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As I’ve told you through my stories so far, the Fort Worth Zoo participates in a number of conservation programs to save endangered species all around the world. It’s important to remember that there is native wildlife closer to home that also needs help. That’s why the Fort Worth Zoo established the Arthur A. Seeligson, Jr. Texas Wild! Conservation Fund (SCF for short). Arthur A. Seeligson, Jr. was a true steward of the land. The Texan conservationist instilled a life-long love for the land in his family. His daughter, Ramona S. Bass, currently serves as co-chairman on the Fort Worth Zoo Board.
Since it began in 2001, the Arthur A. Seeligson, Jr. Texas Wild! Conservation Fund has awarded more than $56,000 to conservation programs in Texas.
The Fort Worth Zoo created the SCF in 2001 to support the conservation of native Texas wildlife. Grants from this fund are awarded to scientists, educators, private landowners and organizations committed to conserving the biodiversity of Texas through collaborative projects. Since it began, the SCF has donated more than $56,000 to wildlife conservation projects in Texas. SCF money has been used in a variety of ways, including:
- Enhancing northern bobwhite quail habitat through land management practices
- Investigating habitat use by eastern and western box turtles in an urban environment
- Studying the ornate box turtle’s population genetics
- Studying the effects of introduced grasses on native Texas grassland birds
- Establishing a Houston toad captive breeding program and monitoring wild Houston toad populations
- Researching foraging habits of the reddish egret
- Installing artificial nest cavities for the red-cockaded woodpecker
- Building a pre-release facility for an Attwater’s prairie chicken reintroduction program
- Installing artificial roosts for the Rafinesque’s big-eared bat
- Developing a conservation plan for the alligator snapping turtle
- Protecting sea turtle nests
In 2009, SCF funding went toward studying population genetics of the ornate box turtle. (Photo Credit: James Cureton II)
Most recently in 2011, the SCF funds entered a partnership with Texas A&M University-Commerce and the Fort Worth Nature Center (FWNC) to investigate characteristics of an inland population of the American alligator. As you may recall from a previous blog post, the American alligator was once an endangered species. Thanks to hunting regulations and the careful management of alligator farms, the alligator was removed from the endangered species list in 1987.
In 2011, SCF funding went toward a partnership between Texas A&M University-Commerce and the Fort Worth Nature Center to study an inland population of American alligators. (Photo Credit: Fort Worth Nature Center)
Today alligator harvests are managed carefully so alligator populations stay healthy and safe. Too many or too few alligators would put stress on an ecosystem. Keeping ecosystems healthy is a balancing act, one that conservationists can help through responsible management.
In Texas, hunting regulations and management plans are usually determined based on research from scientists who studied populations of alligators living near the coast. With $3,842 in funding from the SCF, researchers from Texas A&M University-Commerce collected data about the alligator population residing at the FWNC. Alligators were measured and studied to provide information such as density, body size, age class, habitat selection and home range. Thanks to this information, new management plans will hopefully be created for inland populations of alligators.
In the past, most of Texas' alligator hunting regulations and management plans have been determined based on research about alligator populations living on the coast. (Photo Credit: Fort Worth Nature Center)
The study at the Fort Worth Nature Center will hopefully be used to create new management plans for inland alligator populations. (Photo Credit: Fort Worth Nature Center)
During the study herpetologists collected information about alligators living at the Fort Worth Nature Center such as density, body size, age class, habitat selection and home range. (Photo Credit: Fort Worth Nature Center)
I love being a global traveler and helping to conserve all the world’s creatures, but the creatures in my home state of Texas hold a special place in my heart. This year, another Texas conservation program will be able to take place thanks to the Arthur A. Seeligson, Jr. Texas Wild! Conservation Fund. I’ll be sure to share that information with you when the Zoo chooses the next grant recipient.
How can you help native wildlife in your area? I have a few ideas:
- Become a Texas Turtle Watcher. As you read in one of my previous blogs, the Fort Worth Zoo’s Texas Turtle Watch program trains people to study turtles so they can go into the field and collect data about Texas turtle species. All the data helps us get a better understanding of the area’s turtle population, similar to what our Scales on Trails program is doing for the local snake population.
- Work with a citizen science program in your area. Check with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for information on projects in your area. If you don’t see one there that interests you, check with your local colleges. Duke University in North Carolina and the University of Central Florida both help organize a sea turtle watch program along the Atlantic coast that depends on the public for information on spotting nesting areas along the beaches.
- Participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count, sponsored by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon Society. Each year, this program tracks bird species across North America for one weekend. The next count is scheduled for February 15-18, 2013. Mark your calendar and be a counter in your area!
Are you doing your part to conserve? Tell me it at Sam’s Inbox (safarisam@fortworthzoo.org). Even better, take Sam on the Go on an outdoor adventure and introduce me to some of your favorite native plant and animal species. Email pictures of our explorations to Sam’s Inbox so I can show other explorers!
Until next time … happy exploring!
VOCABULARY
Artificial: (adjective) fake, imitation
Biodiversity: (noun) having a great variety of plant and animal species within an area
Cavity: (noun) a hollow space or hole
Characteristic: (noun) a distinguishing feature or quality
Collaborative: (adjective) characterized by working together on a joint project toward a shared goal
Commit: to promise or pledge
Conservation: (noun) the careful use of a natural resource so we can enjoy it now and have enough of it to enjoy in the future
Density: (noun) the number of inhabitants per unit area
Determine: (verb) to conclude or decide based on observation or reasoning
Ecosystem: (noun) a system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their environment
Encompass: (verb) to include completely or surround
Endangered species: (noun) a species at risk of extinction
Enhance: (verb) to make better or improve
Establish: (verb) to set up, organize or bring into being
Forage: (verb) to search or seek, usually for food
Genetics: (noun) the study of genes, or the things that play an important role in creating an organism’s traits (what it looks like, how it thinks, etc.)
Habitat: (noun) the natural environment of an organism
Harvest: (noun) the gathering of a resource that has reached maturity
Inland: (adjective) living or existing in the interior part of land, removed from the coasts
Install: (verb) to place in position or connect for use
Instill: (verb) to inspire with action or implant an idea
Investigate: (verb) to examine in detail
Manage: (verb) to take charge or care of
Monitor: (verb) to watch
Native: (adjective) being from the place or environment in which a person was born or a thing came into being
Partnership: (noun) a binding relationship between two or more parties carrying on a joint purpose with the goal of improving or producing a positive outcome
Regulation: (noun) a law or rule prescribed by authority
Reintroduction program: (noun) a program that takes animals that have been held in captivity and releases them back into the wild
Rely: (verb) to depend
Reside: (verb) to live within a certain space
Roost: (noun) a perch where birds and beds rest or sleep
Stress: (noun) pressure or force placed on one thing by another, strain
Steward (of the land): (noun) a person who is motivated to take an active role in caring for the land not just for personal gain, but to benefit future generations, society in general and the land itself.
Urban: (adjective) living in the city
