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Fe
c
ha: jueves, 9 de di
c
iembre de 2010,
20:29
Hi everybody,
I just got back yesterday and I’m ple ased
to say that the introduction was successful.
Coco
and Toti are getting along well, they were even grooming by the
third day which to me is amazing,
considering that they were two total strangers. We modified the
chimpanzees’ diet and started to make immediate
changes by getting them off of the wet
concrete, providing edible browse and installing fire hoses,
because the exhibit lacked all flexible supports and therefore
could not provide efficient locomotion.
Changing Coco's diet!
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| Right before Toto wakes up |
Transporting Toti |
The Howdy
period (getting to see each other safely) |
I gave 5 enrichment lectures in
Cordoba
,
Buenos Aires
,
La Plata
and in a veterinary university. At first I was talking mostly
about enrichment but then, as I was walking around the zoos, I
realized the la
c
k of basic
husbandry knowledge, so I started to talk about those as well. I
also ended up giving 3 elephant presentations (I was so glad I had
it on my desk top) trying to improve their
current elephant situation.
I
feel I have reached out to many people. In
Cordoba
I gave a 3 hour presentation and everybody was so interested in
our programs they refused to have breaks even if I offered it
twice. That, to me was a
clear indicator that they were really listening and not just being
polite. People were honestly amazed by our programs and I was very
proud to present them. People were asking many questions and took
notes; especially the young veterinary students and the biologists
who I think will be our best future allies as the next generation.
After
and also during the introduction (when I had extra time) I walked
around with the director, the veterinarian and the animal manager
in
Cordoba
and went to
cage to
cage addressing each species and their needs. A young translator girl took my notes
and by the next day the zoo had my written recommendation in
Spanish in 15
copies available to all management. We agreed to take all animals
(not just
chimps) off of the
concrete and add substrates whenever possible. It will be not easy
since they seem to be lacking materials such as
Bermuda
hay or straw, but we still have paper, dry leaves, sand, soil or
Alfalfa hay to work with.
We agreed on starting systematically working
on their browse situation. We appointed a young biologist to be
charge of this program and I will work with him to design a
self-sustaining browse garden/system in the near future. Currently
animals are not receiving browse due to lack all resources
including gardeners, trees, equipment, etc. We will work on that.
I
also addressed the inbreeding problems in B. A. and elimination of
keeping primates in solitary
confinements. As you
can see below, the B.A. Zoo is already making
changes, so I’m very glad.
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