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SAN DIEGO (March 17, 2021) – San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance team members gathered with Ramona residents and representatives of natural resource agencies to welcome some new neighbors to the Ramona grasslands: 24 western burrowing owls.
A team of biologists—including members from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Endemic Environmental Services Inc., Citrus College and San Diego Zoo Global—worked together over the last couple of weeks to find and rescue the last remaining reproductively viable population of southwestern pond turtles (Actinemys pallida) in the San Gabriel Mountains.
San Diego Zoo Global conservationists reared young desert tortoises for one to two years before the planned release—a strategy referred to as “headstarting,” which provides a safe environment during their most vulnerable period, before translocating to the native habitat.
New Conservation Leadership Will Increase Focus on Integrating Wildlife Health with Conservation Science.