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More crowd-pleasers at the zoo

Animal magnetism

America's zookeepers await a baby boom of endangered species -- and the crowds of humans who will flock to see them.

By PATTY RHULE

1. Komodo dragon: Miami's zoo hopes to hatch a new batch of the flesh-eating lizards. 2. Asian elephant: After years of unsuccessful artificial inseminations, one of Seattle's Asian elephants delivered a 235-pound calf last month. 3. Giant panda: San Diego's Hua Mei is the first panda born outside China in 10 years.

Washington, D.C., is poised for panda-monium as it awaits the arrival of Tian Tian and Mei Xiang from China, with luck by New Year's.

With a $1.8 million upgrade to its panda habitat following the death in 1999 of its only remaining panda, the National Zoological Park will be back in the panda business. Just two other U.S. zoos, Zoo Atlanta and the San Diego Zoo, boast the critically endangered pandas. But while pandas have achieved what conservationists call "flagship status," animals that draw public attention and funds for efforts to save them and their habitats, other animal events in the nation's zoos rival in scientific value -- if not cuteness -- the worldwide effort to help the pandas.

Next summer, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden expects the birth of a Sumatran rhino, which will be an extraordinary event if it occurs. The last reported birth of a Sumatran rhino in captivity was at the Calcutta Zoo in 1889. Killed by poachers who sell their horns for medicinal uses, only 300 of the rhinos remain in the wild; 16 are in zoos worldwide, including three in Cincinnati. Emi, Cincinnati's pregnant rhino, has lost calves five times, perplexing scientists. This pregnancy, almost six months at press time, is the furthest she has carried a calf. Hormone supplements were the only difference this time.

"For us to produce a calf will be an incredible achievement," says Terri Roth of the Cincinnati Zoo's Center for Research of Endangered Wildlife, which works with the International Rhino Foundation. "We are working in a crisis situation. This is a species that is certainly on the edge. We have got to make this work."

Cincinnati's zoo, like many others in North America, participates in the American Zoo and Aquarium Association's "Species Survival Plans," an attempt to save 136 endangered species. The SSPs determine where breeding should take place and which animals should be mated, as well as where the babies will go once they are born. "When an animal is bred at a major zoo, it's not something that's done helter-skelter," says the National Zoo's Robert Hoage.

While animal babies of any kind are major draws at zoos, the rarer species have more appeal than others, and pandas always have enjoyed a lovefest with zoo-goers. A scientist interested in saving all species, Roth doesn't begrudge pandas the attention they receive, but she knows rhinos could use some of that public support, too. "People walk by the exhibit and call it a hippo," Roth says. "They just need to be educated. That's our job."

"Certainly giant pandas are a charismatic species, but elephants are charismatic as well," says Judith Gagen of the Indianapolis Zoo, which has two baby African elephants born via artificial insemination. "That's why we launched the Web site [projectelephant.com] strictly about elephants," to keep the public informed and involved in efforts to save them.

Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo celebrated the birth of an endangered species Nov. 3. Unnamed at press time, the female Asian elephant born to mother Chai and Onyx, a bull from Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, Mo., weighed 235 pounds. Says the zoo's Gigi Allianic, "Should we lose Asian elephants in the wild -- about 35,000 are left -- we'd have these to draw on."

After six years of failed artificial inseminations, Chai was sent to Dickerson and got pregnant within weeks. She did "power walks" twice daily, leg lifts and abdominal exercises to ensure that she did not gain too much weight and that the calf would not be too big, two factors that may have contributed to the deaths of previous calves. Only 300 Asian elephants remain in North American zoos, and the population is aging. After age 25, the chances of reproduction decline. The National Zoo expects an Asian elephant baby in December 2001.

Miami Metrozoo hopes lizard lightning strikes twice: This month, zookeepers will bring together its adult Komodo dragons -- they like to mate at the darkest time of the year --- in the hope that eggs will hatch late next summer or in early fall. The flesh-eating lizards, found only on four Indonesian islands, are endangered; 5,000 to 6,000 remain in the wild. Two years ago, Miami's dragon lady laid 30 eggs, 27 of which hatched and are in zoos around the nation. After the mother lays the eggs in a hole, they are removed and artificially incubated to protect them from egg predators. "We can't afford to lose a Komodo egg to a raccoon," says the zoo's Ron Magill.

While the equally precious pandas bring in more visitors and dollars, the expense is daunting. As a result, no zoo with pandas is rolling in dough. Zoo Atlanta spent $7 million on its habitat and, like other zoos, must pay $1 million a year to China for the 10-year loan of the animals. The zoo hired a new pandakeeper, plus more concessions workers and other staff. And that doesn't count the millions being spent on research.

But pandas definitely draw crowds: When Atlanta's pair arrived last year, attendance topped 1 million visitors for the first time in the 113-year history of the zoo.

More crowd-pleasers at the zoo

Other threatened or endangered species that draw crowds:

Columbus Zoo last year opened a $10.5 million habitat for three manatees. It's one of only three locations outside Florida with the endangered aquatic mammals. "They're a great draw, but one of our main reasons for getting in there was that they needed our help," says associate zoo director Patty Peters.

Indianapolis Zoo's historic African elephant babies both resulted from artificial insemination. The female, Amali, was born March 6; the male, Ajani, Aug. 4. African elephants, which are threatened, are difficult to breed in captivity. "Researchers in the wild could never get close enough to do the kind of research we do in human care, in terms of understanding the reproductive process," says the zoo's Judith Gagen. Indianapolis also has three baby Amur tigers (the world's most endangered tiger, commonly known as Siberian tigers), born this year.

Miami Metrozoo's King George is a rare king cheetah, a genetic mutation that produces wide spots and stripes. One of fewer than 50 in the world, King George is an ambassador for cheetah conservation, visiting area schools and appearing on CBS' The Early Show and Late Show With David Letterman.

Photos by MARK ALEXANDER, CINCINNATI ZOO (Manatees); RON MAGILL, MIAMI MetroZOO (Komodo Dragon); BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER, AP (panda); AGNES OVERBAUGH, WOODLAND Park ZOO (Elephants)