animalphiles

Queen's zoo welcomes pronghorn

Continuing its mission to save wildlife and wild lands, the Wildlife Conservation Society's (WCS) Queens Zoo is proud to announce the debut of three pronghorns. An elegant creature, the pronghorn is unique in that it is the lone member of the family, Antilocapridae. They are true American natives and cannot be found naturally anywhere else in the world.

The new fawns--one male, two females--hail from two zoos in Kansas and North Dakota, but this species is known for long trips. Pronghorns are second only to Arctic caribou for long distance migration in the Western Hemisphere. Arriving at the Zoo in June when they were only days old, the fawns were bottle-fed a nutrient-rich formula by Zookeepers three times a day. Now, the pronghorns and the Zoo'€™s bison herd, two species that share the same land in the wild, reside in the same exhibit, making for an authentic "Great Plains" experience for both the animals and visitors.

In September, Zookeepers began settling the youngsters into their new home, which resembles the vast prairies of the West. Then, they introduced the pronghorn and the bison to each other in a controlled environment, before fully integrating the two species within the exhibit. The process was a success, and the animals are now cohabitating peacefully. The bison and pronghorn were curious about each other at first, but now tend to keep their distance, although zookeepers have seen an occasional sniff or lick between the two species.

Beat out only by the cheetah, the pronghorn is the second fastest animal in the world. Unfortunately, they can'€™t outrun the development of western lands that is quickly destroying their natural habitat. Once a very populous species, pronghorn numbers are now dwindling.

Pronghorns embark on the longest remaining overland migration in the continental United States, and for 6,000 years, this isolated population has traveled the same ground. According to WCS researchers, however, the pronghorn and its ancient migration route could vanish from an ecosystem that includes Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. The species could disappear due to continued development and human disturbance outside of these parks. Six of the eight antelope migration corridors in and out of the Yellowstone ecosystem have already been lost.

The Wildlife Conservation Society's Queens Zoo and field researchers are committed to protecting the pronghorn antelope. Through continued research, WCS hopes to solve the pronghorn crisis by working with government agencies to create a new wildlife corridor for these animals. Meanwhile, Zoo officials are certain that this remarkable species will captivate Zoo-goers, wonderfully shedding light on the pronghorns'€™ plight out west.
Photo: Julie Maher

Pushy female antelopes want sex, lots and lots of sex

From BBC News:
Male topi antelope in Africa have to fight off randy females or risk absolute exhaustion servicing the herd.

The species shows a sexual behavior that's the reverse of most animals, in that males are typically choosy, while females are aggressive.

According to research published in the journal Current Biology, this helps males conserve their sperm for the possibility of mating with new females. It therefore increases the chances of fatherhood with the widest possible number of partners.

Dr Jakob Bro-Jorgensen, who revealed the antelopes' complicated reproductive behavior, said: "In cases where the male antelope was free to choose between females, he deliberately went for the most novel mate, rather than the most high-ranking." He added: "However, some pushy females were so aggressive in their pursuit of the male that he actually had physically to attack them to rebuff their advances."

The research was undertaken in the Masai Mara area of Kenya, in the traditional breeding grounds of the topi. Females are fertile for a single day only. The topi antelope (Damaliscus lunatus jimela) come together once a year, for just over a month to mate.

Dr Bro-Jorgensen said: "It is not uncommon to see males collapsing with exhaustion as the demands of the females get too much for them." He observed that each female would mate, on average, with four males, while some reached 12 different partners. And each individual would be mated with approximately 11 times, although one pair was observed together on 36 occasions. "

[The females must] ensure that they become pregnant, and preferably with a hotshot male, so they must focus all their energies on ensuring that males mate with them in that time," Dr Bro-Jorgensen explained. These findings are contrary to conventional sexual selection theory which says males are competitive and females are choosy.

Talking to the BBC News website, Dr Bro-Jorgensen said: "We may not have our eyes open to the fact that opposite sexual conflicts may occur more commonly than we think. Normally, males are persistent and females resistant. What I saw in African topi was unexpected." The synchronized mating activity, and the species' promiscuity, makes males the limited resource and females the competitive ones. It is thought the females are interested in mating with several partners to ensure fertilization, in case their first choice happens to have reduced sperm supply, or is genetically incompatible with them.  

Odd-looking antelope gets more protection

A new nature reserve in north-western Kazakhstan will protect unique wetlands and habitats of rare saiga antelopes living on the country's famous steppes.

More than 93% of the Irgiz-Turgay nature reserve will become a protected pasture for wild ungulates, including saiga antelope.

“This large reserve is an important step in achieving our goal of creating a system of protected areas of more than 6 million hectares, first of all for rare ungulates and birds,” says Tatyana Bragina, Coordinator of the Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative.

The Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative (ADCI) is aimed at protecting the steppes and semideserts of Kazakhstan, along with the species inhabiting them.

The creation of the Irgiz-Turgay nature reserve is also an important step in implementing WWF's ECONET project, which aims to see a system of reserves connected by ecological corridors and buffer zones.  “The nature of the Irgiz-Turgay area has long been affected by overgrazing, agriculture and commercial fishing," says Olga Pereladova, head of WWF's Central Asia Programme. "Now these activities will be prohibited on part of the territory of the Irgiz-Turgay nature reserve and limited in the rest of the area.” 

The reserve also provides habitat to various species of waterbirds that use it for breeding and feeding. The area is also home to the globally threatened dalmatian pelican and white-headed duck during the molting season.

This knobby-knee action would be a Cute Overload* hit

An endangered Arabian Oryx, born this week, is on display at the Wildlife World Zoo in Litchfield Park, Arizona.

The Arabian oryx has a special connection to Phoenix.  It was here, some 40 years ago, that the remaining few Oryx were bred to keep them from going extinct.  Thanks to the original efforts of the Phoenix Zoo, the San Diego Zoo and subsequently others including Wildlife World Zoo, there have been hundreds of Arabian Oryx born since then.  It is one of the best examples of a conservation success story.  Some Oryx have even been reintroduced into their native habitat in and around the Arabian Peninsula

As home to several additional varieties of desert and semi desert African antelope including the Scimitar Horned Oryx and the Addax, Wildlife World Zoo has made financial contributions to similar conservation efforts to restore these endangered species to their native habitats. 

*cuteoverload

Is that a unicorn I see?

The Arabian oryx is believed to have inspired the myth of the unicorn. Now a baby of the rare antelope species is inspiring lots of awwwws at the Kanazawa Zoo in Yokohama, Japan.

When the Arabian oryx is viewed from the side, its two horns merge to form the appearance of a single horn, prompting many to speculate that this is where stories of unicorns first came from.

The creature, whose natural habitat is the Arabian Peninsula, was once extinct in the wild. However, its numbers have recovered with the release into the wild of animals bred in captivity.
Photo: Makoto Miyazaki/Daily Yomiuri

Wolves change elk breeding habits

Wolves are causing a decline in the elk population in and around Yellowstone National Park, but it is not the direct result of predation. Instead, the mere presence of the wolves is altering the elk's breeding patterns.

A study published in the journal Science shows herds regularly targeted by packs produced fewer pregnancies and calves.

Researchers found when wolves are present, elk tend to move around more, eat in different places and change how they cluster in groups. "Elk in the absence of wolves go about their business in one way, they go about the task of feeding themselves, then you put wolves on the landscape and now they have two priorities to trade off one another. They have a behavioral response to wolves," says Scott Creel, ecology professor at Montana State University, who led the study.

The ratio of calves to cows, which is considered an important gauge of an elk herd's overall health, was lower in areas where wolves were busier. Creel says results of the latest study could help wildlife managers better understand and predict elk population by using elk-to-wolf ratios and using progesterone levels to estimate how many calves there will be the following year.

Antelope with prized wool makes comeback

Returning from a recent 1,000-mile expedition across Tibet’s remote Chang Tang region, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) biologist George Schaller reports that the Tibetan antelope – once the target of rampant poaching – may be increasing in numbers due to a combination of better enforcement and a growing conservation ethic in local communities.

The eight-week journey took place over a remarkably uninhabited region that routinely ranged between 16,000-17,000 feet.  Researchers counted nearly 9,000 Tibetan antelope or chiru, more than expected. The team witnessed no direct evidence of the widespread poaching that was evident just a few years ago. 

Tibetan antelope produce the finest wool in the world, known as shahtoosh, which translates to “king of wool.”  Beginning in the late 1980s, shahtoosh shawls became fashionable in Europe and the U.S., which fueled a black market and widespread poaching in this remote area.  In the mid 1990s, Schaller estimated that perhaps 75,000 chiru remained in the wild, with as many as 20,000 falling to poachers annually.  However, no comprehensive census of chiru has ever taken place due to a sprawling range that spans more than 250,000 square miles.
photo: George Schaller/WCS

Plans to kill bison, elk in Wyoming

The government wants to reduce the number of bison and elk in Grand Teton National Park and the National Elk Refuge in Wyoming.  Officials want to cut the bison herd in half, from about 1,000 to around 500, while culling about 2,500 of the 7,500 elk.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the reductions are needed because of overgrazing and because many of the animals carry brucellosis, a disease that can spread to cattle. The park and refuge will be opened up to hunters, and the service will cut back on the century-old tradition of feeding the herds in winter by tons of alfalfa pellets.

Wildlife advocates object to the plan. "You can't continue to artificially inflate the numbers of bison and then say, 'We have to shoot them,'" Jonathan Lovvorn, a lawyer for the Fund for Animals and a vice president for the U.S. Humane Society told Reuters. "We also have concerns about hunting a semi-tame animal, concerns about fair chase."

Canada caribou population declining

From Reuters:
The caribou population in Canada's vast Northwest Territories is falling rapidly and global warming could make it difficult for the species to recover.

Herds of barren-ground caribou have dropped by between 40 and 86 percent over the last decade. The largest single herd fell from 472,000 animals in 1986 to 128,000 in 2006 and is still declining. Officials with the environment and natural resources ministry say it is causing a high level of concern.

See complete article from Reuters.

Elk gets in sticky situation

UPDATE: ELK HAS FREED ITSELF!!

An elk wandering around the suburbs of Estes Park, Colorado, somehow managed to get a plastic lawn chair stuck around its neck.

Wildlife officials have fielded hundreds of concerned phone calls, but say they want to wait a short while and see if the chair (which appears broken) comes off on its own.  Freezing overnight temperatures make tranquilizing the elk risky, but officials say they will do it if they think it has become necessary. See more pictures on the denverchannel.com