wildlife

Pip Pip Hooray for a Little Piping Plover

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Let’s open this blog post with a little fun. We recently held a gender reveal and Erie, the piping plover under human care at the Detroit Zoo, is a GIRL! Not only is Erie a girl, but she is also the granddaughter of the Illinois pair from Montrose Beach, Monty and Rose.

Erie’s background:

For the first time in 83 years, piping plovers were seen nesting in Ohio. Birds Nellie and Nish quickly became a famous, feathered pair when they decided to make Maumee Bay State Park their temporary home. Of note, Nish (the male) is the offspring of Monty and Rose, the infamous piping plover pair in Chicago (about whom a book was written). On July 1, all four of their eggs hatched. The chicks – Erie, Ottawa, Maumee and Kickapoo – were given some serious security detail. A large part of the beach was cordoned off until early August to protect the young birds.

People with a passion for plovers watched this Great Lakes critically endangered species closely. Black Swamp Bird Observatory volunteers and other bird watchers gathered for weeks with binoculars, cameras and notebooks. Daily updates were posted to Nellie & Nish: The Maumee Bay Piping Plovers Facebook page.

Photo taken by Plover Patrol Volunteer Ron Schramm and posted on the Nellie & Nish Facebook page.

On August 18, hearts were broken when a volunteer found Kickapoo dead. It is believed the bird was killed by another wild animal. The next day, more difficult news was shared when it was noticed in photographs that Erie had suffered an injury to her cloaca. The cloaca is the opening for a bird’s digestive, urinary and reproductive tracts. It’s used to expel feces and lay eggs. An injured cloaca could cause chronic medical problems, as well as make it difficult for Erie to lay eggs when she is nesting.

After much discussion with wildlife agencies and piping plover experts, the decision was made to capture Erie and transport her to the Toledo Zoo for treatment. During this time, siblings Ottawa and Maumee did what piping plovers do and migrated south for the winter. It is believed that had Erie left with the others, she would likely not have survived.

Photo of Erie taken by Vince Capozziello and posted on the Nellie & Nish Facebook page.

After nearly two weeks of treatment, Erie’s injury was healing well and she was returned to the beach. Everyone expected her to head south like Nellie, Nish, Ottawa and Maumee already had – but in mid-October she was still at Maumee Bay State Park.

That’s where the Detroit Zoological Society (DZS) comes in. At the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) request, Erie was captured and transferred to the Detroit Zoo, where we are providing medical care and a private, comfortable home for her over the winter. Our experience caring for piping plover chicks as part of the federal recovery program’s salvage captive rearing program makes the DZS a perfect fit for helping Erie. Every year, piping plover eggs that are abandoned are collected, incubated and hatched on the DZS campus and chicks are later released back to various Michigan shorelines. This program has been very successful; the Great Lakes population of piping plovers has increased from 17 breeding females in 1986 to 74 breeding females in 2021.

In the last two months, we’ve been able to watch Erie’s personality really develop. She is laid back and loves all kinds of bugs! Staff at the DZS will assess Erie’s health over the winter and release her next summer with a group of captive-reared chicks. If it is believed that her injury could present risk to her, such as causing problems when she tries to lay eggs, she may be deemed non-releasable by the USFWS and we will help to find a permanent home for her in a zoo that houses piping plovers.

Bonnie Van Dam is the associate curator of birds for the Detroit Zoological Society.

Learn About the Wolf-Moose Project on Isle Royal

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The Detroit Zoological Society’s top-notch education staff are always hard at work creating original lessons and content for students and families in metro Detroit and beyond. DZS educational offerings teach students to have empathy for wildlife while providing science, technology, engineering and math experiences – particularly for students who are underrepresented in or lack equal access to high-quality STEM learning. In one highly-popular six-part DZS offering, students practice science from the perspective of professional conservationists researching moose and wolves on Isle Royale.

Isle Royale is part of an archipelago in Lake Superior, an island ecosystem that supports plant and animal life through harsh winters and mild summers. It is also home to the longest-running research project dedicated to a predator-prey relationship in the world. Called the Wolf-Moose Project, the study has documented and analyzed the moose and wolf populations living on the island since 1958, investigating the complex and dynamic relationships between predators and prey while considering humans’ role in the changing ecosystem. 

The Detroit Zoological Society (DZS) supports the work on Isle Royale financially and by sending staff to participate in this study through an annual Moosewatch expedition.  DZS-led Moosewatch teams spend just over a week hiking throughout the island to look for Moose that have passed away. If they find one, they will collect specific bones for the study. Analyzing the bones can provide insight into how the moose died – whether from old age, disease, lack of food or predation from wolves. This information is critical to understanding the health of the ecosystem. 

To bring this powerful story to life for school-age youth, DZS educators created a six-module course for middle and high school students. The on-demand, online learning experience addresses science, literacy and math standards through an interrupted case-study model. In this framework, course participants take on the role of a wildlife biologist who has been tasked with examining data, historical information and other evidence to make an assessment of the health of the island ecosystem. 

Photo taken by Jennifer Harte of Renner at the Detroit Zoo.

Drawing on this information, participants make a recommendation to either continue relocating wolves from the mainland to the islands, in an attempt to slow the rapidly growing moose population, or to let the current populations remain as they are, allowing nature to take its course. The experience is designed to help participants consider the perspectives of several key stakeholders, including conservationists, research scientists and the animals themselves. 

After submitting a recommendation for wolf population management, participants can schedule a time to meet with a Detroit Zoological Society staff member, who can answer questions, provide information about the wolves who live at the Detroit Zoo, and share stories about our conservation work. Several staff have participated in the annual Moosewatch program on Isle Royale and can provide first-hand accounts of the island. There is a charge for this virtual meeting with DZS staff, but the rest of the course is free. 

Gray wolves and humans have a long and complicated relationship. Wolves have been portrayed as villains, both in the media and literature, for generations. The reality is that all animals have an important role in their respective ecosystems, and it is our responsibility to find ways to coexist peacefully. The study on Isle Royale has provided a tremendous amount of information that has challenged our knowledge of predator and prey relationships, and how dynamic they are. This course provides an opportunity for students to learn about these relationships on Isle Royale by making use of real data and experiences – and while building critical skills they will need as our future leaders and decision makers.

Launch the course.

– Claire Lannoye-Hall is the director of education for the Detroit Zoological Society.

Amphibian Breeding Season

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Spring is the time of year when most amphibians in the wild are emerging from hibernation, breeding, and eventually laying eggs. This pattern also holds true for the animals at the Detroit Zoo’s National Amphibian Conservation Center (NACC). Every year in the early months of spring, the top-notch staff at the NACC facilitate hibernation, breeding and rearing for endangered amphibians from all over the world with the intention of releasing them into their respective habitats in the wild. A few of these species include Wyoming toads (Bufo baxteri), striped newts (Notophalmus perstriatus) and Puerto Rican crested toads (Peltophryne lemur). Amphibians are highly sensitive creatures who rely on the environmental conditions of their native habitats to cue their natural cycles of breeding and to maintain their overall health.  The NACC staff are experts at recreating these environmental cues.

Facilitating breeding in Wyoming toads, for example, is a complex process involving temperature changes and natural material for burrowing. The amphibian staff use a refrigerator to replicate the natural winter cool down experienced by these critically endangered creatures, and to ease them into a state of lowered activity and metabolism. The amphibians are also provided with a special mix of substrate to burrow into during this period – very similar to how Wyoming toads in the wild burrow below the frost line during the cold months.  When they warm up after this simulated winter, the toads at the NACC are ready to breed and are paired up with mates according to the recommendations of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums’ (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP) for Wyoming toads. An SSP is a cooperative breeding program that is overseen by AZA-accredited institutions that breed and house animal species who are endangered or threatened.

Another example of the specialized care required to breed the unique animals at the NACC is found in the reproduction patterns of striped newts. Endemic to the long leaf pine forests of Georgia and Florida, these amphibians are known to congregate and breed in temporary pools during specific times of the year when the water levels are highest.  In order to mimic these events for the striped newts at the NACC, their habitats’ water levels are lowered for a period of time – before being raised dramatically. The natural breeding cues of the striped newts are also replicated in other ways, such as changing their “photo period,” or daylight/nighttime hours, in order to simulate different seasons.  Inside the animals’ habitats, the zookeepers also place specific aquatic vegetation that the newts have been known to prefer as sites for laying eggs.

            Puerto Rican crested toads are among the many amphibians who are known to begin breeding activities during periods of heavy and sustained rainfall. Existing only in several small isolated populations within Puerto Rico, these toads emerge from hiding during seasonal rains to find a mate and reproduce.  Making use of this knowledge, the intuitive keepers at the NACC have produced a “love song mixtape” which includes the calls of male crested toads as well as the sound of heavy rainfall. While this track may not win any Grammy Awards, it serves to stimulate the crested toads into amplexus, which is an embrace used by male toads to hold onto the female and fertilize her eggs.

After countless hours of logging temperatures, researching literature and testing water quality, the real reward comes for the staff at the NACC when these fragile and endangered animals are released into the wild having received a head start towards a brighter future. This year, in the month of June, the amphibian department at the Detroit Zoo released 3,393 Puerto Rican Crested Toads, 634 Wyoming Toads and 41 Striped Newts into native habitats ranging from the dry forests of the Caribbean Islands to the plains of Wyoming. The amphibian staff take great pride in having contributed to the conservation of some of the most important animals on the planet as well as in furthering the mission of Detroit Zoological Society.

– Mark Vassallo is an amphibian department supervisor for the Detroit Zoological Society

Be A Citizen Scientist: Help Track Tick Activity

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If you have noticed more Michiganders complaining about ticks recently, you’re not alone. During the last few summers, it seems as if people in the state are finding ticks on themselves and on their dogs/pets more than ever before.  In recent years, ticks have expanded their active season, and have been found earlier in the spring and in increasing numbers. It’s a trend that is worrisome, particularly with the surge of people enjoying outdoor recreation during the pandemic and warmer summer months.  

Humans and many species of animals are susceptible to tick-transmitted diseases, most notably Lyme disease.  Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the US, and it is caused by a bacterium that is passed through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks.  Lyme disease is prevalent in the Northeast and much of the North Central United States; it is expanding its range in Michigan, largely because the blacklegged tick is expanding its range!  According to the Michigan Emerging and Zoonotic Disease summary published by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, 262 human cases were reported in 2018, with most Michigan exposures occurring in the Upper Peninsula and western Lower Peninsula.  

In order to better protect themselves and their families, Michiganders should be informed of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses, and learn how to avoid exposure.  University researchers have developed a useful tool to track the spread of Lyme disease and better inform people living in areas with blacklegged ticks.

The Tick App is a free mobile health app developed by collaborators from Michigan State University, the University of Wisconsin and Columbia University.  Besides being a reliable and handy resource with information about ticks and tick prevention, the Tick App gives you the opportunity to contribute as a citizen scientist.  If you provide consent to the research and complete an entry survey (which takes 5 -10 minutes), you will be prompted regularly to make a “daily log.” The daily log should take about a minute to complete. It asks if you or a household member (including your furry ones!) encountered a tick, what you did that day and even how COVID influenced your outdoor activities. You also have the option to complete “tick reports” to log your tick encounters; if you submit a clear photo, researchers will respond to you by email with information about the species and life stage. This information can be very helpful for a physician for diagnosis and treatment should anyone begin to feel sick. Lastly, if you allow location services, the app will use your location to provide you with current information on blacklegged tick activity in your area.  Location services also help researchers understand how time spent in different areas is associated with tick exposure.

We at the Detroit Zoo understand the importance of spending time in nature. Hiking, biking and enjoying the outdoors is great for the spirit, and great exercise! Staying informed and aware of the potential risks from ticks and mosquitos will only help you be better prepared as you spend time connecting with the world around you. 

– Ann Duncan is the director of animal health for the Detroit Zoological Society.

Answer the Call – Gorillas are on the Line

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Did you know just one simple action could help save a species?

Lessen the impact on prime gorilla habitats by recycling your old cell phone. Yes, the cell phone that is currently in your junk drawer collecting dust. It’s an easy way to make a big difference!

For a second year, the Detroit Zoological Society (DZS) is partnering with other accredited zoos within the Association of Zoos & Aquariums to launch a cell phone recycling program from February 1 through April 30. In addition to mobile phones, we also accept iPads, iPods, cameras, and chargers.

A rare and valuable mineral, coltan, is used in the creation of all cell phones and small electronics, and the mining of it is directly impacting the survival of gorillas.

Gorilla 5 - Roy Lewis

Eighty percent of the world’s supply of coltan is found in Central Africa, which is prime gorilla habitat. Imagine having the cell phone equivalent of gold in your backyard. There would be a lot of people showing up at your house with shovels in their hands and dollar signs in their eyes. That’s the situation for coltan and the gorillas.

Coltan is luring miners into the forests, which causes trouble for these animals. Their habitat is becoming logged and dug up so the miners can reach the coltan, and people are bringing in diseases, which the gorillas can easily contract. People are also illegally hunting gorillas – either to eat, sell or trade for more supplies. The more cell phones people buy, the more coltan needs to be mined, which leads to more gorillas becoming homeless. With their numbers dwindling in the wild as it is, let’s work together to save them.

RL Pende copy

Last year, the collective goal of the program was to gather 10,000 mobile phones and engage 10,000 children and community members to help save gorillas. Together, the participating organizations exceeded this goal, collecting more than 12,000 phones and engaging nearly 260,000 people. The DZS alone collected 490 phones, ranking seventh among the 21 participating zoos and aquariums.

This year, we would like to collect even more phones and reach even more people, and you can help us. Fewer than 20 percent of old cell phones are recycled. Consider bringing your old phones and electronics to the Detroit Zoo during the next three months. Donation bins will be set up at the Main Entrance; you can also deliver them to the guest relations associates manning the ticket booths. We’re also looking for local schools to join us in this venture and make a direct impact on saving the species. If your school or classroom is interested in helping us protect gorillas, you can email Carla Van Kampen, curator of education, at cvankampen@dzs.org and Aaron Jesue, zookeeper, at ajesue@dzs.org. Also, mark your calendar for our World Gorilla Day celebration at the Detroit Zoo, which will be held on Thursday, September 24.

Picture1– Aaron Jesue is a zookeeper for the Detroit Zoological Society.

Build Empathy for Local Wildlife with Remote Cameras

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An important aspect of humane education is building students’ empathy for other animals, including wildlife. One method of building empathy for wildlife is providing experiences that allow people to observe the animals firsthand. At the Detroit Zoo, guests have many opportunities to watch exotic wildlife in expansive, naturalistic habitats. However, people’s opportunities to observe local wildlife can be more limited. Deer, raccoons and other animals may share our local environment, but some of them are nocturnal and tend to be inactive when most people are active. Other animals are fearful of humans and try to avoid contact.

To address this challenge, Detroit Zoological Society (DZS) educators are adopting a technology commonly used by conservation researchers: remote cameras. Remote cameras allow researchers to record images and videos of wildlife without the need to be physically present to press a button. While researchers use these images to monitor wildlife populations, humane educators can also use them to give students a look at the local wildlife who may be hard to spot. These experiences can help students empathize with their animal neighbors.

City Critters is just one of the programs where DZS educators are using remote cameras. In this program, DZS educators train preservice teachers to lead humane education lessons to elementary school students. The 45-minute lessons include an activity in which the students analyze images from a network of remote cameras in Detroit parks, operated by the University of Michigan’s Applied Wildlife Ecology (AWE) Lab. By analyzing these images, the students learn about the raccoons, opossums, squirrels, geese and other wildlife who share their local environment. Remote cameras are also incorporated into The Humane Education Horticulture Program. In this program, DZS educators have helped students at Oakland County Children’s Village install remote cameras in a nearby forest and wetland so they can identify the wildlife in the area. Over the past month, the cameras have recorded images of many animals, including rabbits and deer.

MOULTRIE DIGITAL GAME CAMERAAn image of a white-tailed deer recorded near Oakland County Children’s Village

By observing images and videos of local wildlife, students learn more about these animals’ experiences. For example, they may learn that rabbits are most active in the early morning, or that deer often raise their heads when they are feeding. Over time, students may also come to see themselves as members of a more-than-human community. For instance, the students at Children’s Village are now noting other signs of wildlife on their campus, including tracks, scat and vocalizations.

You can use remote cameras to build empathy for local wildlife, too! One option is to participate in Michigan ZoomIN, a public science project in which people can help researchers at the AWE Lab analyze images from their remote camera network. For more information about the project, click here: zooniverse.org/projects/michiganzoomin/michigan-zoomin. Another option is to purchase a remote camera and install it in your backyard. You can find a wide range of cameras for sale online or at your local sporting goods store. If you install a remote camera in your backyard, be sure not to bait it with food or other attractants. Baiting cameras is not necessary, and it can harm the animals.

– Stephen Vrla and Claire Lannoye-Hall are curators of education for the Detroit Zoological Society.

Notes from the Field: Treating Endangered African Vultures

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This is the second in a series detailing the Detroit Zoological Society’s recent vulture conservation fieldwork in South Africa. For Part I, click here.

The Detroit Zoological Society’s latest field conservation project was with VulPro, an organization in South Africa that works to rehabilitate sick and injured vultures in order to return them to vulnerable wild populations. With seven of the 11 African vulture species currently endangered or critically endangered, the DZS is working with VulPro to reverse the crisis literally one vulture at a time.

Through community outreach efforts, sick vultures come to VulPro from as far as eight hours away. They arrive in all sorts of conditions, sometimes with broken bones or open wounds, signs of poisoning or evidence of electrocution, and they’re often dehydrated and starving.

I traveled to South Africa this winter to assist VulPro in their efforts. During my time there, a farmer discovered a Cape vulture on his land that was weak and unable to fly, and a VulPro volunteer drove several hours to collect the bird and bring him back to us. He was an older adult male who we affectionately called “Old Guy”, and when he arrived, he was too weak to stand or even lift his head. We immediately got to work. A brief assessment revealed that he was severely dehydrated. We secured an identification band, placed an intravenous catheter in a vein in his leg, and examined, cleaned and bandaged a wound on his left wing. The wound – as well as bruising along his elbow – were presumably caused by barbed wire and likely left him temporarily unable to fly.

We then moved Old Guy into an ICU unit – a small space that prevented him from pulling on his fluid line but also allows us to see him at all times – which also happened to be the shower in the VulPro director’s house. VulPro is a small but mighty non-profit, and the team makes creative use of every resource available, even if that means sharing the bathroom with a critical vulture patient. After 15 minutes, Old Guy was still quite lifeless, with a heart rate two times slower than a healthy vulture. We continued to keep a close watch, and after 45 minutes on fluids, he was able to stand on his own. Over the next several hours, Old Guy slowly came back to life. He was given a companion vulture overnight and both were moved to the outdoor hospital enclosures in the morning. Over the next few days, Old Guy improved dramatically and began eating on his own. He even got a bit feisty with us, which is a true sign of a healthy vulture.

Over the past two months, Old Guy has continued to improve, and he will be released later this month at VulPro’s release site in the Magaliesberg mountains.

VulPro also conducts many crucial research and population-level conservation initiatives, but saving individuals like Old Guy – one vulture at a time – is at the core of the mission of both the Detroit Zoological Society and VulPro. This truly exemplifies compassionate conservation.

– Dr. Sarah Woodhouse is a veterinarian for the Detroit Zoological Society and operates out of the Detroit Zoo’s Ruth Roby Glancy Animal Health Complex.

Animal Welfare: How do You Know if They’re ‘Happy’?

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Think about the term, “animal welfare”, and what it means to you. When you encounter an animal – in any setting, be it a zoo, a friend’s house or even your own living room – are there certain cues that help you decide if you feel the animal is having a good or a bad time – or experiencing positive or negative welfare? It may be the animal’s appearance, behaviors, what the space looks like where they live, or perhaps it’s based on your knowledge about that species.

In some cases, it’s relatively easy to determine that an animal is in a poor welfare state. If they’re living in dirty and cramped conditions, don’t have access to social partners – or perhaps too many – or if they have obvious signs of injuries or illness without any indication they’re under veterinary care, it’s likely the animal is not experiencing good welfare. But when you look at other, less obvious factors, such as if the animal is quietly resting in a spacious habitat, or if the animal is moving back and forth in one area of their space, the answers are less clear.

The concept of animal welfare refers to an animal’s physical, mental and emotional states over a period of time. It is based on the individual’s experience, which can be different from one species to another, and from one animal to another. It is not about what is provided to an animal, such as food and water – this doesn’t automatically ensure good welfare. Although having access to these resources is critical to creating conditions that may lead to good welfare, it is actually how the animal perceives those conditions that determines their welfare. We can’t simply measure welfare in terms of square footage, gallons of water or the nutritional content of food items. We must use indicators from the animals themselves, such as behavior, physical condition and even emotional responses.

These indicators represent the three different concepts of welfare. The first has to do with an animal’s ability to engage in natural behaviors, or live in a way it has evolved to. The second involves biological functioning and prioritizes an animal’s physical health. The last focuses on the animal’s feelings and emotional states, with an emphasis on minimizing negative emotions and promoting positive ones. Should we favor one concept over another, it is possible we would miss something important to an individual animal.

If two people were to assess an animal using two different concepts, they could come to conflicting conclusions about that animal’s welfare state. This is why we incorporate aspects of all three of these concepts when evaluating animal welfare. This allows us to gain a much more holistic picture of the animal’s experience and to consider all of the factors that impact their well-being.

– Dr. Stephanie Allard is the director of animal welfare for the Detroit Zoological Society and oversees the Center for Zoo and Aquarium Animal Welfare and Ethics.

Preparing the Next Generation of Wildlife Protectors

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As a leader in conservation work across six continents, the Detroit Zoological Society (DZS) is saving animals from extinction. Dedicated DZS professionals work year-round to support this important work, fueled by a passion to protect and preserve wildlife and wild places for future generations. Our animal care staff have an obvious role in this important work, but every staff member has a meaningful part.

Each year, close to 20,000 students and teachers participate in programs and experiences designed to inspire the next generation of wildlife protectors. The learning experiences engage participants with hands-on activities as they build essential process skills and meet classroom curriculum requirements while encouraging them to join us in our mission of Celebrating and Saving Wildlife. A great example of this type of programming is our Conservation Project Learning Labs, which includes programs designed for school groups that feature DZS conservation work. The Conservation Project: Panamanian Golden Frog Learning Lab for upper elementary and middle school students is one of the most requested school programs we offer.

When the students arrive for this program, staff greet them by welcoming them to “Panama”. A brief introduction covers what a Species Survival Plan is and how the DZS works with other zoos and aquariums across the country to ensure the survival of selected species, many of which are threatened or endangered. Panamanian golden frogs have not been found in the wild in more than 10 years, making the populations being raised in zoos and aquariums a lifeline for the species to exist. The students have important work to do during their visit: They’re responsible for determining the best site in Panama to release Panamanian golden frogs into their native habitat.

The students rotate through a series of stations to emulate how professional wildlife ecologists work in the field. Simulated habitats planted in large containers allow students to test water quality from a running stream, check for signs of human activity in the area, and swab plants and rocks in the model to check for diseases that would impact the frogs’ health. The students collect and record data at each potential release site, then move on to “assess the health” of rubber frogs by weighing and measuring each one as animal care staff would. At the final station, the students decide which of the three sites frogs should be released at based on the data they collected.

Programs that allow participants to see themselves as scientists and practice skills through realistic, hands-on activities create experiences to remember. The students walk away empowered and inspired to become future wildlife advocates. To review a complete list of programs available for school groups, visit https://detroitzoo.org/education/teachers-and-schools/learning-labs/.

– Claire Lannoye-Hall is a curator of education for the Detroit Zoological Society.

Turn Your Backyard into a Wildlife Sanctuary

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As spring finally arrives, our neighborhoods are quickly coming back to life after a long winter’s slumber. Each morning we wake up to birds singing outside our windows and wildlife stirring from their winter hideouts as they venture out in search of food and companionship. We have an important role in their success as we own and care for much of the space they call home.

Our yards are becoming increasingly important sanctuaries for native wildlife. With open spaces quickly dwindling to new subdivisions, commercial buildings and parking lots, there is little left for the species who have always lived here. By sharing our backyards with birds, pollinators, small mammals, amphibians and reptiles, we’re keeping the ecosystem intact and benefiting all species, including ourselves.

Birds, amphibians and bats all help keep the insect population in control, making our summer afternoons more enjoyable without constantly swatting away mosquitos and other winged nuisances. Pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, provide us with beautiful flowers and are responsible for fertilizing crops, ultimately producing one out of every three bites of food we eat. Snakes eat insects and small rodents, keeping populations in control and out of our sheds, garages and homes. To keep these natural systems in balance, we need to minimize our impact on their daily routines.

It’s relatively easy to create an oasis for wildlife while we continue to enjoy our outdoor space. Last spring, DZS staff planned and prepared a Backyards for Wildlife site near the Detroit Zoo’s American Coney Island to demonstrate how simple projects in our backyards can have a positive impact for wildlife. Volunteers from the Ford Motor Company helped to plant a variety of native flowers, grasses and shrubs in the area, and laid a wood chip path to lead guests into the space, which will soon be full of blooming flowers and busy pollinators.

In preparation for GreenFest on April 27, the site will be enhanced with signage that suggests simple things homeowners can do in their yards. These tips include:

Install rain barrels on downspouts. Collecting rain to irrigate lawns and gardens can save homeowners as much as $35 a month on summer water bills.

Keep your cat indoors to save songbirds. Wildlife biologists estimate that as many as one in every 10 songbirds are killed by domestic cats. Keeping cats indoors may also prevent the spread of many feline illnesses.

Install a bat house. Before you call an exterminator to spray for unwanted mosquitos, consider installing a bat house. A bat can eat up to a thousand mosquitos in a single evening!

Build a birdhouse. A birdhouse can be a fun project to build and paint with children. It will provide a safe shelter for birds raising their young.

Incorporate native plants in your landscape. Native plants require less water and care than introduced species, they come back year-after-year and are important food sources for birds, butterflies and other pollinators. Even if you live in an apartment and only have a balcony, a potted plant or small window box can provide many of these same benefits to native wildlife. For suggestions on where to buy native plants, visit https://detroitzoo.org/who/ and select the “Certify Your Habitat” dropdown.

Our Backyards for Wildlife site is a place for learning and enjoyment for humans, and a great example of how our personal choices can make a positive difference for our non-human neighbors. Join us at GreenFest on April 27, to learn more as we celebrate Earth Day with demonstrations from our Green Team, conservation education, citizen science projects and exhibits by local conservation groups.

– Claire Lannoye-Hall is a curator of education for the Detroit Zoological Society.