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Protecting the Largest RemainingBlack Rhino PopulationsAcross Africa, rhinoceros populations aredeclining due to poaching for their horns,primarily to supply traditional medicinemarkets in Asia. This poaching has driven thewestern black rhino to extinction, while onlytwo northern white rhinos remain. If the threatof poaching is not reversed, rhinos in Africawill go extinct in the near future. NorthernNamibia, and specifically Etosha National Park,is home to the largest black rhino populationin the world; this area also supports a largepopulation of southern white rhinos. TheKunene Region of northwestern Namibia isalso home to the last free-roaming populationof the desert-adapted black rhino, which isconserved largely through the efforts of localcommunity conservancies.The Zoo works with several partners innational parks and community conservanciesin Namibia to implement an anti-poachingprogram based on SMART conservationOur work to save black rhinos is a great example of how the North Carolina Zoois making a difference for endangered species around the world. If we are tosave these amazing animals from extinction, we must continue to expand ourconservation efforts both here in North Carolina and abroad.”Richard Bergl, Ph.D.Director of Conservation, Education and ScienceNorth Carolina Zoosoftware that the Zoo helped develop. UsingSMART, both government and communityranger patrols are now collecting fieldobservations on rugged smartphones, whichallows information to be quickly analyzed andconservation strategies to be improved tobetter protect wildlife. This work began initiallyin Etosha National Park and the Kunene region,but based on the success of these initialdeployments, the Zoo and its partners haveexpanded efforts to include all of the nationalparks in northeastern Namibia: Bwabwata,Khaudum, Mangetti, Mudumu, and NkasaRupara National Parks.We look forward to continuing to build onthese exciting and impactful partnershipsthrough further capacity building efforts andlong-term technical and logistical support, andwe aim to work with our partners to furtherexpand SMART use to more of Namibia’snational parks in the future.14 International ConservationsitesSMART expansionin Namibianprotected areasInternational Conservation 15

Saving Chimps by Removing SnaresKibale National Park in Uganda contains oneof the largest chimpanzee populations inEast Africa, making it oneof the few remainingstrongholds forchimpanzees inthis part of theworld. However, thechimpanzees in Kibaleare threatened bypoaching and often getcaught in snares—so much so that itis estimated thatone-third of allchimpanzees inthe park have snarerelated injuries.To protect chimpanzees and other animals inKibale from poaching, the Ngogo ChimpanzeeProject began implementing regular snareremoval patrols in 2010. They started with Kevin Langergraberone three-person snare removal team thatpatrolled the area around the Ngogo studysite, but it quickly became apparent that tobe most effective, they would have to expandtheir presence to cover the entire park. Thanksin part to the Zoo, which has been supportingthe project for nearly a decade, they were ableto secure enough funds to meet this goal andpatrol the whole park starting in Fall 2019. Theproject now employs five three-person snareteams that are based strategically throughoutthe park to enable them to patrol every squarefoot of Kibale and better protect thepark’s chimpanzees.“I have been very lucky toobserve many amazing thingsover the 20 years that I havestudied the Ngogo communityof chimpanzees. But the mostrewarding thing I have observedis the dramatic reduction in snareinjuries since we began ouranti-poaching efforts.”Kevin Langergraber, Ph.DCo-DirectorNgogo Chimpanzee Project Kevin Langergraber16 International ConservationInternational Conservation 17

Following ElephantMovement in West AfricaElephant populations in Central and WestAfrica have significantly declined throughoutthe 20th and 21st centuries due to theexpansion of human settlements, conflict withpeople and ivory poaching. The widespreadloss and fragmentation of habitat forcedelephants into closer contact with people,resulting in frequent conflictover finite space andresources. Crop raiding,injuries and deathscaused by elephantsfoster resentment andcan result in elephantsbeing viewed as anuisance and killed forreasons other thantheir ivory.Since 1998, theZoo has workedto conserve wildelephants in Centraland West Africa, byattempting to betterunderstand movementpatterns and habitatrequirements ofelephants through theuse of GPS satellitetracking technology.Using this technologyand in collaboration withthe World Wildlife Fund, other NGOs, andlocal government agencies, we have beenable to monitor elephant movement patternsin real time and identify several vital elephantmigration routes.18 International ConservationThe satellite tracking data have allowedrangers to anticipate where elephants are atgreatest risk of encountering poachers andalso alert them when the herds are headingtoward human settlements, thereby reducingthe risk of human-elephant conflict.The Zoo’s Director of Animal Health, Dr. JbMinter, and Dr. Mike Loomis, the Zoo’s ChiefVeterinarian emeritus, have also recently beguncollaborating with the Ministry of Waters andForests of Cote D’Ivoire. This partnership aimsto support Ivorian efforts to mitigate threatsto elephants, as many elephant populationsin Cote D’Ivoire are small, restricted to isolatedforest fragments, and under intense pressurefrom poaching and human-elephant conflict.With the Zoo’s continued support, the Ivoriangovernment is committed to protectingthese populations.The partnership betweenthe Ministry of Waters andForests of Cote D’Ivoireand the North CarolinaZoo is fundamental tothe conservation ofelephants in our country.The data will improve themanagement of elephantsand their habitats inthe country.”Kone SalimataDirector of Wildlife andHunting Resources,Ministry of Waters and Forests,Côte d’ IvoireInternational Conservation 19

Conserving Africa’sMost ThreatenedMonkey GroupRanging from the forests of Senegal to theislands of Zanzibar, red colobus monkeysare the most threatened group of Africanmonkeys. According to the International Unionfor Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) RedList of Threatened Species, 13 of the 17 redcolobus monkey species ( 75%) are listed asCritically Endangered or Endangered and all arethreatened with extinction. The primary threatsfacing red colobus are poaching, particularly forthe commercial bushmeat trade, and habitatloss, both of which are ultimately driven bya combination of human population growthand increasing demand for natural resources.Despite their conservation status, only a fewred colobus populations have been studiedin any detail and the general public is largelyunaware of these monkeys and their plight.In response to this critical need, the Zoo’sDr. Drew Cronin and partners in the AfricanPrimatological Society and IUCN PrimateSpecialist Group are together spearheadingRed colobus monkeys face a toughsituation and saving them is goingto take the support of a globalcommunity not only for the species,but also for the conservationistson the ground working to savethem. With this ambitious actionplan, the Zoo and its partnersare optimistic that we will savethese animals from extinction.”the first comprehensive Red ColobusConservation Action Plan, uniting localand international conservation groups,governments, academic institutions, andzoos to prevent a continent-wide extinctionof all 17 red colobus species. These groupshave also launched a global effort - theRed Colobus Conservation Network (www.redcolobusnetwork.org), which the Zoo helpslead, in an effort to catalyze red colobusconservation and drive increased funding andactions for red colobus protection. Withouturgent conservation measures across itsrange, Africa will lose many of its red colobusmonkeys in the coming decades.Drew T. Cronin, Ph.D.Associate Curator of International ConservationNorth Carolina Zoo Alexandra HofnerRed Colobus Range & StatusNiger DeltaRed ColobusTemminck’sRed ColobusPreuss’sRed ColobusOustalet’sRed ColobusKisanganiRed ColobusLomamiRed ColobusBay ColobusThe Zoo also supports efforts to protect redcolobus and its habitats on the ground inAfrica. In Nigeria, our long running work in CrossRiver National Park supports ranger patrolsgiving protection to the Critically EndangeredPreuss’s red colobus. In Uganda, anti-poachingefforts with the Ngogo Chimpanzee Projecthave strengthened protections for all wildlife inKibale National Park, including the EndangeredAshy red colobus. Finally, in Equatorial Guinea,we provide technical support for anti-poachingpatrols using SMART to protect the CriticallyEndangered Pennant’s red colobus.SemlikiRed ColobusTana RiverRed ColobusZanzibarRed ColobusMiss Waldron’sRed ColobusPennant’sRedColobusAshy RedColobusBouvier’sRedColobusUdzungwaRed ColobusVULNERABLEENDANGEREDCRITICALLY ENDANGEREDINTEGRATED, POLYCHROMATIC FORMSTshuapa RedColobusUlindi RedColobusFoa’s RedColobus Global Wildlife Conservation Illustrations by Stephen Nash20 International ConservationInternational Conservation 21

Conserving CriticallyEndangeredPacific BirdsThe Mariana Islands in the western PacificOcean are the northernmost string of islandsin Micronesia, made up of Guam, a US territory,and the 14 islands of the Northern MarianaIslands, a US commonwealth. In the 1940’s, thebrown tree snake was accidentally introducedto Guam, and by the 1980’s, the snake haddecimated bird populations, driving nearly all ofthe native species on Guam to extinction in thewild. The Mariana Avifauna Conservation (MAC)Program’s primary objective is to ensure thesame fate doesn’t befall the native endemicpopulation of birds on theNorthern Mariana Islands.The Zoo has been along time MAC partner,providing criticalconservation supportin two ways: technicalsupport for capturingbirds to be translocated tosnake-free islands, andproviding veterinary care for the captured birdsuntil they are released onto these new islands.In the wild, Zoo staff have assisted with thecapture and translocation of birds to snakefree islands with the MAC program for morethan 10 years. Recently, translocation effortshave focused on capturing two bird species onSaipan and relocating them to the neighboringisland of Alamagan. Teams of more than 25staff from over 15 AZA institutions trapped100 rufous fantails and 93 golden white-eyes.Captured birds are carefully cared for and22 International Conservationbanded according to US Fish and Wildlifeprotocols and also undergo a veterinary healthexam, before being transported to their releasesite. After their successful release, biologistsfrom the Commonwealth of the NorthernMariana Islands Division of Fish & Wildlifecontinue to monitor how the birds do in theirnew home.The Zoo also has a captive breeding programfor the Critically Endangered golden white-eye,a bird native to Saipan, which received its firsttwo pairs of wild-caught golden white-eyes in2008. In 2009, the first healthy chick hatched,and was the first successful captive breedingfor this species. We have had a total of sixchicks successfully hatch and fledge since2009, and have transferred several of thesebirds to other North American zoos aspart of the effort to create a sustainablebreeding population.Alongside AZA partners, we are working to notonly raise awareness about these birds, but alsoto protect these native species, which don’t existanywhere else in the world, from extinction.”Heather ScottHospital Manager, Veterinary SectionNorth Carolina ZooInternational Conservation 23

Conservation in the CaribbeanUnder the leadership of Curator of Reptilesand Amphibians, Dustin Smith, the Zoo workson numerous projects in the Caribbean, includingPuerto Rican crested toads,Virgin Island boas, andConception Island silverboas. Although thegeographic scope isbroad, spanning fromthe Bahamas to PuertoRico and throughoutthe Virgin Islands, the goalfor all these species isthe same: recoverdeclining populations.Since 2015, the Zoohas bred and releasedPuerto Rican crestedtoads annually to helpbolster populations inthe wild. The goal is to develop more selfsustaining populations, but this is difficult, asthere are only two natural breeding ponds inThe Zoo also expanded its role in theCaribbean in 2017 by reinvigorating recoveryefforts of the Virgin Island boa. We beganconducting surveys to determine populationsizes and better understand the overallstatus of the snakes. Zoo veterinary staff alsoconducted health assessments of the boasencountered. It was determined that we shouldbegin breeding snakes at the Zoo for additionalintroductions to expand the wild populationsize. We also maintain an “assurancepopulation” to make sure the speciessurvives if something happens to theremaining wild population.The Zoo is undertaking a similar effort in theBahamas with the Silver boa. Although onlyrecently described to science in 2015, it’salready considered the world’s rarest boaspecies, with fewer than 140 in existence. TheZoo is partnering with UNC Asheville and theBahamas National Trust to conduct surveys forthe species to learn more about its populationand natural history. In addition, we aredeveloping an assurance population to ensureits long-term survival and to better understandits reproductive biology.existence. Because of this, we are working withPuerto Rican collaborators and AZA partnersto design more wetlands and breeding sitesfor ongoing recovery. In 2017, we also assistedwith the design and construction of two ponds,which have already been used multiple timesby this Critically Endangered toad.Projects with our partners are critical forrecovering federally listed species. Proactivepartners such as the North Carolina Zoo providetools and efforts that complement the USFWS’swork and allow on-the-ground recovery effortswith direct conservation benefits for our species.”Jan P. ZegarraRecovery Biologist, US Fish & Wildlife ServiceCaribbean Ecological Services Field Office,Boqueron, Puerto Rico24 International ConservationInternational Conservation 25

Conserving Tanzania’s GiraffesGlobal giraffe populations have declined by roughly 50% since the 1970’s. Masai giraffe inTanzania have faced similar declines and there is little information available on their populationstatus and threats. The Zoo was privileged to attend the Tanzania National Giraffe ConservationAction Plan meeting in 2018. At that meeting, the needs for more population monitoring, detaileddemographic data (age, sex, reproductive status, etc.), and better understanding of Giraffe SkinDisease progression for giraffe populations in southern Tanzania were highlighted.To address these needs, the Zoo developed a research project for Nyerere National Park(formerly Selous Game Reserve) and Ruaha National Park to improve our understanding ofgiraffe population status and trends, as well as disease progression over time. The goal ofthe project is to use these data to develop and implement sustainable and well-informedconservation strategies.Collaborative Zoo & FieldConservation Through SAFESaving Animals from Extinction (SAFE) is a program of theAssociation of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) that brings together AZAmember institutions and field-based partners to work collaborativelytowards the conservation of threatened wildlife. The Zoo has activelyengaged with SAFE and is a Program Leader for African vultures,American red wolves, and Asian hornbills, and is a partner on black rhinos,chimpanzees, giraffe, gorillas, monarch butterflies, and North American songbirds. SAFE allowszoos and aquariums from across the country to use their collective expertise to work towardsstrategic actions to save animals in the wild.Tanzania Wildlife Management Authority is delighted to work with North CarolinaZoo, whose vulture and giraffe studies are expanding our understanding of thesevanishing species.”Singira NgoishiyeHead EcologistSelous Game ReserveTanzania Wildlife Management Authority A p a r a j it a26 International ConservationDattaInternational Conservation 27

Zoo Staff Making a DifferenceFrom Behind the Scenesinto the WildTranslating Science into ConservationAction in the PhilippinesThe Zoo supports international conservationefforts by applying our resources and staffexpertise to support evidence-based planningfor important species of high conservationvalue around the world. Zoo staff often haveunique knowledge which allows them to playkey roles as members of IUCN SSC specialistgroups and in species conservation planning.The One-Plan approach to conservationdeveloped by the IUCN supports an integratedstrategy for species conservation planning witha single plan to bridge the gap between wildand captive population management.The Philippines is a biodiversity hotspotfor hornbills, home to 10 endemic species,which the IUCN SSC Hornbill SpecialistGroup identified as a critical region due tofour high priority hornbill species in need ofconservation planning. In 2019, two speciesconservation planning workshops wereorganized for Philippine hornbill species, withmany international and national stakeholdersrepresenting Philippine government agencies,landowners, conservation groups, universities,tourism, agriculture and local communities.28 International ConservationThe North Carolina Zoo brings significantex situ hornbill experience and a deepunderstanding of both the Philippinecontext and IUCN Conservation Planningprotocols, putting them in a uniqueposition to support local NGO’s to do thevery best they can for these species.”Dr. Lucy KempCo-Chair of the IUCN SSC Hornbill Specialist GroupThe first, held in March 2019, emphasizedthe Critically Endangered Sulu hornbill, whilethe second, in June 2019, focused morebroadly on five high priority endemic speciesfrom the West Visayas region, including theCritically Endangered Rufous-headed hornbilland the Endangered Visayan hornbill. TheZoo’s Director of Animal Management &Welfare, Roger Sweeney, contributed to bothworkshops as a member of the IUCN SSCHornbill Specialist Group and led thespecific ex situ working group for theSulu hornbill workshop.Keepers at the Zoo work hard to care forour animals and ensure excellent guestexperiences. One aspect of their work isbehind the scenes tours, which generate fundsthat primarily support the Zoo’s conservationprograms, but that also provide supportto external conservation organizationsselected by the keepers. Recently supportedorganizations include the Zoos VictoriaBushfire Emergency Wildlife Fund, whichprovided emergency veterinary care to animalsimpacted by the Australian bushfires, thePhilippine Eagle Foundation, which conservesthe Critically Endangered Philippine Eagle,and the Orianne Society, which conservesreptiles and amphibians across the easternUnited States.Zookeepers supportwildlife conservationThe American Association of Zoo Keepers(AAZK) is a non-profit, volunteer-ledorganization made up of professional zookeepers and other interested individuals.The North Carolina Chapter of AmericanAssociation of Zookeepers (NCAAZK) isdedicated to advancing animal care, promotingpublic awareness, enhancing professionaldevelopment, and contributing to local andinternational conservation efforts. AAZK andNCAAZK organize numerous fundraising eventseach year, such as Bowling for Rhinos, whichprovides support to Lewa Wildlife Conservancy,International Rhino Foundation, and Action forCheetahs in Kenya, and the Run Wild 5K hostedat the Zoo, which supports keeper educationand development, as well as a host of globaland local conservation organizations. NCAAZKhas raised more than 180,000 for Bowling ForRhinos. Collectively, AAZK chapters have raisedmore than 8 million dollars since 1990.In addition to annual fundraisers, NCAAZKmembers also vote to select two local and twoglobal conservation organizations to supporteach year, such as the Endangered Wolf Centerand SaveNature.org. In an average year, theNCAAZK donates more than 7,000 to localand global conservation organizations throughth

The North Carolina Zoo's staff are dedicated to local and global wildlife conservation, educating future generations, and ensuring the . Through our leadership in the SMART Partnership and the development of SMART technologies, the Zoo has had a significant . In addition to training hundreds of rangers across Africa, the Zoo has also .