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For the dedicated animal keepers of the Los Angeles Zoo, conservation is right up their alley.

by Stacey Hagreen

On a recent Saturday evening, hundreds of Los Angeles Zoo staff, volunteers, and supporters gathered at Jewel City Bowl in Glendale. They were there not to have fun—though a good time was had by all—but rather to raise money for rhinoceros conservation. Bowling for Rhinos is a national fundraiser organized by the American Association of Zookeepers (AAZK). Los Angeles is one of more than 60 AAZK chapters expected to participate this year. Joy at the end of the evening came not from the final score of a game, but from the knowledge that the thousands of dollars raised would directly support conservation efforts in Africa and Indonesia.

The animal keepers at the Zoo are not only committed to the individual animals in their care, they are also deeply concerned about the welfare of those species in the wild. Many participate in field work, traveling to Africa, Asia, and elsewhere to assist with conservation efforts. From organizing fundraisers to tracking giant armadillos in Brazil or rearing California condor chicks, their conservation efforts are as diverse as the keepers themselves.

Hands-Off Help
Many animal keepers get the opportunity to have “hands-on” encounters with the animals in their charge—a rewarding experiencing that few other occupations provide. The dedicated keepers who comprise the California Condor Team, however, get satisfaction in knowing that their “hands-off” approach with the condors they manage is helping to ensure the survival of the species.

Caring for these amazing creatures is a vigilantly planned and regulated process, developed through years of experience. It is that experience that mandates the dissociation of people as much as possible when caring for condors. Years ago, birds were released at a much younger age and would likely be brought back into captivity because of behavioral problems.

As Susie Kasielke, Curator of Birds, explains, “The birds were desensitized to new things. They’d had enough changes in their lives that anything new wasn’t threatening to them, so they had no hesitation. They’d follow a woman into the bathroom in a campground, for example.”

Observations of this type of behavior among wild condors led to the modification of handling techniques in the captive population.

“The most important job that we have is maintaining isolation from the condors,” states Lead Condor Keeper Chandra David. In the off-exhibit condor facility at the Zoo, whether the birds are hand-raised or parent-reared, careful planning ensures that condors remain detached from their human caretakers. Food is provided through chutes, for example, and chicks are parented by lifelike condor puppets. The team now knows when condors react appropriately to stimuli and are wary of humans; it ensures greater success when the condors are released into the wild.

Field work is critical to the success of the California Condor Recovery Program. Working with the other partners in the program, animal keepers frequently go into the field to manage wild nests. Nest checks are performed when an egg has been laid to see if it is fertile and developing normally, with follow-up checks at one month, two months, three months, and four months after hatching to monitor the chicks. These checks are vital in determining if a bird is having problems, such as the ingestion of microtrash (bits of human debris), that require intervention.

The team puts a great deal of effort into preparing birds for release, but that’s only part of the job. Given the condor’s lifespan (up to 60 years), the keepers emphasize the need for long-term conservation efforts.

“Chicks take a long time to grow up,” David explains. “They leave the nest at about six months and may breed at six or seven years, but they’re not even fully mature at that point. It’s a long process and there’s a lot of work involved.”

The condor program is a point of pride for the Zoo and the greater community, and one that will require our ongoing support. “People in Los Angeles really need to be proud of this animal,” says Condor Keeper Debbie Ciani. “These birds are from our area, and they need our help and our respect. They live for so long and they reproduce so slowly that it’s not like this is a project that will be finished in a couple of years. We need to support the birds five, ten, and thirty years from now.”

Far Afield
While the condor habitat is virtually in our own backyard, other conservation efforts have taken our keepers to far more remote regions of the world—studying Grevy’s zebras in Kenya, orangutans on the island of Sumatra, marine mammals in Alaska, and rare reptiles in Mexico, to name just a few.

Last summer, Animal Keeper Dani Cremona served as a mentor in the first Duttenhaver Animal Conservation and Field Study Program. Six students and four mentors traveled to Brazil to participate in an Earthwatch Institute research project funded by the Duttenhaver Fund. The group studied the carnivore population in Emas National Park, which harbors a diverse range of wildlife, including jaguars, maned wolves, crab-eating foxes, and giant armadillos.

Working with local conservation organizations, Cremona and her cohorts set and monitored traps used to safely capture animals for examination. They helped record physical data, prepared radio collars, performed laboratory work, and aided the veterinarians. They also assisted with the “nuts and bolts” work that keeps the program going, such as office tasks, digging holes, cleaning kennels, and helping with meals. “The kids dove right in helping with anything they could do,” Cremona says of the students she mentored.

The chores may not have all been exciting, but the experience was incredibly rewarding. “A lot of these kids have never been out of the state, or even out of the city,” says Cremona. “And to not only go somewhere where they’ve never been, but to be immersed in something that they are passionate about, such as animals and ecosystems, was great.”

The daily workload was varied and rewarding. “We would wake by six a.m., work twelve hour days, and usually get to bed by eleven or twelve o’clock at night,” Cremona recalls. “Occasionally, various groups did radio telemetry to find a giant armadillo until two o’clock in the morning! If we did have a few hours of free time before dinner, we’d go on small, local hikes, clean the thick layer of red clay dirt from our bodies, and go over pictures people took during the day. We worked like dogs--and enjoyed every minute!”

Cremona says her field work in Brazil has increased her passion for conservation. “When you’re immersed in the work in the wild, and it’s right there all around you, it takes you to a deeper level of conservation awareness, which makes you want to do more than you thought you could.”

Bowling for Rhinos
When Animal Keeper Jim Haigwood became president of the Los Angeles chapter of the American Association of Zookeepers (AAZK), one of his goals was to host a successful Bowling for Rhinos (BFR) event. Given the Zoo’s size, its history with rhino husbandry, and its keepers’ passion for conservation, it seemed only fitting that the Zoo participate in the nationwide fundraising effort.

“Conservation is such a passion with all the keepers here at the Zoo,” Haigwood says.

Since 1990, AAZK chapters across the country have organized bowl-a-thons to raise money and awareness for the conservation of rhino species living in Africa and Indonesia. All of the money raised supports the work of the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya and rhinoceros reserves in Indonesia through the International Rhino Fund.

Every dollar makes a difference, as just two dollars a day pays for a ranger’s salary in Indonesia. Other funds are used to acquire equipment such as cameras used to document animals’ movements, or to pay for patrol planes that protect animals from poachers.

As with many animal wildlife conservation efforts, supporting rhino conservation not only protects the target animal, but also the rest of the flora and fauna in the ecosystem. Additionally, the educational benefits touch people half way around the world. “When I was growing up, very rarely could you see a picture of a Javan rhino,” Haigwood says, “but now there are videos on YouTube, and all this great stuff out there, and part of it is because of the cameras.”

Los Angeles Zoo animal keepers held a BFR event in 2001, raising approximately $3,000; an impressive sum of money generated by the hard work of the 27 people who participated.

This year’s event exceeded everyone’s expectations. With over 300 people bowling and dozens more cheering, helping, and bidding in the silent auction, the AAZK-LA Chapter raised more than $29,000. “It went better than anyone could have ever imagined,” Haigwood reports. “I just wanted a nice, fun event to build on in the future, but the reality is that we had one of the biggest events in the country, both from the standpoint of the number of people participating and the amount of money raised.”

Haigwood was elated—though not necessarily surprised—that the event was so successful, given the hard work of the animal keepers, event planners, and volunteers, not to mention the generosity of Zoo staff and supporters.

One of the keys to the event’s success may be its ability to engage people who may not otherwise have the opportunity to take part in conservation projects. “It’s a great way to get the community involved in conservation,” Haigwood says. “Everyone knows about endangered species, but this gives them a real chance to actually get involved.”

This article appeared in the Summer 2009 issue of Zoo View, the quarterly magazine of the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association.