The Calgary Zoo has been working hard for the past few years. Their hard work has finally paid off. Now, thanks to the Calgary Zoo, and thousands of other contributors ,those many animals, who were endangered, can finally roam free in their natural habitats.
There are still many animals though, who are endangered due to poaching and habitat loss. It is our job to help the Calgary Zoo provide homes for these endangered species.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
There are many ways that you can help out the Calgary Zoo. Did you know, every time you visit, you are helping thousands of animals! Every time you visit the Calgary Zoo, half of the money you pay goes towards the different conservation projects that the zoo is doing. Read more down below to see the different conservation projects!
WHOOPING CRANES:
The Calgary Zoo is the only faculty that breeds whooping cranes to then release them into the wild. Whooping cranes are an endangered species so the zoo is hoping to prevent their extinction. In order to prevent extinction, the zoo conducts incubation research to help multiply the number of whopping cranes. In order to do their research, the Calgary Zoo studies the eggs by replacing the real ones with fake ones to trick the mother whopping cranes.
BLACK-TAILED PRARIE DOGS AND BLACK-FOOTED FERRET:
The black-footed ferrets require black-tailed prairie dogs for up to 90% of their diet. The Calgary Zoo has been in partnership with Parks Canada, studying the black-footed ferrets and black-tailed prairie dogs, trying to preserve their ecosystem, the prairies, and make the predator-prey relationship closer.
SWIFT FOX:
The swift fox was a nationally extinct carnivore. The Calgary Zoo has worked tirelessly, day and night.
It’s considered the most successful reintroduction of the swift fox. Since 1998, the Calgary Zoo has been monitoring the swift foxes and have been working on habitat protection policies.
NORTHERN LEOPARD FROG:
The Calgary Zoo has been in collaboration with the B.C. Together, they have been monitoring the northern leopard frogs and have been trying to reintroduce them into their natural habitat. In 2017 the Northern Leopard Frog Recovery Team(Calgary Zoo and the B.C) launched a conservation breeding program at the Calgary Zoo.
VANCOUVER ISLAND MARMOT:
The Calgary Zoo breeds Vancouver Island Marmots. They work together with the Marmot Recovery Foundation to conduct research and understand how to increase the success of marmots released into the wild.
BURROWING OWL:
Every winter, thousands of young burrowing owls die because they can’t take care of themselves in the winter. Together with Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service and Alberta Environment and Parks, the Calgary Zoo has developed a technique called head-starting. What they do is take the young owls into captivity and help them spend their first winter. When the owls are old enough and have a better chance of surviving, they are released into the wild.
SAGE-GROUSE:
The Calgary Zoo is the only faculty in Canada, leading a reintroduction breeding program for the sage-grouse. That means that they are trying to breed more sage-grouses and reintroduce them to the wild. The First successful breeding was in 2017.
WECHIAU COMMUNITY HIPPO SANCTUARY:
The Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary was crated to protect hippos and improve the livelihood for the local people in the northwestern Ghana.
For two decades, the Calgary Zoo had worked tirelessly, day and night. In the end they had improved the livelihood of the local people by giving guidance, building more capacity, and monitoring the outcomes for biodiversity and human communities.
Economically sustainable means to make something affordable. In this case, the Calgary Zoo has been trying to make this project affordable so that they can continue it.
SITATUNGA:
In 2006, 15 villages from Agu Lagoon, Ghana worked together and created a community-protected area for the Sitatunga, an aquatic antelope(feed on water plants). The Calgary Zoo has been assisting the community by making identifying ways to make the conservation project economically sustainable.
LEMUR:
The Calgary Zoo in collaboration with University of Calgary, Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium and the Madagascar Biodiversity Partnership, has been working on restoring the lemurs natural habitat by planting trees and by providing local people with rainforest-friendly livelihoods.
Camera traps are cameras equipped with motion sensors to trap animals on film.
MOUNTAIN BONGO:
The mountain bongo is a critically endangered subspecies. The Calgary Zoo has been working with Rhino Ark and the Bongo Surveillance Project in the alpine forests of Kenya. Together, they have set up numerous camera traps to learn more about wild mountain bongos and about the threats they face.
FISHER:
The fishers disappeared form Washington state in the mid-1900’s due to trapping and habitat loss.The Calgary Zoo and conservation site are working together in order to recover this species using translocations. Along with the recovery, the Calgary zoo and conservation site are investigating how physical and behavioural characteristics of the fishers are impacting their success after the release.
Conserving Animals 