Saving Red Wolves & Other Endangered Species
text & photos by Neil Soderstrom

You'd need to travel the world to see the seven endangered species at Millbrook School's six-acre Trevor Zoo. The seven are red wolves from North America; golden lion tamarins from South America; red pandas and white-naped cranes from eastern Asia; ring-tailed lemurs and black-and-white ruffed lemurs from Madagascar; and the Lake Victoria chiclid, a fish from East Africa.

Although these endangered seven alone are sufficient reason to visit, Trevor Zoo is home to 80 total species and 180 individual animals from all parts of the world. They range in size from frogs and a gecko to deer, llama, alpaca, and Australia's giant bird, the 100-pound emu. Reptiles include an iguana and a boa constrictor, as well as a bearded dragon and a Burmese python. One species, Geoffrey's marmoset, from South America, is considered "vulnerable," one step less threatened than "endangered."

Besides its endangered and other animals, the Zoo has also saved injured native wildlife, such as hawks and owls, whose injuries were too severe for return to the wild. Rescued birds include red-tailed hawks, a prairie falcon, and a half-dozen owls—including snowy, barred, and great-horned owls.

Trevor is the only high-school owned zoo in the country. Its six acres and Millbrook School's 800 acres serve as a giant field laboratory for the 255 students, grades 9–12. The Zoo itself is an indoor/outdoor classroom. During each school term, about 40 students participate as wildlife stewards, feeding the animals and maintaining their areas. Says Zoo Director Jonathan Meigs, "A number of student volunteers go into wildlife-related careers but all benefit from the lifetime orientation they acquire from working here." In fact, Meigs and consulting veterinarian Julian Strauss, of Amenia, both attended Millbrook School and were strongly influenced by the Zoo and its founder, Frank Trevor. Besides Millbrook School students, Trevor Zoo receives upwards of 22,000 visitors annually.

Out of 2400 North American facilities, the Trevor Zoo is among only 218 accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), which strives to prevent extinctions mainly through captive-breeding programs and by protecting habitats. Like most AZA zoos, Trevor participates in AZA's Species Survival Plans (SSPs).

Most of the birds and mammals at Trevor are cold hardy in our region. So they are allowed to roam outdoors year-round in natural settings. The Zoo's outdoor exhibits are arranged by continent, which helps associate wildlife with geography. Tropical species live in heat-and-humidity-controlled buildings, though many have access to outdoor areas in warmer months.

The exhibits have informational signs that indicate each animal's range, habitat, life history, diet, threats to survival, and conservation status. Prior to or after your visit, you can download this information from the Zoo's website. In designing outdoor areas, Director Meigs has established a natural look he calls "controlled wild." He's had earthmovers sculpt flat soil so it "undulates and appears to move." Many areas contain large trees. Stands of bamboo add authenticity to the Asian exhibit and also feed the red pandas. Huge boulders make up a simulated mountain peak for the world's most primitive living goat, the Japanese serow.

Director Meigs has designed fencing to be as unobtrusive as possible. He explains, "Because there are few straight fences, visitors are less aware of exhibit perimeters." Indeed, the animals appear comfortable in their adopted environments—playing, climbing, and dashing about. By design, even the smaller, room-sized cages feature tree branches for climbing and natural wooden fence posts that are taller in the rear, giving the illusion of a larger space. Attesting to the Zoo's natural appearance, its tall Norway spruces this spring attracted great blue herons for nesting. And the whitetail deer's area has attracted wild black vultures.

Red Wolves
Larger than most coyotes and smaller than most gray wolves, North America's endangered red wolves weigh 45 85 pounds. The "red" in their name refers to a reddish-tawny tinge in their fur, most noticeable on their legs and flanks.

Historically, red wolves occupied most of the Southeastern U.S. into central Texas. But eradication practices had nearly caused their extinction by the 1960s. This occurred partially because of hunting and poisoning but primarily, says Director Meigs, because of habitat loss and crossbreeding with coyotes. The reduced populations lost most of their genetic integrity.

In the 1970s, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service led efforts to collect as many red wolves as possible for a controlled-breeding program. Says Meigs, "Only 17 of about 400 of those animals were thought to be true red wolves. And just 14 of those 17 were selected as ‘founder animals.' All the red wolves alive today come from this very small gene pool."

Since 1993, the Zoo has successfully bred three litters of red wolves. Some of them and their offspring now live among 120 red wolves at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina, although most of Trevor's red wolves serve in the AZA/U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service captive-breeding stock of about 210 animals.

Species-survival coordinators try to avoid breeding closely related animals because close relatives often share genes that cause recessive traits. Of the two adults at Trevor, the female, named Luna, was born in 2006 at the Beardsley Zoo in Connecticut. She will eventually be bred, but not with Trevor's current male, Kontirio. Born at Trevor in 2005, he is going blind. He suffers a genetically transmitted eye disease known as PRA (progressive retinal atrophy), apparent in his light-green eyes. As a consequence, he was neutered. My heart goes out to him—living testimony of the challenges in bringing red wolves and other endangered species back from the brink of extinction.

On the happy side for Trevor's wolves, both are physically beautiful and healthy. They trot almost continuously about their spacious area, stopping occasionally to watch the nearby deer and turkeys. They also stop to howl in response to the ringing of Millbrook School's chapel bell.

Wildlife and Global Warming
The Zoo's black vultures are freeloading natives that recently extended their historic range northward as a result of global warming. Director Meigs explains that this warming trend is the result of deforestation and the combustion of fossil fuels that have produced an increase in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that trap and absorb heat in the atmosphere. Besides melting the world's glaciers, potentially causing the world's sea level to rise catastrophically, Meigs warns that climate warming is already damaging forest ecosystems. He adds, "Forests in the West are experiencing significant declines as a result of increased temperature, reduced precipitation, and insects that take advantage of stressed trees."

Meigs' wife, Jane, teaches environmental science at the Zoo and heads its Conservation Action Center. She says, "We need to help wildlife by protecting animals from habitat loss and by slowing the rate of global warming. Each of us can lower his or her carbon footprint simply by practicing energy conservation." She adds ruefully, "But energy conservation alone won't be enough if the earth's human population continues to grow by more than 70 million per year and if our consumption levels continue to increase." Yet she hopes the Zoo's conservation education exhibits will motivate people to protect wildlife habitat and the planet's life-support systems.

Neil Soderstrom is the author of Deer-Resistant Landscaping: Proven Advice for Outwitting Deer and 20 Other Pesky Mammals (Rodale Books).