Since father Gao Gao was in that exhibit previously, Yun Zi spent the morning scent marking the entire exhibit. He also was running around and rolling around to show off and have fun. When the front viewing area was redone a couple of years ago, our keepers tried to keep panda youngsters in mind when they requested more climbing structures. Yun Zi is the perfect example of why that is so important for a young, growing panda. He was climbing, scent marking the tree and going all the way to the top to smell the air. It was really an amazing morning for our youngster!

Those who had not seen him in a while were shocked at how big Mr. Yun Zi has gotten. Currently, his weight is about 180 pounds, and he is looking like he is going to be rather tall as well. Since he is 2½ years old, he could potentially continue growing for a couple more years. But just like his parents, his weight can fluctuate with weather changes and different life changes (hormones). Many of our guests told me about being at the San Diego Zoo two years ago and seeing a little baby; they wondered what had happened to him. Just about all of them were astounded when I’d point to Yun Zi and say, “Here he is!”

If you get the chance, please come and visit him, and take a peak on the Panda Cam. As for mother Bai Yun, she has been moved into the north exhibit, which is currently closed to our guests, so that when we begin doing our thermal imaging on a regular basis she is easily accessible. Our first thermal imaging procedure has already taken place; Bai Yun cooperated beautifully, and we have nothing to report. Please remember that it can take a while for our researchers and vet staff to see anything that would indicate a pregnancy. Paws crossed!

Anastasia Horning is a panda narrator at the San Diego Zoo. Read her previous post, Panda Narrator at Safari Park.

One of our roles is to help educate Las Vegas residents about wild and pet desert tortoises. Attending local events such as the Springs Preserve Plant Sale is one way to reach people. The plant sale sells native Mojave Desert plants, which are more water efficient for yards in Las Vegas. It’s also a great opportunity to work with a local partner and educate the public on proper plants for pet tortoise habitats. The event gives us the opportunity to talk to people one on one and answer questions. We can also hand out important information to desert tortoise custodians, such as a list of native foods and plants they can add to their backyards.

It’s very important for people to know how to properly care for their pet tortoise! This year, we had a number of interested people who wanted to know what we do for desert tortoises and how they can help. We were able to explain our efforts in recovering the wild desert tortoise and the research projects we are working on. Our goal is to relocate tortoises back into the desert; the DTCC is the only legally authorized organization allowed to do this.

We also encouraged Springs Preserve Plant Sale attendees to volunteer at the DTCC, which is a great way to learn more about what we do. We had a sign-up sheet and information about the type of volunteer work they could do to help the desert tortoise!

If you are interested in volunteering, please email us at DTCC@sandiegozoo.org.

Angie Covert is a research coordinator at the San Diego Zoo Desert Tortoise Conservation Center. Read her previous post, Desert Tortoises Get Great Care.

Using the wind to disperse seeds is one of the ingenious tactics plants have developed as a survival skill. Lightweight, propeller and parachute-like material attached to seeds represent the most notable and clever use of the wind. Still, there are many other ways. Your idea of the desert may be one of tumbleweeds rolling across the barren, desolate landscape; because deserts tend to be windy, tumbleweed plants have figured out that their best chance of continuing on is to have their seeds dispersed as far and wide as they can. They do this by growing into the shape of a shrubby ball and dying shortly after they set seed. The consistent wind then blows the tumbleweed across the desert, rolling and bouncing, causing its seeds to spread along the way. Using this method, tumbleweeds have figured out the best solution to their problem. Then again, they have had countless years to perfect it!

Another area to look at, and probably more applicable to biomimicry, is how plants protect themselves from the damaging power of wind. Many trees in windy areas have leaves that are thin and narrow, thus reducing the surface area and potential force of strong gales. Palm trees, on the other hand, have developed creative ways to live in harmony with the wind, the most common being in the tissue structure of the petioles (the stems). Here, the petioles are constructed into a crisscrossing mesh of fibrous material, creating a flexible and super-strong tether for the palm fronds and the trunk. What you get is a system that can move and adjust effortlessly as the wind dictates. A possible bio-inspired design could have similarly designed materials for the posts of giant billboards, awnings, or other large stand-alone structures. This could lead to less destruction and death caused by flying debris during hurricanes.

Bonus question time: Where are you most likely to find answers, solutions, and inspiration for many of our current, everyday challenges? Hint: It’s all around us. If you guessed the natural world, you are right, and you, too, are bioinspired!

Seth Menser is a senior horticulturist at the San Diego Zoo. Read his previous post, Seeds Make the World Go Round.

To explain, I should tell you that I’m a veterinarian who specializes in pathology. Therefore, my day-to-day responsibilities are focused on using laboratory techniques, including necropsies (animal autopsies), to accurately diagnose disease in animals at the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park as well as our field conservation programs. Through these activities, our Wildlife Disease Laboratories have a mission to remove disease as a roadblock to wildlife conservation. By bringing these deceased frogs to our laboratory and sleuthing out their parasites and disease problems, we hope to make useful recommendations that can help improve things like animal diets or aid veterinarians in selecting the very best treatments. Ultimately, this helps to ensure that the captive populations can be sustained and thrive until they can someday return to the wild.

Promoting the success of amphibian survival assurance populations is no trivial matter: more than one third of the world’s approximately 6,000 amphibian species are in decline because of introduced disease, loss of habitat, environmental change, and human exploitation. Although sometimes I get wrapped up in dry scientific and technical details, this group of frogs from Panama now in my bag really reminded me of why I do what I do.

Among these specimens were species like the Panamanian golden frog, which soon may survive only in captive survival assurance populations, and the fringe-limbed tree frog, for which only a single individual is still known to exist. It is difficult to describe the feeling of holding what may be the last individuals of an entire species in your hand, but I can tell you that it hit hard for me, and I know that it is worse for friends and colleagues on the front lines of the amphibian decline who don’t have the luxury of retreating into the laboratory.

I am privileged to work for a unique organization that recognizes the importance of what might seem like an unusual scholarly activity. Collaborating with colleagues nationally and internationally really makes amphibian conservation happen! I also have the support of an amazing team in the Wildlife Disease Laboratories who will move mountains if they think it will help animals in need.

If you’d like to know more about the amphibian extinction crisis and what you can do to help, please visit the Amphibian Ark® online at www.amphibianark.org. Some of the most important actions for saving amphibian species, like protecting the environment and raising awareness of the plight of animals, can happen from within our homes.

Allan Pessier is a senior scientist for the Wildlife Disease Laboratories, San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research.

Some time ago we had a five-year-old, pregnant lion-tailed macaque at the Zoo that had been a good mother to her previous two offspring; this time she delivered an infant that was found cold and weak shortly after birth. The veterinarians were concerned that this might be evidence of an infection in the baby, and possibly the mother as well. One of the best ways to diagnose a neonatal infection is to examine the placenta, so the keeper wisely set about scouring the enclosure and eventually found something that was the right color and consistency to be a piece of placenta. It was submitted to us for an urgent examination. We quickly processed it for microscopic examination and began our investigation.

Although the sample looked like a piece of placenta to the naked eye, it didn’t look anything like a placenta under the microscope (see photo at right). If it wasn’t a placenta, what was it?

The first thing to notice is the presence of thin pink outlines surrounding clear spaces. Within these clear spaces are translucent objects with dark centers.

When we see strange translucent structures like this, one quick evaluation tool we often turn to is examination under polarized light. Some objects transmit polarized light while others block it, which gives us information about the structural nature of the material.

This photo at left shows the translucent structures illuminated with polarized light. You can see they glow pink and blue. This helps me confirm my suspicion: this is not a piece of placenta but a piece of sweet potato! The thin, pink outlines are the plant cell walls and the small translucent objects are starch granules (the things that make sweet potatoes rich in carbohydrates). Sweet potatoes are a normal part of the diet of these animals, so this sample represented a small piece of food that had been lost in the exhibit and had become desiccated just enough to make it difficult to identify.

In the end, no placenta was ever found, but the story had a happy ending, as the infant quickly recovered and was successfully reared by his mother. Although our investigation in this case took an unexpected turn and ended up not being as useful as we had hoped in guiding the immediate treatment of the infant, in other cases it does. Stay tuned for our next installment, when we reveal how you can tell whether something that looks like vomit really is. Until then, I can’t wait to see what diagnostic challenges we’ll face tomorrow.

Bruce Rideout is the director of the Wildlife Disease Laboratories, San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research.

Condor parents Sisquoc and Shatash visit Saticoy several times a day for feeding and social interaction, giving their youngster everything that he needs. If he was in distress, it would manifest in improper growth and unusual behaviors. Rest assured that he is in perfect health and showing excellent behaviors for a potential release candidate at this age, indicating to us that Sisquoc and Shatash are doing a textbook job!

As for giving him “toys” or enrichment items, the parents have provided several items in the nest for Saticoy to explore or play with: feathers, dried food items, bones, and cast hair pellets. We have seen Saticoy (as well as every other condor raised at the Safari Park) play with, sleep on, and re-distribute these items around the nest. Field observations have shown that condor chicks in wild nests in California, Arizona, and Mexico behave in the exact same manner. We don’t want to provide any unnaturally occurring items in the nest as playthings, as this would encourage him to seek out similar items if he is released to the wild, possibly putting him in harm’s way.

Please remember that we are trying to foster behaviors that wild condors would have: avoiding human activity and hazardous, artificial situations. Survival rates for condors that become accustomed to humans and human activity are very low. I hope you continue to enjoy watching Saticoy grow!

Ron Webb is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Read his previous post, Condor Chick: First Health Exam.

Anytime the four piglets are awake, they are in motion. Whether sparring and chasing, rooting and digging up their exhibit, or climbing over Mom and Dad, the little siblings are constantly busy. This much activity raises one question: how do the parents and big sister tolerate the four tiny tornadoes? The answer is with great patience: porcine patience.

This being her third litter, Goldie knows how to handle seemingly tireless piglets who want to eat all the time. Any time Goldie stops walking, the piglets latch on to suckle. Eventually, Goldie flops to her side to allow them to nurse. Older sister Lozi is turning out to be a terrific role model. She never snaps at her striped siblings, even when they steal food out from under her snout.

Father Mowgli is a paragon of patience; his calm, collected gait is hardly altered as the piglets dart between his legs. He tolerates the piglets’ constant pushing, shoving, and climbing. And it would seem the piglets are even learning to take it easy from him. Usually the last one to leave a comfortable bed in the morning, he is now joined by his black-and-orange offspring. Goldie and Lozi jolt awake at the sound of breakfast; Mowgli and kids lay sleepily in their hay a few minutes longer. It’s not uncommon to find the piglets nestled snugly against Dad…when they choose to slow down, that is.

Interested in all the activity at the red river hog exhibit? Visit the Safari Park and watch the piglets as they root, dig, forage, and even learn to show a little patience.

Matt Gelvin is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

Here at the Desert Tortoise Conservation Center in Las Vegas, spring is standing on our doorstep, and we’re all preparing for the start of a new field season. Our research team is getting ready to embark on some new projects here on site, one of which required us to fix up some old tortoise pens that had fallen into disrepair over the past 10 to 15 years. This was a HUGE undertaking and one that would have taken me months of digging artificial burrows and fencing ditches as well as updating and fixing the fences for over 20 100-foot-long pens. A couple of months ago I was beginning to wonder how I was ever going to get it all done and if we’d have anywhere to put our tortoises in the spring. But the world works in mysterious ways, and just in the last month we’ve had some amazing volunteers lend a hand.

Troop 336 with the Boy Scouts of America, Las Vegas Area Council, led by Cory Chatterton, some members of the Nevada Conservation Corps, and one of our long-term volunteers, Simon Madill, came to my rescue. Nearly 40 people came out over several days, and after some long hours of swinging shovels and pick axes in the desert sun and hours of cutting and tying up fencing, we have finally finished 20 tortoise pens!

All the enthusiasm and hard work of our volunteers mean that this spring we are able to start our tortoise behavior study. I am hopeful that the things we learn will help to improve our future reintroductions of animals back into the wild.

Jennifer Germano is a postdoctoral researcher at the San Diego Zoo Desert Tortoise Conservation Center. Read her previous post, Tortoises and Their Amazing Feats.

California condors are sexually monomorphic, and it’s not possible to tell the male and female birds apart. It is important for management purposes, however, to know early on the gender of a newly hatched condor. Initially, determination of bird gender involved a highly invasive examination, but genetics techniques have allowed for less invasive sexing since the California condor recovery program began in the early 1980s, and with current methods, we can determine a condor’s sex using only a small drop of blood, a feather, or even a piece of eggshell membrane.

Our Genetics Division has genetically determined the sex of over 170 condors hatched at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, as well as all other condors hatched at collaborating institutions or in the wild. But we don’t stop there. In addition to condors, we determine the sex of several other bird species for San Diego Zoo Global collaborative recovery programs, including San Clemente loggerhead shrikes and four species of native Hawaiian birds. This important practice supports animal care managers and field biologists in their efforts to develop sustainable populations of endangered species.

The process of sexing Saticoy began when we received a small blood sample from the chick’s first health exam performed by veterinarians at the Safari Park (see post Condor Chick: First Health Exam). Only a single drop of blood (about 10 microliters) is needed to perform gender determination using genetic techniques. First, the DNA is extracted from the blood cells by placing the cells into a tube, exposing them to enzymes, and incubating them in a water bath to release the DNA contained within.

After several steps of removing contaminants and washing the sample, pure DNA is available for use in the next step, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). During PCR amplification, only a small amount of the DNA is required to obtain millions of copies of a particular DNA region of interest, which can then be used for further analyses. Birds have a sex-determination system like the XY system of humans, but in birds, the females are the heterogametic sex with chromosomes ZW, while the males are the homogametic sex with chromosomes ZZ. In the case of sexing condors, we amplify a gene that is found in both males and females and is able to show variation in sequence length between the two female sex chromosomes.

The final step is to run gel electrophoresis to analyze the PCR samples. Here, DNA separates within an agarose gel depending on the size of the DNA fragment produced by PCR. The gene amplified from a female’s W chromosome is longer and produces a different size fragment compared to the DNA fragment produced by the Z chromosome. The males, therefore, show only one band while females show two distinct bands in a gel. As the gel picture shows, Saticoy’s DNA sample produced one band by PCR, and we can then say…it’s a boy!

Heidi Davis is a research coordinator and Asako Yamamoto is a research technician for the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research.

On the Africa Tram Safari, some of the first animals our guests see are the South African cheetahs. The Park has 1,800 acres, so we have space for a cheetah breeding facility where we have welcomed over 130 cheetah births. Many of our cheetahs born here become ambassadors for their species and go to other zoos to help bring awareness to their plight in the wild.

One of the most famous animals at the Park is the southern white rhino. In the early 1900s, the rhinos were hunted for their horns to the point where there were less than 500. For years, the practice in zoos was to put a male and a female rhino together and wait for them to breed. We now know that southern white rhinos are social animals, and the females like to be in a herd to help protect their babies. They won’t even come into heat unless they have that social group! Right now we have a male at the Park chasing the girls around, trying to court. The funniest thing about these animals is that if a male wants to court a female, he has to get the approval of the rest of the herd!

On the Rolling Safari Tours, our guests get to ride on a Segway X2 while getting to see the Asian animals that are not out for general viewing, such as the greater one-horned rhino, Przewalski’s horse (an extremely rare wild horse), Indian gaur (one of the few wild cattle left), and the Arabian oryx (an animal that was extinct in the wild but was brought back due, in part, to the Safari Park’s breeding efforts).

Taking a Safari Park tour is a great way to really see how involved San Diego Zoo Global is with conservation. Every tour lets you get extra information about what we do, our mission, and how you have helped and can continue to help as you leave the Park. I think the most exciting thing for some is seeing the new babies born. Since the Park opened in 1972, over 20,000 animals have been born here, and we help the scientific community by sharing our knowledge of animal behavior, successful techniques to secure breeding, and successful animal management.

If you have the time, please come check out the Zoo’s sister facility, the Safari Park. Watch these animals interact with each other in the large, open exhibits, and see animal behavior like you’ve never seen before.

Anastasia Horning is a panda narrator at the San Diego Zoo. Read her previous post, Our Growing Takin Calves.