Introducing....

Last week I talked about why we should help save animals of all different species from becoming extinct. Well this week I want to introduce to you why I got into conservation.

When I was 17 years old, a woman by the name of Carla Thompson took a chance and hired me as an African Zookeeper at The Birmingham Zoo. I had been doing volunteer work with Carla and the African Department for a few months, and some how I got lucky enough to make it a full time job.

It was through this amazing opportunity that I was able to have a personal relationship with some of Mother Nature’s beautiful animals. It is also through this job, as well as my co-workers that I learned about the urgency that we not face to help save these animals.

My hope is that by you learning about some of these animals on a more personal level that you will feel somewhat of a bond to them. As I have stated earlier, I worked at The Birmingham Zoo, therefore all of these animals live there. (Just incase you want to go visit)

Last week I talked about elephants, so to kind of play off that I figured I would introduce to you a father and son pair Bulwagi and Tamani. They are both African Bull elephants and live at the zoo with two other elephants, Ajani and Callee.

(Bulwagi and Tamani playing in their pool)

The Birmingham Zoo started the first all male herd in Zoos, also known as a Bachelor herd. In the wild elephants live in a matriarchal society. Meaning that an older female elephant is

the one who leads the herd across the grasslands and forest of Africa.

Male elephants spend about 95% of their lives alone or in loose connections to a bachelor herd, like the one at the Zoo. In a bachelor herd there is one dominant male who takes on the role of a teacher. Bulwagi is the leader of this particular bachelor herd.

Why have a bachelor herd at a zoo? What good does this do for conservation? Like I stated before, elephants live in a very matriarchal society. When a female gives birth to a young bull, they will only keep him in the herd until he reaches maturity. Once the bull elephant reaches certain maturity it will leave their mother herd, and will learn to live on his own.

But seeing how most of the elephant populations now live in zoos, where can we move the male elephants once they are ready to leave their mother herd? This is the reason why the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and The Birmingham Zoo decided to put together an all male herd with the hope of setting, “a new benchmark for the care and breeding of elephants in United States.” (http://www.birminghamzoo.com/events/trails-of-africa/)

Also, Zoos and conservationist across the world are teaming up with an organization called The Wildlife Conservation Society and their campaign called “96 Elephants”. To learn more about their story, and to find out how you can help go to www.96elephants.org !

I also encourage you to go to your local zoo, and learn about the different animals they have there. As a Zookeeper I always loved to be asked questions about the animals I worked with. I loved sharing my knowledge and the passion I have for these animals.

Every little thing helps!

Thank you for reading, and remember TOGETHER WE CAN SAVE THEM!