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I was able to spend a few days In Santiago, Chile, setting up a Darwin’s Frog breeding center at the National Zoo of Chile. The dedication to the project by conservation professionals in Chile like Mauricio Fabry Otte, Marcela Tirado, Andres Charrier, and Jaime García Valdés is inspiring. My old friend Bill Lamar went with me and was a significant help in getting the facility set up. I can’t thank these folks enough for their time, support, and dedication to conserving Darwin’s Frogs.
I made a new friend at the National Zoo of Chile.
Andres Charrier relaxing with a friend.
The zoo has a rehabilitation program for birds injured by people. I got to meet a few of the owls. This is Bubo magellanicus, the Southern Horned Owl.
Another rehabbed owl in the facility at the national Zoo of Chile was this Pygmy Owl, Glaucidium nanum.
As common as they are, I still enjoyed playing around with my wide angle lens and shooting peacock feathers.
It was great to get to know some of the zoo's unusual animals such as this Rhea
Drilling the drain holes in the glass tanks
Keeping the diamond bit cool while drilling the terrarium glass
The bulkhead fitting inserted into the hole (the glass cutting from the drilling process in hand).
Bill cuts the bars of the rack to accomodate the drain lines in the bottoms of the terrariums.
Placing the terrariums on the racks
Plumbing the terrariums
Miles of plumbing
Cleaning the edges of the egg crating for the false bottoms. Making the edges smooth helps for a tight fit into the terrariums.
Cutting the mesh that will sit on the egg crating - the components for the false bottoms.
The false bottoms for the terrariums to keep things drained
Preparing the lights
The lighting units fit nicely
The misting system went in nicely
Testing the ZooMed ultrasonic humidifiers, "Reptifoggers"
Adding substrate (Chilean sphagnum moss) to the terrariums
Mixing the substrate for the collembola cultures. Collembola are small enough so that they make good food for baby frogs.
Preparing an army of collembola cultures for what will hopefully be plenty of baby Darwin's Frogs.
It feels good to see all of our efforts pay off.
One of the great features to the lab is that one wall is made of glass. This allows the visiting public to see into the lab and brings them to interpretive materials that explain the conservation project.
The labs provide plenty of working space for keepers, the floors all have angles leading to floor drains, and the entire inside of the facility is water tight.
I can't thank Bill Lamar enough for his time and assistance in getting the facility up and running.
Everyone was excited as the lab began to look more and more like a real frog room.
Once the facility was up and running, a celebratory dinner was in order. Again, I can't complement my Chilean collaborators enough for their unwaivering dedication to this project.
For more information on this conservation initiative, see www.savedarwinsfrogs.org
July 4th, 2010 at 7:53 pm
This project is really cool. I can’t wait to hear how it progresses.
Sam