In the 1980s, the California condor population reached a new low of only 22 birds. The species was at the brink of extinction, but thanks to the efforts of the California Condor Recovery Program the species now soars at 300 individuals. Condors are still an endangered species and so the Recovery Team, made up of government agencies and conservation organizations in the United States and Mexico, is forging ahead with breeding and release programs.
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Field assistant Jean Melba with goliath frog

While conducting surveys for forest elephants in the Ebo Forest (see Bethan’s blog, Surveying Forest Elephants…and Snakes?), it is impossible to ignore the huge variety of other interesting things we encounter. Due to its mountainous topology, Ebo has many small streams and rivulets. When our surveys take us close to these rivers, we are forced to move very carefully. Most are extremely rocky due to all the enormous boulders that have fallen from the steep mountains on either side. These rocks provide an ideal living environment for goliath frogs Conraua goliath, the largest species of frog in the world, which can weigh more than 6.5 pounds (3 kilograms). Usually they are very shy creatures, particularly in the daylight hours, but we have been lucky enough to see them on several occasions. Goliath frogs are officially classified as endangered, have a very limited natural distribution (only in southern Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea) and are protected by law in Cameroon. Despite this, however, they are still hunted extensively for the bushmeat trade. The San Diego Zoo has conducted fieldwork on this spectacular species in the past in a different region of Cameroon.
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Elephant Survey Team, from left to right: Henry (driver/mechanic), Abwe (team leader) Martin (camp keeper), Daniel (field assistant), Baboule (porter), Mark (field assistant) and Maurice (field assistant).

Last time I wrote about how our surveys in the Ebo Forest in Cameroon were planned (see Bethan’s blog, Surveying Forest Elephants in the Ebo Forest). Now for some of the day-to-day trials of conducting a survey and our experiences of the first week!

We are fortunate to have gathered a team of strong and dedicated young biologists and ex-hunters, who now work as field guides for the San Diego Zoo’s Central African Program. We set off from the road on a compass bearing, where I took a group picture at first light. Within 500 yards/meters we encountered a beautiful (if deadly) Gaboon viper sleeping quietly on a branch about 13 feet (4 meters) above ground! (more…)

January has seen the commencement of a five-month forest elephant survey in the Ebo Forest, Cameroon, by the San Diego Zoo’s Central Africa Regional Program, funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s African Elephant Conservation Fund.
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Radio transmitters, along with more sophisticated GPS-satellite transmitters; attached to each wing, allow us to keep track of short and long distance movements. Trailing from each transmitter, vinyl tags display numbers large enough for the birds to be identified at some distance with binoculars whether the bird is sitting or flying. These “stud book” numbers are each bird’s personal ID and are never repeated.
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A female juvenile California condor takes her first flight into the wilderness in Baja California’s Sierra San Pedro de Martir release site.

Only a few hundred years ago, the California condor ranged from British Columbia to Baja California, Mexico. As European pioneers settled within its range, the species declined dramatically to near extinction in the mid-1980s. Working with Mexican partners, the San Diego Zoo’s Applied Animal Ecology Division has embarked on a long-term program to restore the California condor to the mountains of northern Baja California, Mexico. Given their flight capabilities, it is anticipated that reintroduced condors will ultimately range from the Pacific Coast to the Gulf of California, as well as northward across the U.S. border, providing an important link to existing reintroduced populations in California.
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A team of animal care staff (Chris Hamlin, Jen Moll, Amy Alfrey) left their usual workplace at the San Diego Zoo’s koala barn to help us with our koala conservation project in Australia on St. Bees Island (see Bill Ellis’s blog Koala Team Sets New Mark on the Knoll). On this particular day, our goal was to catch Murray (pictured), an adult male, in order to remove his GPS collar and find out where he had been wandering over the last few months.
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Five years ago, four infant gorillas were smuggled out of Cameroon, and through a long and mostly unknown chain of events they eventually arrived in a zoo in Malaysia. Their new keepers were under the impression that the gorillas originated from a captive breeding program in Nigeria. Such a program does not exist, however, and suspicions were soon aroused that the gorillas were not acquired legally. Trafficking in wild-born gorillas is strictly forbidden by the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and genetic analyses quickly and decisively exposed the real origin of the gorillas as being Cameroonian.
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Ronit is the San Diego Zoo’s 2007 Arctic Ambassador. She and other teens from around the world are in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, to partipate in Polar Bears International’s Polar Bear Leadership Camp. Read her previous blog, Polar Bear Ambassadors in Helicopters!

Hello, for the last time, from the tundra,

Last night was our final night on the tundra, so we said goodbye with a bang. My group was once again in charge of dinner so, in our efforts to be conservationists, we raided the refrigerator and hosted a “Farewell to the Tundra” leftovers soirée. It was a pleasant evening: ambassadors and facilitators mulled around sipping orange juice and pop while munching on appetizer-sized bites of leftover hamburger, hot dog, lunch meats, veggies, burritos, and more. Then of course, for dessert we polished off three different flavors of ice cream, a plate of cookies, and leftover breakfast pastries. It was a sight to be seen! Meanwhile, a slideshow of everyone’s pictures, collectively taken during the trip, played on the wall. As giggles and gales of laughter were issued at our captured antics and sighs of awe were emitted at the stunning photos of polar bears and northern lights, we spent the night together singing, laughing, and making memories.
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Ronit is the San Diego Zoo’s 2007 Arctic Ambassador. She and other teens from around the world are in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, to partipate in Polar Bears International’s Polar Bear Leadership Camp. Read her previous blog, Snow on the Tundra Temporarily Disconnects Arctic Ambassador.

Today we had the tremendous opportunity to explore a polar bear maternal den. Hudson Bay Helicopters generously flew 24 of us in a fleet of 6 helicopters inland to a maternal den situated alongside Fletcher Lake. The flight was breathtaking, and we even had the chance to see a herd of caribou, asthe pilot descended so we could fly just above them! I have never liked flying, but this was an experience that was absolutely one of the most exhilarating in my life. We could see the crystalline ice covering the many lakes along the tundra surface and the abrupt change as the rocks of the coast became trees and streams. I was in a helicopter with four other ambassadors, and we had a great time snapping pictures of ourselves wearing the headsets and talking into the microphones. But as soon as we took off, silence ensued, broken only by gasps of delight and awe as the enormity of the tundra appeared.
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