FILE - The Knoxville Zoo has a variety of animals on exhibit throughout the year. Tori Bruno-Arimura, File / The Daily Beacon
Local zoo to showcase conservation with Asian Trek exhibits Kylie Hubbard Asst. News Editor
Annie Tieu
News Editor
Zoo Knoxville will unveil its newest exhibits to the public March 5 as a part of the zoo’s ongoing process of animal conservation. The new exhibits, with four silvered-leaf langurs — a first for the zoo — and white-handed gibbons, will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony and preview weekend before opening up to the general public. The exhibit will have two gibbons: Georgie, who has been a long-time resident at the zoo, and Naomi, who comes from Little Rock, Arkansas. An older gibbon named Nipper will remain in the old gibbon exhibit due to her age
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and the potential stress of moving. “I know a lot of our visitors have seen her, are attached to her and worried about her being by herself, but she is living the high life,” Jenn Kirkpatrick, a zookeeper at Zoo Knoxville, said. “She’s probably sleeping more than she ever has because she doesn’t have Georgie waking her up, so she’s doing fantastic.” These exhibits are merely one aspect of the zoo’s long-term conservation work. Zoo Knoxville has a history of work with East Tennessee’s endangered bog turtle, mudpuppy and hellbender salamanders and Malayan tigers, among others. An Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited zoo, Zoo Knoxville works with other AZA-accredited zoos and follows a Species Survival Plan (SSP) for all its animals. This plan, which is managed by the AZA, ensures the genetic diversity of captive popula-
tions so that they are on par with their wild counterparts. Phil Colclough, director of animal care, conservation and education at Zoo Knoxville, is responsible for animals coming in and out of the zoo as well as for educating zoo visitors about the animal conservation. Colclough said AZAaccredited zoos are working to move beyond the image of zoos “being the place where you just go to see a monkey in a cage.” “We still get the ‘animals shouldn’t be caged; they shouldn’t be in zoos; it’s bad for them,’” Colclough said. “And I think it’s really important for me in this position to share that message with the rest of the world that we are working to save animals from extinction these days. There are a number of animals that would not be on this Earth if it weren’t for AZA-accredited zoos.” Native to the Malay Peninsula, Malayan tigers are classified as critically endangered as
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the population was estimated to about 250 to 340 adult animals. “When you start thinking about numbers like that, it’s so critical what we’re doing to help save that species from extinction,” Tina Rolen, director of communications at Zoo Knoxville, said. “We’re on the edge, and every tiger counts.” As a part of conservation, the AZA approves certain breeding projects depending on the capabilities of accredited zoos. To help with genetic diversity, these animals can be moved from zoo to zoo based on the SSP when they’re ready to breed. Zoo Knoxville houses three Malayan tigers: Brothers Tanvir “Tan,” Bashir “Bash” and a female, Arya. Arya arrived from California in January 2017 as a breeding recommendation by the SSP for one of the two brothers. See ZOO KNOXVILLE on Page 4
Thursday, February 22, 2018