Whenever I search “San Diego Zoo Galapagos Conservation” I only get results about the tortoises that the zoo keeps. I know San Diego has worked with the Charles Darwin Research Station in their hand-reading program for mangrove finches, but not for tortoises. I visited CDRS two months ago. They (along with the Ecuadorian government) control all tortoise conservation on the islands.
From the website:
In 2012, renowned geneticist Oliver Ryder, Ph.D., was invited to an international workshop on the Galápagos Islands to plan the next 10 years of Galápagos tortoise conservation efforts. He is the director of genetics at the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research and Kleberg Chair, as well as a creative problem solver with a deep capacity to understand the big conservation picture. The workshop utilized the expertise of people around the world in many different fields, including ecology, biology, horticulture, herpetology, physiology, genetics, and wildlife diseases, among others. Dr. Ryder was particularly pleased that the people who would be managing the areas and implementing the ideas, like park guards and local ecologists, were full participants.
Issues facing the delicate ecosystems of different islands, like invasive plant species (guava and blackberries), health and recruitment of wildlife populations, the elimination of nonnative species like goats and rats, and the containment of farm animals to protect native species, were addressed. “The San Diego Zoo has a long history of contributing to Galápagos tortoise conservation,” said Dr. Ryder. “This workshop was another great opportunity to provide thoughtful ideas and suggestions to the Galápagos authorities to guide conservation strategies into the next decade."
They don't necessarily need to be managing individual animals in order to be contributing to the conservation of the species.
SDZ keeps no “breeding assurance colonies” for amphibians as far as I’m aware. I’m not even sure that they breed their Panamanian golden frogs.
From the website about mantella frogs:
The San Diego Zoo began exhibiting mantellas in the late 1980s and has successfully bred and maintained the critically endangered golden mantellas and bronze-backed mantellas...
...The San Diego Zoo is involved in breeding two mantella species to learn more about them and to help preserve these jewels of the rain forest for future generations.
About Panamanian golden frogs:
In fact, the Zoo has been so successful in its breeding efforts that we have been selected to house some extremely important “founders,” or wild-caught members, of the managed-care population as a safeguard for the species. These frogs are of great importance genetically to the breeding program, and it is an honor to be selected to work with them.
Since 2003, when San Diego Zoo Global received 20 young Panamanian golden frogs, we have had almost 500 hatch here...
Under poison frogs:
San Diego Zoo Global’s scientists have been working with other scientists to survey and document the impact of chytrid in Panama.
Under frog and toad:
San Diego Zoo Global has long supported the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project to save frogs through biosecurity consultation and education, providing disease testing to over 80 zoos nationwide. We have developed disease-control guidelines for a variety of endangered amphibians, including the Kihansi spray toad, a species from Tanzania that currently exists only in zoos.
...San Diego Zoo Global works with its staff to help keep this valuable population of amphibians healthy and sustainable by providing disease-screening services. Assisting in coordination of activities and providing educational resources is the Amphibian Ark, a joint effort of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the International Union for Conservation of Nature...
...San Diego Zoo Global is working to restore the ecosystem balance in the San Jacinto Mountains through our captive-breeding and reintroduction efforts for the mountain yellow-legged frog. Since 2010, we have successfully reintroduced zoo-bred mountain yellow-legged frog tadpoles into the wild at Hall Canyon on the University of California’s James San Jacinto Mountains Reserve, where the frogs had been extinct for more than 40 years. Radio transmitters in frog-sized backpacks have revealed a healthy 95-percent survival rate the first month and are now breeding in the wild!...
...We’re also gearing up to establish and freeze amphibian cell cultures in our Frozen Zoo® to help conserve the genetic diversity of frog and toad species. We’re hoping to team up with other zoos and field researchers to collect additional amphibian samples to increase our genome bank.
While they may provide funds and personnel, so does Atlanta, who has also taken it into their own hands to ensure that several species are established in captivity. San Diego isn’t responsible for any new species being brought into captivity, but I hadn’t even heard of rusty robber frogs until they were brought to El Valle as a result of the Amphibian Ark.
Even if SDZ has never brought an endangered herp into captivity, I don't see how that hurts them in this competition. We could talk all day about what zoo does more conservation work for herps but at the end of the day, they both do a lot of work. Your posts are making it seem like SDZ does little to nothing in terms of captive breeding or field work for herps when the opposite is true. In terms of this competition, I don't feel like comparing conservation efforts is relevant or constructive as all AZA zoos do their part and work together.
And this is one point where I think our arguments most differ: this match is strictly about SDZ, so while I acknowledge the work of SDZG for them, SDZSP is considered a competitor of SDZ. SDZ exhibits some of what the latter has, but SDZSP’s breeding programs for Jamaican iguana (which SDZ does not even have) hold far more weight to me and for the purposes of the challenge are not connected to SDZ.
SDZSP is a competitor when SDZ and SDZSP are matched up against one another. That hasn't happened yet. Until then, there is no way to distinguish if SDZG's conservation efforts should be attributed to either facility unless specified. Because of this, there is no good reason to dismiss their efforts and claim what Atlanta is doing is remarkable compared to SDZ.
, could a moderator please change the title from match 9, to match 10. I'm sorry for all these typos but I didn't have time to make the thread so I'm on mobile and I have to rush out this morning.
