The Life of a Zoo Herpetologist: An Interview with Curator Doug Hotle of the Albuquerque Biological Park
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on May 8, 2013 Herpetologists in a zoo setting often work with a diversity of reptiles and amphibians from fairly innocuous tree frogs to gaboon vipers. I reached out to my colleague, Albuquerque Biological Park’s Curator of Herpetology Doug Hotle, to find out what it is like to work with an eclectic collection of native New Mexico and exotic…
Elephants in Captivity: A Perspective from Former AZA Director/William Conway Chair of Conservation & Science
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on May 5, 2013 Any discussion of elephants in captivity is met with controversy and criticism. Last week, I asked my colleague Jim Naelitz to provide his expert view on elephant management in zoos. The career elephant trainer and curator has worked with elephants at three AZA institutions. I felt Jim would provide a perspective fairly representing zoo elephant…
Captive Elephant Management: Interview with Knoxville Zoo’s Curator of Elephants
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on April 23, 2013 As I plan for my trip to India to work with South Asia’s largest animal welfare and conservation organization, I realize that the one area that is the most removed from my field of expertise is elephant management and the captive breeding of elephants for conservation purposes. Sure I have been around Asian and African…
Earth Day’s Top 13 Green-Listed Celebrities
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on April 22, 2013 Barbi Twins Bob Barker Brad Pitt Bridget Bardot Cameron Diaz Christian Bale Daryl Hannah Hayden Panettiere Leonardo DiCaprio Mick Jagger Pam Anderson Robert Redford Russel Simmons *Woody Harrelson Happy Earth Day 2013! The Barbi Twins and green-listed celebrities ask people to give back to the planet on Earth Day.
Evolutionary Perspectives & Approaches to Conserving Vanishing Wildlife
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on April 20, 2013 In prior interviews with Dr. Michael Hutchins, we discussed the impact of threats such as emerging infectious diseases and invasive species on extant wildlife populations. In recent times, many species have not fared well in the face of such threats, and in some cases have been rendered extinct in the wild merely since the industrial…
Kashmir Stag Census: Wildlife SOS Studies the Critically Endangered Subspecies of Red Deer
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on April 11, 2013 Aaliya Mir and Jordan Carlton Schaul of Wildlife SOS report on some critically endangered cervid research conducted by their colleagues in Northwest India. We are excited to report that students from several professional colleges were recently able to gain valuable experience while assisting Wildlife SOS wildlife biologists with a red deer census study in Dachigam…
“Balu Ay Gaya!” (“Bear Has Come!”)
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on April 8, 2013 (By NGS Contributor Dr. Jordan Carlton Schaul) I’m sharing this piece that I edited or really paraphrased for Wildlife SOS regarding this eventful news. I didn’t want to change this in a stylistic sense because Vinay (Wildlife SOS India) and Nikki (Wildlife SOS USA), who shared the original story with me this morning from India…
On the Brink of Extinction: A Closer Look at Endangered Species
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on April 5, 2013 Many naturalists and certainly most birding aficionados are well aware that the last passenger pigeon died in 1914 while in residence at the Cincinnati Zoo. And I regretfully acknowledge that the last wild passenger pigeon was shot in 1900 in my home state of Ohio. The Zoo’s passenger pigeon known as “Martha” was only presumed…
Shedd Aquarium’s Queen Conch Study—A Holistic Approach to Counting an Endangered Marine Invertebrate
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on April 4, 2013 This, my second article highlighting current field research initiatives of Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium, is a look at one of the two most important fisheries in the Bahamian Archipelago—and efforts to address the decline of a shellfish population that has been harvested since Pre-Columbian times. Dr. Alexander Tewfik, a post-doctoral fellow at Shedd’s Daniel P. Haerther…
Hounds and Heroes: A Likely Combination
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on March 28, 2013 A decade ago, Nat Geo News ran a story on military working dogs trained at Lackland Airforce Base—the only military base in the country that trains dogs for combat. Although the dogs do not actually participate in direct combat they may be subjected to some very dangerous situations. Since 9/11 the number of dogs “enlisted”…
“Conservation Dependent” Lagomorph Species in the USA and Abroad
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on March 24, 2013 Ten years ago this coming Easter, one of the world’s foremost experts on rabbits was asked to comment for National Geographic News on the conservation status of these small mammals and related taxa—species comprising the order Lagomorpha (i.e., rabbits, hares and pika). Back in 2003, Dr. Andrew Smith a biology professor and a Distinguished Sustainability…
The Threat of Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases to Wildlife
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on March 22, 2013 In this 6th interview with renowned wildlife biologist Dr. Michael Hutchins, we discuss the challenges facing vanishing species and other threatened free-ranging and captive populations of wildlife due to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. Jordan: Zoonoses and anthroponoses may be confusing terms to some of our readers. Can you define these terms and any others…
Hugh Hefner: Easter’s Bunny Hugger
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on March 18, 2013 Iconic pin-ups turned animal activists—the World Famous Barbi Twins usually spend Easter rescuing rabbits. The bunnies they rescue would otherwise end up euthanized at a shelter or left to their own devices in the wild, until of course, some seasoned predator would be so lucky as to happen upon the truly helpless lagomorphs. Releasing pet…
Human-Wildlife Conflict: An Interview with Dr. Michael Hutchins
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on March 9, 2013 In our fifth interview in a series on environmental issues, Dr. Michael Hutchins and I explore human-wildlife interactions from a global perspective. In his responses to my questions, the noted wildlife biologist provides an array of examples of conflict, solutions to some of these pressing conservation concerns, and some direction as to where we can…
Revisiting ADHD (ADD) with Dr. Russel Barkley: Attention Deficit Disorder or “Executive Function Deficit Disorder”
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on February 24, 2013 I’m not quite sure how any condition often labeled as a “cognitive deficit” disorder could be misconstrued as a gift, but out here on the “West Coasts”—Alaska and California—two places I’ve most recently lived, there are supposedly numerous risk takers and adventure seekers with this “gift” called Attention Deficit Disorder, that also presents as a…
‘Dancing Bear’ Poachers Arrested at Indo-Nepal Border by Wildlife SOS
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on February 19, 2013 Wildlife SOS was called upon to rescue more dancing bears—this time at the Indo-Nepal border. Arrests were made and bears were relocated to a Wildlife SOS Sanctuary. (Full Story) “In an all-night anti-poaching rescue operation, based on intelligence provided by Wildlife SOS, four young sloth bears were seized from poachers on the Indo-Nepal border. Six…
Impaled Leopard Rescued by Wildlife SOS and Cohort Agencies/Organizations
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on February 15, 2013 
Contributing Editor Dr. Jordan Schaul has reported on a recent penetration induced lesion(s) in a wild adult Indian leopard as conveyed to him by Wildlife SOS colleagues in India. The leopard sustained the penetration trauma wound from impalement on a fence and is presumed to recover. Beware that the photos are graphic. Last week, in…
Lorenzo Lamas—-from the Renegade to the Animal Crusader
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on February 15, 2013 A note from Contributing Editor Dr. Jordan Schaul: The celebrities that most interest the Barbi Twins and myself for our exclusive interviews with high profile, and visible crusaders with intent of helping both human and animal kind are those that don’t take themselves quite so seriously. They are the ones that show gratitude for their…
Wood Bison Reintroduction Update
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on January 23, 2013 According to a Reuters report, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) have agreed to designate a captive population of wood bison a “non-essential, experimental” herd. Through negotiations that culminated in drafting the 10 (j) rule, which is a provision under the Endangered Species Act that…
Tragedy of the Once Common Rhesus Monkey: Wildlife SOS Conserves the Iconic Urban Primate
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on January 22, 2013 Contributing Editor Dr. Jordan Schaul examines the plight of the most wide-ranging, non-human primate on the planet—the rhesus monkey (aka the urban macaque). Included in this post are interviews with Wildlife SOS co-founder and professor Geeta Seshamani and distinguished wildlife biologist and professor Dr. Michael Hutchins. Last week, Wildlife SOS came to the rescue of another animal…
Katie Cleary’s Film “Give Me Shelter” Wins for Best Short Film
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on January 15, 2013 Last week, I met my friend—model/actress, and animal welfarist—Katie Cleary. We caught up on business at a posh Beverly Hill’s eatery, when she casually alerted me to a young lady wearing a fur coat at a table behind us. Although, I think it is most distasteful and an overt display of disrespect to the animal…
The Climate Change Conundrum: What the Future is Beginning to Look Like for Wildlife
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on January 10, 2013 Contributing Editor Dr. Jordan Schaul and distinguished wildlife biologist and professor Dr. Michael Hutchins discuss the current and anticipated impact of climate change on wildlife species around the globe in an exclusive Nat Geo News Watch interview. Jordan: In collaboration with the National Wildlife Federation, and Arizona State University scientists, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) recently…
2012′s Most Active Celebrity Animal Advocates & Activists
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on January 1, 2013 Congratulations to the Barbi Twins for making the international media’s top 10 list of “most interesting people.” For 2012 they ranked number 5 for helping to find the kitten killer-turned cannibal killer Luka Magnotta. Here is the list. Here is the 2012 list of celebrities most active in animal activism and advocacy: 1) Barbi Twins…
The Threat of Invasive Species—An Interview with Dr. Michael Hutchins
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on December 25, 2012 In an ongoing series of interviews with renowned wildlife professional and ecologist Dr. Michael Hutchins, Newswatch Contributing Editor Dr. Jordan Schaul explores another threat to nature. In the last interview Michael and Jordan discussed the Nature Deficit Disorder. Here is a complete bio for Dr. Michael Hutchins. Interview: Jordan: People, including scientists, often confuse or…
Wildlife SOS Recognized for Contributions to Wildlife Conservation, Animal Welfare & Social Causes
Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on December 22, 2012 Contributing Editor Dr. Jordan Schaul proudly announces a celebration recognizing the efforts of his colleagues at Wildlife SOS for their 17 years of work rescuing bears. The Indian-based wildlife conservation organization is focused on preserving India’s bears and other South Asian animals. It was the night before Christmas of 2002 and ”the beginning of the end” of a…
