From rehabilitating raptors to protecting the genetic diversity of Malayan tigers, the Dickerson Park Zoo’s impact on conservation has been “100 years in the making.”
As a zoo accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the staff at Dickerson Park works to ensure the protection of wild animals through programs such as the Animal Protection Efforts (APE). These are conservation efforts that the zoo funds all around the world, with signs across the zoo marking the specific APE conservation efforts.
“Just by visiting an accredited zoo, just coming in for your daily admission, or being a Friends of the Zoo member, that’s where the help comes. We’re able to contribute those funds back [to APE conservation efforts],” said Joey Powell, marketing director for the Dickerson Park Zoo.
The zoo is also part of the Species Survival Plan (SSP), a program dedicated to maintaining the genetic diversity of species identified by the AZA as endangered or critically endangered.
“One of the prime examples of that are the Malayan tigers. We, right now, have the number one genetically diverse male tiger in the AZA zoos in the country, and we have the number four female,” Powell said. “We are hoping to mate them, that they will have babies, and we will have tiger cubs soon and that’s all part of that SSP plan.”
The Dickerson Park Zoo works with other zoos around the world to protect animals, transferring them to different accredited zoo locations as needed to ensure successful breeding and genetic diversity.
“A third of the GLTs [Golden Lion Tamarin monkeys] that are in the wild today are because of the zoo’s conservation efforts, breeding, re-releasing them into the wild,” Powell said. “There’s so much that goes on behind the scenes and around the world that people just don’t know.”
One of the biggest conservation efforts the zoo has worked on was a project to bring bald eagles, an endangered species at the time, back to Missouri. The zoo worked with organizations such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Missouri Department of Conservation to get bald eagles off of the endangered species list.
There are also rehabilitation efforts specific to the Dickerson Park Zoo such as raptor rehab. This is the process of rehabilitating injured or orphaned raptors — birds of prey — back into the wild. The zoo received four orphaned baby hawks over the weekend. They are kept in an incubator to regulate their body temperatures until they become old enough to move into the rehab unit.
“The challenge will be to keep them from being imprinted (associating humans with food or too familiar with humans). Often, the caregiver will wear gloves and hoodie to shield head/face,” said Powell. “If they thrive, they will move to the flight cage to learn to fly and hunt.”
For a raptor to be released back into the wild, it needs to be able to fly and hunt. If it can’t hunt and fly, it is considered unable to be released. A bald eagle currently in the rehabilitation center at the Dickerson Park Zoo is ineligible for release due to an injury.
“Because of his fracture, he will never be able to be released, so we are trying to find him a permanent home — somewhere in search of an eagle for display or an exhibit if they have an open spot,” said Kassie Denney, Veterinary Technician for the Dickerson Park Zoo.
The zoo also takes in rescued, surrendered and abandoned reptiles.
“In Springfield, the law is very nonspecific. We’ve tried to talk with people to get it specified, but in Greene County, it’s ‘No large, dangerous reptiles.’ That’s it,” said Heather Ritter, Reptile Keeper for the Dickerson Park Zoo. “We’ve run into people who’ve had pet alligators here. They’re able to have them as babies because they’re not large or dangerous yet, and then once it gets big it’s illegal.”
Ritter also gives “Keeper Chats,” or talks keepers give about animals in their care, to educate the public. A schedule for Keeper Chats is posted at the zoo entrance.
“Education is conservation as well,” Ritter said. “Especially with snakes, education is so important because people just don’t like them. So it’s really cool to be able to talk to people and inspire conservation.”
As the Dickerson Park Zoo enters its second century, conservation will still remain at the forefront of the zoo’s mission.
“I think the goal is to continue building upon what we’ve started. The fact that eagles are no longer on the endangered species list is just a huge success,” Powell said. “A lot of times we hear ‘Well, they [animals] should be left to the wild. You have to stop and realize there’s not a ‘wild’ for some of these animals to return to. A lot of them are in third-world countries, and they don’t have the technology or the resources to take care of them. In a perfect world, we would not have the care that we provide for them here. But we all know it’s not a perfect world. It’s all about saving them.”
