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Zoo InternQuest is a seven-week career exploration program for San Diego County high school juniors and seniors. Students have the unique opportunity to meet professionals working for the San Diego Zoo, Safari Park, and Institute for Conservation Research, learn about their jobs, and then blog about their experience online. Follow their adventures here on the Zoo’s website!
The San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research has eight divisions that play different, but equally important, roles in saving endangered species from extinction. This week, the interns met with the director and a researcher from the Institute’s Behavior Ecology Division. The division focuses on researching the effects of hormones on behavior, as well as the other way around. They study stress levels, reproduction, and breeding success. We learned about two main projects of the division, koalas and African elephants.
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Last Thursday, we met with Ms. Jennifer Tobey, a researcher in the Behavioral Ecology Division at the San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research. Ms. Tobey has worked for the Institute for 18 years. In this photograph, she is holding a directional microphone, and the other necessary equipment used to track animals in the wild. This microphone has been used to track koalas on St. Bees Island, which is off the coast of Australia, as part of Ms. Tobey’s continued research on koala communication.[/caption]
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The interns soon learned that Ms. Tobey’s longest running project at the Institute is her study on koala communication. Koalas are naturally solitary creatures in the wild, so Ms. Tobey set out to find how they are able to locate each other during mating season. She discovered koalas communicate through scent and sound. Male koalas develop external scent glands on their chests as they mature, and there is a noticeable correlation between the chemical makeup of the scent and breeding season. Male koala scent has a very… distinct odor. Ms. Tobey mentioned many young students she works with compare the smell to their dad’s feet![/caption]
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In addition to their potent odor, Male koalas communicate through bellows. These noises sound a lot like pig snorts. Koalas are able to distinguish the bellows of different males, so everyone knows who is who in the Outback. The bellows also change during fall and spring. In spring, which is breeding season, the calls are lower so the wavelengths can travel farther distances. The calls are actually shorter though, lasting about 30 seconds compared to approximately 40 seconds in fall.[/caption]
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Mrs. Tobey’s koala project uses sound recordings from both the San Diego Zoo and St. Bees Island to study both captive and wild bellows. The Zoo has the largest breeding colony of koalas outside of Australia. The colony is recorded using sound machines placed within their enclosures. However, koalas are not originally native to St. Bees Island. They were brought to the island artificially and have successfully lived there for years. On the island, koala bellows are recorded and transmitted in real time using stationary mobile phones.[/caption]
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During her presentation, Ms. Tobey demonstrated to us some of the equipment her division uses on a daily basis in the field. Intern Ahmad is pictured practicing with the directional microphone. The microphone is used to identify specific animal calls within the myriad of other animal noises you would hear in the wild. To hone in on a specific sound, Ahmad points the microphone in the direction he wants to listen.[/caption]
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As part of our practice with the directional microphone, we had to recreate a realistic setting in the wild, where the sound you were trying to identify would be competing with noises of the surrounding wildlife. In this scenario, intern Patrick tries to pick out an owl hoot, while the rest of the interns create their own cacophony of sounds. This recreation is meant to demonstrate the importance of patience and attentiveness out in the field. In order to use this type of equipment, field researchers must be trained in its basic use and practice before they can successfully identify animal calls in the field. This equipment is also used by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to distinguish birdcalls.[/caption]
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Dr. Matt Anderson is the Director of the Behavioral Ecology Division at the Institute for Conservation Research. During our visit, Dr. Anderson gave the interns a rundown on his ongoing research of project of ten years, African elephant conservation. Using innovative behavioral research paired with highly advanced technology, his team is able to aid in elephant husbandry, increase breeding success, and bolster conservation efforts. Being that humans are so dependent on their sense of sight, and his work is mainly sound based, Dr. Anderson’s motto is don’t just watch, listen.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_115561" align="aligncenter" width="450"]
Dr. Anderson’s main project is African elephant conservation. He affectionately calls the largest land mammal, “precocious.” Elephants are highly intelligent animals, but they are also highly destructive. Certain elephants have an affinity for agricultural crops and can destroy a whole year’s crop in one evening. As human-elephant conflict increases, the Institute’s conservation program acts as a liaison between the two sides. The Institute works with local farmers in countries, such as Botswana, to improve their relations with the elephants.[/caption]
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African elephant herds are predominantly female with exceptions to male offspring who have not yet matured. However, once male elephants mature, they are kicked out of the herd. Male elephants spend 95% of their time alone, or in bachelor groups with other males. Being that breeding season is so short for female elephants and males are solitary travelers, they have evolved specialized calls that can travel long distances. Elephants use low frequency sounds to communicate because the long sound waves can travel farther than sounds that are higher in pitch. Humans can’t even hear two thirds of an elephant’s rumble call![/caption]
[caption id="attachment_115565" align="aligncenter" width="450"]
Dr. Anderson’s current African elephant projects at the Institute include mom and infant interactions, juvenile interactions, and herd communication. The Behavioral Ecology team studies the Safari Park’s herd of elephants, as well as wild elephants in order to gain a better understanding of elephant interactions. The Safari Park’s herd was rescued from Swaziland, and are kept in conditions as natural as possible to keep research accurate. That means no designated bedtime for the herd, they can stay up as late as they want![/caption]
Glenna, Photo Team
Week Three, Winter Session 2016
Last Thursday, we met with Ms. Jennifer Tobey, a researcher in the Behavioral Ecology Division at the San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research. Ms. Tobey has worked for the Institute for 18 years. In this photograph, she is holding a directional microphone, and the other necessary equipment used to track animals in the wild. This microphone has been used to track koalas on St. Bees Island, which is off the coast of Australia, as part of Ms. Tobey’s continued research on koala communication.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_115559" align="aligncenter" width="450"] The interns soon learned that Ms. Tobey’s longest running project at the Institute is her study on koala communication. Koalas are naturally solitary creatures in the wild, so Ms. Tobey set out to find how they are able to locate each other during mating season. She discovered koalas communicate through scent and sound. Male koalas develop external scent glands on their chests as they mature, and there is a noticeable correlation between the chemical makeup of the scent and breeding season. Male koala scent has a very… distinct odor. Ms. Tobey mentioned many young students she works with compare the smell to their dad’s feet![/caption]
[caption id="attachment_115562" align="aligncenter" width="450"] In addition to their potent odor, Male koalas communicate through bellows. These noises sound a lot like pig snorts. Koalas are able to distinguish the bellows of different males, so everyone knows who is who in the Outback. The bellows also change during fall and spring. In spring, which is breeding season, the calls are lower so the wavelengths can travel farther distances. The calls are actually shorter though, lasting about 30 seconds compared to approximately 40 seconds in fall.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_115564" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Mrs. Tobey’s koala project uses sound recordings from both the San Diego Zoo and St. Bees Island to study both captive and wild bellows. The Zoo has the largest breeding colony of koalas outside of Australia. The colony is recorded using sound machines placed within their enclosures. However, koalas are not originally native to St. Bees Island. They were brought to the island artificially and have successfully lived there for years. On the island, koala bellows are recorded and transmitted in real time using stationary mobile phones.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_115560" align="aligncenter" width="326"] During her presentation, Ms. Tobey demonstrated to us some of the equipment her division uses on a daily basis in the field. Intern Ahmad is pictured practicing with the directional microphone. The microphone is used to identify specific animal calls within the myriad of other animal noises you would hear in the wild. To hone in on a specific sound, Ahmad points the microphone in the direction he wants to listen.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_115557" align="aligncenter" width="4032"] As part of our practice with the directional microphone, we had to recreate a realistic setting in the wild, where the sound you were trying to identify would be competing with noises of the surrounding wildlife. In this scenario, intern Patrick tries to pick out an owl hoot, while the rest of the interns create their own cacophony of sounds. This recreation is meant to demonstrate the importance of patience and attentiveness out in the field. In order to use this type of equipment, field researchers must be trained in its basic use and practice before they can successfully identify animal calls in the field. This equipment is also used by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to distinguish birdcalls.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_115539" align="aligncenter" width="250"] Dr. Matt Anderson is the Director of the Behavioral Ecology Division at the Institute for Conservation Research. During our visit, Dr. Anderson gave the interns a rundown on his ongoing research of project of ten years, African elephant conservation. Using innovative behavioral research paired with highly advanced technology, his team is able to aid in elephant husbandry, increase breeding success, and bolster conservation efforts. Being that humans are so dependent on their sense of sight, and his work is mainly sound based, Dr. Anderson’s motto is don’t just watch, listen.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_115561" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Dr. Anderson’s main project is African elephant conservation. He affectionately calls the largest land mammal, “precocious.” Elephants are highly intelligent animals, but they are also highly destructive. Certain elephants have an affinity for agricultural crops and can destroy a whole year’s crop in one evening. As human-elephant conflict increases, the Institute’s conservation program acts as a liaison between the two sides. The Institute works with local farmers in countries, such as Botswana, to improve their relations with the elephants.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_115563" align="aligncenter" width="450"] African elephant herds are predominantly female with exceptions to male offspring who have not yet matured. However, once male elephants mature, they are kicked out of the herd. Male elephants spend 95% of their time alone, or in bachelor groups with other males. Being that breeding season is so short for female elephants and males are solitary travelers, they have evolved specialized calls that can travel long distances. Elephants use low frequency sounds to communicate because the long sound waves can travel farther than sounds that are higher in pitch. Humans can’t even hear two thirds of an elephant’s rumble call![/caption]
[caption id="attachment_115565" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Dr. Anderson’s current African elephant projects at the Institute include mom and infant interactions, juvenile interactions, and herd communication. The Behavioral Ecology team studies the Safari Park’s herd of elephants, as well as wild elephants in order to gain a better understanding of elephant interactions. The Safari Park’s herd was rescued from Swaziland, and are kept in conditions as natural as possible to keep research accurate. That means no designated bedtime for the herd, they can stay up as late as they want![/caption]
Glenna, Photo Team
Week Three, Winter Session 2016
