Page 10 - Gateways_2017_Fall

Dr. Tom Meehan (left) and
Caption to come.
Dr. Sathya Chinnadurai consult on
a case at the Chicago Zoological
Society’s high-tech CT scanner.
News Bites continued

Where We Shine
AWARD
We are thrilled to announce an enlightening change at
Brookfield Zoo. We were recently awarded a $300,000
donation from Green Mountain Energy Sun Club® to update and install
lighting throughout the park.
Currently, many areas are unlit for evening events like Holiday Magic.
To ensure guest safety, our staff spends hours mounting LED lights
on trees, buildings, and poles to brighten pathways in areas of heavy
foot traffic. We will use the Sun Club® donation to install nearly 50
permanent energy-efficient LED lights around our park, including the
replacement of older light poles outside the North Gate tunnel.
The installation of the lighting system will ensure
that you can have more nighttime fun at the zoo—
and a truly illuminating experience. To learn more
about the Sun Club,® visit gmesunclub.org.

Zoo-based scientists already have begun developing techniques that
add to our knowledge about pangolins. The more we learn, the better
WHITEBELLIED we can contribute to the conservation of all pangolin species.
TREE PANGOLINS
In addition to our research here, Consortium members are

CONSERVATION Tipping the Scales collaborating with zoologists and graduate students from the
University of Lomé in the West African country of Togo to develop
About the size of a housecat, pangolins are gentle in-country research programs and conservation solutions. In the future,
and solitary—and the only mammal on Earth covered the Consortium will be funding grants to encourage local biologists
completely in scales. Unfortunately, many people desire their scales there to help conserve the animals and to educate and engage local
for jewelry, believe their armor is the source of medicinal properties, communities to protect wild pangolin populations.
or consider their meat a delicacy. Pangolins are the most hunted and White-bellied tree pangolins in particular are native to Togo, and in
trafficked animal species in the world, with an estimated 297 killed each the past year, 50 of these animals have taken residence in participating
day. When threatened, they roll up into a tight, nearly impenetrable ball, Consortium institutions, including 13 at Brookfield Zoo. (One is currently
and people simply pick them up. on exhibit in HABITAT AFRICA! THE FOREST.) The zoos in the Consortium are
In 2016, international trade of these animals was banned. Just this able to educate their combined 7.6 million visitors about the plight of
past January, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature pangolins and ways to protect these animals in the wild.
(IUCN) declared that all eight of the world’s pangolin species are We took a leading role in developing the Consortium and how it
threatened with extinction. operates because of our interest in the species. We also significantly
For these reasons, the Chicago Zoological Society recently led contribute to the science of pangolin husbandry because of our unique
the development of a Pangolin Consortium. We and the other six holistic approach to management of animals through our Center for
organizations in the Consortium—Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, the Science of Animal Care and Welfare. The Center combines one
Gladys Porter Zoo, Memphis Zoo, Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, of the few endocrinology labs in a North American zoo, a nutrition
Turtle Back Zoo, and the nonprofit Pangolin Conservation—are department headed up by a Ph.D. nutritionist, one of the best medical
focusing our resources on establishing a sustainable population of imaging facilities of any zoo in the world, a leading reproductive
pangolins under professional care to aid in better understanding their veterinarian specialist (see page 14), world-recognized welfare
behavior and physiology and to support field conservation efforts. specialists, and an environmental quality specialist.
10 GATEWAYS | NEWS BITES