Goualougo Triangle Ape Project
Gombe Field Research
Serengeti Health Initiative
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Protecting the Puerto Rican Parrot Lincoln Park Zoo is lending its population-planning expertise to help the endangered Puerto Rican Parrot continue on its path to recovery. |
Project ChimpCARE
There are an estimated 2,200 chimpanzees living in the United States today, more than three times the number estimated in their home range country of Tanzania in East Africa. Unlike other great apes in the United States, chimpanzees are housed in wide variety of facilities including zoos, research centers, sanctuaries and as pets and performers under private ownership.
Ape Conservation Database
Although public concern for ape conservation is growing, no central clearinghouse exists for information about conservation projects and research sites. To help fill this gap Lincoln Park Zoo designed and maintains a comprehensive “Ape Conservation Database,” which organizes data on everything from scientific research projects to surveys of ape habitats.
Tarangire Elephant Modeling
This project focuses on analyzing and modeling the demography of the elephant population in Tarangire National Park in Tanzania, which has been studied since 1993 by Charles and Lara Foley. In collaboration with the Foleys, Lincoln Park Zoo scientists have been working to analyze the 10+ years of demographic data collected to document the dynamics of the population, which may be one of the most rapidly growing on record. We have also developed a demographic model to project future population dynamics, which will help assess the potential impacts of management options for the population in the park.
Gombe National Park Ecosystem Health Project
Avian Reintroduction Database
Reintroduction is a powerful conservation tool in the restoration of endangered species. In partnership with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the zoo has developed a database on avian reintroduction and translocation programs that can help guide the design of future reintroductions, characterize past reintroduction practices, and compare and contrast procedures across programs. For reintroduction theory and practice to progress, it is essential that the design of future reintroductions be based on rigorous review of methods, results and lessons from the past. The Avian Reintroduction Database has been featured by National Geographic Today News in an article titled “New Avian Database to Help in Bird Species Survival.” The story can be found here.
Risk Assessment-Based Decision Tree Analysis for the Management of Avian Mycobacteriosis in Conservation Programs
Infectious diseases can impact the health of individual birds as well as populations in captivity, in the wild or during reintroduction efforts. When the disease is chronic and difficult to diagnose, the situation further worsens. Such is the problem of Mycobacterium avium, or avian mycobacteriosis (tuberculosis). This disease is prevalent worldwide in both captive and wild populations. Once infected, an individual may become sick and die or remain healthy while releasing large amounts of viable infectious organisms into the environment, further spreading disease. Prevention and control are hampered by the lack of reliable testing, which results in an overreliance on slow-growing bacterial cultures for disease confirmation and an inability to effectively treat the disease. All of these factors have made this disease highly problematic for those needing to move animals between zoological institutions. As such, a science-based approach to assessing the risk of this disease is highly needed.
In order to address this need, Lincoln Park Zoo’s veterinary (Kathryn C. Gamble, D.V.M., M.S., Dipl. A.C.Z.M., director of Veterinary Services), conservation (Dominic A. Travis D.V.M., M.S., director of the Davee Center for Epidemiology and Endocrinology), and collection departments (Robyn Barbiers, D.V.M., vice president of Collections and Megan R. Ross Ph.D., interim general curator and Hope B. McCormick Curator of Birds) led the development, with a team of avian managers and veterinarians, of an easy-to-use risk assessment tool useful for all avian species and various collection sizes. Its use encourages managers and veterinarians to jointly fill out a survey in Microsoft Access that results in a “risk grade” for the potential of spreading this disease between housing facilities via the shipment of an individual or group of birds. "Risk grades" are set up in a stoplight fashion, resulting in three categories: red (high risk), yellow (medium risk) and green (low risk), with associated management recommendations. It is important to keep in mind that this tool is not meant to provide THE answer, but should be used as a starting point for discussion.
In order to download the tool and associated materials, click on the links below. These links include the tool in Microsoft Access format (you must have this software to open it); an instruction manual for installing and using the tool—including how to print and open reports; and three example reports, one for each risk level (these report files are in .snp format and must be viewed through Microsoft Access or opened using Microsoft Snapshot software available separately).
Given that there is no such thing as “zero risk,” we hope this tool is useful for making decisions regarding avian shipments in the face of uncertainty. Please feel free to send feedback to any of the project coordinators listed above at Lincoln Park Zoo.
Avian Mycobacteriosis Risk Assessment Tool v10.11 (Microsoft Access format)
Documentation and Instructions for v10.11 (PDF)
Risk Level Examples: (Note: the example files are in .snp and require Microsoft Access to be viewed. Right click the links below and choose "Save Target As..." in the popup menu.)
Ape Behavioral Monitoring and Space Use Project
Data Standards for Studbook and Institutional Records
In 1997 the zoo received an Institute of Museum and Library Services grant to develop data-entry standards for studbook and institutional records. This process brought together 27 experts in mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, and zoo collections to develop data-entry guidelines that have been used for eight years across AZA institutions. Click on the links to download a PDF of the studbook or institutional records standards:
Studbook Standards (1.8MB PDF)
Institution Record Standards (1.1MB PDF)
Investigation of Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Hornbills
The captive population of giant Indian hornbills (Buceros bicornis) consists of only 70 individuals and has experienced seven deaths due to invasive squamous cell carcinoma, a cancer that affects the hornbill’s casque (bill). Lincoln Park Zoo veterinary researchers are working to identify potential causes for this fatal illness by systematically sampling captive populations in the United States and Europe and in in situ populations in Asia.
West Nile Virus Monitoring
In June 2001 Lincoln Park Zoo co-hosted a meeting with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that brought zoo professionals together with human and veterinary public health experts from local, state and federal agencies in order to create a nation-wide surveillance system for West Nile virus in zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. This meeting resulted in a document entitled Surveillance for West Nile Virus in Zoological Institutions and the implementation of a one-year pilot study. The value of this system is two-fold; zoos receive affordable, reliable diagnostic testing, while public health officials increase the scope of West Nile virus surveillance data. The initial objective of this program was to detect geographic spread of the virus. Phase II included a serosurvey of archived blood to determine if viral activity could be documented before the first case found in any area. Now that WNV is endemic throughout most of the United States, the system is being redirected toward monitoring trends in captive wildlife over time.
Channel Island Fox Reintroduction Project
Quantifying UVB Emission
Special lights manufactured for use with captive reptiles claim to emit ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation necessary for vitamin D production. These lights have not been scientifically tested for the quantity of UVB they produce orfor the length of time they produce UVB radiation. Zoo researchers are testing lights to quantifying the amount of UVB detected at different distances and the duration that UVB radiation is emitted.
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