Conservation News

The Latest News

  • No Free Tuesdays in March Tuesday, January 31, 2012

    Just a reminder that the Memphis Zoo will not be holding "Tennessee Tuesdays" during the month of March. For details on the Tennessee Tuesday admission policies, please visit our admission policies...

  • International Polar Bear Day Celebration Tuesday, January 31, 2012

    Saturday, February 25, 2012 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Included with Zoo Admission Haley and Payton want to get the word out that their wild relatives a...

CONSERVATION NEWS BLOG


Stay up with the latest news from our Conservation Department

Captive Breeding Program for America's Most Endangered Frog Leaps Ahead

MEMPHIS, TENN. -- The future is looking a little bit brighter for one of America's most endangered frogs. A recent collaboration between the Memphis Zoo and Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo has resulted in the largest number of dusky gopher frog tadpoles ever bred in captivity. Over 1,400 tadpoles hatched earlier this month after researchers carried out an in vitro fertilization (IVF) for the critically endangered species. Nearly 100 of these tadpoles were from Omaha female gopher frogs’ eggs... Read More
Posted by zooinfo@memphiszoo.org at 12:48 PM | 0 comments

Memphis Zoo "Goes Green" with Cell Phone Recycling

ECO-CELL works mainly with zoos around the country that collect cell phones and send them to for recycling. Locally, the Memphis Zoo has teamed up with ECO-CELL, according to Andy Kouba, Director of Conservation and Research at the zoo. Money raised from the recycling efforts is sent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to protect gorillas and bonobos, a species of primate related to chimpanzees, at one time known as pygmy chimpanzees. Memphis is one of the few zoos in the country... Read More
Posted by at 1:13 PM | 0 comments

The Educational Cornerstone of Conservation

By Dr. Andy Kouba, Director of Research and Conservation   In May of this year, numerous studentsfrom regional universities and colleges were able to join senior scientists from the Memphis Zoo on an expedition to China.   The trip, funded by the National Science Foundation, brought together collaborative scientists from the U.S. and China to discuss how to best conserve wildlife in one of theworld’s biodiversity hot spots, the Qinling Mountains of central China. ... Read More
Posted by at 3:42 PM

Eye on Conservation: Amur and Snow Leopard

By Allison Abney   The spotted leopard is one of the most widely dispersed large cats in the world, with habitats that include much of Africa and Asia, as well as the Middle East and southeastern Europe.   As a result of their broad geographic range, leopards are often assumed to require low conservation priority, despite many populations being classified as endangered by the International Union on the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).The Memphis Zoo’s Conservation... Read More
Posted by at 3:33 PM

Conservation Overview: the Voyage of the Ark

By Dr. Andy Kouba, Memphis Zoo Director of Research and Conservation   Everyone is familiar with the biblical story of Noah’s ark and his family’s heroic efforts to save two of every animal from the coming deluge of rain that would flood the earth. For nearly two centuries, zoos have been metaphorically viewed as arks or institutions that serve as a last refuge for species on the verge of extinction.   Similar to the story of Noah, we are now facing a deluge of habitat... Read More
Posted by at 3:20 PM

2009-2010 Conservation Report

  Click here to download the 2009-2010 Conservation Report.  This report will update you on the various projects in which our conservation and research team is currently invloved and how their work through your support is contributing to forest health programs in China.         ... Read More
Posted by at 10:29 AM

Saving the World's Largest Amphibian - the Giant Salamander

By Dr. Andy Kouba, Curator of Research Salamanders have survived numerous  extinction events throughout history and have even outlasted the dinosaurs. Unfortunately,they have not fared as well in recent times.   Amphibians are currently in an extinction crisis with nearly one third of the species currently threatened with extinction and at risk of disappearing forever unless urgent action is taken. The Zoo’s conservation department has initiated a project to helpsave the... Read More
Posted by at 11:23 AM

CONSERVATION AND RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS


The Memphis Zoo lends it's support to lots of research.  Some of the latest articles are listed below.

"Cat News" Vol 4, 2008:  Jaguar Distribution in Brazil: Past, Present and Future


2006 – 2010 PUBLISHED PAPERS:

De Oliveira, T.G., Tortato, M.A., Silveira, L., Kasper, C.B., Mazim, F.D., Lucherini, M., Jacomo, A.T., Soares, J.B.G.,    

     Marques, R.V., Suquist M. (2010). Ocelot ecology and its effects on the small-felid guild in the lowland
     neotropics. In: Biology and Conservation of Wild Felids. Eds. MacDonald D.W. and Loveridge A.J. Oxford
     University Press, pp. 559-580

Sollmann, R., Furtado, M.M., Jacomo, A.T.A., Torres, N.M., Silveira, L. (2010). Maned wolf survival in

     central Brazil. Journal of Zoology, (ahead of print).

Swaisgood, R., Wei, F., Wildt, D., Kouba, A., Zhang, Z. (2009). Giant Panda Conservation Science: How Far
     We Have Come. Biology Letters, doi: 10/rsb1.2009.9786

Brait, C. H. H., Filho, N. R. A., Furtado, M. M. (2009): Utilization of wild animal hair for the environmental

     monitoring of Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, and Zn. Quim. Nova 32 (6): 1384-1388.

Li H., Kouba A., Seratt J.L., Vaughan M.J., Browne R.K. (2009): A complex enrichment diet improves growth

     and health in the endangered Wyoming toad (Bufo baxteri). Zoo Biology, 28:197-213.

Kouba AJ, Vance CK, Willis E. (2009): Artificial fertilization for the conservation of amphibians: Current

     knowledge and future considerations. Theriogenology, 71: 214-227

Kouba AJ and Vance CK. (2009): Applied reproductive technologies and genetic resource banking for
     amphibian conservation.  Reproduction, Fertility and Development, 21:719-737

Hansen, R., Carr, M., Apanavicius, C., Jiang P., Bissell, H., Myers, B., Maury, F., Himmelreich, M., Beard, S.,
     Ouellette, J., Kouba, A. (2009): Bamboo plant part consumption by the giant panda (Ailuropoda
     melanoleuca)
: Relationship to seasonal changes in bamboo macronutrient composition.
     Zoo Biology, 28:1-14.

Silveira, L.; Furtado, M. M.; Tôrres, N. M.; Sollmann, R.; Uhl, G.; Jácomo, A. T. A. (2009): Maned Wolf
     Density in a Central Brazilian Grassland Reserve. Journal of Wildlife Management, 73(1).

Jácomo, A. T. A.; Kashivakura, C. K.; Ferro, C.; Furtado, M. M.; Astete, S. P.; Tôrres, N. M.; Sollmann, R.;
     Silveira, L. (2009): Maned wolf home-range and spatial organization in the Brazilian Grasslands.
     Submitted to Journal of Mammalogy, 90(1).

Silveira, L., Jácomo, A.T.A., Astete, S., Sollmann, R., Tôrres, N.M., Furtado, M.M., and Marinho-Filho, J.
     (2009): Jaguar density in the Caatinga of Northeastern Brazil. Oryx, accepted.

Wiedower, E., Hansen, R., Bissell, H., Ouellette, R., Kouba, A., Stuth, J., Rude, B., Tolleson, D.(2009): Use of 
     Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS) to discriminate between and predict the nutrient
     composition of different species and parts of bamboo. Journal of Near Infrared
     Reflectance Spectroscopy, 17:265-273.


Feng, T., F. T. Van Manen, N. Zhao, M. Li, and F. Wei. (2009): Habitat assessment for giant pandas in the 

      Qinling Mountain region of China. Journal of Wildlife Management 73(6):852-858.

Finley, T.G., Sikes R.S., Parsons J.L., Rude B.J., Bissell H.A., Ouellette J.R. (2009). Determination of
     Bamboo-Diet Energy Digestive Efficiency by Giant Pandas. Submitted to Zoo Biology.

Finley, Tommy, Robert S. Sikes, Jinping Yu, and Zhihe Zhang (2009): Giant Pandas Use Daily Metabolic
     Depression to Balance Energy Budgets. In press, Proceedings National Academy Sciences.

Diniz-Filho, J.A.F., Silveira, L., Jácomo, A.T.A., Bini, L.M., Barroso, M., and Tôrres, N.M. (2008): Spatial
     autocorrelation of mammalian richness and abundance along the Cerrado-Pantanal corridor, Central
     Brazil. Neotropical Biology and Conservation 3(3):103-111.

Sims, J. A., H. A. Bissell, J. L. Parsons, J. R. Ouellette, and B. J. Rude.  (2007):  Determination of bamboo
     diet digestibility by giant pandas: estimating fecal output and digestibility using internal markers.
     URSUS 18(1):38-45.

Wang, Wei, Scott B. Franklin & John Ouellette. (2007): Clonal regeneration of arrow bamboo, Fargesia
     qinlingensis
, following giant panda herbivory. Plant Ecology 192: 97-106.

Wang, Wei, Scott B. Franklin & Margaret C. Cirtain. (2007): Seed germination and seedling growth in the
     arrow bamboo Fargesia qinlingensis. Ecological Research 22: 467-474.

Furtado, M. M.; Kashivakura, C. K.; Jácomo, A. T. A.; Silveira, L.; Astete, S. E. P.; Lopes, F. M. (2007):
     Prevalence of crown trauma in free ranging maned wolves (Chrysocyon brachyurus) in Central Brazil.
     Journal of Veterinary Dentistry, 24 (4): 231-234.

Wang, Wei, Scott B. Franklin, Yi Ren & John R. Ouellette. (2006): Growth of bamboo Fargesia qinlingensis
     and regeneration of trees in a mixed hardwood-conifer forest in the Qinling Mountains, China. Forest
     Ecology & Management
234:107-115.

Furtado, M. M.; Kashivakura, C. K.; Ferro, C.; Jácomo, A. T. A.; Silveira, L.; Astete, S. E. (2006):
     Immobilization of free-ranging maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) with tiletamine and zolazepam in
     Central Brazil. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, 37 (1): 68-70.

Robert K Browne, Hong Li, Jessica Seratt, A. J. Kouba. (2006): Progesterone improves the number and
     quality of hormone induced Fowler toad (Bufo fowleri) oocytes. Journal of Reproductive Biology and
     Endocrinology,
4:3

Browne RK, J Surrat, CK Vance, and A. J. Kouba. (2006): Hormonal priming, induction of ovulation and
     in-vitro fertilization of the endangered Wyoming toad (Bufo baxteri). Journal of Reproductive Biology
     and Endocrinology,
4:34
 



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