RWSSP of the month: Knoxville Zoo

The Red Wolf Species Survival Plan (RWSSP) is the foundation of the Red Wolf Recovery Program. To let people know what’s happening throughout the program through, we are continuing to feature different RWSSP locations.  The RWSSP of the month is the Knoxville Zoo  in Knoxville, Tennessee.  Originally called Birthday Park, the zoo opened in 1948. Over the years, it flourished, and is currently home to > 900 animals, including 27 threatened and endangered species in different Species Survival Plans.

The Knoxville Zoo is currently home to four red wolves, including breeding pair 1395M and 1607F, and two male siblings, 1735M and 1736M. 1395M was born in 2005 at the Western North Carolina Nature Center (Asheville, NC) and was at Mill Mountain Zoo (Roanoke, VA) before moving to Knoxville in 2010. Female 1607 was born in 2010 at Henson Robinson Zoo (Springfield, IL) and came to Knoxville in 2011. The male siblings were born at Lincoln Park Zoo (Chicago, IL) and were transferred from Wildlife Science Center (Forest Lake, MN) in 2012. 

The museum first began participating in the RWSSP in December 1990, when red wolf 278F arrived from Oglebay's Good Children's Zoo (Wheeling, WV).  One month later, 248F (from Texas Zoo; Victoria, TX) and 297M (from Fossil Rim Wildlife Center; Glen Rose, TX) arrived in Knoxville.   Pups were born in 1991, 1992, and 1993. Over the years, approximately 30 individual red wolves have spent time at the zoo.  In addition to these contributions of successful breeding pairs, Knoxville Zoo also assisted with the wild reintroduction site in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in the 1990s by providing logistical support and veterinary care when needed.

Knoxville Zoo  has also had a large role in red wolf education efforts, both within the RWSSP and public outreach campaigns.  They produced the first RWSSP husbandry video in the early 1990s, and more recently have participated in the Quarters for Conservation program, where a quarter ($0.25) of every admission sold is marked for conservation donation. The zoo committee chose the Red Wolf Recovery Program to be a 2014 recipient of conservation funds again this year.  In the first year we were involved with the program, the zoo raised over $3500 for red wolf conservation efforts!

Thank you Knoxville Zoo !!

Please visit their website or Facebook page for more information!

Want to hear the red wolves howl at the zoo?  Check out this link!

Veterinarian specialists in the Red Wolf Species Survival Plan

Specialists in diverse fields of veterinary medicine often provide their expertise for various procedures across the Red Wolf Species Survival Plan sites.  This week we focus on two cases at Point Defiance Zoo &Aquarium (PDZA). While the zoo has its own on-site veterinarians that specialize in zoo medicine, the added expertise of specialists from other disciplines results in our animals receiving the best care possible.  This type of cooperation is not uncommon in zoo and wildlife medicine and there were a couple of recent red wolf cases where these specialists assisted the veterinary staff at PDZA. Veterinary ophthalmologist, Dr. Tom Sullivan from The Animal Eye Clinic, Inc. in Seattle, WA frequently visits PDZA to take a closer look at the ocular health of the animals. He routinely checks in on the walruses and harbor seals but has also evaluated birds, reptiles, and even fish.  In this case he came to examine a red wolf. This wolf had a preliminary diagnosis of entropion, which Dr. Tom was able to confirm. Entropion is a condition where all or part of the eyelid folds inward causing  eyelashes or hair to come into contact with the surface of the eye leading to irritation and scratching of the cornea. Ultimately this can lead to corneal ulceration or perforation. This condition is fairly common in domestic dogs and fortunately corrective surgery is a viable treatment option to‘re-direct’ the eyelid with some minor excision and suturing. Within several days following the surgery, the wolf was reexamined and declared good as new.  

Dr. Tom's eye examination of a captive red wolf.

The other case involved a red wolf identified as potentially having gastrointestinal inflammation based on physical examination and preliminary diagnostic test results. Dr. Beth Herman, an internal medicine specialist from Summit Veterinary Referral Center in Tacoma, WA agreed to perform an endoscopic examination. Using a fiber-optic flexible tubular instrument that is attached to a camera, she was able to visualize the stomach, intestines, and colon of the red wolf. The image projected from the camera to a monitor confirmed that there was visible inflammation in sections of the GI tract. Several biopsy samples were taken by inserting a small, flexible cable, with a pincher-type tool on the end, through the endoscope to pluck a few tiny pieces of tissue that were sent to a lab for further analysis. Having Dr. Beth available to skillfully navigate the endoscopic equipment and obtain samples provided the PDZA veterinary staff with valuable information to help develop an appropriate treatment plan.

Dr. Beth and Dr. Karen performing an endoscopic exam on a captive red wolf.

We are grateful to Drs. Tom and Beth for sharing their time and expertise to help us provide quality care to all the animals in the PDZA collection.  

RWSSP of the month—Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park

The Red Wolf Species Survival Plan (RWSSP) is the foundation of the Red Wolf Recovery Program. To let people know what’s happening throughout the program through, we are continuing to feature different RWSSP locations.   

The RWSSP of the month is Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park (Homosassa, Florida). As part of Florida’s State Park System, this area has been attracting people since the early 1900s, when passengers on the train tourists stopped to rest at the spring.  Located just a few miles from the Gulf of Mexico, it is showcases native Florida wildlife, including manatees, black bears, bobcats, white-tailed deer, American alligators, American crocodiles, and river otters. The new Homosassa River Walk and Manatee Observation area encompasses an elevated boardwalk that starts at the park entrance, surrounds the main spring and continues to the Fish Bowl underwater observatory, where visitors can see one of the four resident manatees.

Resident manatee. Photo: B. Bartel/USFWS.

A new Shorebird Aviary at Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park allows visitors to enter the enclosed viewing area for close-up views of the birds and great opportunities for nature photography.

Birds viewable from the Shorebird Aviary. Photos: B. Bartel/USFWS.

Last month at the 2013 RWSSP meeting, we had a wonderful tour of the facilities (thank you Susan and staff!) and also got to see the red wolves. The park is home to three male red wolves, which came from Brevard Zoo (Melbourne, Florida) in November 2008.

Red wolf. Photo: B. Bartel/USFWS.

Please visit their website, Friends group website, or Facebook page for more information! We are grateful to these new partners for their continued role in the Red Wolf Species Survival Plan and send a thank you to all their staff for generously hosting our annual meeting this year.

2013 Red Wolf Species Survival Plan Meeting

Last week, different collaborators from 15 facilities participating in the Red Wolf Species Survival Plan (RWSSP) met for the annual RWSSP meeting in Homosassa Springs, Florida at Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. The Red Wolf Recovery Program Assistant Coordinator, Becky, joined the group composed of folks from Chattanooga Nature Center (Chattanooga, TN), Endangered Wolf Center (Eureka, MO), North Carolina Museum of Life & Science (Durham, NC), Wildlife Science Center (Forest Lake, MN),Wolf Conservation Center of New York  (South Salem, NY), Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site (Charleston, SC), Tampa Lowry Park Zoo (Tampa, FL), North Carolina Zoological Park (Asheboro, NC), Tallahassee Museum of Natural History, (Tallahassee, FL), Knoxville Zoological Gardens, (Knoxville, TN), Salisbury Zoological Park, (Salisbury, MD), Western NC Nature Center, (Asheville, NC), Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, (Glen Rose, TX), Wolf Haven International, (Tenino, WA), Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, (Homosassa, FL), Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, (Tacoma, WA), and researchers from Louisiana State University.

2013 Red Wolf Species Survival Plan Group. Photo credit: K. Brzeski

Participants met over 3.5 days to discuss husbandry methods and techniques, current and ongoing red wolf research, and facility updates.  The bulk of the meeting is dedicated to examining all the available breeding wolves in the SSP program (across 40+ locations) to see if individuals need to be moved from facility to facility to form the best potential breeding pairs.  With more than 175 breeding red wolves in the captive population, this is no small feat.  Age, health history, genetic relatedness, and logistical difficulties of transferring animals are all taken into consideration when deciding new pairs.  While the matchmaking and moving process looks like a complicated process, the group was a well-oiled machine and successfully tracked and paired all individuals.  Hope's hoping to successful pairings and more pups next spring!

Organizing individuals at different RWSSP facilities.

Examining pairs and red wolf matchmaking.

A tied pair during breeding season. Photo credit: Greg Dodge.

We would like to extend a big thank you to the RWSSP Coordinator, Will, for organizing everyone for the meeting and to the staff at Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park for hosting us!

Please visit the Red Wolf Species Survival Plan  to learn more about the facilities participating in the captive breeding program and recovery efforts.