Read Mike’s previous blog, Tracking Steller’s Sea-eagles, Part 1…
In late July 2007, I was back in the field on the breeding grounds, surveying breeding pairs on the rivers and the coast near Magadan with my team. This time Dave Rimlinger, San Diego Zoo curator of birds, joined us as we tagged another group of Steller’s sea-eagle chicks as part of a study of this species in the Magadan State Reserve in Russia.
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Well, here I am, blogging about Steller’s sea-eagles. First, a bit of background to the current work and the maps on this Web site: the San Diego Zoo, Natural Research Limited, and Magadan State Reserve in Russia (state reserves are called zapovedniks in Russia) teamed back in 2006 to track young Steller’s sea-eagles via satellite. Our aims were twofold. First, we wanted to track eagles in the years prior to becoming breeders (large eagles like the Steller’s sea-eagle take four years or more to come into adult plumage). Surprisingly, very little is known about this period of time for any eagle species, and this undermines conservation. This is particularly true for the Steller’s sea-eagle, because its population is relatively small (probably naturally so), and it breeds in remote areas, so its breeding numbers are not closely monitored. We also wanted to weave the movements of Steller’s sea-eagles, this Web site, and the birds in the San Diego Zoo’s collection together as a tool for public conservation awareness.
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It is just before the sun rises here in Wolong and quiet enough to hear a pin drop. I am on my way into the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda to take audio recordings of the giant pandas before the keepers arrive with the long-awaited carts of fresh bamboo. As I make my way through the facility, some of the giant pandas are still asleep in positions that could make it impossible for any human to walk the next day! Some are in trees with their heads hanging upside-down, while others are passed out flat on their back with their arms and legs sticking out in all different directions. Several of the giant pandas are munching away on pieces of bamboo they have saved from the day before. It is clear that their eyes are focused on me, just in case I might have tasty treat in hand.
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Gao Gao, San Diego Zoo

I’d like to take the opportunity to introduce a new scientific program on panda vocal communication. I’d also like to introduce you to Jen Keating, who will be writing blogs about this program from Wolong, China, our long-time partner in panda conservation.

Any visitor to our panda exhibit at the San Diego Zoo or our Web site knows that we’ve had a long-standing interest in how pandas communicate. Why are we so interested in knowing what pandas are saying to each other? There are many reasons, but mostly because communication is fundamental for successful reproduction. Without communication, mates would be unable to locate one another or negotiate the delicate courtship process leading to mating.
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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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