TORONTO, ON, Tuesday, August 15, 2023: It’s your Toronto Zoo’s 49th birthday, and we’re taking the opportunity to celebrate the incredible work our team does in the fight against extinction, often long after their shift has ended for the day. The fight to save endangered species reaches far beyond the borders of the Greater Toronto Area and for many individuals here at your Toronto Zoo this means heading straight to the source to help with boots-on-the-ground animal conservation efforts abroad.
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The passion that drives the Wildlife Care staff to care so deeply for the animals here at the Zoo doesn’t end when they sign out at the end of a shift. These are real animal activists who dedicate enormous amounts of time and effort to projects and organizations that greatly benefit from their support in our collective fight against extinction. For some this means fundraising to help support animal protection efforts abroad. For others, it even means using some vacation time to travel to Africa, for example, to volunteer in parks, reserves and sanctuaries. Many spend time connecting with peers, researchers and fellow conservationists working in the wild to exchange knowledge and innovative research to help ensure a better future for these animals in the wild. Whether it is funds raised, knowledge shared, or time spent in the field, the contributions made by these dedicated individuals is important support in the conservation efforts for some of the world’s most critically endangered species.
“Conservation science and the fight against extinction is a team sport, and I’m proud to work in an organization that has so many key players” says Dolf DeJong, CEO, Toronto Zoo. “Fighting extinction is an uphill climb, and it’s amazing to watch the passion continue to grow when people pour themselves wholeheartedly into these causes. They get out there, experience the plight these species are facing first-hand, and bring that knowledge and fervour back with them to share with our team, our guests, and our community.”
While many Toronto Zoo team members participate in conservation work in the wild, we’d like to highlight a few people who were inspired by the animals they care for to travel abroad to get involved in boots-on-the-ground work with their wild counterparts!
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When she isn't caring for the seven Western lowland gorillas that call the Zoo home, African Rainforest Keeper Sue volunteers with Ape Action Africa. Since 2005, Sue has traveled to Mefou National Park in Cameroon. This conservation and rescue organization focuses on the rehabilitation of orphaned gorillas and chimpanzees, as they continue to battle numerous threats including the bushmeat crisis, Ebola virus, and ongoing habitat loss.
Her work there includes preparing diets, collecting Aframomum leaves from the forest and delivering them to the enclosure areas, helping clean night houses, providing enrichment and observing groups. This work is one of the ways Keepers can use experience and research from the wild and apply it to the gorillas in human care.
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The knowledge she gathers from caring from our troop here at home in Toronto is also an opportunity to share these findings with those caring for their wild counterparts.
With funding provided by our partners, the Toronto Zoo Wildlife Conservancy, we’ve made a commitment to give $550,000 over ten years to support gorilla and orangutan conservation and survival in the wild. These funds directly support in situ conservation organizations like Ape Action Africa, who raise awareness of the impacts of poaching and trafficking and supports habitat restoration, and the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program, which raises awareness of deforestation of orangutan habitat and cares for orangutans impacted by the deforestation.
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This October, Lindsay was a part of the Climate Change Alliance program with Polar Bears International. The program involves gaining a better understanding of Arctic sea ice and the polar bears’ natural history, a grounding in climate science and the urgent need to act, training (alongside NNOCCI- The National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation) in how to communicate effectively about climate change, based on tested language and metaphors and guidance in developing a community action plan.
Lindsay completed an eight-month learning course and attended a climate alliance summit in Churchill. It was an invaluable learning experience, and a strong reminder of the positive impact we can have on climate change as Keepers and what the public can also do to help polar bears in the wild.
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This was a great opportunity to be surrounded by biologists and researchers that are working in the field as well as many Zoo Keepers that spend their days working with polar bears in captivity. Working together with the knowledge gained through polar bears in the wild and in captivity provides invaluable information that is shared internationally and is essential for the survival of this vulnerable species.
The Toronto Zoo is a champion for Canada’s majestic polar bears listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), but sadly are at risk of becoming endangered if global warming is not addressed. As a national leader in conservation and species survival, we have been actively involved in collaborative research projects to understand polar bear reproductive biology within zoological associations and conservation institutions, including North American Species Survival Plan (SSP) and a close partnership with Polar Bears International (PBI).
PBI has an international network of Arctic Ambassador Centres that educate the public about climate change and provide leadership for carbon reduction within their communities. We are proud to be an active member of this significant network since 2007. As an Arctic Ambassador Centre, the Toronto Zoo is fortunate to have the opportunity to send staff to participate in PBI’s Climate Alliance in Churchill, Manitoba- the polar bear capital of Canada. Climate Alliance is a can-do working group focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and is designed for motivated individuals who want to advocate either personally, or through their organization, for sustainable lifestyles.
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Dr. Masters has been working as a veterinarian on conservation projects, with people and animals in countries where levels of biodiversity are high but threatened, for several years. In February and March, he travelled to Sariska Tiger Reserve in India to teach on the Interventions in Wild Animal Health course. Vets from around the world gather to learn and share experience in how best to provide veterinary input to projects that require the specialist skills of biologists, ecologists, veterinarians, social scientists, and others, to achieve positive conservation impacts. Nic helps on the chemical restraint and anesthesia section of the course in particular, using his knowledge from working with wild animals in zoos to strive for best practice under challenging field conditions.
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After a week in India, Nic flew on to Nepal to attend the 12th Saving Asia’s Vultures from Extinction (SAVE) annual meeting. The SAVE consortium has been instrumental in averting the extinction of the white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis) through conservation breeding centres, advocacy work, the banning of the veterinary drug that inadvertently caused their catastrophic decline, making the environment safe again, and monitoring birds once released. Nic has helped with annual health checks in the hundreds of birds in centres across India and Nepal and mentored local vets working on the program. In March he was present to see the release of the last group of captive-reared vultures in Nepal, as the successful program shifts its focus to ensuring these amazing natural scavengers survive in the wild, providing the essential natural systems services our ecosystem requires.
While attending the conference, Nic was able to apply his veterinary skills to assist an elephant having difficulty giving birth. While this was certainly an unplanned moment in his itinerary, it serves as a wonderful example of Nic’s commitment to helping wild species.
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A self-proclaimed rhino fanatic, Savanna Keeper Deserrai Buunk has spent the last 17 years of her career devoted to saving and protecting rhinos in the wild. Today there are only around 15, 900 rhinos in Africa, with 2-3 poached every day. The three white rhinos here at the Toronto Zoo are a jarring visual representation of that poaching statistic. She is determined these smart, sensitive, and gentle animals cannot go extinct in her lifetime.
Fundraising for rhino conservation both at the Zoo and offsite led to her first trip. Visiting Lewa Conservancy in Kenya and seeing wild Black and White Rhinos plus all the other African species she works with was life changing. She asks herself “how do we ensure these places can fight the good fight”? Rhinos are an umbrella species, meaning they protect all the others that live in the same habitat and their extinction will have an extreme ecological impact.
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Deserrai was also invited to visit other conservation projects in South Africa through Global Conservation Corps | Conservation Education NonProfit. This was where she visited her first baby rhino orphanage, Rhino Orphanage | Zululand Conservation Trust and spoke with the conservationists on the reality of the poaching crisis. Again, she asked herself “how can I help all the way over here in Canada”? She went back to school for fundraising management in hopes of helping rhino conservation organizations. She currently volunteers for the International Rhino Foundation (rhinos.org) and felt she also wanted to help on the ground. In February, she had an incredible experience volunteering at a baby rhino orphanage, Care for Wild, hoping my skillset would be an asset for them. Although feeding and caring for the babies was a perk, she went specifically to see how they were so successful at taking these traumatized babies, rewild them and watching them thrive albeit in Intensive Protection Zones. There are amazing people on the ground fighting to save this species, and they truly are her heroes!
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Wondering how you can get involved in the fight against extinction?
When you visit your Toronto Zoo you are supporting not only the animals in our care, but also their wild counterparts. We work closely with conservation partners across the globe in the fight against extinction and these partnerships would not be possible without the ongoing support from our community and guests.
The Toronto Zoo Wildlife Conservancy is a dedicated partner in the fight against extinction with your Toronto Zoo, and they are proud to further the Zoo's conservation impact worldwide with the Wilding Endangered Species Preservation Fund. With the help of a generous donation, this fund was established to provide financial support to conservation projects in the wild (“in-situ”) and currently supports Western lowland gorillas, Sumatran orangutans, and African penguins. The program will expand in 2023 with an additional $450,000 to support red panda and Amur tiger conservation projects over the next ten years.
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The Toronto Zoo’s mission is to connect people, animals and conservation science to fight extinction and our vision is a world where wildlife and wild spaces thrive.
An iconic tourist attraction and Conservation organization, the Toronto Zoo boasts a number of leading programs for helping wildlife and their natural habitats – from species reintroduction to reproductive research. A world-class educational centre for people of all ages, the Toronto Zoo is open every day including December 25 and attracts approximately 1.2 million guests each year.
Toronto Zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). The Zoo has also achieved the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) Certificate of Good Animal Practice® and is inspected by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).
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