SAN DIEGO ZOO SCIENTIST MOVES 150 ENDANGERED KANGAROO RATS

  Thursday night, the San Diego Zoo  released the last of 150 endangered Stephen's kangaroo rats at the Southwestern Riverside Multispecies Reserve as part of a conservation program aimed at saving a species endemic to San Diego and Riverside counties.

    Since 2008, Debra Shier, Ph.D., San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research scientist, has been donning night vision goggles, carrying radio antennas, catching and moving the 4-inch-long Stephen's kangaroo rat to the reserve allowing her to develop a new method of translocating the 62-gram rodent from areas where development or non-native predators can kill it.

    This year is different. Shier now understands the movements and behavior of the species. In 2010 she refined the program with the species' needs in mind. The kangaroo rats were released into six areas in which habitat was restored using various methods, including mowing, burning and grazing.

     "We are looking for conditions that will make the species thrive," said Shier. "What is most important is moving towards restoration of native grasslands, and do so efficiently from the animal's perspective."

     This diminutive rodent has been found in Southern California for thousands of years. Unfortunately, the species has been drastically affected by human development and has lost much of its habitat in the past two decades. Fortunately, translocating the kangaroo rat out of harms' way has been successful in recent years, and after developing new methods and tools, the sixth generation of translocated kangaroo rats is alive and well. The kangaroo rat project also includes efforts to restore the native bunch grass and chaparral habitat the animals need for food and cover.

    Kangaroo rats play a vital role in their environment by dispersing native plant seeds and digging burrows used as shelter by lizards, amphibians and other small rodents. Shier has observed that areas where the kangaroo rat is no longer found have seen an increase in exotic plants overtaking native species.
     Conservation work with the Stephen's kangaroo rat is just one of many local San Diego Zoo science. The Zoo is also involved with the California condor, pacific pocket mouse, cactus wren and mountain yellow-legged frog conservation programs.

     The San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research is dedicated to generating, sharing and applying scientific knowledge vital to the conservation of animals, plants and habitats worldwide. The work of the Institute includes onsite research efforts at the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park (historically referred to as Wild Animal Park), laboratory work at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center for Conservation Research, and international field programs involving more than 180 researchers working in 35 countries. In addition to the Beckman Center for Conservation Research, the Institute also operates the Anne and Kenneth Griffin Reptile Conservation Center, the Botanical Conservation Center, the Keauhou and Maui Hawaiian Bird Conservation Centers and the Desert Tortoise Conservation Center. The Zoo also manages the 1,800-acre San Diego Zoo Safari Park, which includes a 900-acre native species reserve, and the San Diego Zoo. The important conservation and science work of these entities is supported in part by The Foundation of the Zoological Society of San Diego.