2008 was the International Year of the Frog – a huge international effort to promote the conservation of the remaining amphibians from the current extinction crisis. But don't stop there! Make every year, a year of the frog.
Why? Because dozens of the world’s 6000 species have become extinct in the last hundred years, and biologists feel that as many as 35% to 50% of the remaining species will disappear within the next generation. This is in part due to a chytrid fungal disease (now spread nearly worldwide), exploitation of amphibians through the pet trade and as a food source, habitat loss, climate change, pollution, and other causes. Numerous zoos in dozens of countries are taking in and breeding the surviving remnant populations of frogs on the edge of extinction. Hundreds of others spent 2008 promoting amphibian conservation throughout their facilities and into the schools. The task is enormous, costly, and technically challenging but the effort is worth it.
As part of the Assinboine Park Zoo and Zoo Society of Manitoba’s contribution to this program, (in addition to the amphibian based tours, talks and camps that occurred at the Zoo Education Centre last year), bilingual, illustrated signs (20 x 24-inch) were produced on all 15 species in the province. These signs (including frogs, toads and salamanders) are now being installed at the zoo. You can view them on the internet at the Zoo Society’s website, www.zoosociety.com and at www.naturenorth.com.
Thanks to a grant from Manitoba Conservation’s Sustainable Development Innovations Fund, the zoo was able to produce 165 signs for 18 organizations around the province, and these are just now been distributed. Copies were made available to all Manitoba nature facilities free of charge and will soon be displayed in many national, provincial and city parks, museums, nature centres, and public trails (e.g., Bishop Grandin Greenway Trail).
Primates at the Assiniboine Park Zoo
Prosimians Ring-tailed Lemurs (V)
Red-ruffed Lemurs (EN)
Black and White Ruffed Lemurs (EN)
Monkeys
Old World:
Lion-tailed Macaques (EN)
New World:
Squirrel Monkeys (LR)
White-fronted Marmoset (V)
Goeldi's Marmoset (NT)
Apes
Javan (Silvery) Gibbon (CE)
White-handed (Lar) Gibbon (NT*)
Mel (White-handed Gibbon) with his son Manny (above)
The whole family, including mom (below)
Legend:
CE = Critically Endangered
EN = Endangered
V = Vulnerable
NT = Near Threatened
LR = Low Risk
* The white-handed gibbon is now listed as extinct in China, but exists elsewhere.
**Many of the Assiniboine Park Zoo's primates are endangered or threatened with extinction, and are part of various Species Survival Programs.
Current to January 14, 2010
Did you know?
All of the animals and plants in the world have scientific names. These names are decriptive of physiology, colour or habitat and are either Latin or Latinized Greek words. Latin and Greek are ancient European languages, which are no longer spoken, and therefore unlike modern languages, they will never change. For this reason, the scientific names will remain fixed, and are recognizable to all scientists no matter what language they speak or where they work.
The Waterfowl Pond
The waterfowl collection of the Assiniboine Park Zoo represents a very diverse display of waterfowl from North America.
On your next visit to the zoo, see if you can identify any of the following species in the muskox pond or the Native Water Bird building:
There is only one species of takin; however the species is split into three subspecies.The Assiniboine Park Zoo has the Sichuan takin.
HABITAT
In the summer takins are found in mountains at elevations of 1,000 to 4,000 m.
In the winter months they are found in forested valleys at lower elevations.
There natural range is from western China to Nepal, Assam, Bhutan and Myanmar
ZOO LOCATION: Across from the zebra
ZOO FOOD: Hay, high-fibre pellets, aspen, vegetables and fruit
WILD FOOD
Takins primarily forage in the early morning and late afternoon.
In summer they browse in alpine environments on a variety of herbaceous plants and the deciduous leaves of shrubs and trees.
In winter months, takin feed on the twigs and evergreen leaves of a variety of woody species.
APPEARANCE
Takins look similar to an Ox with strong legs and broad, round hooves.
Their length varies between 105-245 cm and their height 68-137 cm. Females usually weight approximately 250 kg and males 400 kg.
Their coat is dense and shaggy with a stripe along the back. A bull’s face is often dark while only the nose is dark on females and calves. All takins have an arched nose and hairy snout.
Both sexes of takins have impressive horns that can reach up to 64 cm in length.
The average lifespan of takins in the wild is unknown but they live up to 16 years in captivity.
Takins appear to seasonally migrate to preferred habitats. In winter, females and young live in small herds of 10-15 individuals, but in spring they gather in herds up to 300. Older males remain solitary throughout most of the year but gather with females during the rutting (mating) season.
Takins do not have skin glands but their entire body secretes an oily, strong smelling substance. This substance is thought to serve as a moisture barrier on the animal’s coat, protecting it from moisture caused by fog and rain.
Takins use a variety of different sounds to “talk” amongst themselves. If danger approaches a takin will emit a loud warning cough to alert other animals in the herd. During the rutting season, males are often heard producing a low bellow as a warning or challenge to other competing males.
POPULATION AND STATUS
Takin are considered vulnerable.
There are approximately 17,000 takins remaining in the wild but only 5,000 of the Sichuan takin (the species we house at the zoo).
There are approximately 140 takins in zoos around the world, approximately 60 of the Sichuan takin subspecies.
THREATS
Human threats to the takin include deforestation by logging and agricultural expansion.
Local native people hunt takins for their highly prized meat.
Brown bears and wolves are the main natural predators to takins.
TERRIFIC TAKIN FACTS
The takin is the national animal of Bhutan while China considers the takin a national treasure and provides it full protection under the law.
The mythological ‘golden fleece’ sought by Jason and the Argonauts is believed to have come from a takin.
Takins often travel long distances to naturally occurring mineral deposits known as ‘salt licks’ to replenish minerals needed in their diet.
For more information on the takin, please Click Here.
Debby, the Assiniboine Park Zoo's Matriarch passed away on Monday, November 17, 2008. Debby was the oldest living polar bear, both in captivity or the wild, and holds the record in the 2008 Guiness Book of World Records. Bears occasionaly live 30 or more years in captivity but the the average longevity is only 10 - 20 years in the wild.
Debby was recently showing signs of declining health and weight loss but was free to spend time whereever she felt most comfortable (inside or out). Debbie was also being fed only her favourite foods and treated with as much love and dignity as would be afforded a member of the family. A decision was made, by zoo keepers and veteranarians to euthanize Debby after a routine health check found she had gone into organ failure.
Debby was born in 1966 in the wild, likely in the Arctic islands of Russia, and was sent as an orphan to the Tillberg Zoo in the Netherlands. She arrived in Winnipeg on September 6, 1967, where she soon became one of the Assiniboine Park's Zoo's most famous stars. She has been admired by over 15 million people over the last four decades.
Debby's mate Skipper died in 1999 at the age of 34 -- an exceptional age for a male polar bear. The pair demonstrated great compatibility and had six surviving offspring from 1974 - 1984. The zoo has displayed a number of polar bears since 1939.
For more information on Debby and Skipper, please visit our Zoo Blog
For information on Winnie-the-Bear (later made famous as Winnie-the-Pooh), please click the link: WINNIE
Waldo and Hilda (above) / Maskwa and Brunswick (below)
Do Bears Hibernate?
Bears do not hibernate; instead they enter a period of winter sleep called torpor. They remain in their dens for 2 ½ to 7 months depending on their local climate without eating, drinking, urinating or defecating. Consequently, there is very little odour in the den because no body wastes have been eliminated there. Smaller animals that do enter hibernation, like dormice, frogs and bats.
It takes a bear about two weeks before it can fall into a deep sleep. A bear’s heart rate during torpor drops to 8 beats/minute from a normal of 40-50 beats/minute. By comparison, the body temperature of a true hibernator like a ground squirrel drops from 38°C to as low as 1.7°C while its heart rate drop to less than one beat/minute from a normal of more than 100 beats/minute.
A bear uses only half the normal amount of oxygen while it is sleeping but its brain remains totally active. The brain of a true hibernator is almost completely inactive. A bear depends on its fat reserves to keep it alive during torpor. By the spring, 15% to 25% of its weight is lost – all in fat. Only brown, American black and female polar bears den in the winter.
Bear Paws and Ponder
There are no bears in Africa, Australia or the Antarctic.
Bear lips, unlike the lips or other animals, are not attached directly to the gums.
Bears have what is called plantigrade walk. That is, they walk on their heels like humans.
They have paws with five digits and curved non-retractable claws (claws that can’t be pulled in) that are good for digging and fighting.
Polar bears have fur on the bottom of their feet for warmth and for extra grip on ice.
Female bears are called sows while male bears are known as boars.
A large brown bear can overtake a running horse, reaching speeds of 56 km (35 miles) per hour over short distances.
Many of us are already familiar with polar bears, black bears, brown bears and giant pandas, but there are four other lesser-known bears – all of which are endangered with extinction.
Sun Bear - Helarctos malayanus
Sloth Bear - Melursus ursinus
Spectacled Bear - Tremarctos ornatus
Asiatic Black Bear (Moon Bear) - Ursus thibetanus
Compiled and written by Scott Gray, Education Director
