• Tuesday, October 26th, 2010
Today was our last full day in Jordan. We took the opportunity to do a little bit of sight seeing. The first stop was the Mujib Reserve. This reserve covers a lot of land, but the main attraction is the deep gorge that flows from the Jordanian highlands down into the Dead Sea. The sandstone gorge is narrow, but tall. The walls are smooth from the thousands of years of water running through them, and the colors of the sandstone have been blended together by the water to form a swirling mosaic of reds and yellows. Hikers travel up the gorge by walking in the river bed, climbing over smaller rocky waterfalls and slides before reaching the larger 20 meter high waterfall at the end of the trail. This trail was gorgeous to hike and a MUST SEE for anyone visiting Jordan! The water temperature was perfect, which was helpful considering that you spend the vast majority of the hike in knee high to waist high water. The people were extremely friendly, with many of the more agile hikers helping the more accident prone along so that everyone could make it up to see the waterfall at the end. Unfortunately, we did not think to bring a waterproof bag, so we weren’t able to take any photos of this part of the trip. However, it is definitely part I will not forget!
After Mujib, we stopped at the Dead Sea to try floating in one of the saltiest bodies of water on earth! The Dead Sea marks the border between Jordan and Israel. It is also at 422 meters below sea level, making its shores the lowest dry surface on earth. The salinity of the Dead Sea, however, is what makes it a tourist attraction. The salinity reaches over 30% (as a comparison, typical salt water is approximately 3%) which allows for a significant increase in buoyancy of any body floating in the Dead Sea. In fact, as you float in the Dead Sea, it supports your body in such a way that you feel like you are reclining in a lounge chair by the pool. If you “stand” straight up in the deeper water where you can’t touch the bottom, you bob like a corkscrew without needing to tread water at all. The experience of floating in the water was definitely one of the more surreal experiences we had while in Jordan!
Tomorrow we leave to go back to the states. This trip has been a once in a life time opportunity that I think all three of us enjoyed immensely. The conservation programs in this region of the world are in significant need of support and the organizations that are currently working in Jordan are doing an incredible job with the resources that they’ve been given. Hopefully we will be able to continue with helping the conservation of Arabian Oryx, not only by captive breeding at the Phoenix Zoo, but also by consulting about the herds in Jordan and helping with their eventual release.
• Thursday, September 30th, 2010
Yesterday was a paperwork day. We remained at the lodge working on the rough draft of our report to the RSCN (The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature – Jordan http://www.rscn.org.jo/) concerning Shaumari. Today was our last day in the reserve before heading back to Amman. We started the morning by trying out the Tamer to make sure the staff understood how to use it when there was an actual animal in the chute. Since the oryx were still fairly nervous from the catch up a few days ago, we only worked one young male through the chute so that the staff could see the tamer in action. The male did very well and stayed calm throughout the whole procedure. The staff were able to see how the restraint system worked and should be able to start working with the rest of the herd once they get the animals more comfortable around the equipment.
We left for Amman shortly after in order to visit a foundation that is working with rehabilitation of confiscated wildlife and to have our close out meeting at the RSCN headquarters. The meeting went very well. We had a number of suggestions for ways to improve the animal handling at Shaumari and the RSCN staff had a number of potential ways to implement those suggestions.
Dinner was at Wild Jordan (http://www.rscn.org.jo/orgsite/wj/Home/tabid/143/language/en-US/Default.aspx). This is a division of RSCN that is responsible for ecotourism, public relations, and promotion of the local ecological trade projects that are run by RSCN. The building consists of a store, a library, and a restaurant. The Wild Jordan facility was built with recyclable and local products and this building provides a strong environmental and conservation message. The store sells the crafts that are made by the local people near the different RSCN reserves in Jordan. These included embroidery, soaps, tea, herbs (predominantly thyme, rosemary, and sage), as well as silver jewelry and painted ostrich eggs. The library is open to the public and has a variety of nature books and ecological films. The restaurant was beautiful. The outdoor seating is on a series of balconies that overlooks the rest of downtown Amman. It was a fabulous meal with an amazing view!
• Thursday, September 30th, 2010
The Tamer has finally arrived at Shaumari. We spent the morning setting it up and training the staff on how to use it. In order to keep the animals as calm as possible, the staff will need to take the next few months to slowly accustom the animals to the presence of the Tamer until they are no longer nervous about being near or within the chute system. Once they get to that point, the staff will be able to run the animals through the chute, restrain individuals in the tamer for the common veterinary and husbandry procedures, and manage the herd with a minimum of stress and without any of the associated risks of anesthesia.
After the training with the tamer, we drove around the perimeter of the reserve in order to get a better look at the
issues with the fencing. Due to the habitat degredation outside of Shaumari, the watershed system (known here as a Wadis) around Shaumari is no longer functioning as it should. The desert landscape is essentially barren of vegetation compared to what it would naturally look like. This lack of vegetation is allowing for large amounts of water run off to travel freely across the ground, as it is no longer being slowed down and absorbed by the vegetation and root systems. These floods bring with them huge amounts of soil and debris that are essentially washed down from further up the wadi basin. When this debris encounters the Shaumari fence line, it builds up against the fence eventually burying the fencing. This has been a huge area of concern for Shaumari since they are relying on the fencing system to keep the animals within the reserve. Unfortunately, it is a problem that will have to be managed for the time being rather than fixed as there is too much destruction of habitat outside of the reserve at this point to correct the problem quickly.
This afternoon, we visited one of the near by desert castles, known as Amra castle. It was built as a hunting lodge / bath back in the 8th century. It was impressive to see the size of the huge stones that were used to build this structure prior to the invention of any modern machinery. The amount of time and effort that was put into its construction was amazing. The ceilings and walls of the interior were painted with various scenes depicting the area flora and fauna that was present around Amra at that time. It depicted a much different habitat than is present now, including forests with herds of different antelope species, multiple bird species, camels, and even monkeys. Although the images have faded and chipped over time, they are still amazingly detailed.
For dinner, we returned to Shaumari for a kabob barbeque put on by the reserve staff. The lamb kabobs were excellent and all of us ate a bit too much! After dinner we went for a short night drive around the park to spotlight and see what animals we could find. There was a lot of jerboa and hares and we saw the onagers again, however the neatest one was the wild hedgehogs! The species present in Jordan are about twice the size of the typical pet hedgehog in the states, but otherwise the appearance is very similar. Amazingly enough, the Beduoins actually use these spiny animals as a food source here!
• Monday, September 27th, 2010
Today we followed the Shaumari staff to observe their daily routine. The oryx herd was a little stressed from the catch up yesterday, but all of them appeared to be recovering well. We also did additional training with the staff, which
Confiscated long legged buzzard
included raptor handling and restraint as well as capture dart cleaning and maintenance. The reserve acquired two long legged buzzards (which are similar to hawks) that were confiscated from a private collection. These two birds were evaluated and this presented an opportunity to train the Shaumari staff on how to appropriately restrain birds of prey. The two birds have been housed at Shaumari since their confiscation. Both birds were dehydrated and unable to fly due to having their primary flight feathers removed. They will be housed at Shaumari for care until their flight feathers are re-grown. Once the primary feathers have re-grown, the birds will be evaluated for their ability to fly and if capable of capturing prey on their own, they can be released back into the wild. Luckily, the tamer chute system finally arrived through customs today and was brought out to the reserve. We will spend tomorrow morning setting up the chute and training the staff on how to use it.
• Monday, September 27th, 2010
We got a lot accomplished today. This morning, we tried out the modifications to the wooden chute system that was already present on the reserve. It worked very well. The Shaumari staff did an outstanding job by coaxing the oryx into the handling chute. We were able to move 22 of the oryx through the chute system without using any anesthesia or sedation. We obtained biopsy samples for genetic analysis and were also able to ear notch the animals that did not have permanent identifiers so that they could be individually identified by the staff in the future.
After working with the animals in the chute, we visited the Azraq Wetland Reserve, which is a 15 minute drive
from Shaumari. This is an area of Jordan that sees huge numbers of migratory birds traveling between Eurasia and Africa due to the presence of a wetland habitat that supplies fresh water, safe habitats, and an abundance of food compared to most of the desert landscape in Jordan. This area is in danger mostly due to the excessive use of its water reserves. The pull of water from the area for human use is shrinking the wetland habitat. The Azraq Wetland Reserve was put aside to maintain a percentage of the wetland habitat for the migrating bird species. This is a spectacular place for birding and we were able to see many different species of birds including lesser egrets, grey herons, European bee- eaters, and European rollers. There is also a resident herd of water buffalo that can be viewed at very close distances.
Following lunch, we returned to Shaumari and drove out into the open part of the reserve to locate the onager herds.
Bedouin camel herds
Onagers are a type of wild equid (horse) that is becoming increasingly endangered over most of their habitat. Shaumari has two herds of approximately 17 animals total that are free ranging over the reserve. Unfortunately, we were only able to view the onagers from a distance due to their more flighty nature.
Tomorrow we are hoping to have the Tamer Chute System clear through Jordanian customs so that we can begin showing the Shaumari staff how to use this in order to do health evaluations and obtain a variety of samples from the animals without the need anesthesia.
• Monday, September 27th, 2010
Today was our first day working with the Arabian oryx at Shaumari. We immobilized three male oryx in order
Dr. West and Dan Subaitis in Jordan (Dr. Julie Swenson taking the picture)
to complete physical exams and perform skin biopsies for genetic analysis. All three animals recovered well from the anesthesia. We were assisted by Dr. Eljarah, a veterinary professor from Jordan University of Science of Technology. After the procedures, we met with the Jordan rangers and the staff from Shaumari for some capacity building and training. Many of the staff have been managing oryx for years, but have had very few chances to handle the animals directly. The procedures today gave the staff the chance to help with monitoring anesthesia, handling and restraint of oryx, and assessing overall health and body condition of the animals. We also discussed other methods for restraint of oryx and did some modifications to an existing wooden chute system to use for working with the oryx until the Tamer Chute system arrives from the states hopefully within the next day or two. Starting tomorrow, we will be using the modified chute system in order to restrain the oryx without anesthesia.
• Monday, September 27th, 2010
At the request of the US Forest Service International Programs office, a delegation from the Phoenix Zoo has been
invited to the Shaumari Nature Reserve in Jordan’s Eastern Desert to conduct health exams on the Arabian oryx herd (approximately 30-40 antelope). In addition to their work with the Arabian oryx herd, Zoo staff will also examine many of the other large mammals managed by the reserve, including gazelles, ostrich, hyenas, roe deer and onagers (wild donkeys).
Arabian oryx were proclaimed extinct in the wild in 1972. Ten years prior to this, three of the last remaining oryx were removed from their native range in an effort known as “Operation Oryx.” These animals were brought to the Phoenix Zoo in 1962 where they were joined with six others acquired from private owners. These nine oryx formed what was called the “worlds herd.” In 1978, the Phoenix Zoo donated four oryx from their collection to the Shaumari Reserve in Jordan to begin their breeding program. In 1982 the world’s herd had grown large enough to reintroduce some of the oryx back into their home range so they could once again exist in the wild. The Zoo is proud of its role in this effort and considers the 7100 alive in the world today (6000 in managed populations, 1100 in the wild) to be our greatest contribution to global wildlife conservation to date.
The team from the Phoenix Zoo consists of Dr. Gary West, DVM, ACZM, Executive Vice President for Animal Care and Management; Dr. Julie Swenson, DVM, Staff Veterinarian; and Dan Subaitis, Director of Animal Management. They are traveling with representatives from US Forest Service International Programs office, Natasha Marwah, Middle East Program Specialist, and the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) in Jordan. Dr. Julie Swenson will be updating us on their travels on this blog, so stay tuned for some amazing adventures and spectacular photos from the Phoenix Zoo team!
• Friday, September 17th, 2010
It probably comes as no surprise to any Zoo fan out there that our staff is a passionate and dedicated bunch. To provide our animals the highest level of care on a daily basis and to give our guests an amazing experience upon entering the Zoo – staff is continuously striving to improve.
If you’re a zoo professional – be it keeper, director, veterinarian, volunteer manager or guest services representative; there is an assortment of conferences and other professional development opportunities to help you learn more. Rhinoceros experts can gather to discuss care and conservation issues, large feline keepers can trade the newest enrichment ideas (ways to keep animals entertained and stimulated) and everyone in the Zoo community can work to keep one another updated about the newest techniques amongst a giant batch of likeminded people all passionate about the same subject as you.
The fun part is – these conferences aren’t just limited to the mega beasts, but also to the mini ones as well.
For a fun trivia moment – were you aware that about 97% of life on Earth is an invertebrate (lacking a backbone)?
Most Arizonans are probably unaware of the excitement that spreads like wildfire through a select group of individuals in the weeks leading up to the Invertebrates in Education and Conservation Conference (IECC) that takes place in Southern Arizona every summer.
Hosted by the Sonoran Arthropods Institute in Tucson, IECC attracts keepers, curators, directors, educators and other “bug” enthusiasts from all over the world. Those critters that are the irritant in our garage and home or the bizarre shapes flying around your porch light are the ones that fascinate and draw in over a hundred individuals to Rio Rico every year.
Arizona has a hugely diverse population of native invertebrates. There are critters here that are unlikely to be seen anywhere else in the U.S. That tailless whip scorpion you stumbled upon in your backyard is the prized find of someone else and immediately subjected to a paparazzi-like array of flashbulbs upon discovery.
The world of spiders, insects and other invertebrates is so diverse – everyone has a specialty in something completely different and is happy to share their knowledge. Conference goers have a variety of outlets for their enthusiasm and ideas.
Presentations are held each morning around a variety of topics – the latest breakthroughs in honeypot ant diets, foraging strategies of army ants, building invertebrate colonies to help feed endangered (and picky) amphibians and just what effects the state of Florida’s highway traffic might be having on local butterfly populations.
For attendees more interested in the “live” element, field trips are organized to explore some of the surrounding areas. Entomologists in their conference badges become a familiar sight at Madeira Canyon, Pena Blanca Lake and Patagonia. Locals seem to take the sight of a caravan of cars surrounded by people with nets, cameras and critters cradled in their hands in stride.
For the Phoenix Zoo crew who attended this year, we had a blast at an evening field trip hosted by staff from the San Antonio Zoo and Butterfly House in Missouri. For this trip – a huge light is set up with white sheets on the ground surrounding it. Then you wait…
Eventually – all sorts of invertebrates fly in. Our group was waiting for particular types of scarab beetles. Large, green and showy – the Chrysina beetles can be heard well before they’re seen and sound like small helicopters coming in to land.
Fun trivia moment #2 – were you aware that one out of every five species on the planet is a beetle?
Hundreds of different types of moths and beetles fly in to the lights and everyone has to suddenly become very careful where they step. Eventually, predators also begin showing up for (what must be to them) a veritable feast and it’s not uncommon to spot spiders, tiger beetles and toads joining you at the light.
Want an idea of some of the cool critters conference attendees were so excited to spot during IECC? Check out the Bug House on the Zoo’s Children’s Trail in the coming weeks. Arizona insects and arachnids have been moving in along with some of their more exotic relatives. Or take a trip down to southern Arizona; the few weeks after monsoon season bring out a wide variety of arthropods that we have in our backyard and are lucky enough not to have to fly to a conference to see.
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