Michael Kreger, Ph. D. Vice President of Conservation and Sustainability spoke to the Lima Rotary Club.
Dean Brown | The Lima News
LIMA — The Columbus Zoo is involved with wildlife conservation – 77 projects in 24 countries. Michael Kreger, Ph.D. Vice President of Conservation and Sustainability at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium spoke to the Lima Rotary Club on Monday.
“We want to ensure that wildlife is around for our children and our children’s children… some of the topics that I talk about may not be solved in a generation, but there’s always hope.”
Kreger took the Rotarians on a trip. It started in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Bonobos are being cared for because the forests in the Congo Basin have been shrinking. The Columbus Zoo helps by paying for food for the animals, an education program, and for equipment needed to complete conservation projects with the Bonobos.
Emergency support is an area in which the zoo assists others. Whenever there is an emergency in the world, the zoo wants to respond quickly either with funds or with staff expertise. The recent wildfires in Australia were an instance in which the zoo was able to mobilize funds to support Zoos Victoria which went out into the field and rescued animals injured by the wildfires.
The next stop was a manatee rescue facility in Puerto Rico. A hurricane destroyed it. The zoo contributed to the rebuild. Then the group jumped to Madagascar. There, 10,000 radiated turtles were found in a house being prepared to be shipped in the illegal pet trade. The zoo helped build an emergency facility and sent staff who knew animal husbandry and wildlife diseases and were able to help.
Then the group visited Rwanda and a program supported by the zoo for 30 years – Partners in Conservation. Dian Fossey planted the seeds more than 30 years ago which has resulted in sustained growth in projects through the years.
“We want to show people that we’re committed with the partners in conservation. There has been lots of capacity building, supporting projects, educating law enforcement and we’re educating the next generation of conservation work.”
Closer to home, Kreger shared the work done at People and Carnivores in Bozeman, Montana, whose mission is to help people and carnivores coexist by putting tools on the ground to keep them separated and safe.
The Columbus Zoo, with the Cincinnati Zoo, are the only zoos north of Florida in a program to rehab, rescue and release manatees. Just across the Scioto River from the Columbus Zoo they work with freshwater mussels, the largest group of endangered species in the United States. The Plains Garter snake and the Hellbender salamander, the fourth largest salamander in the world, are threatened in Ohio and are being helped by the Columbus Zoo.
There are a lot of conservation areas all over the world receiving assistance from the Columbus Zoo. Kreger explains that people can support these projects by simply visiting the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.
“I’d like for people to come out and support this. You’ll see the new things we’ve got going on there. There’s always something new. Maybe they haven’t seen the new adventure cove or they haven’t seen the baby elephant, Frankie, but while they’re there I want them to know that they are helping to save wildlife just by coming to the zoo.”
