Category: Zoo news
Jill Wright, Head of School at Whitefield Primary School, tells us more about how the school have taken on our Sing for Songbirds campaign and the experience they’ve had:
Whitefield School is situated in one of the most deprived wards in the country where over half the children live in poverty. Unemployment, crime and poor health feature significantly in the lives of many of our children. Their life experiences are extremely limited. It is, therefore, the school’s role to educate the children not only in formal, national curriculum subjects, but also give them access to life experiences and show them that there are possibilities for their future beyond their local community. For these reasons it is important for the school to work in partnership with other organisation. The Safari Ranger visits provided the children with access to expert knowledge and role models for future careers.
“The visit to the zoo was key to the success of the project. The children were able to see the animals they had been learning about and apply their knowledge and understanding of conservation to other animals. It also supported their spoken language skills and development of vocabulary. This was evident in philosophy discussions which took place in classes throughout the project.”
The children, teachers and families have a much better awareness of conservation through working on this project. ‘Songbirds’ is not an identified area of the current curriculum. Some year groups do focus on conservation so this fitted in with their learning. However, we decided to suspend out ‘normal’ curriculum for two weeks and focus on Songbirds. This allowed us to teach English, maths, geography, science, art, philosophy and other skills through the topic of songbirds and the children were highly motivated. We also had parent workshops throughout the two weeks where parents came to join in activities and learn about conservation from their children. This, combined with the free family tickets to the zoo meant that the project reached beyond the classroom and into the wider community.
Many of us take a day out to the zoo with family for granted. We know that our children will have the opportunity to learn about the wider world through giving them experiences beyond school. However, in areas of deprivation this is often not the case. It is up to schools, working in partnership with organisations such as the zoo to open the minds of children and families to global issues and wider opportunities. This project has certainly done that and I would have no hesitation in recommending this project to other schools.
“It has been a privilege to be involved in the songbirds project and we would welcome any further opportunities to work in partnership with the zoo. Thank you for providing an outstanding educational and life experience for the children of Everton.”
So, this little baby ELEPHANT was born yesterday! _üü _Ù÷ 24 hours old and already playing in mud… pic.twitter.com/5FY8l1GLBW
— Chester Zoo (@chesterzoo) May 18, 2018
The newborn arrived overnight on Thursday (17/05) to 35-year-old mum Thi Hi Way after an assumed gestation of 25 months.
Keepers and scientists at the zoo believed that Thi had started a natural resorption process after hormone tracking showed that the mum of six previous calves was due to give birth three months prior, and she was slowly returning to her normal weight.
Despite the unusual circumstances, Thi gave birth to a healthy baby boy and our keepers say both mum and calf, who is yet to be named, are doing very well.
Mike Jordan, Collections Director, said:
Thi is a wonderful matriarch to our family herd and a really experienced mum. She has successfully given birth to seven calves before, but this time around circumstances were really quite astonishing.
We believed Thi had exceeded her normal gestation period, which we were monitoring closely. Her hormone levels, behaviour and drop in weight gave us every indication that she may have been resorbing the calf – a natural process that some elephants experience.
However, nature always has that incredible ability to surprise you and that was certainly the case when we came in yesterday morning. The new youngster was up on his feet, suckling from mum and bonding closely with the rest of the family herd, including one-year-old calves, Indali and Aayu. It’s truly magnificent to witness.
We are part of a breeding programme coordinated by the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA) that is focused on sustaining the elephant population in Europe. The new calf is another huge boost to these efforts.Asian elephants are listed as endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN’s) Red List, threatened by habitat loss, poaching, disease and direct conflict with humans.
Tim Rowlands, Curator of Mammals, added:
It’s absolutely magical to see Thi bring another new arrival into the world. These momentous events always bring the entire elephant family together and we expect to see the other young calves in the group showing a lot of interest in the little one over the coming days, weeks and months.Crucially, this is important news for Asian elephants more widely. The species is endangered in the wild. If we don’t act now then the unthinkable could happen. By combining our breeding programme successes with field projects in the wild, we are really making a difference for these magnificent animals.
Zoo conservationists have been operating in India for more than twelve years, preventing extinction in the wild by utilising the skills and knowledge developed working with the herd in Chester. One of our major projects in Assam, northern India, has successfully eliminated conflict between local communities and the nearby Asian elephant population, offering a blueprint for the future conservation of the species.
Meanwhile, scientists at the zoo are leading the global fight to find a cure for a deadly disease which is threatening Asian elephants globally, in zoos and the wild. There is currently no cure for elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus, also known as EEHV, but our researchers are leading the fight to produce a vaccine, thanks in part to more than £150,000 in donations from the public as part of a major Never Forget fundraising campaign.
The elephant house is open as normal.
522 individuals volunteering in 19 British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) collections took part in the research.
Hannah Brooks, Chester Zoo’s Community Engagement Manager tells us more about how and why the school got involved:
“I visited the school back in January to tell the teachers all about the songbird crisis out in South East Asia which I witnessed first-hand during my visit to our field partner in Indonesia. I could tell that the teachers were shocked about the scale of the problem as they previously knew nothing about it and when we explained that their school could get involved and do something about it they were 100% on board.
“The school decided to transform their curriculum and developed songbird lessons that related to every subject to be delivered over six weeks.” – Hannah Brooks
“They also wanted to spread the message further and ran a campaigning afternoon where they visited other local schools and Cheshire Oaks to allow their students to share what they had learnt.
It’s amazing to see the students talking about songbirds and the threats they face, you can really tell that they’ve got a deep understanding of it and that they care passionately about taking action.”
And it doesn’t stop there, St Bernard’s want to inspire other schools and people in the community to get involved in the campaign and are hosting an exhibition of their work. There are loads of ways you can join in with our Sing for Songbirds campaign – whether you’re from a school or not.
The barberry carpet moth is one of Britain’s most threatened moth species. And even though it’s a protected species, it needs all the help it can get. That’s why our horticulturists have been growing the barberry plant at the zoo since 2013 as part of a wider project to help the moth.
Once widespread across the UK, the moth can now only be found in small pockets after both the moth and its main source of food went into to decline. Its caterpillars only feed on barberry leaves, which is where it gets its name from, and as this plant is disappearing across the UK, so too is the moth!
As part of the Wildlife Connections campaign over 1000 barberry plants have been given away to community groups, partners and zoo visitors to make new habitats for wildlife across the UK, and hopefully boost the barberry carpet moth population.
One hundred plants were given to Bromborough Golf Club to be planted around the course and make it more wildlife friendly.
Below is a map of where some of the 1000 barberry plants that were given away have been planted:
Since 2013, Chester Zoo conservationists have been working with the Canal and River Trust, Butterfly Conservation and other zoos to help save the rare moth species. Together we’ve planted barberry bushes in hedges along 30km of canals in the North West.
The barberry bush is also a safe space for other wildlife, including birds that nest amongst the branches and eat their berries in autumn.
We hope people will join us in protecting threatened species here in the UK and create safe spaces for local wildlife to thrive.
When it comes to protecting the environment ‘think global, act local’ is a great mantra to follow.