Conservation

Conservation

9

The Bears Thank You

By
Suzanne Hall
– May 17, 2012Posted in: Animal Stories, Animals and Plants, Bears, Conservation, Conservation at the Zoo, Pandas, Projects in the Field, Uncategorized

Enrichment toys are vital for a recovering sun bear's health. Photo courtesy of BSBCC

Several months ago, we put out a call via our Animal Care Wish List asking for donations to provide enrichment items for the sun bears housed with our new collaborative partner, the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC). You responded generously, and I am pleased to say we were able to send six new toys to the bears at the BSBCC. Thank you so much for your generosity!

The sun bear is a rare bear whose habitat is dwindling rapidly under pressure from deforestation. Primary causes of forest loss include illegal timber extraction and the development of palm oil plantations. Very few studies of wild sun bears have been conducted, and a population census of this species, or the Bornean subspecies, has never been conducted. However, their numbers must surely be on the decline as their habitat steadily shrinks.

One of my objectives is to find more opportunities to conduct research with sun bears, to learn more about them and facilitate conservation of this species. We have had the opportunity to observe the growth and development of four sun bear cubs born to our resident female, Marcella, but a larger sample size of animals was needed to conduct any statistically meaningful research into various aspects of their biology. Enter the BSBCC.

Siew Te Wong founded the BSBCC in Sabah, Borneo, to serve as a rescue and rehabilitation facility for orphaned and injured sun bears. “Wong,” as he is called, had conducted field work on these animals but recognized the need to provide care for bears impacted by forest loss and the illegal pet trade. In only 4 years of operation, the BSBCC has accumulated more than 20 sun bears. Some are destined for Wong’s developing reintroduction program, which will see them repatriated to the wild in time. Others are not good candidates for release and will likely live out their years at the BSBCC.

Thankfully, the BSBCC goes the extra mile to ensure a good home for its sun bears. It has several large outdoor pens that are essentially areas of enclosed natural habitat: giant trees, heavy canopy, soft forest soil, and a multitude of plants and bugs for the bears to enjoy. The enclosures are so natural that wild monkeys and birds often cruise in and perch in the canopy of their trees. The bears are carefully managed so that agreeable animals can be housed together as playmates when possible. Even so, there are so many of these animals that on any given day a few of the bears will be rotated inside so others can enjoy the outside spaces.

The BSBCC likes to provide enrichment for their indoor animals to ensure that their environment remains as stimulating as possible. And that’s where you come in. Your donations helped to aid in maintaining a quality of life for these bears that ensures their physical and emotional well-being. The photos here demonstrate that the bears are enjoying the toys immensely!

We are excited about developing our partnership with the BSBCC into a research opportunity. This will aid in the conservation of the smallest bear on Earth and could lend insight into the bear family tree. We know from our past work, for example, that sun bear mothers and panda mothers are very similar in their attentive maternal-care styles, and both pandas and sun bears differ from the less active hibernating bears like brown and black bears. What other similarities and differences between the bear species will we find?

Your gifts of enrichment were the first step in what I hope will be a long and informative road that leads to new discoveries about sun bears. Thank you again.

Suzanne Hall is a senior research technician for the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research. Read her previous post, Monday: Black, White, and the Blues.

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5

Jaguar Cubs at Last!

By
Jacob Shanks
– May 17, 2012Posted in: Animal Stories, Animals and Plants, Cats, Conservation, Conservation at the Zoo, Uncategorized

Welcome, little jaguars!

About one year ago I wrote a blog post titled Jaguars: The Next Step. We had just recently introduced the San Diego Zoo’s jaguars with the hope of producing some much-needed cubs. As it turns out, the next step was the first step in a rollercoaster year that included hundreds of hours of behavioral observation, collection of more fecal samples than I care to remember, lots of amazing moments between the cats, and the heartbreak of an unsuccessful litter born in October.

Hold still! Each cub received a quick exam, including a weigh-in.

Over the course of the year we compiled a huge amount of jaguar data, some of which will be shared with other zoos all over the world to improve zoo-based breeding of this endangered cat. We saw our young, small Nindiri grow into an adult female, trading in some of her playful ways for more mature endeavors. We saw Guapo grow into a more confident animal as he figured out just how to get along with our always-spicy Nindiri. It was a year of many firsts for our jaguar friends and their keepers. We also achieved another milestone, something that we haven’t seen in San Diego for more than 20 years.

I have the privilege of announcing that a year’s worth of hard work, patience, and a major cooperative effort by people and jaguar has paid off. On April 26, Nindiri gave birth to two healthy, thriving little cubs, the first surviving jaguar cubs born at the San Diego Zoo since 1989. She quickly proved that she really has what it takes to be a great mother. Nindiri has been extremely attentive, opting to stay in her den box with her cubs nearly 24 hours a day. The few minutes away that she does take involve grabbing a few mouthfuls of food, a quick drink of water, and then back to her duties as mother.

There are some well-deserved privileges to being a jaguar keeper!

Our first official exam took place on their fourth day of life and involved getting a weight and a very quick all-over check by one of our vets. Much to my surprise, their eyes were already open. I hadn’t expected this to happen until they were at least a week old. Both cubs passed their quick exam with flying colors. The exam also gave us an early glimpse into personality. The first cub examined displayed some Nindiri-like attitude, hissing at me as I gently picked it up—a girl! The second cub, a boy, was quiet throughout the exam and seemed much less bothered by our imposition. Cleary cub #2 got his personality from Dad.

In the coming weeks will come the eating of solid foods, learning about our visitors, swimming lessons, figuring out how to get up into trees and—more importantly—just how to get down, and many, many other lessons that a jaguar cub must learn. Nindiri’s duties will continue to change throughout their many stages of life, and she has much to teach. It turns out that with these new cubs we are embarking on a new Next Step. A step toward a new, more maternal Nindiri. A step toward the next generation of jaguars. A step toward the conservation of this amazing species and ultimately a brighter future for the breeding of jaguars in our much-needed breeding programs. This next year will be another year of firsts, and I hope that you will share it with us.

Our new little residents will be off exhibit for a while, but look for them in Elephant Odyssey in the not-too-distant future.

Jacob Shanks is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo. Read his previous post, Zoo Conference: AZA.

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1

Raising Maui Parrotbills

By
Amy Kilshaw
– May 17, 2012Posted in: Animal Stories, Animals and Plants, Birds, Conservation, Hawaiian Birds, Projects in the Field, Uncategorized

A newly hatched Maui parrotbill

The Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program is pleased to announce our current success in raising the critically endangered Maui parrotbill (Hawaiian name: kiwikiu). This year, two chicks have hatched at the Maui Bird Conservation Center (MBCC), and one chick hatched at the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center (KBCC) on the Big Island. Our previous chick was raised in 2009, so adding three birds to the managed-care population over the course of one month is fantastic!

A newly hatched Maui parrotbill weighs only 1.5 grams (about the weight of a large paperclip!) and needs to be fed every hour between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. for the first 13 days, with additional midnight feeds for the first 3 nights, which keep us very busy. Being intelligent and slow to become independent, Maui parrotbill chicks are susceptible to imprinting, so when their eyes begin to open, chicks are fed with a sock puppet created to look like the adult bird. When MBCC’s two chicks were old enough, we transferred them to KBCC so that they could all be together, helping them to develop the correct species identity.

A Maui parrotbill youngster

In the wild, Maui parrotbills form monogamous pairs that produce a clutch comprising a single egg. If raised successfully, the fledgling can remain with its parents for up to 17 months, so the species naturally has a low reproductive output. Here, we increase egg production by removing eggs from parental nests for artificial incubation, which can trigger the females to lay more eggs.

The Maui parrotbill is a member of the unique Hawaiian honeycreeper family. Currently, the Maui parrotbill’s range is extremely restricted to high elevation ohi`alehua forests on the eastern slopes of the Haleakala volcano on Maui. The wild population is estimated to be only around 500 birds. Although the population is currently considered to be stable, its distribution is limited primarily to one location, making it susceptible to extinction.

Growing chicks with a puppet "parent" watching over them

The Maui parrotbill is an insectivore that uses its strong, parrot-like beak to remove insect larvae from tree bark and fruit. Providing them with an extensive range of insects for their diet is a challenge, which we try to overcome by providing alternative nutritious foods and plenty of native branches for them to forage. In the last few weeks, we have started experimentally adding silkworms to the flock’s diet. We are hoping the bright yellow pigments contained in the green leaves eaten by the silkworms will ultimately be deposited in the birds’ plumage and enhance the yellow color of the males, making them more attractive to the females. With continuing effort and good fortune, we hope for another successful breeding season next year.

Amy Kilshaw is a research associate at the Maui Bird Conservation Center, part of the San Diego Zoo Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program. Read her previous post, Nene Propagation: End of an Era.

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0

Promoting Desert Tortoise Care

By
Angie Covert
– May 15, 2012Posted in: Animals and Plants, Conservation, Projects in the Field, Reptiles and Amphibians, Uncategorized

Angie (in middle) and other DTCC staff help promote desert tortoise care at the Plant Sale.

Spring is here, and the San Diego Zoo Desert Tortoise Conservation Center (DTCC) is gearing up for the 2012 season. Tortoises are emerging from hibernation, and local custodians of tortoises have lots of questions for the DTCC staff!

One of our roles is to help educate Las Vegas residents about wild and pet desert tortoises. Attending local events such as the Springs Preserve Plant Sale is one way to reach people. The plant sale sells native Mojave Desert plants, which are more water efficient for yards in Las Vegas. It’s also a great opportunity to work with a local partner and educate the public on proper plants for pet tortoise habitats. The event gives us the opportunity to talk to people one on one and answer questions. We can also hand out important information to desert tortoise custodians, such as a list of native foods and plants they can add to their backyards.

It’s very important for people to know how to properly care for their pet tortoise! This year, we had a number of interested people who wanted to know what we do for desert tortoises and how they can help. We were able to explain our efforts in recovering the wild desert tortoise and the research projects we are working on. Our goal is to relocate tortoises back into the desert; the DTCC is the only legally authorized organization allowed to do this.

We also encouraged Springs Preserve Plant Sale attendees to volunteer at the DTCC, which is a great way to learn more about what we do. We had a sign-up sheet and information about the type of volunteer work they could do to help the desert tortoise!

If you are interested in volunteering, please email us at DTCC@sandiegozoo.org.

Angie Covert is a research coordinator at the San Diego Zoo Desert Tortoise Conservation Center. Read her previous post, Desert Tortoises Get Great Care.

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0

The Answer, My Friend

By
Seth Menser
– May 15, 2012Posted in: Animals and Plants, Biomimicry, Conservation, Plants, Uncategorized

A capuchin monkey perches on a palm frond as it sways in the wind.

Pop Quiz: What’s invisible, odorless, an unlimited natural resource, and sometimes taken for granted…even cursed upon? Here is a clue: We are now using this renewable resource to produce about 4 percent of our electricity needs in the U.S., and that number is rapidly growing. If you guessed the wind, you’re correct! The almighty wind, a constant and reliable key to our planet’s ecosystem, is so common and present we tend to not even think about it. Now that we are starting to realize its potential, it might be a good idea to look closer at how plants have learned to live with and use it and perhaps learn a thing or two.

Using the wind to disperse seeds is one of the ingenious tactics plants have developed as a survival skill. Lightweight, propeller and parachute-like material attached to seeds represent the most notable and clever use of the wind. Still, there are many other ways. Your idea of the desert may be one of tumbleweeds rolling across the barren, desolate landscape; because deserts tend to be windy, tumbleweed plants have figured out that their best chance of continuing on is to have their seeds dispersed as far and wide as they can. They do this by growing into the shape of a shrubby ball and dying shortly after they set seed. The consistent wind then blows the tumbleweed across the desert, rolling and bouncing, causing its seeds to spread along the way. Using this method, tumbleweeds have figured out the best solution to their problem. Then again, they have had countless years to perfect it!

Another area to look at, and probably more applicable to biomimicry, is how plants protect themselves from the damaging power of wind. Many trees in windy areas have leaves that are thin and narrow, thus reducing the surface area and potential force of strong gales. Palm trees, on the other hand, have developed creative ways to live in harmony with the wind, the most common being in the tissue structure of the petioles (the stems). Here, the petioles are constructed into a crisscrossing mesh of fibrous material, creating a flexible and super-strong tether for the palm fronds and the trunk. What you get is a system that can move and adjust effortlessly as the wind dictates. A possible bio-inspired design could have similarly designed materials for the posts of giant billboards, awnings, or other large stand-alone structures. This could lead to less destruction and death caused by flying debris during hurricanes.

Bonus question time: Where are you most likely to find answers, solutions, and inspiration for many of our current, everyday challenges? Hint: It’s all around us. If you guessed the natural world, you are right, and you, too, are bioinspired!

Seth Menser is a senior horticulturist at the San Diego Zoo. Read his previous post, Seeds Make the World Go Round.

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0

The Last Ones?

By
Allan Pessier
– May 15, 2012Posted in: Animal Stories, Animals and Plants, Conservation, Conservation at the Zoo, Projects in the Field, Reptiles and Amphibians, Uncategorized

Panamanian golden frog

If you sat next to me on the plane traveling home from Panama this past February, you probably thought that my tote bag was full of souvenirs from a grand, tropical vacation. Instead, I was carrying the carefully preserved and packaged bodies of endangered frogs from captive survival-assurance populations. This was a trip that required months of careful planning and lots of red tape in obtaining and using the complicated permits needed to transport wildlife samples. Far from being morbid, icky, or gross, these specimens were extremely valuable for scientific efforts to save amphibian species from extinction. So why would anyone willingly travel with dead frogs?

Does Allan's yellow tote bag hold hope for amphibian species?

To explain, I should tell you that I’m a veterinarian who specializes in pathology. Therefore, my day-to-day responsibilities are focused on using laboratory techniques, including necropsies (animal autopsies), to accurately diagnose disease in animals at the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park as well as our field conservation programs. Through these activities, our Wildlife Disease Laboratories have a mission to remove disease as a roadblock to wildlife conservation. By bringing these deceased frogs to our laboratory and sleuthing out their parasites and disease problems, we hope to make useful recommendations that can help improve things like animal diets or aid veterinarians in selecting the very best treatments. Ultimately, this helps to ensure that the captive populations can be sustained and thrive until they can someday return to the wild.

Promoting the success of amphibian survival assurance populations is no trivial matter: more than one third of the world’s approximately 6,000 amphibian species are in decline because of introduced disease, loss of habitat, environmental change, and human exploitation. Although sometimes I get wrapped up in dry scientific and technical details, this group of frogs from Panama now in my bag really reminded me of why I do what I do.

Allan holds some of the carefully preserved frog specimens for study.

Among these specimens were species like the Panamanian golden frog, which soon may survive only in captive survival assurance populations, and the fringe-limbed tree frog, for which only a single individual is still known to exist. It is difficult to describe the feeling of holding what may be the last individuals of an entire species in your hand, but I can tell you that it hit hard for me, and I know that it is worse for friends and colleagues on the front lines of the amphibian decline who don’t have the luxury of retreating into the laboratory.

I am privileged to work for a unique organization that recognizes the importance of what might seem like an unusual scholarly activity. Collaborating with colleagues nationally and internationally really makes amphibian conservation happen! I also have the support of an amazing team in the Wildlife Disease Laboratories who will move mountains if they think it will help animals in need.

If you’d like to know more about the amphibian extinction crisis and what you can do to help, please visit the Amphibian Ark® online at www.amphibianark.org. Some of the most important actions for saving amphibian species, like protecting the environment and raising awareness of the plight of animals, can happen from within our homes.

Allan Pessier is a senior scientist for the Wildlife Disease Laboratories, San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research.

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3

Found: Strange Things in Animal Exhibits

By
Bruce Rideout
– May 14, 2012Posted in: Animals and Plants, Apes and Monkeys, Conservation, Conservation at the Zoo, Uncategorized

A lion-tailed macaque

One of the fun things about working in a zoo is that each day brings something new and different; we never know what we will be working on from one day to the next. Most of our work in the Wildlife Disease Laboratories, San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, involves examining animal tissues and fluids for disease surveillance, diagnostics, and research designed to improve the health and well-being of the animals in our care. But every once in a while we have to solve a mystery about strange things found in our animal exhibits. Animal keepers are very vigilant in monitoring their animals and exhibit environments. If some unidentified thing found in an exhibit might be an indication of a disease problem in an animal, or a health threat to an animal, it is our job to identify the object and determine its significance.

This is what a normal primate placenta looks like under the microscope.

Some time ago we had a five-year-old, pregnant lion-tailed macaque at the Zoo that had been a good mother to her previous two offspring; this time she delivered an infant that was found cold and weak shortly after birth. The veterinarians were concerned that this might be evidence of an infection in the baby, and possibly the mother as well. One of the best ways to diagnose a neonatal infection is to examine the placenta, so the keeper wisely set about scouring the enclosure and eventually found something that was the right color and consistency to be a piece of placenta. It was submitted to us for an urgent examination. We quickly processed it for microscopic examination and began our investigation.

The mystery tissue under the microscope.

Although the sample looked like a piece of placenta to the naked eye, it didn’t look anything like a placenta under the microscope (see photo at right). If it wasn’t a placenta, what was it?

The first thing to notice is the presence of thin pink outlines surrounding clear spaces. Within these clear spaces are translucent objects with dark centers.

When we see strange translucent structures like this, one quick evaluation tool we often turn to is examination under polarized light. Some objects transmit polarized light while others block it, which gives us information about the structural nature of the material.

The mystery tissue polarized

This photo at left shows the translucent structures illuminated with polarized light. You can see they glow pink and blue. This helps me confirm my suspicion: this is not a piece of placenta but a piece of sweet potato! The thin, pink outlines are the plant cell walls and the small translucent objects are starch granules (the things that make sweet potatoes rich in carbohydrates). Sweet potatoes are a normal part of the diet of these animals, so this sample represented a small piece of food that had been lost in the exhibit and had become desiccated just enough to make it difficult to identify.

In the end, no placenta was ever found, but the story had a happy ending, as the infant quickly recovered and was successfully reared by his mother. Although our investigation in this case took an unexpected turn and ended up not being as useful as we had hoped in guiding the immediate treatment of the infant, in other cases it does. Stay tuned for our next installment, when we reveal how you can tell whether something that looks like vomit really is. Until then, I can’t wait to see what diagnostic challenges we’ll face tomorrow.

Bruce Rideout is the director of the Wildlife Disease Laboratories, San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research.

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1

Condor Chick: Lonely?

By
Ron Webb
– May 14, 2012Posted in: Animals and Plants, Birds, California Condors, Conservation, Conservation at the Zoo, Uncategorized

Saticoy continues to grow and thrive!

Some of our Condor Cam viewers have been worried that our growing chick, Saticoy, looks lonely and/or bored. California condors naturally have a one-egg clutch; in other words, there is never more than one chick in a nest. Although Saticoy may appear lonely to us, we need to keep in mind that his social requirements are much different from ours. Of course a human would be lonely being raised in isolation, but condors thrive in that situation: no competition from nest mates, ensuring plenty of food for growth; plenty of attention and preening and protection from both parents, facilitating the proper social skills for when it’s time to leave the nest; and reducing the amount of waste that can accumulate in a nest, reducing the possibilities for a parasite infestation.

Condor parents Sisquoc and Shatash visit Saticoy several times a day for feeding and social interaction, giving their youngster everything that he needs. If he was in distress, it would manifest in improper growth and unusual behaviors. Rest assured that he is in perfect health and showing excellent behaviors for a potential release candidate at this age, indicating to us that Sisquoc and Shatash are doing a textbook job!

As for giving him “toys” or enrichment items, the parents have provided several items in the nest for Saticoy to explore or play with: feathers, dried food items, bones, and cast hair pellets. We have seen Saticoy (as well as every other condor raised at the Safari Park) play with, sleep on, and re-distribute these items around the nest. Field observations have shown that condor chicks in wild nests in California, Arizona, and Mexico behave in the exact same manner. We don’t want to provide any unnaturally occurring items in the nest as playthings, as this would encourage him to seek out similar items if he is released to the wild, possibly putting him in harm’s way.

Please remember that we are trying to foster behaviors that wild condors would have: avoiding human activity and hazardous, artificial situations. Survival rates for condors that become accustomed to humans and human activity are very low. I hope you continue to enjoy watching Saticoy grow!

Ron Webb is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Read his previous post, Condor Chick: First Health Exam.

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1

With a Little Help from Our Friends

By
Jennifer Germano
– May 4, 2012Posted in: Animals and Plants, Conservation, Desert Tortoises, Projects in the Field, Reptiles and Amphibians, Uncategorized

Boy Scouts Orlando Arnold, Jr. and Cory Chatterton are hard at work making artificial burrows for our tortoises.

I’ve spent over 10 years working in conservation, and no matter where in the world you end up, whether it’s here in the States, down in South America, or halfway around the world in New Zealand or Australia, one thing is painfully clear: there’s a lot of important conservation work that needs to be done and there never seems to be enough resources to get us to where we want to be. Though the budget shortfalls sometimes make the work a bit more difficult, one area in which I’ve been repeatedly amazed is the great support we often receive from members of the community and enthusiastic folks who come out and donate their time and a bit of sweat helping us get our work done. Conservation and the science behind it is not a solitary endeavor. Many people go into making every project succeed, and I just wanted to take this opportunity to remind all of you who may have helped with a conservation project (with San Diego Zoo Global or otherwise) or are thinking about volunteering that your time and enthusiasm really do make a huge difference!

Volunteer Simon Madill works on some fence repair for our on-site tortoise research.

Here at the Desert Tortoise Conservation Center in Las Vegas, spring is standing on our doorstep, and we’re all preparing for the start of a new field season. Our research team is getting ready to embark on some new projects here on site, one of which required us to fix up some old tortoise pens that had fallen into disrepair over the past 10 to 15 years. This was a HUGE undertaking and one that would have taken me months of digging artificial burrows and fencing ditches as well as updating and fixing the fences for over 20 100-foot-long pens. A couple of months ago I was beginning to wonder how I was ever going to get it all done and if we’d have anywhere to put our tortoises in the spring. But the world works in mysterious ways, and just in the last month we’ve had some amazing volunteers lend a hand.

Members of the Nevada Conservation Corps after two days of fixing fences in our experimental tortoise pens.

Troop 336 with the Boy Scouts of America, Las Vegas Area Council, led by Cory Chatterton, some members of the Nevada Conservation Corps, and one of our long-term volunteers, Simon Madill, came to my rescue. Nearly 40 people came out over several days, and after some long hours of swinging shovels and pick axes in the desert sun and hours of cutting and tying up fencing, we have finally finished 20 tortoise pens!

All the enthusiasm and hard work of our volunteers mean that this spring we are able to start our tortoise behavior study. I am hopeful that the things we learn will help to improve our future reintroductions of animals back into the wild.

Jennifer Germano is a postdoctoral researcher at the San Diego Zoo Desert Tortoise Conservation Center. Read her previous post, Tortoises and Their Amazing Feats.

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3

Boy or Girl? Genetic Testing

By
Heidi Davis and Asako Yamamoto
– May 4, 2012Posted in: Animals and Plants, Birds, California Condors, Conservation, Conservation at the Zoo, Uncategorized

Saticoy's PCR products in an agarose gel

On March 10, thousands of Condor Cam viewers watched as an endangered California condor chick emerged from its shell. The chick, named Saticoy by an online vote, is still being followed by thousands of people on Wildlife Conservancy’s Condor Cam. As viewers watched the downy chick grow, many wondered if they should call Saticoy “he” or “she.” That’s where the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research’s Genetics Division comes in.

California condors are sexually monomorphic, and it’s not possible to tell the male and female birds apart. It is important for management purposes, however, to know early on the gender of a newly hatched condor. Initially, determination of bird gender involved a highly invasive examination, but genetics techniques have allowed for less invasive sexing since the California condor recovery program began in the early 1980s, and with current methods, we can determine a condor’s sex using only a small drop of blood, a feather, or even a piece of eggshell membrane.

Our Genetics Division has genetically determined the sex of over 170 condors hatched at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, as well as all other condors hatched at collaborating institutions or in the wild. But we don’t stop there. In addition to condors, we determine the sex of several other bird species for San Diego Zoo Global collaborative recovery programs, including San Clemente loggerhead shrikes and four species of native Hawaiian birds. This important practice supports animal care managers and field biologists in their efforts to develop sustainable populations of endangered species.

The process of sexing Saticoy began when we received a small blood sample from the chick’s first health exam performed by veterinarians at the Safari Park (see post Condor Chick: First Health Exam). Only a single drop of blood (about 10 microliters) is needed to perform gender determination using genetic techniques. First, the DNA is extracted from the blood cells by placing the cells into a tube, exposing them to enzymes, and incubating them in a water bath to release the DNA contained within.

After several steps of removing contaminants and washing the sample, pure DNA is available for use in the next step, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). During PCR amplification, only a small amount of the DNA is required to obtain millions of copies of a particular DNA region of interest, which can then be used for further analyses. Birds have a sex-determination system like the XY system of humans, but in birds, the females are the heterogametic sex with chromosomes ZW, while the males are the homogametic sex with chromosomes ZZ. In the case of sexing condors, we amplify a gene that is found in both males and females and is able to show variation in sequence length between the two female sex chromosomes.

The final step is to run gel electrophoresis to analyze the PCR samples. Here, DNA separates within an agarose gel depending on the size of the DNA fragment produced by PCR. The gene amplified from a female’s W chromosome is longer and produces a different size fragment compared to the DNA fragment produced by the Z chromosome. The males, therefore, show only one band while females show two distinct bands in a gel. As the gel picture shows, Saticoy’s DNA sample produced one band by PCR, and we can then say…it’s a boy!

Heidi Davis is a research coordinator and Asako Yamamoto is a research technician for the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research.

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