According to Silvia Schuh, events coordinator for Miller Park Zoo, “The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) hosts an event every year called Party for the Planet and there is a series of events and this is part of that.” “It’s Endangered Species Day and part of the focus is to educate and teach people about how important it is to take care of our animals,” Schuh said on Saturday.
Pearl Yusuf, general curator for the zoo explained the AZA “is a national accreditation entity that oversees, not oversees as in running, but it’s a coalition of all of the zoos that aspire to or meet their accreditation levels.
So it sponsors and encourages zoos that are part of AZA to do these kind of events,” Yusuf said. “It’s kind of a unifying message that we want to get across through zoos bringing attention to species that need more attention.
The red panda is one of those species that needs attention and is on the endangered list. Miller Park has two red pandas that were born at the zoo. When it’s time to breed the animals to ensure propagation of the species one panda will be sent to another zoo and another panda will be sent to Miller Park.
The hooded crane is another animal that is on the endangered species list that Miller Park has. Currently Yusuf is tasked with finding a mate for the lone young male crane which will require a female coming from another zoo or the Miller crane visiting a female at another zoo.
Miller Park Zoo also has a red wolf another animal on the endangered species list. Formerly red wolves ranged from Pennsylvania to Missouri to Texas to Florida. Today they can only be found in the wild in a limited section of eastern North Carolina. Only 15-20 red wolves remain in their natural habitat. At the Alligator River National Refuge Area you may see some of these wolves.
Last month in a press release the North Carolina Zoo celebrated the birth “of three litters of critically endangered red wolves as part of its red wolf breeding program. The litters comprising 12 pups were born during three days from April 28 to April 30.” “This is the first time in the (North Carolina) Zoo’s breeding program that three litters were born in one spring.”
According to CNN, there are only 278 red wolves in captivity.
Another endangered species that can be seen at the Miller Park Zoo is a galapagos tortoise.
