CALGARY -- The Calgary Zoo's wildlife conservation and breeding programs have established them as a world leader in protecting vulnerable species. This year, the zoo has helped give five Canadian species a brighter future, including Vancouver Island marmots, burrowing owls, greater sage-grouse, whooping cranes, and northern leopard frogs.
“Protecting Canadian wildlife has never been more critical, and the consequences of inaction for some species could be extinction," said Dr. Axel Moehrenschlager, the zoo's Director of Conservation and Science, "I’m exceptionally proud of the contributions we’ve made to endangered Canadian species this year.”
Seventeen Vancouver Island marmot pups were born at the zoo this year, and will be released into the wild in spring of 2021. These 17 pups are in addition to 131 pups that the zoo has already released into the wild over the past few years.
The animals, which are unique to Canada, were declared endangered in 2008 after it was estimated that only 30 marmots existed in the wild. Calgary is one of three conservation facilities that breeds and releases Vancouver Island marmots.
Earlier this year, 20 burrowing owls were released in pairs across southern Alberta- all of which have now laid eggs.
The owls were head-started, which is an innovative conservation technique where wild owlets unlikely to survive are collected and cared for over the winter months. More than 100 owlets have been born from head-started parents, a number that will jump once this year's eggs hatch.
The zoo celebrated a success story with their head-starting program last spring after spotting a wild burrowing owl whose grandparents were head-started by the zoo in 2018. The zoo said the grand-owlet demonstrates the potential of the program.
"It’s thrilling to see the positive impact we’re making through our conservation breeding programs for endangered species in Canada,” Jamie Dorgan the Director of Animal Care at the zoo said, “Our entire Calgary Zoo team is passionate about this work and dedicated to making these programs stronger and more successful each year.”
The Calgary Zoo is Canada's leader in greater sage-grouse reintroduction and breeding. The breeding program uses multiple rearing techniques including hen-rearing, human-assisted rearing, and incubation processes. Researchers study the success rates of each technique to determine the most effective breeding practices. To date, the zoo has fitted 143 greater sage-grouses with radio transmitters to monitor their movements in the wild.
Without coneservational action, greater sage-grouses are expected to be extirpated (locally extinct) from Canada within five years.
The zoo is also Canada's only breeding partner for whooping crane recovery since starting in 1992. This year, a genetically valuable pair of whooping cranes were paired together and are fostering a chick together. The successful pair shows hope for future breeding initiatives.
Nebula, a whooping crane hatched by the zoo in 2019, completed its first successful return-trip migration as well.
This year, the zoo completed their first breeding and hatching program for northern leopard frog tadpoles. Some of the tadpoles have been released into the wild, while the rest will be kept to take part in the breeding program.
Working with the British Columbia Northern Leopard Frog Recovery Team, the zoo helped translocate over 14,400 other tadpoles to a reintroduction site in the Columbia marshes.
In addition to breeding programs, the zoo studies all aspects of conservation for these species with the hope of supporting them in their natural habitats.
