In Between the Spots

Go Green for the Holidays

2009-12-18T08:00:00.002-07:00

‘Tis the season for decking the halls, giving gifts, and getting together with family and friends. Celebrate an eco-friendly holiday season with these tips:

1. Traveling out of town to visit family? Share the ride with others going your way to reduce CO2 emissions and save money. Connect with people at www.erideshare.com

2. Put those cereal boxes to use! If you package your gifts, reuse empty boxes instead of buying new boxes. This saves trees and money!

3. Forget the boxes and bows and give experiences, such as tickets to a ball game or the Zoo! For example, ADOPT an animal at the Zoo in your child’s name!

4. Use energy-saving LED holiday lights instead of traditional light bulbs, as well as a time that automatically turns them off at night in case you forget to do it before going to bed.

5. Trim a tree for wildlife instead of cutting down a tree. Decorate a live tree in your yard with strings of popcorn and cranberries for wildlife to eat.

6. Consider getting a live tree from an organic tree farm. When it’s time to take out the tree, have it mulched to use in your spring garden instead of adding to the 10 million Christmas trees that end up in landfills every year.

7. Cut down on paper waste by emailing your holiday wishes or making your own cards out of recycled materials.

8. Recycle old maps, newspapers, and paper bags as gift wrap. If every family did this instead of using wrapping paper for just three presents, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.

9. Light your candles with beeswax or soy candles which burn cleaner than traditional candles.

10. Go organic for holiday dinners that are healthy for you and the environment

Breakfast with Santa

2009-12-15T08:00:00.002-07:00

Thank you to all those who attended Saturday’s Santa Breakfast! The food was fantastic and all our guests enjoyed spreading holiday cheer!

After Saturday morning’s breakfast, Santa told a poignant story: Something remarkable took place when a little girl, not more than six years old, presented Santa with the gift of a tiny snow globe…This wasn’t just any snow globe, however. This snow globe had been given to the girl by her parents the day she was born. Rather than the usual “asking”, this little girl had her heart set on giving as she joyfully presented her treasure to Santa.

Obviously moved by this sincere expression of love and joy, Santa told this story to all of us who were working on Saturday. This story will stay with me this holiday season- A story that truly represents love, unselfishness and everything Christmas.

We hope you will join us for our next Breakfast with Santa event Saturday, December 19 at 9:30 am.

Panama Travel Journal II - Day 1

2009-12-10T12:36:00.002-07:00

Glass Frog with eggs

December 8, 2009
-By Bob Chastain

Tuesday - It’s funny how life can turn on a dime. One second the world is piling up around you and the next second your Dad is having open heart surgery and nothing else matters. The call you MUST make matters little as you rear end the car in front of you. Panama is the same.

We left my house at 4:04 this morning to make an 8:30 a.m. flight. The snow and subzero weather made us worry. Turns out we made it to the airport with two hours to spare. Loading went well, and it seemed we would be on our way, except for that darned engine #1. Engine #2 worked just fine, but engine #1 did not want to start. Switch this, bang on that and still nothing. Then some brilliant person thought it must be cold. Two hours later and an external heater, we are off. We are scheduled to land at 2:15 p.m. and the flight to Panama and the three life lines that we are sending to the frogs there are nowhere to be found.

When we land in Houston the captain comes on and says, “The flight to Panama has already left. Please go to customer service.” Then a lady comes on and says, "They are holding the Panama flight. You will have to run if you want to catch your flight." Run we did. Houston is a big city airport with multiple terminals. The run had us sweaty and tired when we reached the gate and they say, “We were never told to hold the flight and it left seven minutes ago.” The airport turns “Matrix” and time stops. What was a huge rush 30 seconds ago has now turned into timelessness. Everything is slow motion now. We are told there are no more flights to Panama and given a hotel in Houston. The world returns to normal.

It’s funny how people react to things like this. Some are angry. Very angry. Some frustrated. Some crushed. Me? I am calculated. I think to myself, “Does getting angry at the lady behind the desk help, or does niceness help?” I try to use the best strategy to get the result I need. In this case, we have frogs to save, but they will have to wait one day. They will have to fight Chytrid in the wild for one more day. They will wait, as we wait.

For a solution to the problem at hand, we get booked into a hotel; make about a half of a billion phone calls to cancel horses at the Panamanian trail head. They were to meet us tomorrow after a 5:00 a.m. departure. The project director will now have a day to make final preparations in-country and the other expedition members will have to put hope on hold. We make the second half of a billion phone calls to check in at work, deal with the latest problems, rebook hotels in Panama that are now full, and look for something to eat.

Modern airports are like small cities with plastic knives. Since we are in Houston, near the coast, we decide on a seafood place and a three hour lunch. We miss the 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. buffet by 20 minutes. Just our luck, since now the expensive dinner menu starts our 3:20 p.m. lunch. But I have to admit, the service was nice and the food was good. We talked to the lady at the restaurant about why all their nice meals come with plastic knifes. You guessed it. National Security. We discussed why people don’t care about forks. They seem dangerous. We talked about how the whole world takes off their shoes in airport security because of one man. Strange place we live in…..

I have stopped taking Malarone, my malaria medicine, because my Achilles tendon is hurting. The one known side effect with Malarone is that your Achilles tendon can just rip and detach for no reason. I am more than a little worried about the walk tomorrow. I have iced it and taken ibuprofen, so we will see what happens. I am sure, right now, you and I are in the same boat. Too many things to think about and not enough time to control all the variables. Who knows how life would turn out if there were no variables? If left to our own designs, I am afraid we would sit wrapped in our version of our “perfect world” with little left to live for. Nobody hates discomfort and “unconvinced” more than me. Without it though, the desire to learn and grow would be lost. Relationships would have no passion. That to me would be the tragedy I would never want to face.

Winter WildLand

2009-12-09T12:00:00.001-07:00

Meet Jack Frost!

Winter WildLand begins Friday December 11th, when everything at the Zoo is transformed into a winter vision of light and celebration!

Make it a tradition for your whole family and ring in the season with thousands of lights, holiday characters, and the opportunity to make gifts and accompany Santa as he delivers presents to the animals. You can even see two special “reindeer in training”!

Winter WildLand opens the weekend of Friday, 12/11, 12/12 and 12/13 then runs nightly from December 18 – January 3 from 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Ticket prices and detailed information.

It will be a "Wildly Festive Experience"!

Winter Camp Registration is open!

2009-12-07T08:00:00.001-07:00

Register your wild ones for Winter Camp at the Zoo!

Snow Survival
Dec. 21-23, 9am-3pm
Cost: $100 for Zoo members, $130 for non-members
Ages: 6-12
It’s cold outside. You’d freeze without your coat and hat. So how do wild animals manage to survive the winter when it is especially chilly? We will discuss survival strategies, special adaptations and how you can track their movement in the winter months.

Amazing Adaptations
Dec 28-30, 9 am-3pm
Cost: $100 for Zoo members, $130 for non-members
Ages: 6-12
Why do giraffes have such long tongues? Why do leopards have spots? We’ll talk about amazing animal adaptations including camouflage and behavior.

Amphibian Conservation and Rescue Program

2009-12-04T16:00:00.000-07:00

Amphibian Conservation and Rescue Program
-Panamá East-

Bd Immediate Response Plan:

 Collaborative project among all partners to secure enough founder individuals to support a long range captive assurance breeding program designed to save the top priority amphibian species in Panamá.

 Immediate meeting and conference calls to identify needs.

 Expedite a second collection trip to Panama’s Chagres National Park in early December 2009. Collect at least 20 (10.10 – male/female) – preferably 40 (20.20) of each of the top priority species.

 Identify and outfit area to receive additional rescued amphibians quickly. Additional pods not arriving till January. Remodel a room at Summit Zoo ASAP- to include adding plumbing, water filtration, water outflow treatment, A/C, lighting, racks, tanks, veterinary supplies etc.

 Develop a volunteer program for the next six months + to supply 1 to 2 extra staff a day, (keepers, veterinary support), for Summit Municipal Park animals- and EVACC, if needed.

 Solicit Panamanian volunteers, staff from partner institutions and from other zoos or aquariums.

 Get insect breeding collection population (crickets, fruit flies) up to numbers needed to feed additional amphibians. Will need to import insects at first. Permits need to be expedited.

Chytrid Fungus

2009-12-04T15:33:00.000-07:00

Panama amphibian rescue tainted by chytrid fungus

In the aftermath of the first expedition to Panama for the Amphibian Rescue and Conservation (PARC) Project, there is now confirmation that the very fungus the Project team was rushing to rescue frogs from in Panama had already arrived in the area. The purpose of this first expedition was to collect living specimens of frogs not yet affected by chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis), the disease that has devastated nearly 100 frog species worldwide. It has now been discovered, through testing on frogs from the expedition’s collection, that chytrid fungus has now begun to attack amphibians well east of the Panama Canal Zone.

The rescue group, made up of representatives from the member organizations of the Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project, began their week-long expedition in the Panamanian cloud forest in mid-November. The Project team, led by Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and the Smithsonian, collected approximately twenty harlequin frogs (Atelopus limosus) and twenty tree frogs (Hyloscirtus colymba) from Cerro Brewster in Panama’s Chagres National Park.

These two species were brought back to the Summit Municipal Park in Panama while other rescued species were taken to the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center (EVACC). The EVACC was established several years ago by the Houston Zoo, a PARC project founder, after massive amphibian declines were witnessed in Western Panama several years ago by researchers and visiting scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI).

When screened for disease back in the rescue facility, most of the frogs tested positive for the chytrid fungus. Chytrid attacks the keratin cells in an amphibian's skin. Since amphibians need their skin for respiration, electrolyte balance and protection, changes in their skin chemistry and function is fatal. It is now thought that the electrolyte
imbalance causes death due to cardiac arrest. The fungus also damages the nervous system, affecting the frog's behavior.

“Nearly every specimen collected showed signs of the disease, and they are now being treated with anti-fungal baths,” said Eric Baitchman, head veterinarian of Zoo New England.

This discovery of amphibian chytrid on the frogs at this site means that time has now run out for at least four species of frogs that do not live further East than Cerro Brewster and have been extirpated at all their other known sites.

“If we want to save these species, we will have ramp up capacity a lot faster than anticipated,” said Brian Gratwicke of the National Zoological Park. “We thought we had some breathing space, but in fact, we may already be too late for some species.”

This discovery of chytrid on the frogs collected during the recent expedition now calls for different and immediate response from the Project team. Time is of the essence to go back into the area of the Panamanian jungle where the first collection occurred and to quickly collect the still living specimens that are in harm’s way. Once collected in the field, the rescue team will transport the frogs to safety at a recently outfitted isolation unit at the Summit Municipal Park in Panama, where they can be treated for the fungus and kept as an assurance population. But the team has very little time, as the fungus is known to infect and kill in a matter of weeks.

Work has now begun at the various Project institutions to recruit crews of husbandry professionals and veterinary staff who will travel to Panama in the coming weeks and months to begin care for the rescued population which could number in the hundreds of animals. This new urgent situation requires the Project members to focus on saving the remaining amphibians and to ramp up capacity for creating a sustainable safe harbor for them in a much shorter timeframe than originally envisioned.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo President/CEO Bob Chastain, who led the first Panama expedition in November, states it this way, “Here is the sum of the situation. Right now we can find over 100 frogs in three days. What happens when we only can find two a day? I heard the chair of the AZA board speaking to a group of 1200 conservationist and say, ‘we need to be faster, more nimble and quicker in our actions to save wildlife.’ That is what we need now. Fast, quick, nimble!”

The founding partners of the Project are Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, Zoo New England, Houston Zoo, Africam Safari in Mexico, the Summit Municipal Park in Panama, Defenders of Wildlife and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. These various conservation organizations came together earlier in the year and pledged their cooperation and funding to combat the amphibian crisis.

Responding to the expedition’s news, the Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente (ANAM), Panama’s National Environmental Authority, announced it would join the Project, pledging $150,000 in support.

“Amphibians are an important part of the cultural and biodiversity heritage of Panama, said Javier Arias, director of ANAM. “We are pleased to announce our financial and logistical support as full partners in the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project to build Panamanian capacity to respond to the global amphibian decline crisis.”

The Project partners are collectively working to establish an amphibian conservation breeding center in Panama to house and facilitate study on 15-20 species that are in jeopardy of being eradicated by the chytrid fungus.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) has challenged all AZA accredited Zoos and Aquariums to take a leadership role during this amphibian crisis. If this effort fails, one-third to one-half of the world’s amphibians could go extinct.

For more information and to learn about ways to help visit Amphibian Rescue.

You are invited to the CMZ Orangutan ART Holiday Sale!

2009-12-03T12:03:00.001-07:00

WHEN:
December 13th, Sunday
11am-1:00pm

WHERE:
Primate World

COST:
3”x5” $12
5”x7” $18
8”x10” $25

Each piece of art comes with a certificate of authenticity and orangutan conservation information. All art is matted and comes in a protective sleeve. 50% of the proceeds from each painting goes to orangutan conservation! Please bring cash or credit card to pay for your art when you buy.

Visit our website to purchase an orangutan painting on-line any time, or to learn about the artists.

Collector's Edition Animal Ornaments

2009-12-01T11:54:00.000-07:00

Purchase your very own collector's edition animal ornaments while they last and help a great organization in the process!

This year our scratch resistant animal ornaments feature either our youngest orangutan addition, "Godek," or our grizzly bear boy, "Emmett." On the ornament back is written "Collector's Edition," and 2009, along with the CMZoo and AAZK logos.

Ornaments are approximately 1/8" thick and 2.5" in diameter. All proceeds from these ornaments go to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo AAZK Chapter to help fund the many conservation efforts that they support.

Cost: $10 each

Find these ornaments in our gift shop or click for purchase information.

Favorite Zoo Memories

2009-11-30T14:53:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to two blog readers and winners of the “My Favorite Zoo Memory” contest!

If you posted one of the comments below, please email blogkeeper@cmzoo.org to claim your prize!

Favorite Zoo Memory, Winner #1
This is really hard since I have some many great memories to pick from. I think my favorite zoo memory was adopting Zuri, a Western Lowland Gorilla in 1997. After attending a parent’s day event I realized Zuri was sick. I went home that day and wrote the zoo a letter inquiring about the health and status of Zuri, who I dearly adored. A few days later I received a handwritten letter from the zoo keeper explaining Zuri’s condition and process. I found it very special that someone took the time to personally respond to my letter. Thanks you CMZ for all the great memories!

Favorite Zoo Memory, Winner #2
My favorite zoo memory was several months ago at the Cheyenne Mountain giraffe exhibit. It was the very first trip to the zoo for our 1 year old daughter Adelaide. We bought a couple crackers and showed her how to feed the giraffes. All she could say was "oooooooo" and point. When we gave her a cracker she held it out and when the giraffe got close with her long tongue Adelaide decided to try and give her kisses. It was the cutest and funniest thing I have ever seen! After laughing I thought I'd cry we showed her how to blow kisses to the giraffe instead of trying to french kiss it. Our most memorable trip to the zoo by far.

Contest: My Favorite Zoo Memory

2009-11-03T13:45:00.001-07:00

In the spirit of a quickly approaching holiday season, we’ve decided to give away free tickets to the Zoo!

To win simply post your favorite Zoo memory as a comment to this post. It can be the first time you visited as a child, the first time you fed a giraffe, or the first time you saw your child’s eyes light up as they helped clean an animal ambassador’s cage in the Loft. Maybe it was even partyin’ it up at last summer’s Mountaineer Mixer Series!

We’ll announce two winners on Monday, November 30. The winners will receive a 4-pack of FREE tickets for Zoo admission.

Panama Travel Journal - Day 10

2009-11-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

Day 10 – November 22, 2009

-By Bob Chastain

As we fly into Colorado Springs the earth looks positively brown and barren compared to the tropics. A place where last night was so warm I slept with not a single cover. Just laying on the sheets with a pillow. I love Colorado though. A place that is still as wild as the jungles of Panama. I also love our Zoo. A place where passion and imagination run wild. A place you helped to build. Built without government dollars; built on hard work and generosity of people like you. With your help we will fight this war and win some battles. The finish to the war is too far in the future, to vague to put a finger on…making the world a better place. Living thoughtfully with the work around us is something we never get to stop. Best of luck on your journey. I will miss the time we spent together through this blog and the memories you helped me keep alive.

Buenos Dias,
Bob

Panama Travel Journal - Day 9

2009-11-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

Day 9 – November 21, 2009

-By Bob Chastain
I start writing again shortly after 7:00 a.m. I am anxious to get you this information and a way to inspire you to make your part of the world a better place. I will move to a new hotel this afternoon that is closer to the airport. A little bed and breakfast called La Estancia.

At 10:00 a.m., a quick visit to the pod to watch activity and video the frog bath I told you about. The frogs get bathed in a solution that is $100 a bottle, but it has to be done to ensure the frogs do not have chytrid. You will see this procedure as we post the videos of Dr.s Della and Eric starting the daily medical care each frog will receive for about two weeks.

La Estancia is interesting after my stay at a very nature-based hotel. I was nervous as we pulled up to an orange apartment building with a big iron gate and a push button to talk into, which lets them speak to the guest. My alert went up as I did not know what to expect. I was led into a hot and humid series of rooms by a man with broken English. As he showed me around the feeling of “Is this going to be OK?” came back over me. But it actually turned out to be a wonderful place. As evening came and the cool air came through the common rooms where people from around the world gather to read, talk, and work on their computer, I fell a little in love with the place.

Kevin and Jamie arrived an hour later with the same hot sweat and humid shine that I had earlier. Within the hour we were watching tamring and blue gray tanagers at the bird feeder. A sloth came down and I was able to share my find with Kevin and Jamie; and enjoy their excitement as I showed them the sloth through my binoculars. A funny squirrel came in with a broad brown strip on his back. Some scarlet tanagers species came in and the night was topped off with a possum. All this from the common area inside this apartment-type bed and breakfast. The night ended with a late dinner after a very scary cab ride where we were prepared to get, as they say, “rolled.” But that is a human interest story that you can ask Kevin and Jamie to relay, if you ever get to meet them in person. All ended well though with a perfect dinner in a local restaurant that would mark the end of our Panama trip.

Everything from here on out would be motion toward home and the hustle of an international airport with Spanish speaking customs agents.

Do Emmet & Digger Hibernate?

2009-11-27T08:00:00.001-07:00

Many of our guests have asked us if our Grizzlies or other zoo animals will hibernate this winter. Hibernation is an instinct that many animals will continue to practice even in captivity if they live in cold enough climates.

Something that many people may not know about bears is that they are not a “true hibernator”. Instead they enter a state that is called "torpor", which means decreased physical and physiological activity.

Unlike a “true hibernator”, during those winter months bears do still wake up to drink and forage. In captivity this just looks like a significant decrease in activity and food motivation. We have already started to notice our boys slowing down.

Enjoy this slideshow of our famous grizzly residents:

Panama Travel Journal - Day 8

2009-11-26T20:18:00.001-07:00

Day 8 – November 20, 2009

-By Bob Chastain

Today started slowly. I was having difficulty assimilating to any new “home” because I missed my last one. My feet also hurt this morning. The foot funk that started yesterday is now so bad that I can hardly walk. My toes and nail beds are red and swollen and in between my toes looks raw and weeping. On top of that, most of what I have is wet and muddy. My shoes are no exception. I will spend the day doing two things: 1.) transcribing notes to send in for the blog, and 2.) visiting the pod where our frogs will live.

The pod is about 10 feet wide and 10 feed long. In the long run it can hold between 200-500 frogs, depending on size. Right now we will start with about 90. The rest will go with Edgardo to El Villa. Each frog now gets an accession number with which we will track and record data the rest of its life. It gets cleaned and then put into an aquarium that will be cleaned every day during its quarantine period that will last 30 to 90 days. During this quarantine time, it will get treated for chytrid and receive medical check-ups.

Today I met Eric Baitchman, the DVM from Zoo New England who is the project’s acting vet. He has worked in Panama with Edgardo for three years now. He will train Della, our vet, and the vet at the Summit Zoo in Panama where the frogs now live.

We finished the work after 9:00 p.m. tonight and are rushing to the hotel to catch a 10:30 p.m. dinner before heading to a 1:00 a.m. bed time, again.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

At this time of Thanksgiving celebration, our thoughts turn gratefully to you with warm appreciation. One of the joys of Thanksgiving is wishing our readers a happy holiday season and a healthy and prosperous New Year!

Panama Travel Journal - Day 7

2009-11-25T14:24:00.002-07:00

Day 7 November 19, 2009, / last day in field
-By Bob Chastain
Today we are all wiped out after a long last night. I was reluctant to let it slip through my fingers and relished the time doing something real and lasting. The horses were coming at about 9:00 am, so Kevin had us up by about 7:00 am with a “we need to get a move on” wake-up call. Once we realized the overwhelming task at hand the hugeness of what we had to do set in. We had a hike that would take some of our group eight hours and we had about 80 frogs to take out of bags, label with all our notes, gather moss, transfer all the frogs to small Tuperware-type containers, and pack onto two coolers that would go on horses for the long ride out. On top of this, we had to pack up four days worth of muddy everything, put it in bags and get them on five horses by 9:00 or 10:00 am in order to make it out before dark. By 9:30 it was clear that this was never ever going to happen. The group decided Mark, Jamie and Roberto would leave early to give them some extra trail time before dark. Matt, Kevin, Della, Jorge, Edgardo and I would stay behind to pack up.

Three hours later we were on the trail. That means it is 1:00 pm and it gets dark at 6:00-ish. Do the math. We were never going to make it at the normal pace and that would have us walking in the muddy darkness. Matt had left one hour earlier and got a little head start. I can’t do a good job of describing the feeling of the hike. I thought and thought about it as I walked hill after hill…..after hill. The best I can do is have you imagine the toughest physical activity you have ever done. Now imagine doing it in ankle deep mud and jungle so thick that you can not really recognize any of the landmarks that you can mentally check off in your head as you pass by. We basically had three landmarks. The house in the valley where we passed up water, and this is about half way. The intersection of the trail with the road that is too muddy to drive, and the house where we took the banner picture on the way in. Most other stuff looks the same. Without landmarks it is just mile after mile up hill after hill. Boiled all down, imagine doing this activity until you feel as if you can’t do it anymore. Now, do it until you are mentally and physically spent. When all of that is done, add two more hours of mud-walking.

You ask the Spanish speaking guides “how much farther” and get the same answer you always get, “Una houra,” one more hour. Hiking this thing in the dark was a real and scary possibility since this same hike took us all day the last time with a 9:00 am start and we have had four long and sleepless nights in the jungle. So what did we do. For those of you who know me, you can deduce that we developed a strategy. In a nutshell, here is the high tech plan Della, Kevin and I employed. First, we would draft off each other like Tour de France riders. Each one taking their turn in the lead setting the fastest pace they could manage. The person in the middle tried to catch up while not getting too far away from of the past leader who was now tired and in the back. The middle person’s job was to catch the leader while not demoralizing the person in last. If that happens the group falls apart and the peliton can never catch the breakaway party. After that, it is pretty simple. Basically run or slip down hills at a break neck pace, literally. Sort of the same technique used to ski bumps or to mountain bike a steep hill. Jog some on the flats and push hard on the uphill until your will and strength are completely tapped. Five hours later as the very last light disappeared, I pulled my pack into the back of our Smithsonian (STRI) truck. I was elated and heartbroken. The first communication I had with the outside world came in the form of a four line text to my wife. “We are out. We just now arrived at the truck. I don’t think my heart will ever be the same. I love you.” My heart breaks now as I write this at the thought of never going back. I can only hope I will, but with partners all over the country, who knows if I will ever get another slot to go.

Day 7, past midnight

It’s now 12:46 am in the morning and six hours after we hit the truck. I have eaten at a Panamanian KFC, delivered frogs to the drop off point, showered with my clothes, treated all my wounds and insect bites with iodine and alcohol, treated my red and infected feet, and now I lay writing this in a huge hotel room wishing for a hammock in the jungle after a wet and strenuous day of searching for frogs. I started this blog stating my principle that I believe you hope there are people out there doing the work to save the things we all love and wish to protect. The things you can hardly remember in your busy day-to-day life. The things I am scared to death I will forget as I get farther and farther from the jungle. The sound of a heavy rain as it comes through the trees and then hits the tin roof of our shelter. The feeling of the cool morning air as I finally get comfortable in my hammock. The “pop” of the gastrotheca frog late in the night. The feeling of a warm Mountain house meal in my hand. The feeling of watching Edgardo catch a frog and have the joy of a 9-year-old boy, the sound of howler monkeys, and the though that I just passed an eyelash viper and it failed to bit me. Little things that I know will grow dim with time. The way, as your child grows, you know another day has passed and you will lose them soon. I feel the slipping away now. My heart that was healed when I caught “Bob” now feels broken because, while people like Jeff Corwin make nature fun and accessible, it is slipping away and I know you don’t want to think so. “Things must be getting better,” you say. Actually some things are, but there is much work to be done. And like the frog’s race against the onset of chytrid, you race against things lost that can never return without serious work on your part and our part. Edgardo, who I collected frogs with on the last afternoon, has personally seen the mass die off of frogs in two separate populations in Panama. Who cares about frogs that disappear off the face of the earth? You, I suspect, or you would not be following this trip and opening up your heart to the possibility that you personally can do something to make the world a better place. After all, in reality, that is why we are here. To put these wonderful species into a protected breeding program. An assurance or insurance policy against their disappearance while we wait for people to get serious about the conservation of the natural world; and I can see it happening now and in my kids eyes. I have hope for animals and their world.

There's SNOW place like the Zoo!

2009-11-25T12:00:00.002-07:00

Preschool Zoo Discovery Programs are a great way to introduce a youngster to the amazing animal kingdom. Your child and their favorite adult learn about a variety of topics through stories, crafts and experiences with our animal friends. Cost includes all three classes (one child and one adult).

Beginning the week of December 1, join us as we look at our cold weather friends! Let’s learn how our Zoo animals adjust to the chilly Colorado temperatures, how ice and snow affect their daily activities and find out who settles in for a long winter nap!

For more information on class dates and times or to register, call 633-9925 ext. 127 or visit www.cmzoo.org. When registering, please choose Wednesdays, Thursdays or Saturdays with your theme.

Panama Travel Journal - Day 5

2009-11-23T12:30:00.001-07:00

Day 5, November 17, 2009

Tuesday – It's my birthday today. This morning started like many camps do; people mill around working to wake up, stretch their backs and legs to check to see if they are sore, sort gear and eat breakfast. This morning though, people greeted me with “happy birthday” or the Spanish equivalent, instead of “good morning.” I’ve decided to get out on my own today, which may not seem like much, but an eight hours hike into nowhere; it is something.

I will walk the stream down below what we call “the waterfall,” a 15-foot steep drop into a deep but narrow slot-type pool below. My trek today has been quiet and wonderful. I am most impressed by the shiny green fern that is so green it looks plastic. It has many tendrils on the underside of the leaf and feels weird to the touch.

Also, out of nowhere today, I found “Bob” the frog! This is that secret place in my heart that I was looking to find when I wrote to you on the first day while in the plane. As I told you earlier, “Bob” is our prime target species, atelopus limosus.

He is a good find since we are still in search of 25 males and 25 females and we have not found that many yet. I found him on a rock appearing as if, literally, from nowhere. They blend in perfectly on the black and green moss of the rocks. As a species, they sit up on the rock and look as if they are flexing their broad peck muscles and always looking for something. I don’t mean upright like a begging dog, I just mean that they don’t lay flat against the rock or leaf with their stomach pressed flat as many species do. Almost as if they are stuck with glue to the leaf.

He is a base color of black with squiggly green stripes. Yes, squiggly is a scientific term. His two tips are yellow. Almost to the point you would describe it as yellow fingernail paint. He has orange on the underside of his thighs and his mate will have even more orange as it goes under the belly more. He is wonderful and the find is wonderful and my heart feels just a little healed.

November 17, 2009 / after lunch.

There is a rhythm to frog hunting. Periods of excitement fade slowly as a quiet searching takes place. I have met up with Edgardo, Kevin and Jamie. We spread out following our hunches on where the frogs might be. Most of our hunches mean nothing. Maybe less than nothing, because we have no experience and looking in the wrong places only serves to keep you focused someplace you should not. Jorge, Roberto, and Edgardo have hunches. They find more frogs than all the rest of us together. They find frogs in areas we have just walked.

Today, as expected, we have been finding limosus which is good since they are the reason we came. Everyone has their own style of searching. Fast and cover ground, slow and meticulous and everything in-between. Slow and meticulous seems to be the best during slow times and fast and cover ground can work well at night when the frogs are at their peak calling times.

The best strategy though seems to be not looking at all, like around camp on the first day. If you go to do something else like eat lunch or pee, you are sure to find one. We haven’t found much since lunch, but as I sit down to write now Edgardo found two female limosus and a baby glass frog.

We are farther now than we have ever been, but distance in the jungle is measured by time traveled and not miles. Sometimes we will search for three hours and turn around to return home only to find we’ve walked a few hundred yards down stream.

Just today, the magnitude of what we are doing is setting in. I am searching in the jungles of Panama with the same guy who took Jeff Corwin on his most recent trip to a remote area of Panama called the Darien to film “100 Heart Beats” which will be out in a month or so. And back at camp is the world expert on the frogs of Panama. We are searching for frogs that may be gone soon.

There are six described species of atelopus in Panama and half are basically gone in the wild. Limosus is only still around because it is east of the Panama Canal and chytrid has just jumped the canal in only the last two years.
-Bob

Exhibit Switch

2009-11-24T20:22:00.004-07:00

The snow leopard and Amur leopard have switched exhibits, so you will find snow leopards Bhutan and Kisa next to the Pallas cats. Amur leopard, Katia, was very active and even playful as she explored the new yard last week:

Katia explores.

Multiple yards offer a more dynamic experience for the cats. Giving all of our animals variety and choices day to day is a crucial part of their welfare and well being. Katia enjoyed the new yard so much because there were new smells, new substrates and new perching to explore. Naturally cats would come across smells of other animals as they move through their territories. We provide different smells in the form of perfumes, spices, etc to mimic this, but nothing is better than the actual smell of another cat!

Another benefit is that as our Amur Leopards get older (Kashka is 18; Katia is 15) they can develop arthritis or other normal age related maladies. In the event that we start to see any mobility issues arise with either cat we will now have the ability to offer an outdoor space that is less steep and easier to navigate.

Finally, the current Amur exhibit offers great opportunities for the two young and agile snow leopards, which are so well adapted to the steep rocky terrain in that exhibit. Additionally it will offer our guests a great chance to see some of the behavior that makes snow leopards so amazing.

The Snow Leopards ventured out into their new exhibit Sunday (well…Kisa ventured, Bhutan sniffed from the safety of the shift). Here are a few photos of their first day in the yard. Kisa is exploring every nook and cranny and Bhutan is working up the guts to move off the top rock!

Kisa at the front window.

Kisa explores.

Bhutan on top of rock.

Panama Travel Journal - Day 4

2009-11-22T12:00:00.002-07:00

By Bob Chastain Monday 9:00 am – It’s pouring rain. The BIG drops. The type you would get absolutely soaked in, in the 20 seconds it takes to run to your car from the supermarket. People were up between 6:00 and 8:00 am this morning. It started raining at about 6:00 am and poor Roberto finally gave up and came in to the porch on the house. Everyone is restless and drinking coffee or tea and eating oatmeal or granola bars. There is not much to do right now but fiddle with gear, talk idle chat and write.

Bob makes walking sticks

Later Monday - We did finally go out to search for frogs from 5:00 to 10:00 pm tonight. I know you would like to hear about the first catch and how exciting it was, but the fact is it wasn’t. We were still spinning from the trip in yesterday, figuring out the rain and trying to get our bearings. The first frog was found not twenty steps from camp on the way to the creek. So were the next several. Only one of them was a target species.

Before our trip tonight, Roberto gave us the plan. There is a prioritized list that was a collaboration of many people but was spearheaded by the Amphibian Ark Project. This list looks at many factors and then rates a frog on the priority list. If you are a frog you make the list, basically, by being very rare and dying easily from chytrid. The scientist in the group would butcher me for that statement, but it is the boiled-down version of the truth. The thinking is 20 to 25 males and 20 to 25 females will make a genetically diverse assurance population.

atelopus limosus

Our number one priority is how to safeguard these frogs. From that, number one on our list is to secure a population of Atelopus limosus. This relative of the Panamanian Golden Frog is only found in three known populations in a central to eastern Panama. It has proved that it is highly susceptible to the fungus and its relative, the Golden Frog, is functionally extinct in the wild. Oddly enough, the first collected frog was indeed Atelopus limosus. We found several species tonight, but it looks as if our next few days we will focus on two species from our target list that seem to be in enough abundance to get a decent start on our collection. Atelopus is found during the day, so we will search from 10:00 am to 4:00 or 5:00 pm for them and then spend our nights looking for Hyloscirtus colymba.

hyloscirtus colymba
Now I know you wish there were easier common names for these frogs, but you will have to get over it, just as we did. Our group did start referring to them as limosus and colymba though. There, that is all you are going to get to make it easier for you. By about 9:00 pm we were ready to head back and try to get some sleep. Tomorrow, Tuesday, we will start the first real full day of searching.

Panama Travel Journal - Day 1

2009-11-13T17:00:00.004-07:00

-By Bob Chastain

As we flew low out of Houston, I had not yet fully realized what it was we were about to do. Looking down over the city it was a site I had seen many times. Not Houston, for I have only seen it only a hand full of times from the air, but civilization. Roads, bridges, ball parks, golf courses and much more. Every city has these elements that make up its fabric. One thing they all have in common though is people. Every time I look down out of an airplane I see life, but no people. Not because they are not there, but because they are too small.

I see cars move, boats move, golf courses and busy roadways. Each time think about the people and wonder what they are doing, totally unaware that I am watching them from above. Today I think they would be happy if they knew what we were doing. I don’t yet know if they would care about the frogs, but I know that they like the thought of frogs. I know they like the thought of a jungle, the thought of adventure and the thought that someone out there is looking out for all those things. Frogs, such tiny creatures that if we we’re all honest, we all love. Sometimes we don’t think about them, but when we do, we love them. In my heart, in a special place, that I am not ready to share yet, I have waited my whole life for this trip.

Somewhere in Panama right now there is a frog, lets call him Bob. Bob’s life is normal now. He has little knowledge that a deadly fungus has been creeping in on him for years. Slowly making its way up the coast of South America and down the narrow track of land from Mexico, through Costa Rica and now into Panama. More than likely Bob and everyone he knows will be dead in less than five years. At the rate in which the chytrid fungus moves, it could be as little as one and no more than five years before it reaches his home in Cerro Brewster.

When it does reach his home, past research shows that it will be devastating. Extensive studies by Karen Lips shows what happened to a population of frogs within a few months of the arrival of the chytrid fungus not far from here. Before this happens though we will collect Bob, and make sure he and a few of his kind live until we find a cure for the killing fungus. People around the world will fall in love with him. We will tell his story and the story of his kind and as with the story of the princess, we will fall in love with frogs all over again.

For those of you that will now follow our journey through this blog I think some introductions are in order. On the trip are Kevin and Jamie Kratt. Kevin was Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s board chair for the past two years and has supported this project from the very start. A passionate person, who loves life, his family and the pursuit of all things excellent. Jamie, his wife, has also been in love with this project and the thought of Bob the frog since the beginning. She, too, wondered what the first frog capture would be like and set her heart toward saving frogs from the first day she heard about this project. She brought frogs to a black tie Zoo event called Zoo Ball this past spring. That takes guts because frogs and ball gowns rarely go hand in hand.

Dr. Della Garelle is the Director of Conservation and Animal Health at the Zoo. She is now doing what she always dreamed she would do. As a Cornell trained veterinarian she has spent her whole adult life using her veterinarian skills to save wild life. Like many smart people her job more often is in the office arranging the saving of wildlife than in the field saving wildlife. It has been over 15 years since she has been in the jungles doing field work. As of late, most of her field work is in the high deserts and plains working with such species as black-footed ferrets and Wyoming toads.

Dr. Mark Kombert is our head vet. All day to day care of the zoo animals is done by Mark. Mark is a gentle man with a calm and free spirit. He worked at our Zoo years ago, when I was the Horticulture Curator, before going to spend several years in England with his family. He has recently returned to the zoo and it’s as if he never left.

As for me, I am a cheerleader. An encourager. A dreamer. The others have brought me along for the ride and more then likely to make fun of me. I just seem to be that kind of person. The, along with the people back at the zoo, do all the work while I get to speak for you and all those people on the Houston highways. The same people on the highways of Colorado Springs. The people that teach our kids, run our parks, pick up our trash, heal us when we are sick, keep our books, cut our hair, run our business and protect our world. Those people who want to know that someone out there is doing something for all the creatures they love, but sometimes they forget to think about.

Life is just plain busy. Just once, just this week, while we are gone and you read along…slow down, look around and know we are working for you. Working to save the animals you see everyday. If it has been a while since you have looked around to see them, do that this week and I will do the same. -Bob

Outside the Airport in Panama

Panama - Cerro de Campo

2009-11-16T19:56:00.007-07:00

This morning we got up after spending the night in Cerro de Campo. After an exotic breakfast we started loading two trucks from STRI (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute) full of our gear. We had to pull tarps over everything due to the rainy season weather here in Panama. Everything is getting wet in this rain.

Riding to the trail head.
We loaded up and drove off to meet up with the pack horses that would take our gear and provisions on our hike into the jungle. A six hour hike, at that! The camp for the pack horses was shrouded in misty fog, just another way to stay wet down here!

We will set out for Cerro Brewster soon, and our ultimate goal of collecting frogs starting Monday morning. I’m not sure if I explained the collection process, so here’s a quick version. The collections will take place from dusk (right after sundown) to dawn. We will wear our rain gear and be equipped with headlamps to help us find the elusive frogs in the dark. As I have said before, it’s a frustration to be able to hear the frogs all around you, but not see any of them. This will be an intense search in the wet darkness…wish us luck. Once we find a frog we will swab it to prevent its getting the chytrid fungus, check its species type and gender, and add it to the rescue collection. Sounds simple, but add variables like a thick rainforest, tropical rain and steep slippery slopes of Panamanian mountains and you have a challenge. But we are up to that challenge. We will soon be out of communication range to check in with you and our CMZoo colleagues, but they have a list of what is scheduled for us in the next few days, so keep checking back for information on this historic trip on this blog. We’ve also sent many photos that they will share with you in the next few days. As soon as we are back in range of cell service, we’ll be in touch.

Panama Travel Journal - Day 2

2009-11-14T11:46:00.016-07:00

-By Bob Chastain Since we last talked I had a rough nights’ sleep in a very nice hotel on the edge of the Panama Canal. The Country Inn is like every modern hotel except the floors are all tile in the rooms and the continental breakfast is exotic and amazing, compared to the States. We met Matt Evans from the National Zoo this morning. Matt is a young 30-something with great enthusiasm for all things slithery and slimy. His big wish for this trip is to see some more of a snail-eating snake. It’s a snake who’s nose is shaped like a spoon, so as to be able to eat every tiny morsel of snail part. Today is a staging day. After this entry we will go to the market to look for crafts, go have lunch with Adrian Benedetti. Adrian is a young and handsome man who was the Director of the Summit Zoo, the facility that will house our frogs here upon our return. Adrian is now what you can think of as the director in charge of all national parks, all wildlife and all forestry lands in Panama. After lunch and a little tour, we will go to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and pick up our gear for the drive to Cerro Azul. When I last left you, I told you to take this week to look around. Here is my “saw it” list for the day. Brown Pelican, Great Egret, Whimbrel, male and female Great-Tailed Grackle.

Video of the plaza:

The hustle and bustle in the streets of Panama City

Panama Travel Journal - Day 3

2009-11-21T08:39:00.007-07:00

By Bob Chastain
The day broke clear and wonderful. As the other group that stayed at the first hotel arrived at Casa de Campo, we compared notes from the few hours since we last saw each other. The night for those who stayed at the other hotel was as we thought it would be. Blaring, thumping music until 4 am in the morning, followed by a 6:30 am start. Our night was restless but peaceful as we all eagerly awaited our 7:00 am departure. The trail head was one and a half hours of bumpy and curvy driving away from us, as we started our trip. The first stop was the ranger station where we found our jungle survival-trained ranger would not be going with us. At least that trip to the station allowed us to see the only three-toed sloth of the trip thus far. Another 40 minutes and we came to a hill that was so steep and muddy that we could not make it any further. That was the end of the road, so to speak.

The plan had been to drive another hour up the road and park at the trailhead. This little change meant another two hours of walking. At this point, this mattered little, as we had convinced ourselves that what we were told would be a six and a half hour hike we could do in two to four hours. Boy, were we wrong! Two hours into the hike we stopped on hill and took a photo for the Zoo’s blog site. We are holding our Zoo banner. It was at this point we began to change the hiking style from a causal pace to something that began to resemble “worry.” We were not even at the trailhead yet, so hiking in the dark seven hours from now became a pretty big concern.

I can hardly even begin to describe the difficulty of this hike. Imagine starting out on what you think is a four hour hike and eight hours later, nearing the end. I make this journal/blog entry sitting on a big muddy hill, a five minute slosh above a camp I have yet to see.

Dr. Mark Kombert trying to navigate down muddy trail, already five hours into the hike. Bob Chastain is shooting and narrating.

Everyone is “hitting the wall” and I am here awaiting the arrival of the last two members. I have found on this trip that sometimes leading a trip means not being in the front. Leading sometimes means being where you are needed. In this case, it is in the back. Even though this is the height of the rainy season in Panama, it hasn’t rained all day. And we have been following a ridge for eight hours and there has been no water. I stopped sweating three hours ago, as I had to ration the one quart of water that I had brought thinking there would be stream crossings. We literally followed a ridge for hours and hours with not a single stream crossing. I passed water at a house in the middle of nowhere because I thought we were almost there. That was four hours ago. You can see that house in a valley on the blog site, as well. I ran out of water shortly thereafter.

I have been keeping a close eye on one of our members. He hit his wall five or six hours ago and has been cramping badly for the last two hours with every hill, and there are a lot of hills. Things began to get so desperate that I left them and told them if camp is more than twenty minutes away, I would get water and send it back. 15 minutes later, I sit here just about at camp, waiting to give them the news camp is just below us. I ran into Kevin and Jamie here at the top and Kevin went below with a radio in search of the camp. That is how we know we are almost there. I asked him first, “Is there clean water?” When he answered, “yes, there is clean water just below camp,” my heart lifted.I was to the point that I looked at every dirty mud hole and wondered if I could filter that water to a safe point.