are being focused on supporting families displaced by the turmoil in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve with food and medical supplies.

The emergency funding will continue to support anti-poaching patrols, education, agroforestry and other programs around the Reserve, while security is being reinstated in Epulu.

Currently, a joint military operation is underway and the outcome will help determine when the team will be able to initiate rebuilding in Epulu.

Thanks to the generosity of supporters of zoos from around the world, we are able to ensure the Okapi Conservation Project continues its critical support to the rangers that protect wild okapi and other wildlife in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve, one of the largest areas of biodiversity in the world, and an important World Heritage Site.

You can find regular updates on the project and staff if you go to www.okapiconservation.org and click on the News link.

First Asiatic Black Bear in 10 years

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

One of our funded projects has seen the sighting of an Asiatic Black bear in China’s Laojunshan Reserve for the first time in 10 years.

Caught on camera, the bear seems to pose for the picture giving conservationists at the reserve - part of a Chester Zoo, Liverpool John Moores University and Sichuan Forestry Department project - plenty to smile about.

We have been funding the project for 10 years, helping to protect and conserve the forest’s biodiversity. In 2002 there were reports of a young black bear near the top of the mountain but this is the first time one has been spotted since.

Our Head of Conservation and Research, Roger Wilkinson, and Simon Dowell from John Moores have just returned from China to see for themselves how our support is making a difference.

By sponsoring our China project on our Act for Wildlife website your donation could be helping with amazing discoveries like this one.

International Vulture Awareness Day - 1st September

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

Found all around the world, from Asia and Europe to Africa and America, vultures are a vital part of the ecosystem.

They are scavenger feeders which means they feed on dead carcasses; by quickly removing these carcasses from the ecosystem they are decreasing the chance that diseases from them are spread to other wildlife.

Photo © Walter Neser

They can also be used to indicate the health of the environment they live in as they are at the top of the food chain. But sadly, many species of vulture are decreasing throughout much of their range.

Human activities have had a large impact on vulture populations, with vultures facing threats ranging from habitat destruction and a decline in food availability to illegal collection for traditional medicine.

In South Africa, the two greatest threats to vultures are collisions with electrical power lines resulting in electrocutions, and poisoning by farmers.

Farmers often target unwanted carnivore predators by leaving poisoned meat for them – unfortunately, as scavenger feeders, vultures often reach this meat first.

To help combat this issue, Chester Zoo’s Act for Wildlife has supported the South African organisation VulPro with a number of vulture conservation and research projects over the past few years.

Currently, the threat of Avian Influenza or bird flu is a huge issue and our support is allowing researchers to determine the susceptibility of the Cape and African White-backed vultures to Avian Influenza.

It’s not just South African vultures which Chester Zoo’s Act for Wildlife is helping. We’re also supporting work in Nepal on the endangered Egyptian vulture and the critically endangered Red-headed vulture.

Both these species have undergone rapid declines in the recent years and researchers are studying both species and helping to conserve them.

We’ve put together some great photos from the vulture conservation projects which we support - please share this blog to raise awareness for vultures around the world.

Photo © Tulsi Subedi

Photo (c) Tulsi Subedi

Photo (c) Walter Neser

Saving the Critically Endangered Sawfish

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

Have you ever heard of the Sawfish? Did you know that sadly, all SEVEN species of sawfish are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List?

A Chester Zoo supported project is trying to reverse the situation and secure the conservation of sawfish worldwide with the help from specialists from all over the world.

Image © Andy Murch

Sawfish are found in tropical and subtropical coastal waters but because of their long toothed ‘saw’ or rostrum they become bycatch in nets - caught unintentionally whilst intending to catch other fish - and this has resulted in declines of greater than 90%.

Unfortunately, very little is known about these species and data is sparse and widely-scattered.

The IUCN Shark Specialist Group is overcoming this issue through a new project which brings together specialists to share information and data on the seven threatened species.

Image © David Wachenfeld

The first step of the project was to hold a specialist workshop with delegates working together to develop a Global Sawfish Conservation Strategy.

This strategy highlights the key regions and threats that most urgently need addressing and details the targeted conservation actions required to secure the future for the sawfish.

As this week is National Marine Week in the UK, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to share some images with you and introduce you to the project and the sawfish.

Attendees at the Global Sawfish Conservation Strategy Workshop

Shop a rhino poacher

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

The number of black rhinos in Africa is plummeting as a result of a dramatic surge in illegal poaching.

A global increase in demand for rhino horn to supply the traditional Asian medicine market, where it is wrongly believed to be a cure for everything from nightmares to dysentery, has intensified the situation in recent times.

Emerging markets in Vietnam and an upsurge in the supply of arms used to hunt rhino, have further added to the problem. This attrition is being driven by the astonishing street value for rhino horn, which fetches £40,000 a kilo - more than gold. The black rhino is under serious theat.

However, Chester Zoo is attempting to combat this by paying ‘informers.’ It is essentially rewarding anyone who can ‘shop a rhino poacher’.

For those who supply concrete information leading to the recovery of rhino horn, the reward is 20,000 Kenyan shillings, the equivalent to £138. Intelligence that leads to the arrest of dealers is worth KSh 30,000 (£207).

Scott Wilson, Chester Zoo’s Conservation Officer, said: “To underscore the importance of intelligence gathering - one decent piece of intelligence can potentially be more vital than a month’s worth of 24/7 patrolling.”

The scheme - which is being trialled in the Laikipia district of Kenya - has the approval of the Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) who see it as critical for rhino protection.

Orphaned rhino calves are a frequent by-product of the rhino poaching crisis. Hand-rearing them (as here, at Ol Pejeta Conservancy) is an expensive and time-consuming business, before they can be “re-wilded” to rejoin the Laikipia District’s metapopulation of black rhinos. © Save the Rhino International.

After the black rhino population fell dramatically at the hands of indiscriminate poaching in the 1980s, the Kenyan government adopted a principle of strict protection to safeguard the surviving rhino.

And so, they teamed up with private land owners to create huge, heavily guarded, rhino sanctuaries. The Association of Private Land Rhino Sanctuaries (APLRS) was formed which, mandated by KWS, helps with the conservation of rhinos on private land.

Currently, the APLRS has nine member sanctuaries - Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Il Ngwesi Group Ranch, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Mugie Rhino Sanctuary, Ol Jogi Game Reserve, Solio Game Reserve, Maasai Preservation Trust, Oserian Wildlife Conservancy and Borana Conservancy.

However, with rhino horn currently worth more per gramme than cocaine, poachers are now encroaching onto private and guarded land. Which is why Chester Zoo is supporting this new ‘informer’ project.

Mr Wilson added: “The guards, patrol teams, sanctuary owners and management do an incredible job and put themselves in danger to protect rhinos on an almost daily basis. But the situation is becoming so dire, and rhino poaching such a problem that they need help.

“What this project is doing is offering funds in return for intelligence and information leading to the arrest, prosecution and conviction of rhino poachers in APLRS member sanctuaries.

“By improving the information and intelligence-gathering mechanisms on these sanctuaries we hope we can far better counter any poaching threats.”

The Maasailand Preservation Trust’s Game scout and rhino programme employs over 100 people, and uses a plane, vehicles, donkeys and tracker dogs to assist their anti-poaching operations.

It’s very early days but already the ‘intel’ project does seem to be working. Some of the sanctuaries have informers on retainers and have even introduced a bonus scheme for the supply of particularly good information. Both the zoo and Save the Rhino International – who are also heavily involved with the scheme - hope it could be a tactic that serves to calm poaching elsewhere in Africa.

Cathy Dean, Director of Save the Rhino International, said:

“Ultimately, the success of the intelligence and informer network scheme will be judged by the overall performance of Kenya’s rhino population on private land rhino sanctuaries.

“While it is unrealistic now to stamp out poaching altogether, the ultimate goal must be for rhino populations to breed at such a rate that the net gain each year is a minimum 5% as stipulated in Kenya’s 2012-2016 Draft Black Rhino Strategy Plan, even after any poaching losses.”

A future for Brazil's most Endangered Parakeet

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

A Chester Zoo-supported project has caught images of one of Brazil’s most threatened birds on cameras in their nest boxes – and we have the pictures here for you to see!

Grey-breasted Parakeets only occur in two montane areas of north-eastern Brazil and with less than 250 left in the wild are considered to be one of Brazil’s most threatened bird species.

With support from Chester Zoo, Loro Parque and ZGAP, the Brazilian conservation organisation Aquasis have been working to establish a network of artificial nest boxes to help increase breeding opportunities for these parakeets.

Last year 33 hatchlings were recorded in nest boxes installed around the Baturité Mountains, which represents an increase of over 10% to the wild population.

The cameras installed in these nests have produced some amazing photographs which will aid valuable research and monitoring of the chicks.

The breeding results from these artificial nest boxes are very encouraging and hopefully a sign of a more positive future for the Grey-breasted Parakeet.

All images © Fabio Nunes, AQUASIS

Rare Aquatic Plant Reintroduced

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

Most people might associate a zoo with animals and animal conservation but we're also working hard behind-the-scenes to protect and save something else – rare plants...

Horticultural staff here at the zoo are helping to reintroduce a rare aquatic plant back into an area of Lancashire from which it has completely vanished.

Our staff are working with the Canal & River Trust to put the species – known as floating water plantain or luronium natans – back into a stretch of disused canal at Daisy Nook, near Oldham.

Luronium provides important habitat for many of the UK’s native aquatic plant and insect species but has been in severe decline as a result of exposure to sewage and agriculture, which increases the level of plant nutrients in the water.

Other aquatic plants and algae thrive and ultimately out-compete the floating water plantain.

However, the team has been growing the threatened species in ponds at the zoo for around five years and is now embarking on an important reintroduction programme.

Chester Zoo’s Curator of Horticulture and Botany, Mark Sparrow, said:

“Chester Zoo is very concerned with the conservation of native species, particularly those local to the area.

“So we’ve been working in partnership with the Canal & River Trust to raise awareness of rare water-based plants and the importance of canal habitats in general.

“We’ve been growing plants in behind-the-scenes ponds at the zoo for a number of years and are now providing them to site owners for reintroduction.”

The Canal & River Trusts’ national ecologist Chris John has been advising the zoo on the technical issues involved in propagating the plant.

Mr John said:

“It’s important to have luronium in our canals and rivers as it has been in decline throughout Europe since the turn of the century and many of its natural habitats have been lost.

“It is native only to Europe and our canal network provides one of the most important habitats for it. It’s a native plant that forms part of a natural ecosystem - supporting many other plants and insects.”

This is one example of how your support/money is helping us Act for Wildlife - saving plant and, of course, animal species from extinction.

For more on our great conservation work visit www.actforwildlife.org.uk.

Prestigious Award for Chester Zoo Supported Project

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

Inza Koné, project manager of a Chester Zoo-supported community-based conservation project in Tanoé Forest on West Africa’s Ivory Coast has won a prestigious Whitley Award for his work.

The 12,000 hectare Tanoé forest is home to at least three critically endangered subspecies of monkey; the Roloway guenon, the White-napped mangabey and Miss Waldron’s red colobus.

In fact, it is the only place where all three primates are thought to exist in the same area.

Poaching, logging and small-scale agricultural clearings are the main threats on the forest and in 2008, Inza led a successful campaign to protect the forest against proposals to convert 8,000 hectares of it into a palm oil plantation.

Inza Kone receiving his award from HRA Princess Anne

The project also works to improve the welfare of local communities and build capacity for them to conduct routine conservation activities and implement development projects.

Chester Zoo has supported the Tanoé Forest project for the past five years via its French partner CEPA (Conservation des Espèces et des Populations Animales) and we are delighted that the Whitley Fund for Nature has recognised Inza’s achievements through this award.

Congratulations Inza!

Acting For Wildlife In Nigeria

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

Our team has been to the heart of the Gashaka Gumti National Park and filmed chimpanzees from one of the last remaining viable populations of Nigerian chimp in the world.

This video by Conservation Officer Scott Wilson is the perfect introduction to our Nigeria Project.

To find out more about our work with these amazing primates and how we’re acting for wildlife in Nigeria check out our Act for Wildlife website and sign up for our e-newsletter.

Act for Wildlife is a conservation campaign led by Chester Zoo. Visit our website to find out how you can Act for Wildlife and help save endangered animals.

Giant Armadillo footage from the wild

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

Check out this unique video footage of a Giant Armadillo leaving her burrow.

The rare film was captured by one of the cameras we have provided to a team of conservationists working in South America, to help them discover more about these mysterious and vulnerable animals.

Act for Wildlife is a conservation campaign led by Chester Zoo. Visit our website to find out how you can Act for Wildlife and help save endangered animals.

Meet Chester...

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

This large adult male tapir was spotted on a camera trap at one of the international conservation projects we support in Brazil.

The image was caught just a few days after he was fitted with a radio-collar – designed to help conservationists understand more about his movements and behaviour.

Field researchers from the Lowland Tapir Conservation Initiative named the tapir Chester to mark the zoo’s 10-year-long support of the vital project, working to promote the conservation of the species which is listed as vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN/SSC Red List of Threatened Species.

Steve Leonard Acts for Wildlife

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

We've stepped in to help one of Africa’s most endangered large carnivores, the Painted Dog.

Our £3000 donation was made as part of our commitment to conservation in the wild and followed the opening of our Painted Dog exhibit. The donation is even more significant as both Act for Wildlife and Painted Dog Conservation (PDC) have a shared patron – TV Vet Steve Leonard.

The donation enabled Steve along with Wildlife Vets International Trustee and former head of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, Brigadier Tom Ogilvie Graham, to head out to Zimbabwe to help save painted dogs from extinction.

Their priority is to develop PDC’s in-house veterinary clinic near Hwange national park, key to PDC’s future success in bringing painted dogs (wild dogs) back from the brink.

Snared, sick, injured and orphaned dogs are brought to the clinic and rehabilitation centre for treatment. Better facilities would remove the need for long and stressful journeys to vet facilities in Bulawayo.

They will train PDC staff in wildlife medicine and first aid and help develop bespoke wildlife disease protocols to prevent disease transmission between painted dog enclosures and from domestic livestock and PDC staff to painted dogs, and vice versa.

They will also be assisting Zimbabwean government vets and PDC staff in mobile clinics for domestic dogs around Hwange National Park, vaccinating them against rabies and distemper to stop disease transmission into the painted dog population, already devastated by human persecution.

Steve, who presents Vets in the Wild, Steve Leonard’s Extreme Animals, Animal Camera and most recently Safari Vet School, said:

“I have been passionate about painted dogs since the first time I saw them in Africa 14 years ago and I am delighted that the charities of which I am patron have joined forces to conserve this iconic creature.

"This trip is giving me a real chance to see an excellent conservation project in action and assist local vets to protect these wonderful dogs and the people who live alongside them.”

Act for Wildlife is a conservation campaign led by Chester Zoo. Visit our website to find out how you can Act for Wildlife and help save endangered animals.

Something to smile about

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

After being discovered hidden inside a smuggler’s bag in Hong Kong, 18 critically endangered Philippine Forest Turtles (Siebenrockiella leytensis) have been returned home to the Island of Palawan in the Philippines.

The 18 turtles were found alongside various other reptiles including box turtles, lizards and snakes. The turtles were handed over to the Katala Foundation, one of our partners in our Philippines Programme.

The turtles will remain in quarantine for the next few months and released back into the wild once they have been given a clean bill of health.

This is the first recovery of this species and the first ever repatriation for the Philippines. It is a step in the right direction for this extremely rare reptile.

The Philippine Forest Turtle is found only in Palawan and is the flagship species of the Philippine Freshwater Turtle Conservation Program, run by the Katala Foundation.

These turtles are at risk from the illegal wildlife trade, with poaching occurring for the exotic pet trade, meat and medicine.

For the past few years we have been supporting Katala’s work which is researching the ecology of the species, providing essential information to aid conservation efforts.

The difference you make

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

Chourang is an immensely warm and welcoming village and one that has benefitted greatly from our Assam Haathi Project.

It’s a relatively poor village situated on the edge of the Manas biosphere reserve, an area that elephants come to raid for the tempting crops and granaries. But, thanks to our project human-elephant conflict has all but ceased here.

However it was a very different story before we started working with the people of Chourang; the village suffered crop loss and building damage throughout much of the year.

The village is made up of just 153 families. It’s now protected by a 6km long electric fence and their crops are protected with spotlights donated by us. Both villagers and elephants are a lot safer.

Elephants are directed back into the forest in a controlled and well managed way and people can sleep at night without the fear of elephants entering their village.

The key to the success of this project is actually the community organisation and involvement. Training has been provided to the villagers and before the electric fence was installed several meetings between the project staff and the villagers were held to ensure that they had the skills to make it work.

The electric fence is maintained by a well managed rota, and a monthly contribution from all villagers of 10 rupees (about 15p) ensures funds are always available for any maintenance costs.

It was great for me to see the difference that our project has had in Chourang and that we have given them the equipment and skills to keep both themselves and the elephants safe.

And it’s working – there’s almost no conflict between the people of Chourang and the elephants.

I am Scott Wilson and I Act for Wildlife.

You can sponsor this project and be assured that 100% of your donation will go directly to the project.

Visit our Act for Wildlife website to find out how you can make a difference.

Monkeys Spotted Using Orangutan Bridges in Borneo

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

Check out who’s been seen using the orangutan bridges in Borneo!

We’ve received these great photos from our friends at Apenheul Zoo in the Netherlands who recently visited the Kinabatangan region of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.

We have supported the work of HUTAN-Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Programme (KOCP) in this area for many years through our Realm of the Red Ape Programme.

They spotted these Pig-tailed Macaques using the orangutan bridges which Chester Zoo staff helped to construct in 2011.

Seven Chester Zoo staff were involved in this fantastic collaborative project alongside HUTAN-KOCP, Ropeskills Rigging Sdn Bhd, Danau Girang Field Centre and the Sabah Wildlife Department.

The teams worked together to build seven bridges in total which connected fragmented patches of habitat where wildlife such as orangutans have become isolated due to deforestation.

The bridges were constructed over river tributaries and this is the first photographic evidence we have seen of our bridges in use. It is hoped that the orangutans will soon start to use these bridges just as they do with the old orangutan bridges – but until we receive evidence of this, we hope you enjoy seeing the bridges in use by macaques!

All images © Frank Rietkerk

Southeast Asia crisis: Conservation experts at our special event

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

On Saturday 28th April we have the privilege of hosting a special event featuring international conservation experts working in Southeast Asia to help save endangered animals.

Featuring TV vet Steve Leonard as our guest host, the symposium will include talks by Cathy Dean (Save the Rhino International), Nick Garbutt (professional wildlife photographer and expedition leader), Vincent Nijman (expert on the illegal wildlife trade) and Simon Hedges (Wildlife Conservation Society).

Southeast Asia is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world and home to much loved animals such as the Sumatran Tiger, the Asian Elephant, Bornean and Sumatran Orangutans and the Sumatran Rhino.

Book your place

But the biodiversity of Southeast Asia is at risk. Due to threats such as illegal trade and habitat loss, large species in particular have been identified as being in rapid decline.

Without immediate action could disappear forever. In January this year, the news was released that the status of the Sumatran Elephant has been revised from endangered to critically endangered after losing nearly 70 per cent of its habitat. Only 3 months earlier in October 2011, the critically endangered Javan Rhino was declared extinct in Vietnam.

The biodiversity crisis in Southeast Asia has reached such a peak that this year the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) has joined forces with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Species Survival Commission (SSC) to launch the Southeast Asia Campaign.

The campaign will raise funds and awareness for the species of the region and Chester Zoo has pledged to raise €10,000. But we need your help!

Taking place on Saturday April 28th our symposium, part of Chester Zoo’s EAZA Campaign 2012 , will feature a day of talks, presentations and films, bringing together this international array of experts working on the frontline of conservation in Southeast Asia.

The event will focus on the amazing biodiversity of the region, conservation action for species such as rhinos and elephants and issues such as the illegal wildlife trade.

This event is a real ‘must’ for anyone interested in wildlife conservation, and members of the public are encouraged to attend.

Book Your Place

The symposium begins at 10:30am and tickets are £24 for members and concessions, £30 for the general public (including refreshments). Bookings must be made in advance.

To book please call 01244 650240.

For more information see our Southeast Asia Campaign page or email conservation@chesterzoo.org

Watch ITV's report from our education programme in Tanzania

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

Part 3 of ITV's special reports on our conservation work in Tanzania sees Tim Scott meeting our Director General Mark Pilgrim to learn how our involvement in education programmes is an investment in our future.

Tim visits a school room funded by Chester Zoo in Mkomazi National Park to see the impact our education programmes are having.

If you're moved about what you've seen in this film, you can help us make a difference. Donate today on our Act for Wildlife website or text WILD34 £2 to 70070 to donate £2 now*.

100% of your donation goes to our conservation projects.

Watch part 1 - Black Rhino conservation

Watch part 2 - African wild dog conservation

Watch part 4 - coming soon

*Our Text to Donate service is delivered through Just Giving. Texts are charged at your mobile phone operator's standard rate. We will receive 100% of your donation. You MUST be 16 or over and must have the bill payer's permission. For full Terms of Service please visit Just Giving.

ITV reports on our important African Painted Dog conservation in Tanzania

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

In part 2 of a special series of reports, ITV's Tim Scott meets our Director General Mark Pilgrim in Tanzania to see first-hand our cutting-edge conservation efforts to protect African Wild Dogs.

Tim talks to Tony and Lucy Fitzjohn in the Mkomazi National Park, Tanzania to understand more about the importance of innocolation in the species - sometimes referred to as Painted Dogs - in the field.

If you're moved about what you've seen in this film, you can help us make a difference. Donate today on our Act for Wildlife website or text WILD34 £2 to 70070 to donate £2 now*.

100% of your donation goes to our conservation projects.

Watch part 1 - Black Rhino conservation

Watch part 3 - Education programmes

Watch part 4 - Coming soon

Special ITV report on our amazing conservation efforts in Africa

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

Watch part 1 of a special series of reports from our Black Rhino conservation project in Tanzania.

ITV's Tim Scott meets our Director General Mark Pilgrim and conservationist Tony Fitzjohn to discover the difference we're making in the field.

If you're moved about what you've seen in this film, you can help us make a difference. Sponsor our Black Rhino project on our Act for Wildlife website and 100% of your donation will go to the project.

Watch part 2 - African Wild Dog conservation

Watch part 3 - Education programmes

Watch part 4 - Coming soon

Changing Lives in Assam, India

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

Recently I was out in Assam visiting The Assam Haathi Elephant Project.

Whilst there I visited some of the villages that we work with and saw first-hand how alternative livelihood initiatives like our Act for Wildlife ‘Buy a Hen’ campaign are making a difference.

Alternative livelihoods form part of our overall project to help save Asian Elephants and are an essential ingredient of its success. It allows the villagers to be less reliant on the crops that elephants eat.

Whilst in Assam I saw several successful ideas. In Hatigaon (which translates as elephant village) they are growing bamboo successfully thanks to the village now being protected by an electric fence.

One village is also selling the bark from the Betel nut trees (this is something most villages have) and these can be pressed into biodegradable bowls and plates.

The ‘Buy a Hen’ or ('Hen can Change Man project' as they call it locally) continues, and there are thoughts that this could be expanded to work with pigs.

Schemes like this help build a great relationship between the project and the villagers, and work towards a sustainable solution to human-elephant conflict.

And because we’re working in partnership with Ecosystems-India and have great staff like Joydeep working directly with the villagers, I know that when I return to the UK, the work will continue.

Thanks to this project we’re giving people the knowledge, tools and skills to live alongside elephants and we’re helping them to develop ways of providing for their families in a sustainable and safe way.

If you’d like to get involved and support our project, Buy a Hen this Easter or sponsor the project. And don’t forget to sign up to the e-newsletter.

I’m Scott Wilson, Conservation Officer and I Act for Wildlife.

Using GPS Collars in Namibia

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

A Chester Zoo supported project achieved two great successes last month, collaring both a Leopard and a Brown Hyena.

Researchers at the N/a ‘an ku sé Carnivore Conflict Project in Namibia fitted the two animals with Chester Zoo GPS satellite collars - using two of our four collars in just one week!

GPS collaring of 'problem’'animals is widely recognised as a conflict management tool and we have supported this work now for three years.

The research team consisting of Dr Rudie van Vuuren, Marlice van Vuuren and Florian Weise were firstly called to help capture a young male Leopard thought to have killed a calf on a local farm. The Leopard had been living on the cattle ranch for the past year, but this was the first time the animal had targeted cattle.

In the past this Leopard may have been killed by the ranch owners. Due to the work of N/a ‘an ku sé, cattle farmers are becoming more tolerant to the relocation of predators.

The Leopard was immobilised by a vet and once a collar had been fitted, was given a full health check and relocated to Neuhof Nature Reserve.

The Leopard has since been hunting natural prey, in this case a subadult Mountain Zebra the day after its release, and remains in the close vicinity of the release site.

Following this release another report came in from a farmer who had a problematic Brown Hyena on his land. His cattle had severe bite wounds on their legs, consistent with injuries caused by hyena attack.

The farmer involved agreed that the hyena could be released immediately once a GPS collar had been attached using the same techniques as with the Leopard. For the past two weeks since its release, the hyena has been roaming but has started to settle down now and is using an area of 65km2.

Both affected farmers also agreed to test the effectiveness of guard donkeys on their properties in an attempt to prevent further cattle predation by large carnivores. Read more about guard donkeys here.

These releases are a great success for the N/a ‘an ku sé Carnivore Conflict Project and both the Leopard and Brown Hyena will continue to be monitored closely over the next few months.

Tagging Crocs in Borneo

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

Chester Zoo is acting for wildlife to tackle human-crocodile conflict in Borneo.

Putting a satellite tracking device on a crocodile is not the easiest job in the world, but staff at the Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC) in Sabah, Borneo have perfected the technique.

A PhD project being carried out at DGFC is trying to understand more about the increased conflicts between humans and crocodiles, using satellite tracking.

Saltwater crocodiles are found in rivers throughout Sabah. Previously hunted to a vulnerable status, a ban on hunting in the 1970s has meant that the population of crocodiles has been on the increase.

Habitat changes, such as deforestation and increase in oil palm plantations, are thought to have reduced the amount of prey available for the expanding crocodile population.

Image copyright DGFC/SWD

When food is scarce, crocodiles have taken domestic animals, children and even adults from the local villages as food. Attacks on humans have increased more near to plantations than in forested areas, causing concern for the locals. Little is known about the movements and biology of these crocodiles, but as Chester Zoo acts for wildlife to support the project, we hope this will soon change.

The Sabah Wildlife Department’s Wildlife Rescue Unit and DGFC are catching male crocodiles and tagging them with satellite devices. One of the rivers they are working at is the Kinabatangan where another of our conservation projects - our Realm of the Red Ape Programme - is based.

So far, two male crocodiles have been tagged; the most recent named ‘Lais,’ who was found to be 3.6 metres long, though this species can grow to an impressive 6meters! The project will increase the level of understanding of the causes of conflict and help to create awareness of the issue amongst local people.

The DGFC staff placed cameras into the traps, which caught these fantastic pictures of ‘Lais’ before he was released with a satellite tag.

Watch out for more updates from the project which we’ll share with you on Facebook via our Act for Wildlife page and our website, www.actforwildlife.org.uk.

New Digs for Rhino Rangers

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

Rhino poaching has hit crisis level across Africa in the past couple of years.

Poaching for their horns for use in traditional medicine has increased dramatically and the need to protect the critically endangered Black Rhinos is rising every day.

Image courtesy of Save the Rhino International.

The Massailand Preservation Trust (MPT) are our partners in Kenya. Staff at the trust work tirelessly throughout the year to protect the Black Rhinos found in Chyulu Hills National Park and the surrounding ranchland, often working in very harsh and dangerous conditions.

The MPT, working alongside the Kenya Wildlife Service, are increasing their activities to ensure the Chyulu Hills population is protected. This means the rangers are improving the park security and their anti-poaching work.

As you can imagine, the rangers at MPT don’t have an easy job, so to help make their lives a bit easier we provided support to upgrade the staff and visitor accommodation in the park.

The camp, known as ‘Simba Camp’, is the home of the MPT staff when they’re on duty and is the hub of conservation activity at Chyulu Hills. The old building was in a serious state of disrepair and was no longer adequate for their needs.

Work began last year to build the new kitchen and dining area and will be completed in the next few months.

Have a look at the progress that’s been made so far in the photos below.

Preparing the foundations.

Poles erected and roofing in progress.

Mess roofing with iron sheets complete, kitchen in the background.

Mess-roofing complete and walls cemented.

Photo Review of 2011

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

Every year, we support around 60 conservation projects in the field.

We’ve had a whole host of photographs sent to us recently from our supported projects, so we thought we’d start the New Year off by showing you a collage of some of the fantastic conservation work which took place in the field last year.

Photographs taken from the following projects:
• Photos 1 - 5 © Arnaud Desbiez, The Pantanal Giant Armadillo Project, Brazil
• Photos 6 - 8 © Dave Smith, Sabangau Red Langur Research Project,Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo,
• Photos 9 - 12 © Zoe Muller, The Rothschild Giraffe Project
• Photos 13 – 17 © Patricia Medici Lowland Tapir Conservation Initative, Brazil
• Photos 18 – 20 © Tammy Davis, PhD Candidate University of St Andrews, Conserving one of the last coastal rainforests, Solomon Islands.

Slideshow In Flash by VisualSlideshow.com v1.6

Our Bridge Builders Return

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

Our team of seven staff have returned safely from the bridge building expedition in Borneo – read our Act for Wildlife blog from Cat Barton in our Conservation Team.

Chester Zoo have supported HUTAN’s Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Programme (KOCP) for many years, and being part of the conservation team I get to hear about all of the fantastic work which is being done out in Sabah.

But this year, it was my turn to get stuck in and get my hands dirty! We travelled to Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, which is where HUTAN-KOCP are based.

We spent two weeks helping to build orangutan rope bridges, taking with us webbing material which we’ve used for many years in the Realm of the Red Ape exhibit at the zoo.

This webbing was spotted by the co-director of HUTAN-KOCP, and due to its many properties, including being lightweight, non-biodegradable and UV resistant, was perfect for the environmental conditions found in Sabah.

Six orangutan bridges have already been built by the HUTAN-KOCP team and their partners the Borneo Conservation Trust and Danau Girang Field Centre, reconnecting orangutan populations which have become isolated from each other for many reasons, such as palm oil plantations, roads and drainage channels.

Over the two weeks, alongside HUTAN-KOCP, Ropeskills Rigging Sdn Bhd, Danau Girang Field Centre and the Sabah Wildlife Department, we took down three old bridges which needed to be replaced and put up a total of SEVEN new bridges - a fantastic achievement for the whole team.

It wasn’t easy work – we were up and out at 6:30 am to get started and it was already hot and humid at this time. The cruise down the river to the field site was a welcome escape from the heat.

It got up to 35^oC and around 90% humidity and, by early afternoon, the heavy rains would start. If you weren’t already wet from the sweat, you were soaked after 10 seconds in that rain.

And we were only working there for two weeks… the HUTAN-KOCP team work in these conditions throughout the year, dealing with mosquitoes, leeches, the midday burning sun and the heavy rains.

Our eyes were certainly opened to the fantastic work carried out by HUTAN-KOCP and the amazing wildlife of Sabah. It was a journey which we were all so privileged to be a part of. We all have our fingers crossed that orangutans will be seen using these bridges very soon.

For me, the overriding memory of the trip was completing the final day’s work where two bridges were completed. The bridges connected an area where four orangutans are known to be trapped between the plantations and the river.

When we arrived, we spotted an orangutan nest straight away, so completing those was a huge achievement.

Read what the rest of my teammates say about their best and worst memories of the trip:

Andy Lenihan (Primate Team): The best thing about the trip has to be getting muddy. And the worst thing…getting clean!

Nick Davis (Projects Team): The most memorable moment would be finally getting to the top of the first tree, after some effort, and looking out at the top of the rain forest canopy (all safely roped up of course!). Hardest part was putting up with that pesky cockerel which had a habit of crowing at 3 in the morning….

Anna Furse (Horticulture Team): My most memorable moment was watching the wild orangutans from our boat, which highlighted all the reasons why we were there. And the hardest part….dealing with those horrid mosquito bites!

Mark Wylie (Primate Team): Putting up with the huge amounts of ants in our rooms which were all over our beds wasn’t a great experience! I can’t choose a best moment as the whole trip was fantastic!

Andy Adderton (Maintenance Team): The highlight for me was travelling to work in the sunshine via boat and surrounded by wildlife every morning

Andy Greenhalgh (Horticulture Team): The best part of the trip was seeing the Orangutans in the wild and knowing we had just put bridges up to help them. The most difficult part was putting up with all the rice!

Conservation with Thorn Bushes, Lion Poo and Guard Donkeys

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

Conflict between farmers and cheetahs in Namibia is being mitigated in an unusual way – thanks to the deployment of thorn bushes, lion faeces and guard donkeys.

Cattle farmers around the N/a'an ku sê sanctuary in the north of the country have frequently lost calves during the calving season, due to predation from the large number of free-ranging cheetahs and leopards.

In some cases this has amounted to yearly financial losses of up to £20,000 and so, to protect their livelihoods, many farmers started trapping and killing cheetahs in retaliation.

However, as Scott Wilson, Conservation Officer at Chester Zoo explains, this has failed to solve the problem:

“Indiscriminately killing cheetahs and leopards disrupts the large carnivore ecology, which often does nothing but bring in more large predators from adjacent territories and actually accelerates the problem in the end.

“So we’ve supplied Researchers at the N/a'an ku sê sanctuary with some GPS tracking collars, which they fitted to key cheetahs in order to track their movements and behaviour and help come up with an effective solution.”

Florian Weise, a Researcher at the sanctuary in Namibia, says the collars have provided some interesting information:

“The data we collected highlighted three large carnivores as being real problems in terms of livestock predation - a coalition of two cheetah brothers and one male leopard. We therefore moved these to a distant conservation zone.

“But what the collars also helped show, was that most big cats would only very occasionally take a calf and so no real predation or hunting patterns were obvious with any others. This meant that further translocations were not necessary and, upon presentation of this data, the farmers agreed.

“So I then began to look for ways to benefit both the farmers and the resident predators.”

Following extensive research and talks with fellow experts, a strategy was drawn up to trial three cheetah deterrents – the first being the use of ‘guard’ donkeys.

Mr Weise said: “Normally, when I approach farmers with these ideas for the first time they look at me as if I am completely nuts.

“But guard dogs have been employed for small livestock like sheep and goats in Namibia for a long time, only they don’t seem to be able to protect large cattle herds against cheetahs. Somebody tested a donkey instead and it worked like a charm.”

The idea is simple. A pregnant donkey is introduced into the cattle herd to be protected and the foal will grow up with the calves and bond with them.

The donkey, because of its acute senses and natural aggression, will then chase and attack any predator that it notices too close to its ‘buddy’ cows.

Mr Weise added: “You cannot train a donkey for this purpose and some work much better than others. You can only have one donkey per herd as otherwise the donkeys will ignore the cows. And you can only use females as stallions have been known to injure or even kill calves when they chase them in play.

"Finally, herd sizes should not exceed 100 cows and the area should not be too big, as otherwise the donkey cannot keep control of the situation.

“But, get yourself a good donkey and all of this right and you’ve got a very useful deterrent.”

In the early 1900s, farmers eradicated the likes of lions, wild dogs and spotted hyenas from the region - completely altering the carnivore society in favour of the cheetahs and leopards, who effectively became the top carnivores.

However, as cheetahs and leopards are naturally inferior to such species they have instincts to avoid these larger predators.

And so a second method, utilising lion faeces to keep cheetahs away, is also being trialled.

Mr Weise said: “Watering down lion faeces and letting it ferment in the sun creates a particularly pungent odour.

“Two weeks before the first calves of the season are born, we start spreading the liquefied lion poo along fence lines and at known locations of carnivore activity - for example cheetah marking trees, points where they normally cross fences, leopard caves and riverbeds where they roam.

“We’ve applied the faeces over three calving seasons now and have only seen very minimal losses and I know for a fact that it has repelled cheetahs that have come in to calving areas.”

Finally, a third element draws on thorn bushes.

“Predators hate thick thorn bush and won’t go through it. So we’ve started building thorn bush paddocks in the calving areas into which the calves are herded at night, the time when they are most susceptible to attacks,” added Mr Weise.

“We’ve only done this with two calving herds so far but we haven’t lost a single calf from those herds.”

Overall Mr Weise is pleased with the findings and believes the three-pronged defence tactics are proving to be very effective.

“Our success in reducing calf losses cannot be put down to a single technique and my belief is the combination of techniques does the trick,” he said.

“The farmers really appreciate the effort and are much more likely to tolerate large predators on their land now. Last year was the first year in a long time that not a single cheetah or leopard had to be removed from the study area.”

We're Building Bridges for Orangutans in Borneo

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

This week a team from Chester Zoo is acting for wildlife by joining conservationists in Malaysian Borneo to help construct special "orangutan bridges".

The structures are designed to allow the animals to move around in an area that has become fragmented by deforestation.

They will incorporate materials the zoo uses in its orangutan enclosure. Marc Ancrenaz, co-founder of the Kinabatangan Orang-utan Conservation Project, is leading the venture.

Dr Nick Davis, our Project Liason Coordinator explained: "When Marc came to the zoo, he noticed that we had this webbing material that we used for our enclosure."

Dr Davis, who will take part in the Borneo expedition said that, for orangutans, "we're limited in the materials we can use, because they destroy everything.

"The tough polyester webbing material that the zoo uses to make swings and hammocks in its enclosure, appear to be "orangutan-proof".

"It's a very strong material that's used for strapping," Dr Davis said. "And it's really hardy so it doesn't rot."

Fragmented forest Mr Ancrenaz is a wildlife vet based at a field station in a village called Sukau.

He and his colleagues have been building the bridges for the last five years.

They undertook the project after studies showed that the local orangutan population had been fragmented into 20 sub-populations isolated from each other by vast tracts of palm oil plantations, roads, villages, and rivers.

Unlike many other primate species, orangutans cannot swim, so as well as the river being an impassable barrier, logging activities have disrupted the tree canopy above smaller river tributaries, making these impossible to cross.

Dr Davis said: "[The aim of the bridges] is to cover the drainage channels and tributaries that come from the palm oil plantations."

The team will head to Borneo in this week and hope to support the work in the region in the long-term.

"This is just a first stage - we're going to try different designs," said Dr Davis. "The worry is that the forest out there has been so fragmented that the orangutans can't move around at all."

Many thanks to Victoria Gill for allowing us to republish her BBC Nature article.

Britain's Largest and Rarest Spiders Released Back into the Wild

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

Hundreds of endangered spiders have been released into the wild as part of a conservation programme aimed at stemming their decline in the UK.

The Fen raft spider was once commonly found in the wetlands of the Suffolk Broads, but the gradual destruction of its habitat led to it almost becoming extinct.

However, 400 of the rare arachnids, reared in a special bio-secure pod in the zoo, have been reintroduced to Carlton and Pevensey Marshes in Suffolk.

Karen Entwistle, one of our Lead Keepers said: "Fen raft spiders have become isolated to just a few pockets of habitat in England and their numbers have declined to preciously low levels. It would be difficult for the remaining populations to ever recover on their own.

“But, by rearing them and helping them through to adulthood just prior to their release, we’ve hopefully given them a much better chance of survival.”

For four dedicated months, Karen has spent four hours a day; four days a week, alone with the spiders in the special breeding facility at the zoo.

"I kept the spiders in separate test tubes so that they could not attack each other and I individually hand fed each of them, one at a time, with fruit flies. It was a very, very time consuming job but all very much worth it as it’s vital for the future of the species."

Fen raft spiders are one of only two British spiders that are fully protected by law and are named after their ability to float on water in the fens and wetlands where they live – thanks to their hairy legs.

Karen and our team hopes the work will help to significantly boost wild populations of the species – seen as one of the UK’s most endangered.

A Successful Year for Our Project Partners

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

We are delighted by news this month from our project partners Katala, who run the Philippine Cockatoo Conservation Programme.

Not only have they had one of the best breeding seasons on record, Katala also won the Governor’s Award this year for their ‘loyal dedication and unwavering commitment to wildlife conservation in the Province of Palawan’.

The successful breeding season has meant that Katala banded 75 hatchlings on Rasa Island, and 19 of the 22 hatchlings on Pandanan Island.

Roger Wilkinson, our Head of Field Conservation and Research, visited the site on Pandanan in April this year and took part in the field work and banding of the chicks.

These fantastic results, both here and in the field, will have a significant impact on the future survival of this rare parrot.

Congratulations Katala!

Mysterious Giant Armadillo Caught On Camera

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

Chester Zoo cameras have captured rare images of a giant armadillo - helping conservationists learn more about the mysterious species of which little is known.

The scarcely seen and highly threatened species was pictured as it emerged from a burrow in the wetlands of central Brazil.

Field researchers, supported by Chester Zoo, managed to track down the remarkable animal after spending ten weeks intensively searching the Nhecolândia sub-region of the Brazilian Pantanal.

Biologist Arnaud Desbiez, who runs the Giant Armadillo Project, said: “We simply know nothing about giant armadillos and may lose the species before we can understand its basic natural history and ecological role”.

Hunted for their meat and threatened by habitat loss, the gentle giants are listed as Vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN Red list of Threatened Species.

However the new camera-traps are now being used to help discover more about the species - allowing conservationists to estimate population density; investigate patterns of activity; monitor the use of giant armadillo burrows by other species and learn more about their social and reproductive behaviour.

Dr Desbiez added:

“The cameras will offer critical pieces of information for the assessment of the status of giant armadillo populations in Brazil.

“They will help us to acquire a better understanding of the natural history of the species and perhaps understand the ecological reasons why giant armadillos are so rare.

“They will also provide us with exciting data and help us to formulate a baseline of information on giant armadillo ecology and ecosystem function in the Brazilian Pantantal.”

The Pantanal is the world’s largest continuous freshwater wetland, spanning Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay.

Although giant armadillos range over much of South America almost nothing is known about them and, due to their secretive behaviour and low population densities, are very rarely seen.

Dr Desbiez said:

“Laying my eyes upon this incredible species, I am overcome by a feeling of responsibility to protect and conserve this living fossil. I look forward to using results from our work to introduce Brazilians and the rest of the world to this unknown species which I think symbolizes biodiversity at its very best.”

Learn more about Chester Zoo’s conservation work in the UK and across the world and discover how you can help by visiting www.actforwildlife.org.uk

Conservation From 7000 Miles

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:27:34 +0100

Our very own Curator of Birds, Andrew Owen, is fighting against time to save the increasingly rare Javan Green Magpie, found on the Indonesian Island of Java.

There were fears that the birds may have disappeared forever but, despite working 7,000 miles away, Andrew has already helped to track down three birds which could now provide a much-needed boost for the dwindling species.

“To all intents and purposes, this bird seemed to have disappeared. There didn’t seem to be any zoo-based breeding programmes and little evidence of the species surviving in the wild.

“I heard about this bird’s plight and was so concerned I tracked down colleagues in Java who were willing to carry out a survey of the magpies. We have managed to find three which were being kept privately.

“Three birds may not seem like many but it could mean the difference between extinction or the starting point for a successful breeding programme. These could prove to be the last three birds left, but hopefully more captive held birds can be found and used to help save the species,” said Andrew.

Andrew even visited the Natural History Museum in Tring, Hertfordshire to look at magpie skins to help the team correctly identify the magpies on Java.

The mission to track down the birds with their distinctive green plumage has included trawling markets and interviewing traders. The rescued birds, which are now being cared for at Cikananga Wildlife Centre on Java are yet to be sexed. The survey will also continue to see if any more can be tracked down or whether they have fallen victim to the pet trade and shrinking habitat.

Andrew said: “Distance shouldn’t be a barrier to conservation – I was concerned enough about the species to be able to put the wheels in motion. One we have sexed the birds we can see if there is a viable way to secure their future.”

Andrew will now continue to provide expertise for the project with advice and support and one day hopes to see a viable safety net population, which in turn can support conservation efforts to save this beautiful species in the wild.