Developing Global Citizens

Local Zoo ... Global Conservation

October 31, 2019 Santa Fe College Season 1 Episode 2
Developing Global Citizens
Local Zoo ... Global Conservation
Show Notes Transcript

Did you know Santa Fe College has an AZA accredited Teaching Zoo? Our host Dr. Vilme Fuentes speaks with the zoo director, Jonathan Miot and Jade Salamone, the zoo's conservation education curator. They share stories about species they have helped rescue from habitat loss and near total extinction and tips for being a more sustainable global citizen.

Vilma:

Welcome to Santa Fe College. This is Vilma Fuentes and our podcast developing global citizens. We are joined here today by Jonathan Miot, director of the SF teaching zoo and Jade Salamone, conservation education curator at our zoo. And they're here to talk to us about all the really fascinating work they're doing to not just, um, help prepare globally competent citizens, but also ones that are very much sustainably minded. So, uh, Jonathan Jade, welcome to the show. Thank you. Thanks for having us. Thank you for having us here. Um, Jonathan, can you tell us a little bit about, uh, the work that we're doing at the zoo with species conservation?

Jonathan:

Absolutely. So species conservation is at the heart and soul of what we do as a zoo. Uh, we absolutely want visitors to come to see the animals and to be entertained and to be educated. But what we really want is we want them to understand conservation and how important it is to us and how important it should be to them in their daily lives. And it can be a part of their daily lives that with just a few small changes.

Vilma:

Could you give me some examples? Yeah, absolutely. Uh, so one of the classes I teach is do topics and we, uh, teach our students to practice some of the things that we ask our guest to do so that they can really relate to what they're asking guests. Because if you think about it, making changes in our lives can be really hard. We're in a hamster wheel every day. Adulting is hard. Um, so thinking about these challenges we have, when we go to the grocery store, I'm changing some of our electricity habits. I'm changing from writing your a car to riding a bike. These are big ask we're asking of our guests, but these do make real changes for animals. Uh, people see animals that are zoo and wonder, how can I possibly help an animal that lives in Borneo? I live here in Gainesville, Florida, but really going to the grocery shore store and choosing to buy from a company that's making products sustainably in the places those animals live. You're buying with your, you're basically voicing your concerns with your money. And that makes it a really big difference for those animals. So does that mean when we go to the grocery store, we should always buy something that's branded like sustainably harvested sustainably, something like that? Yeah, there's, there's um, some other zoos have really taken the lead on a lot of these. Cheyenne mountain zoo has an app called the Palm oil shopping guide and Palm oils in cleaning substances. It's in shampoo, it's in your food, it's in so many products, but it's often very much unsustainably harvested and it's starting to lead to species decline if not extinction in the coming years in places like Borneo and Sumatra and now even in South America. So getting an app that helps you decide which organizations are doing the best thing they can to keep those areas safe, um, is really, really helpful. And they, they make them so easy. They tell you green is good, red stay away from, it's really as simple as that. And there's another app called seafood watch up from Monterey Bay. Aquarium does the same thing with seafood. So that it helps you make those choices without you having to put a lot of effort into it.

Jonathan:

So, so you can quickly jump onto the conservation train by just using this app. And it's amazing. And again, why do we care? Why are we interested? We have animals that at our zoo that represent their wild cousins who are directly impacted by not using sustainable products.

Vilma:

So do we have any animals at the zoo that are endangered? Um, or at risk of being extinct?

Jonathan:

Absolutely. So we'll start with Gibbons. We were just talking about the givens given to the are the animal that we look at to say if you are to change your, the way you purchase Palm oil products, you can help these guys, these Gibbons that you visited ours who you can help their wild cousins and they are absolutely being threatened. No question. We have some animals that are actually even much farther down the list. We have a species at our zoo which is considered extinct. It has gone extinct in the wild, but yet we have members of that population that we breed and we are partnered with organizations to help release them back into the wild. So we are propagating and extinct species at our zoo here at Santa Fe college.

Vilma:

And which animal is this? This is the Guam rail. So tell us about that. What's the Guam rail?

Jonathan:

So the Guam rail is a small flightless bird on the surface. It doesn't look very striking. It's Brown. It has some, some white stripes in the sunlight though. It absolutely glistens. This bird has an iridescent coloration, which is remarkable. And the really cool thing is you just, you look at this burden, you think it's a part of an ecosystem. It is. It has a role in the ecosystem and for it to go extinct. What will it impact within that ecosystem? That's what I think about when I think about that bird and I think about how cool is it that I get to see this animal, I get to work with this animal. We have students that come in every day to the zoo. We have kids that come into the day into the zoo, that they get to see this animal and they get to see an animal that is literally extinct in the wild.

Vilma:

So what caused the extinction in Guam? Uh, so the biggest issue that they had there after world war II with cargo ships going to the Island, Guam Brown tree snakes hitched a ride from Australia and they came onto the Island. You have to understand that all the animals that lived there had no predators. So that's why a bird like the Guam rail could be flightless. What are they or what are they flying from? They laid there. They have their nests on the ground, completely open with bright eggs for everyone to see, cause they never had to protect them before. And a, there wasn't enough time for Guam Rails to evolve for this snake. They came and they wiped up. Many species went extinct completely. Um, they started noticing scientists about 20, 30 years later when they went to the Island, this Island that was of all these sounds of birds went completely silent. There's actually a really good book called and no birds sing ah, that talks about this phenomenon. And they couldn't figure out what happened and no one believed them when they thought it could be this snake. And now there's thousands and millions of snakes in on the Island. Now they're having hard time getting rid of them. But they basically went in in the 80s scooped up the land. They got about 20 birds that they could find, go on rails, brought them to zoos, accredited by the association of zoos and aquariums and uh, created a Guam rail breeding program in Guam. And we all work together. There are now officially more Guam rails on neighboring islands near Guam than there are in captivity, which is pretty amazing for the first time that this is, we're seeing that all our efforts come to fruition. So they were in, they were brought to Santa Fe, you mentioned they were only brought to accredited zoos. So that means we are an accredited zoo. We are, we're actually the only teaching zoo on a college campus accredited by the association of zoos and aquariums in the world. Wonderful. Congratulations. And do we have any students that have gotten interested in this project that have worked on this project either as students or after graduating? Yeah, we actually have quite a few. So one I'm a graduate of the program. Um, I'm also the Guam rail species survival plan education advisor. So globally I help people educate others about Guam rails. Uh, we also had to graduate from the 80s who went down to Guam and started the Guam rail breeding program there that AZA collaborates with for the breeding program. And then we have another graduate at Disney's animal kingdom who's the stud bookkeeper for their species survival plan. So she knows their lineage. She can make recommendation on the best matches for breeding. Wonderful. So w so describe what you do. How do you make this bird survive? Uh, in our zoo? What's the trick?

Jonathan:

Uh, I mean for us everything starts with good welfare, good animal welfare and good and will care. We work with professionals at other zoos to determine how these animals are best managed. And then we have basically put our own spin on it. What we do is we have areas for them that are behind the scenes. They're off exhibits, so these are the things you don't think about when you come to the[inaudible]. You come to the zoo, you see the Gibbons, you see the alligator, see the Eagle and those are great animals and they're doing great. We have a whole bunch of animals behind the scenes that we purposely don't have on display because it's in their best interest to be away from the public and away from the noise and the crowds and that sort of stuff. So all of our breeding areas for the Guam rails are behind the scenes and we have just been, we've been very successful in, part of it I think is the environment. I think we have an environment that's very conducive to this animal. They certainly get a lot of care. They have a great diet. They're, they're maintained very well. So we just have all of the elements to maintain an animal up like this very well. It is a smaller animal, which helps us too because then we don't need very large enclosures to maintain them and give them the space that they need. So we've been very lucky. We've been very successful in where we're hoping to continue that.

Vilma:

Yeah. Well I'm going to interpret that as you create a nice romantic environment for the species to

Speaker 4:

produce. I'm not saying we always play Barry White, but sometimes we play Barry White. I'm sorry Jade, you we're going to add something.

Vilma:

Oh, I was just going to say we, we've had seven chicks that were hatched at the zoo that went back to Guam, um, either being part of their breeding program there or introduced onto the neighboring islands of Rhoda or co coast, which is where they're releasing them now. But then we've had about 20 that went to others zoos to be part of the breeding program. So that's really successful. The species survival plan considers this one of the most successful zoos for breeding Guam rails.

Jonathan:

And so we do have, and I will, we'll brag on Jade, we have a representative of the, the Guam rail species that she can utilize in programs. So Jade has a Guam rail that she can take to facilities to demonstrate and show the animal this is, this is an animal that we care about, that we are actively breeding and then we're helping to, to release back into the wild. So it's, it's really cool.

Speaker 4:

So does that mean she can take this animal to like local elementary schools and middle schools?

Vilma:

Yeah, when he's, you know, during breeding season, he's really interesting to deal with when he's nice and calm. Uh, yeah, he can, he's going to get to a place where he can do that and meet lots of people. Right now he mostly meets people at the zoo. Um, but it is amazing. I'm always just struck how excited people get seeing this little Brown bird. Uh, he does look like a dinosaur and I'm sure that plays a big role for kids. But, uh, they, they get it. And the fact that they learn that we're introducing them in the wild, but they're an animal they never knew existed and now they just learned that they're extinct in the wild is it's just the connection for people. And even just for kids, he crawls all over people. So the impact he has for them getting passionate about them and it's pretty amazing. So tell me about the Asian small clawed Otter and the work that you're doing with that species. Yeah. So they also have a species survival plan. They're a vulnerable species. Uh, we actually being here in Florida, we teach a lot about the pet trade. That's probably one of the most valuable things we can teach people here at the teaching zoo. Uh, you know, so many people have pets here and we've seen the ramifications of people letting their pets go in the wilds Burmese pythons. Uh, so we, we were seeing that a lot, but people don't realize the global impact they have when they're taking these animals out of the wild and bringing them into their home. So we do have our representatives at the zoo. Um, we have Duncan and Chitra and they can help be ambassadors to teach about the issues that are happening with the pet trade right now and that their numbers are declining at an alarming rate because of it. So the Asian small clawed Otter, is it endangered right now? Yes. It is vulnerable. Yes, it is vulnerable and it's because of the pet trade. It is. It almost all animals on the planet at this point are faced with habitat destruction or fragmentation. So that's going to be the cause for the initial decline. But right now, uh, the pet trade is increasing in that starting to have a real effect. And it, let's go ahead.

Jonathan:

Oh, I was gonna say, we know they're cute. We know they look, we know they are adorable and that you might be interested in having them as a pet, but ultimately it's not in the species best interest to do that. Again, we are housing them as part of the SSP. We housed them in order to breed them and propagate their species and share them with other zoos. So that's where you can go get your Otter fix, come to the zoo, see the otters, watch videos. That's the way to do it. But, um, owning them as pets is not, not the way to go.

Vilma:

Hmm. Um, what about the tree kangaroo? Do we have some? I think we do. Oh, we do? Yes. Um, yeah, I'm very lucky to be on that species for plant as well. A, they're incredible species. We have matches tree kangaroos at our zoo and not many is used around the world actually have them. Uh, most people assume we, they're a opossums or bears. No one ever thinks I kangaroo could live in the trees. So it's just really nice to educate people about them. Um, they're great for talking about animal adaptations. And then we've actually been awarded a couple of international conservation awards for our, um, our cooperation with the trekking or conservation program.

Jonathan:

So we're giving, we're giving money directly to conservation in the wild for these animals. They live on Papa new Guinea, the Island of puppet Guinea, which is just North of Australia. That's where they're native to. And we give money directly to conservation in the wild there to help protect them in the wild. Again, our job is as a zoo is to conserve species. We want to educate, we want to inspire you. One, we want you to love these species, but we ultimately want you to help preserve these species where they belong, where they belong in the wild. So we think it's important to directly help conserve these animals and provide funding to organizations that are doing it on the ground in the wild.

Vilma:

So thinking about money, I'm going to talk about, um, I guess a visitor experience. So I know that as a Santa Fe college employee, when I visit the zoo, number one, it's free. It's free for all Santa Fe employees and students. Um, but the general public is just$5 correct.

Jonathan:

A$5 for children and$8 for adults.

Vilma:

Okay. And I know that when one walks in, you're given like a little plastic quarter and uh, explain what that is it that you basically put your money into the organizations you want to support. Yeah. So that program is called quarters for conservation. Every year we pick three new conservation programs that, uh, projects that we feel are making a true difference for animals in the wild. And so, uh, we usually try to get something for everybody at the reptile lovers that bird lovers, the habitat lovers, um, and then they get to decide where their money is going to go. And it's not just the quarters from admission that go towards that membership fees go towards it. Um, we have many other programs at the zoo that go towards them. We kind of use the votes to allocate how much money goes to each organization at the end of the year. So I've also seen again as a visitor, lots of little children there. Sometimes it's like a, you know, elementary school field trip. Sometimes it's mothers with young children. Um, Oh, I'm wonder, do you think they get it? Do you think they understand? I mean, what values they're in just seeing animals from other parts of the world?

Jonathan:

I th I think they do get it. I think it's honestly, I think it's the only way they can understand animals and what animals mean is by having personal connections. And I think that starts with seeing them, experiencing them, smelling them, that all of that sort of stuff. I know, you know, once um, media took off and videos, videos became more, more easily accessible. There were lots of discussions about, you know, well this is gonna replace zoos. Why do we need Susan anymore? We can just go online and watch a video and attendance at ours it has grown incredibly 60,000 people a year attendance at all of the AZA accredited zoos in the country has grown as well. So there are more visitors to AZA accredited zoos than there are to all of the national football games, baseball games, basketball games, and hockey games combined. So that is a lot of people that want to see animals and that makes an impression on kids. It really, really does. So, you know, do we measure it? Do we certainly ask questions? Sometimes we take surveys, but you measure it by the look in their eyes and the questions that they give you. That's how you measure it.

Vilma:

Well, I'll tell you that for me personally, but also for many of the other visitors I've seen, they're of all ages. I think one of the most enjoyable exhibits that you have is the Gibbon enclosure. Because the Gib, I don't know who's more excited like the humans to see, they get into the Gibbons to see us. Talk to us about it. Describe it for our audience please.

Jonathan:

Uh, we're really proud of our giving exhibit. It came, uh, online, uh, going on six years now and we, it houses a given family at houses, an adult, male, Eddy, adult, female, Cajun, and then their offspring and their offspring have changed over the years. They've had multiple offspring that have been born and grown up and we've actually moved out to other zoos so they can start their own family. And that's the really cool thing about what we do. Again, we are propagating animals for zoos, some extent to, to release to the wild, but also for zoos. And they great create their own family. So this exhibit, it's very large. It's very lush. We planted it with a couple little stocks of bamboo five years ago and now it's a bamboo forest. Um, the, they have plenty of space to hide. They have lots of different levels to swing, so they can, they, they do a swing that's called brachiation. They break it high up in, in the, uh, exhibit. They can come down pretty low. The entire inside of the exhibit, which is a huge, uh, climbing structure was built completely by the students within the program. So the students got that experience, that hands on experience to build something for these animals to build part of the home for these animals. The, the vast majority of the exhibit was brought, brought about because of a donor. A donor in this community was interested in this animal, was so captivated by this animal that, that she wanted to give and create an amazing habitat for them. So it was a, it was truly a combination. It was a donor, um, contribution. There was a grant from the city, the city of Gainesville, uh, the college put in money. We put in money. So it was, it was truly a joint effort in conservation and in sustaining a species. And it, again, it is an incredible exhibit. Like you said, Eddie is our male given he comes right down and he will guarantee if you come close, he's gonna check you out. He wants to see who you are and if you're getting too close to his family.

Vilma:

And thank you for talking about students, both of you and graduates because, um, the mission of the zoo, like the mission of Santa Fe college is both to educate and it begins our students, right. But also the community and then also just to serve the community, right. So you could just have some casual entertainment for a very affordable price. Yep. Um, tell us about the zoo technology program that we have. What is it, uh, who do we partner with? Uh, just tell us a little bit about that[inaudible] technology program. Yeah,

Jonathan:

it is a unique program. As Jade said, we're the only college that has an AZA accredited zoo on grounds. And the purpose for the zoo truly is to train zoo animal technology students. They get a two year degree and associate of science degree in zoo animal technology and then they can go right into the workforce and work with their, with animals. They literally can fulfill their lifelong dream of working with animals by spending two years with us. And so what we do that's, that's different, really different is that we are training them within the zoo. So we don't employ any zookeepers at the zoo. The students in the program, they are zookeepers so they are working every day of the week. So we have split shifts. So there were here four days a week, but they are working weekends. They work holidays. When this college is closed, there are zoos students on grounds taking care of the animals because the animals need care. So it is a completely immersive program. They learn about uh, husbandry, welfare, nutrition, breeding, conservation, education. They have to educate the public. So all of the tours that come to the zoo, the zoo students are the ones who are running those tours. It is an incredible experience. And this is, next year will be our 50th year. The program has been in existence for 50 years in 2020. So it's an exciting time. That means that we have educated countless people, you know, so our job is so cool because not only are we educating the public and we're inspiring the public, we get to inspire a whole class of new zookeepers who go out and do the same thing. And so our, our work is just multiplied exponentially because of the students, because of, of what we're able to teach students. And it's an incredible feeling, truly.

Vilma:

So I think a lot of people in our community might know our zoo best because of a big event that you have once a year called boo at the zoo. Tell us about that. What is that? Everybody is more to us. I'm good. No, no. It's actually an incredible, uh, event that we have because it was started by students. Students wanted to do something for the community. Um, we're coming up. This is our 25th annual boot, the zoo, which is insane that it's been a quarter of a century that we've been doing this. Um, but it was started by students. They wanted to do something for the community. So we invite everyone to come to our zoo on Halloween. They know they can come to a place that's family friendly, it's safe and they're going to get candy as they come along and see animals, checking them out. Our zookeepers go all out in decorating the zoo in themed areas. And uh, it's just really a great opportunity and it's free except that we asked you to bring one canned food item. And every year we usually get anywhere from five to 6,000 cans that we can give to local food banks in town. And we found out recently they talked with John a couple of years ago. We thought we were getting them through Thanksgiving and Christmas, but we found out we actually get them through almost the entire year just from this one event that we hosted or zoo

Jonathan:

and, and one of those, one of those food banks is right here at the college is Santa Fe harvest. And it's important, exceedingly important that we are able to provide students who are in need or staff members who are in need food. You know, if you are hungry, there is no way you can concentrate on learning. So it's vitally important. And that's what I love about the, the zoo and the programs that we provide or we, we don't do things just, I mean, we do things for fun, we have a lot fun. Uh, but we, we don't just create programs just to create programs. We're doing them for the greater good and for a greater purpose. And for this one, it is, it is gathering food for people that truly, truly need it. We have a good time. Everybody has a good time that night and at the end we have all this food to donate. And that's a, that's a great feeling.

Vilma:

Um, is there a zoo accessible? Yeah, so we've actually been working a lot over the last few years to make our zoo as accessible to our community. We always like to save. We're the communities do, we don't want to be this hidden gem anymore. We are the community zoo. And we kind of looked at everything and said, who are we not serving? Who could we, who would love to come to a zoo that maybe feels like they can't? And, um, w I started a partnership with university of Florida center for autism and related disabilities a few years ago and they offer so many free services and they've been helping us out, uh, with training our zookeepers to feel comfortable talking to any our guests on the autism spectrum. They have offered us kits that help them if they're having stressful moments within the zoo. And then, um, we actually working with the college and another F branch, the center for autism and n eurodevelopment approached us recently. They wanted us to become certified so that we can help, um, and be a resource for everyone in the community on the autism spectrum. So we just hosted our first ever autism event called quiet time at the zoo. Um, and we had multiple sponsors that made that possible, help us get all the equipment we needed. And it was, it was pretty magical actually. Um, I had a couple of keepers come to me crying cause they were so inspired by the work they got to do that day. We had over 20 exhibitors, there always services to help people with autism. And I had people coming up to a safe, I just found out my granddaughter has autism. I saw this in the newspaper and I thought to come, I had no idea this was available. They got to come and free that day. They signed up with UAF card and from that day forth they will forever have services available to them. Uh, so we'll be coming, uh, sensory inclusive certified within the next couple months. And there'll be permanent signs within the zoos as people go through the zoo. They'll know if there's a loud area, there'll be a quiet designated area within the zoo to go. If you need a peaceful moment, there'll be sensory kits, there'll be a social story scene, know what to expect when you visit the zoo. Um, so that's just one of the ways, uh, we also are starting, many of our students come from other countries or speak many languages, French, Turkish, Spanish. It's kind of incredible. Once we asked them what they start telling us they can do. And uh, they actually approached me and said, it'd be great if we could start offering tours in these languages. I find we have guests who speak Spanish in our zoo and they're trying to read the signs for their kids and having a hard time and if I'm able to, I jump in. But could we do something officially? And so for Hispanic heritage month where offering Spanish tours at the zoo led by our zookeepers and they went through, I was so impressed. One of our students went through, cause you know, some of those animal names you don't necessarily see all the time in Spanish. She contacted every Spanish instructor. She never had to interpret it all. Um, any research she could find. She converted our entire tour cards, our tours, tour guides, hilled into Spanish so that anybody could pick that up. Um, that needed some extra help with their Spanish as their guiding through. And you were also telling me right before the show about the[inaudible] club and some really interesting things our students are doing. Can you tell us about that? Yeah, so, uh, there is a club, it tends to be made up mostly of our students in the zoo animal technology program. But we do have other animal enthusiasts on campus that are part of it. It's the American association of zookeepers club. We're one of only two student chapters in the country. And uh, they do a lot in the community. But one of the biggest things they do, they host this event called bowling for rhinos. And this year they raised almost$4,000 and it directly helps rhinos and cheetahs in Africa directly. It's really incredible. We, I took two students to Indianapolis a couple months ago and they got to learn where all their money or is going and their representatives from Africa showing exactly how the money they raise goes to help rhinos and cheetahs. And it was very inspiring. I think as students, they don't think they can make such a huge difference. And who knows? Bowling could do so much, but, um, it brought in our community, they got to learn about rhinos in a way they never could. And, um, they got to make a real impact that night too, while having a good time. Amazing. So wonderful example of community outreach, doing things here in the community, but at the same time always being globally minded, uh, sustainably minded and that, you know, connecting the local and the global. Um, I want to thank you both for sharing all of these stories. Uh, this is fascinating and I know that there's so much more that you could tell us, but what I would rather do is invite our audience to just go visit you at the doodle zoo, learn from our students, maybe here a tour in Spanish, uh, or see one in Spanish, perhaps even join us for boo at the zoo. Uh, see what else we have here that is still a secret gem, but not for too much longer. Right. So, all right. Thank you both for your time. Thank you so much.