zoo news blog
Lee Ehmke, president and CEO of the Houston Zoo, said: Diane Fosse Gorilla Foundation I recently went to the zoo. Dr. Tara Stoinski, President, CEO and Chief Scientific Officer of the Fossey Fund, said: “Through your extraordinary generosity to ensure the survival of the gorillas, Mt. Thank you to the zoo. The zoo’s support protects forests in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the endangered Grauer gorilla, expands food security programs for vulnerable people living near gorillas, and protects African conservation staff help provide scholarships for “All these activities supported by the Houston Zoo are essential to the long-term success of gorilla conservation,” she explained Stoinski.
When Diane Fosse first arrived in Rwanda in 1967, there were an estimated 240 mountain gorillas left. Poaching was so bad she feared she would be extinct by the year 2000. But thanks to the work she started, and the zoo continues today, the mountain gorilla population has grown to over 1,000 of her. They are the only apes whose population is growing. Dr. Stoinski attributes this success to direct, routine defense. “This is the result of decades of conservation in the field by cooperative partner organizations like the Houston Zoo and hundreds of dedicated individuals, some of whom have given their lives to save gorillas. Some have dropped it.”
A special guest from the Fosse Foundation was thrilled to see the gorillas in our care and was especially proud to help the Houston Zoo save gorillas in the wild. “No other animal embodies the ‘See Them’ of the Houston Zoo better. help them ‘Better than a gorilla is the motto,’ said Ben Jones, the zoo’s vice president of conservation and education. “Dr. Fosse describes his work as ‘proactive conservation,’ and that term fits us perfectly. Support from Houston Zoo staff, members, volunteers and guests fuels daily anti-poaching patrols, trap clearing and habitat protection to save Africa’s gorillas. What happens here is important there. “