Conservation
International projects
Click the links below for more information on the international conservation projects we support
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Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Programme (Asian elephants) |
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Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP)
Over 90% of Sumatran
orangutan habitat has been decimated by illegal logging and the
growth of palm oil plantations. This, along with the illegal trade
of infant orangutans, remains the biggest threat to the survival of
this critically endangered species (the population in the wild is
just 7000).
SOCP (established 1999) has a medical quarantine facility in Medan, northern Sumatra where rescued orangutans are initially treated. From here they are moved to SOCP's Sungai Pengian rehabilitation and release station in Jambi province, in southern Sumatra - the only release station for orangutans in Sumatra. Once rehabilitated, they are released into Bukit Tigapuluh's buffer zone (created by SOCP), which borders Bukit Tigapuluh National Park.
Bukit Tigapulah National Park in south-west Jambi province comprises of 130,000 hectares of protected natural habitat. A biodiversity hot-spot, this area (roughly the size of Stewart Island) is also home to the Asian rhino, Asian elephant, Sumatran tiger, and an extremely rich diversity of other bird, fish, reptile, mammal and plant species. SOCP's roles encompass rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing 'ex-pet' animals, public education, research and monitoring, and habitat protection.
Auckland Zoo has been supporting SOCP since 2002, and is currently working alongside Frankfurt Zoo, Perth Zoo and Australia Zoo to fund wildlife protection units for Bukit Tigapuluh National Park. A wildlife protection unit consists of four trained officers recruited from local communities who actively patrol the park to protect inhabitants from poachers, as well as illegal logging. These units are also involved in implementing education programmes, and other duties, including carrying out animal surveys in the area.
Sungai Pengian Orangutan Rehabilitation Station
Sungai Pengian Station in Sumatra's Bukit Tigapuluh (BT) National Park is an integral part of BT's re-introduction project, as it's the place where rehabilitated orangutans spend time before being released into the wild.
Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund has been playing its part in protecting BT since 2007, by funding one of eight Wildlife Protection Units (WPUs). These units have been successful in protecting the habitat for all the species that live within the park's borders including elephant, tiger, rhino, sun bear siamang gibbon, and a multitude of other fauna and flora.
The Fund is now stepping up its efforts for this critically endangered primate by extending its financial support to include Sungai Pengian Station.
Today there are approximately 6300 Sumatran orangutans left in the wild, and with their numbers plummeting at a rate of 1000 per year, they urgently need our help if they are to survive into the future.
Releasing orangutans
Having secured habitat within Bukit Tigapuluh, the work of re-introducing orangutans into the park area can now really get going. Studies show that the park has an orangutan carrying capacity of at least 750 animals. Over 100 orangutans have been released into the area.
Depending on their condition on arrival, rescued orang utans can spend anything from a few days to months at Sungai Pengian Station - receiving medical treatment and rehabilitation help from staff.
Unfortunately, while some animals will not be able to be fully released and will require ongoing station support, these animals still have the capacity to breed. This means their offspring, along with other re-introduced animals, will be part of the new population in the park.
Wildlife Protection Units (WPUs) and elephants
Bukit Tigapuluh National
Park in Sumatra is home to at least 140 Asian elephants. Because of
their size, elephants require territory that is slightly more open.
The heart of the park is very dense forest but as you get to the
edges, it is slightly more open with the occasional clearing. A lot
of this habitat falls outside the park boundaries and is referred
to as the 'buffer zone'.
Unfortunately, the buffer zone falling outside the perimeter of the park is afforded less legal protection than the national park itself. This makes it more vulnerable to illegal poaching and logging operations. Predictably, skirting the edges of the park and areas more accessible to people puts the animals closer to human settlements and plantations. Venturing into these areas is very dangerous for an elephant. The availability and intervention of a WPU to help mitigate these human/animal conflicts will often result in an animal's life being spared.
Asian elephants generally
like to keep to their own, and despite their large size, camouflage
themselves very effectively in the Sumatran jungle. This
makes them notoriously difficult to find and study. However, WPUs
have been able to assist in vital research of many aspects of
elephant behaviour, monitoring diets, movements, density and
breeding. This provides vital data that may also assist in
mitigating futher animal/human conflicts, as well providing data
and evidence in support of gaining further habitat protection.
These Wildlife Protection Units (WPUs) in Bukit Tigapulah National Park are part of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP), which the Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund has supported for many years. As well as protecting elephants and orangutans, WPUs also work to protect other endangered species like the Sumatran tiger and Asian rhino.
Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Programme
The Biodiversity & Elephant Conservation Trust in Sri Lanka is a conservation education organisation delivering interactive, educational workshops to schools in areas of high human-elephant conflict.
As a result of increasing conflict in recent years, elephants are now seen by many Sri Lankan children living in villages as the villains of the forest - emerging from the trees at night to trample homes, steal crops and kill people.
The Trust's schools awareness programme aims to increase knowledge and understanding of the importance of elephants to Sri Lanka, the reasons why this conflict is occuring and the sorts of things that can be done to help. The Biodiversity & Elephant Conservation Trust's awareness programme has visited over 1,200 schools in the past eight years - approximately 150 schools a year. Through the Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund, Auckland Zoo supports a third of the programme (US$10,000) along with Zurich Zoo and Columbus Zoo.
Cheetah Outreach
The cheetah is Africa's most endangered big
cat, and now numbers just 12,000 to 13,000, primarily because of
loss of habitat (and therefore prey) to commercial farming and
development. In South Africa, where our cheetah were born, cheetah
now number fewer than 1,500 animals.
Cheetah Outreach is a non-profit Trust - set up in 1997 by founder, Annie Beckhelling, to prevent the extinction of cheetah. It has taken on the role of educator and fundraiser for the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF). Its roles encompass everything from school visits, community group presentations, film and documentary work, to personal encounters with ambassador cheetahs at the Stellenbosch compound.
Among Cheetah Outreach projects the Zoo's Conservation Fund assists is the Anatolian Livestock Guarding Dog Project in neighbouring Namibia, where the largest population of cheetah reside. Ninety per cent of these cheetah are found on commercial livestock farmland. In their protector role, Anatolian shepherd guard dogs safely and effectively prevent livestock loss to predators. In turn, cheetah are also protected. To date the Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund has sponsored two dogs (Kiwi and Kahu).
21st Century Tiger
Since the turn of the century, loss of habitat
and illegal poaching for skins and body parts has seen tiger
numbers plummet from over 100,000 to just 5000 to 7000. One of the
five remaining species, the 'Critically Endangered' Sumatran tiger
now numbers fewer than 400 in the wild, and less than 200 in
captivity.
21st Century Tiger is a unique wild tiger conservation partnership supported by the Australasian regional zoo organisation, the Zoo Aquarium Association (ZAA) in alliance with the European Zoo Association (EAZA) and the British Zoo Association (FZAABI).
Auckland Zoo supports 21st Century Tiger's Kerinci Seblat National Park project in Sumatra, which works to protect the Sumatran tiger in one of the world's most important tiger reserves. Funds are directed to 'rapid response' teams that implement conservation law and reduce tiger poaching and trafficking. Auckland Zoo is also involved in the international captive breeding programme for Sumatran tigers.
Red Panda Network
The Red Panda Network saves wild
red pandas and preserves their habitat through the empowerment of
local communities by adaptive community-based research, education,
and carbon mitigation.
The Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund has recently adopted the Red Panda Network as one of its key ongoing projects to financially support. So not only is Auckland Zoo providing founding stock for the breed-to-release programme, we are also doing everything we can to ensure the habitat animals are releasing into remains safe and protected.
Asian Turtle Project
Every year, around 10
million turtles and tortoises (many already endangered and some
declared extinct in the wild) are illegally sold for food and
traditional medicines. Cuc Phuong National Park, one of the last
projected forests in northern Vietnam, incorporates a centre for
wildlife rescued from this black market trade.
The Asian Turtle Project's Turtle Conservation Centre (TCC) serves as the flagship for turtle conservation, and is involved in a range of conservation activities including the establishment of 'insurance' populations for five priority turtle species. Advocacy, both locally and internationally, as well as research and the support of enforcement agencies against illegal trade, are also central to its roles.
Asian Rhino Project
The Asian Rhino Project (ARP) is a non-profit,
volunteer organisation who raise awareness and provide support for
the conservation of the three highly endangered Asian rhinoceros
species - the Sumatran rhino, the Javan rhino and the Indian
rhino.
Other projects
In addition, the Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund also provides support to a number of other projects, including Limbe Wildlife Centre in Cameroon, West Africa. We have also recently provided support to Samoa, with the development of an educational poster on endangered birds. This is being distributed nationally through schools to help raise awareness of endangered species.
Auckland Zoo and elephants
The passing of our beloved Asian elephant Kashin in 2009, and the resulting impact of this on both Zoo staff and the wider community, highlighted the amazing role both Kashin and Burma have played as conservation advocates. Integral to progressing our elephant programme is supporting elephant conservation in the wild.
Auckland Zoo currently supports elephant conservation projects in Sumatra and Sri Lanka.
