Conservation Action Now (CAN) Grant Program

The Oklahoma City Zoo & Botanical Garden is proud to announce the OKC Zoo Conservation Action Now small grant program.  Grants are awarded each December and application materials will be available late summer or early fall.

Click here for the application. 

Conservation Action Now (CAN) Grant Program Awardees for 2012

The following organizations and/or individuals were awarded CAN grants during the most recent grant cycle:

• Erika Bauer

Project title “The effects of institutional transfer and breeding introductions on the fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus).”

Amount awarded: $2500

Project description: This study aims at monitoring the potential stress involved in the transfer of individuals between institutions, and eventual effects on breeding success.  Very little is known about the fishing cats’ sensitivity to environmental change and transfers between institutions and breeding introductions can increase stress and drastically impact reproductive success.  Prolonged stress is known to cause acyclicity in females, increase infant mortality, and lower testosterone levels in males.  Non-invasive fecal hormone analysis will be used to monitor cortisol on all individuals intended for pairing and progesterone and estrogen in females.  Keeper staff will record behavioral observations and management methods to compare the hormone data.  A keeper-rated temperament assessment will also be used to indicate differing temperaments between fishing cats, with the goal of pinpointing certain temperaments that may be more adaptive to transport or more successful breeders.

• Sagar Paudel

Project title: “Vulture safe zone: In situ conservation of critically endangered vulture species in Salyan, Nepal”

Amount awarded: $2500

Project description: Populations of Asian vulture species have declined catastrophically in India, Pakistan, and Nepal since the early 1990s due to the use of a veterinary drug diclofenac in local cattle populations.  The drug is toxic to birds and the vultures became exposed by eating the flesh of deceased cattle that had been treated with this drug.  The government of Nepal has developed a Vulture Conservation Action Plan to protect the critically endangered vulture species.  This project will work to support this plan by declaring vulture safe zones where the use of diclofenac is prohibited, vultures and nests are continuously monitored and the locals are educated and made aware of the issue.

• Arnaud Desbiez

Project title: “Studying a living fossil: Conservation and ecology of the giant armadillo in the Brazilian Pantanal”

Amount awarded $2500

Project description:  The giant armadillo (Pridontes maximus) is the largest of the armadillo species and can weight up to 60 kg.  Although the giant armadillos range over much of South America almost nothing is known about them.  Due to its cryptic behavior and low population densities, this animal is rarely seen and is threatened with extinction.  This project aims to establish the first long-term ecological study of giant armadillos in the Brazilian Pantanal wetland.  The main goal of the project is to investigate the ecology and biology of the species and understand its function in the ecosystem using radio transmitters, camera traps, burrow surveys, resource monitoring, resource mapping and interviews.

• Anthony Stancampiano

Project title: “A biodiversity inventory of an urban wilderness: Oklahoma City University’s Gamble-Buchanan outdoor lab. Phase III: Mammal and macroinvertebrate surveys”

Amount awarded $2500

Project description:  The focus of this multi-year proposal is to measure species diversity at a 27 acre urban wilderness in southwest Oklahoma City known as the Gamble-Buchanan outdoor lab which is under the direction of the Oklahoma City University Department of Biology.  Very little is known of the biodiversity of this recently designated education and research facility that is surrounded by industrial and housing development.  By measuring species richness and implementing management practices to preserve and enhance biodiversity, future generations are provided and opportunity to enjoy a richer quality of life.  With the funds from previous OKC Zoo CAN small grants , phase I has been completed and phase II is near completion.  This continued support will allow for phase III to begin in late winter and spring of 2012.