Legacy Of A Conservation Giant
Ingelore Clason
In 1996 when the giant pandas first arrived at the San Diego Zoo, the species was considered Endangered in the wild, and with fewer than 1,600 left on the planet, conservation breeding efforts were the focus of a broader initiative to develop the capacity to supplement the wild population of pandas. However, there were many challenges to successful breeding under human care, and we worked with our colleagues in China and with other panda holding zoos to address these.
With the return of Bai Yun, Gao Gao, and Xiao Liwu to China and the conclusion of our current panda loan agreement, it is clear that an era has come to an end. However, our panda conservation work continues, and continued efforts to use scientific study to develop enduring conservation management strategies for the giant panda and its habitat will continue. We are no less dedicated to the survival the panda in the wild than we were 25 years ago. While we can say with confidence that there is now HOPE for the survival of the giant panda, we know that continued efforts are necessary, and that our international, multi-disciplinary, team approach is still the way to go. Our work continues.
There is no getting around the fact that we will all miss having giant pandas at the San Diego Zoo. Personally, I have been lucky enough to work in close proximity to them for more than 22 years and so am at a bit of a loss imagining my day-to-day work life without being able to look outside my office window to see Bai Yun and her family. Things will really be different around the Giant Panda Research Station in the near future, but with countless shared memories of panda milestones big and small, we are proud of the many individuals that have been a part of our panda-family (including the thousands - perhaps millions - of panda-supporters from around the world) and excited for the future.
Question: How can I prevent a beloved big tree from being felled?
Answer: Residents with these concerns may check with their community to determine if local ordinance prevents arbitrary removal of big trees. Although the New Jersey Forest Service promotes the conservation of big and heritage trees, sometimes it becomes necessary to fell these trees when they become affected by pests, disease, or nature to the point where they become a hazard.
The giant panda conservation program has always been a collaborative one, and we have always worked closely with our Chinese colleagues along the way. Under the umbrella of giant panda conservation, we have developed a deep mutual respect and countless friendships. At this time, China has expressed their interest in having Gao Gao spend his last years in his home country. With respect for these wishes, our animal care team has spent much time and effort preparing Gao Gao for his journey home. We all know that he will be well cared for and loved when he settles into his new home, but it is still extraordinarily hard to say goodbye. Gao Gao is no ordinary bear: he has made immense contributions to our understanding of giant pandas as a species, and he has enriched the lives of all that have been fortunate to get to know him. I will miss him dearly.
Join our nine-day Panda Palooza in-person and online celebration from September 23 to October 1, 2023, where audiences of all ages can enjoy a series of fun, family-friendly and conservation-forward events.
Follow the Zoo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube for special panda-related videos, photos and updates. Or subscribe to the Smithsonan National Zoo News e-newsletter for a special giant panda edition before the bears say farewell!
Aldo Leopold is a conservation giant from American history who built on the legacy of John Muir and Henry David Thoreau to greatly expand the conservation movement by developing and fostering a vision for Land Ethic.
In his seminal work, A Sand County Almanac (1949), he wrote that there is a need for a "new ethic", an ethic dealing with human's caring relation to land and to the animals and plants which grow upon it. Leopold states the basic principle of a land ethic is the recognition that people are a part of the biological community, when he wrote: "The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land... [A] land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it. It implies respect for fellow-members, and also respect for the community as such."
Born in 1887 along the still semi-wild Mississippi River in Iowa, Leopold was always drawn to the outdoors. Even his earliest drawings featured local birds and school essays chronicled his hikes through the countryside. He graduated from Yale University's Forest School in 1909 before beginning his career with the U.S. Forest Service in Arizona and New Mexico. During this period he and colleagues advocated setting aside large areas of the National Forests as wilderness and in 1924 succeeded in having the Gila Wilderness Area established. The Gila was the first administratively determined wilderness and would be a critical precursor to the Wilderness Act passed by the US Congress in 1964. After a 24-year career with the Forest Service he joined the faculty at the University of Wisconsin in Madison to focus on wildlife conservation. Early in his university career he purchased 80 acres of logged, repeatedly burnt, overgrazed land. Putting his conservation theories to work and seeing the slow revitalization of this land was the basis for A Sand County Almanac.
While building his ideas about a land ethic, Leopold, along with others such as Olaus and Mardy Murie, Bob Marshall, and Benton McKaye, formed The Wilderness Society. The purpose of this new organization was to insure that wild blank spots on the map always remained to inform our scientific understanding of how the earth functions as well as places for people to reconnect with the wild that would reinvigorate our collective spirit. They also understood and worked to establish wild places everywhere from window boxes and urban gardens to state parks and federally designated wilderness areas. Today, wilderness is the highest protected status of land in the United States of America and is the clearest and strongest embodiment of Leopold's land ethic.
Leopold's conservation legacy lives on and continues to evolve through the work that we all do to protect and promote conservation at home and abroad. We hope you will continue to explore your own Land Ethic and commitment to land and wilderness.
(Image courtesy of The Aldo Leopold Foundation)
The Nature Conservancy is now protecting more than 650 acres in the Upper Colorado River Basin through two new conservation easements. The easements add to the 1,950 acres of the C Lazy U Ranch that have already been protected by The Nature Conservancy. In addition to preserving key wildlife habitat and giving species the room they need to roam, these easements also provide a buffer from nearby development.
On April 16, 1972, two celebrities arrived at the National Zoological Park to throngs of adoring fans. Panda pair Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing were a gift to the United States from China. The arrival of biologist Devra Kleiman at the zoo the same year was much quieter, but marked the beginning of a new era in conservation and reproductive biology. Devra, who passed away last month, was well known for her research on panda behavior and reproduction. Based on her own observations, she questioned the conventional practice of keeping the pandas separate except to mate. At a time when successful captive breeding of pandas was rare, Ling-Ling gave birth five times (none of the cubs survived).
The mission of SGPA, in partnership with the State of Connecticut, is to build upon a legacy of conservation and stewardship to expand the park and the opportunities it offers for physical recreation, spiritual renewal, and enjoyment of and learning about the natural world.
Have you been to Hamburg Mountain in Sussex County, the Manumuskin Preserve or Holly Farm in Cumberland County, or the Mount Rose Preserve in Mercer County? How about the Pine Barrens? The Highlands? Do you have clean water coming from your tap? And if you live in western New Jersey, are you relieved that the PennEast pipeline will never come through? These are just a few examples of the rich legacy left by Ed Lloyd.
Alarmed by the public's attitude toward natural resources as well as the exploitation of natural resources for private gain, conservationists called for federal supervision of the nation's resources and the preservation of those resources for future generations. In President Theodore Roosevelt, the conservationists found a sympathetic ear and man of action. Conservation of the nation's resources, putting an end to wasteful uses of raw materials, and the reclamation of large areas of neglected land have been identified as some of the major achievements of the Roosevelt era.
President Roosevelt's concern for the environment was influenced by American naturalists, such as John Muir, and by his own political appointees, including Gifford Pinchot, Chief of Forestry. Working in concert with many individuals and organizations, the Roosevelt administration was responsible for the following: the Newlands Act of 1902, which funded irrigation projects from the proceeds of the sale of federal lands in the West; the appointment of the Inland Waterways Commission in 1907 to study the relation of rivers, soil, forest, waterpower development, and water transportation; and the National Conservation Commission of 1909, which was charged with drawing up long-range plans for preserving national resources. Along with a vocal group of conservationists, the Roosevelt administration created an environmental conservation movement whose words and actions continue to be heard and felt throughout the nation today.
The Supervisory Board of the Legacy Landscapes Fund (LLF) has decided on funding for the first two LLF sites in a unanimous vote: Madidi National Park in Bolivia und North Luangwa National Park in Zambia were approved as legacy landscapes of the LLF. They are implemented jointly by protected area authorities, local communities, and one site by Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS), the other by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
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