SPECIES SPOTLIGHT – TO SAVE AND PROTECT

to SAVE and PROTECT

Throughout our 63-year history, Jersey Zoo has played a significant role in saving, protecting and restoring some of the world’s most endangered species. The zoo’s facilities, combined with our team’s vast pool of knowledge, experience, and dedication, continue to make a difference in conservation efforts worldwide. Here are just a few species that Jersey Zoo has played a part in preserving:

Mountain chicken frog

Following violent volcanic eruptions on Montserrat, nine mountain chickens were caught and brought to Jersey Zoo to establish a safety net population if the species went extinct in the wild. While in captivity, the team learned as much as they could about these unique frogs. A few years later, a deadly amphibian fungus known as chytrid caused the catastrophic decline of the species and nearly drove it to extinction in just one year. The Durrell team, alongside our partners, helped to evacuate frogs, brought them into the zoo’s safety and used their previous knowledge of rearing the frogs to ensure their survival. In 2019, 27 mountain chickens from Jersey Zoo and ZSL London Zoo were returned to Montserrat as part of the work to establish the first breeding population on the island in 10 years.

Pink pigeon

Jersey Zoo’s work with these precious birds dates back more than 40 years, when just 10 individuals remained in the wild. Our founder, Gerald Durrell, helped capture pink pigeons to establish the first captive breeding programme in Mauritius. He also brought several birds back to Jersey Zoo to safeguard the birds in the event of a localised disease or disaster in Mauritius, leading to the loss of the species. Today, thanks to the work of our local partners at the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, the population is reported to be stable at over 400 individuals. However, the species still faces the same threats. In 2019, three Jersey-bred pink pigeons, descended from the birds brought to the zoo in the 1970s, were returned to Mauritius. They joined the in-country captive breeding programme to return missing genes to the wild population. Monitoring genetic diversity is an essential part of conserving wildlife. A greater genetic variability helps maintain the health of a population, provides better protection against disease and pests, and makes a species more adaptable to environmental changes.

Red-billed chough

These distinctive red-beaked birds were declared locally extinct in Jersey in 1910. A hundred years later, in 2010, Paradise Park in Cornwall loaned Jersey Zoo two breeding pairs of choughs to begin the captive breeding programme to return the species to Jersey. Their chicks started to be released onto the island in 2013. Thanks to the efforts of the zoo’s bird team, and the Birds On The Edge project, choughs can once again be seen flying over the coast of Jersey. We are well on the way to seeing a selfsustaining population as the birds are now breeding in the wild.

Southeast Asian songbirds

The countries of Southeast Asia are home to vast amounts of biodiversity. However, rapid development, population growth and harvesting of natural resources have led to many species becoming critically endangered. One group that is particularly at risk is the region’s songbirds. The Jersey Zoo team has extensive experience in captive management and a track record of success with several species of critically endangered songbirds, including the Bali starling and bluecrowned laughingthrush. Through partnerships with local and international organisations, we have initiated projects that apply the husbandry skills of the zoo’s bird department to some of the world’s most threatened birds.

Alaotran gentle lemur

These critically endangered lemurs are the only species of primate to live exclusively over water. Hidden away in the dense reed beds of Lake Alaotra in Madagascar, gentle lemurs are threatened by the rapid destruction of their marsh habitat. The successful captive breeding and research programme began at Jersey Zoo in 1990, and now involves many other international zoos. Together, they provide a safety net population should the worst happen in the wild.

Agile frog

Jersey is the only place in the British Isles where this frog is native. Unfortunately, amphibians are particularly susceptible to environmental change. Agile frogs have suffered dramatic declines in Jersey due to water pollution, agriculture intensification and land-use change. The Jersey Zoo team is helping boost their population using a technique called “headstarting”. This involves collecting frog spawn from the wild and keeping it at the zoo in a safe environment away from predators and pollution. The tadpoles hatch in captivity and are eventually released back into the wild. This technique is intended to grow the wild population by increasing the number of animals that make it through this vulnerable stage of their lives. After a few months, the team release the well-developed tadpoles and froglets back into the wild.

Great apes

Although we do not work with great apes directly in the wild, we use the knowledge of our team at Jersey Zoo to help the conservation efforts of gorillas and orangutans. Each year, conservationists working to protect gorillas and orangutans in their native forests attend the Durrell Endangered Species Management (DESMAN) course at our academy in Jersey, where they learn from our passionate staff and work alongside our expert keepers.

Over in Sumatra, the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP) has built an orangutan haven to combine education and better-quality enclosures for the rehabilitated orangutans. Our team advised colleagues at SOCP on the design and build of this state-of-theart enclosure, which took inspiration from the highly successful orangutan island habitat at Jersey Zoo.

Ploughshare tortoise

These beautiful golden-domed tortoises are rapidly declining in the wild due to the illegal pet trade. Four tortoises were brought to Jersey Zoo after being confiscated from smugglers at Hong Kong airport. Now they reside in our Amphibian and Reptile House as part of an exhibit to educate visitors about the damaging effects of the illegal wildlife trade. They now form part of the safety net population outside Madagascar. The zoo’s ploughshares have also been involved in studies to help the species in the wild, including trialling the use of tracking devices fitted to their shells.