Meet WOCC Avian Collection Manager Mike Taylor

Weighing a cassowary chick

Mike Taylor has been a member of the WOCC staff since January 1982. He is currently the Avian Collection Manager, overseeing the care of our Cassowaries, Curassows, Mississippi Sandhill Cranes and Wattled Cranes.

Mike became interested in working with animals while growing up. His family had cows, horses, chickens, dogs and cats. He thought about becoming a veterinarian, but decided that he would rather work with healthy animals!

What is your area of focus at WOCC?

Mike Taylor: When I started working at WOCC, the only animals here were hoofed stock species. But within a couple years, the collection expanded to include carnivores and birds. With my agricultural degree in Poultry Science, I was put in charge of the growing avian collection. Before long the avian collection had grown considerably and I was promoted to the Avian Supervisor. I stayed in this position until 2009 when WOCC developed a new management strategy and I became an Animal Collections Manager. There are three of us in this position, each with a different specialty (i.e. Ungulates, Carnivores, Avian). My focus is birds, but the three of us work together to manage the entire WOCC collection of animals and keeper staff.

What is the most enjoyable part of working at WOCC?

Mike working with Hasari following a Cheetah Run

The most enjoyable aspect of my job, not necessarily the easiest, is hands-on training of young keepers and interns (i.e. capture and restraint of birds). We do not catch animals just for training purposes. We do it only when needed, such as for annual exams, chick exams, or if there is a medical reason to do so. This means my opportunity to train keepers/interns is limited.

 

What is the highlight of your typical day?

The highlight of my typical day is being able to observe the animals' behaviors. Even though I have worked with some of these individuals for over 20 years, I still find they do things I do not expect.

What is your favorite thing about working at WOCC? 

In addition to the above mentioned hands-on training, I enjoy the atmosphere of being part of one big family here at WOCC. From the director down to the interns, this is by far the best thing about WOCC. Another thing I greatly enjoy is being able to show off our birds to our guests, especially the cassowaries (one of my favorite birds). I am also proud of what WOCC accomplishes and it makes me happy to be able to contribute to these accomplishments. These are some of the reasons I have been here for 30 years.

Do you have one memorable story from your work at WOCC?

Mike assists Dr. Citino with a check-up. 

I have many stories I could recount. But if pressed to tell one, I think the bongo loading and delivery to the airport for the repatriation project is a good one. We had close to 20 bongo antelope sent to us from five different institutions. We kept them in three herds. 18 of these were slated to go to Kenya to start the repatriation project. Prior to the shipment, 18 crates had to be built, weighed and marked. Each bongo also had to be weighed. The airport cargo master used this information to determine the order in which each crate/bongo was to be loaded onto the airplane. The order of loading onto the plane was used to determine the order of loading onto the transport truck, i.e. last one on the truck was first to be loaded onto the plane. By having to load the animals in order, it greatly complicated the crating process. Each individual animal had to be separated from the herd by the ungulate specialists and sent through the chute system into their crate. Once in the crate and secured, the loaded crate was picked up by a large forklift and driven down to the transport truck. While that was happening, another forklift was picking up the next crate and setting it in place for the next bongo and, at the same time, the ungulate specialists were separating and moving the correct animal to the chute system. We started the loading about 3:30 in the morning. The darkness further complicated things, but the lighting system we had set up helped. Even though it was a very efficient process, it took us about four hours to get all 18 animals loaded onto the truck. We then drove to the airport and were able to assist the airport personnel with the loading onto the plane. All in all it was a very exciting day for us, especially knowing these animals or their offspring were going to help the wild population.

WOCC Animal Care Specialist Travels to Colombia to Visit Andean Condor Release Site





Journey through the wilderness of

El Consuelo, led by Andrew Schumann.



In December 2011 White Oak Conservation Center animal care specialist Andrew Schumann traveled to Colombia, South America to visit the Andean Condor release site in Belen. This is the spot in the Colombian Andes where the two condors from White Oak were released earlier in 2010. The condor release and Andrew’s trip were supported in part by a grant from the Phoenix Zoo Conservation Fund. Andrew accompanied Dr. Alan Lieberman and Dr. James Sheppard from San Diego Zoo Global, who were there to train the Andean condor guards on new methods of radio telemetry they had designed in their lab in San Diego. Their plan was to capture one of the released birds and place radio transmitters on them for monitoring while training the condor guards in the system’s usage. Andrew’s blog describes his Colombian experiences and the connections he made for White Oak Conservation Center with the condor recovery team.

11/30: A long day of travel. I tried to hail a cab at the airport after I landed and it was difficult. There were many “taxis” trying to give me rides. Found a good one and hopped in. I made it to Hotel Ibis and I was taken back by the size of the buildings around me. I can’t wait to see how it looks in the daytime. I was completely out of breath after the flight of stairs to the hotel. I guess it didn’t matter that I was in shape, the air was just too thin!





View from hotel room in Bogota, Colombia



 12/1: Woke up and hopped straight to the window- wow! A city built amongst thickly vegetated mountains? It was beautiful. Alan Lieberman had a meeting with the Ministry of Environment and so I waited for him to pick me up afterwards at the hotel. I birdwatched outside and saw a bunch of Eared Dove, Rufous Collared Sparrows, Great Thrush, and Black Vultures. I was jumping out of my skin and I couldn’t wait to see Andean Condors, even though I knew it may not happen. I looked in the lobby and saw two guys and one was pointing at me (I guess they knew it was me because I had binoculars around my neck). It was Alan Lieberman and Dr. James Sheppard. Alan was joking around and apologizing for taking so long. I was really excited to finally meet both of them. He went over the itinerary with me and said that they didn’t catch the two female condors that I helped care for at White Oak Conservation Center. He said that it had been raining bad and that the birds weren’t flying much. I was incredibly disappointed; I really wanted to see what they looked like now. Were they bigger? Would their behavior be different? However, I was so excited to be in Colombia that I didn’t mind much. Outside I met Miguel and Paco. These two guys worked for Fundacion Neotropical- the NGO responsible for the releases and subsequent monitoring of Condors in Boyaca. They released the birds held at White Oak Conservation Center. They were incredibly friendly, funny, and passionate about the Andean Condor Program. We headed off to hail a cab to get to Miguels truck outside the city. This is the vehicle we were taking to Tunja, the capital of the department of Boyaca. The entire taxi ride I was asking Alan all about the program. After hearing the details of the program, I was glad White Oak Conservation Center was participating in the Andean Condor Recovery program in Colombia. Despite facing many challenges, the program has continued for over 20 years! We eventually got to the truck and headed out to Tunja. It was about a 3 hour drive, and the roads were rough.



Alan Lieberman presenting the Andean Condor
Program in Tunja.



 12/2: Woke up and had breakfast at the hotel in Tunja. We met Juan Carlos and Fausto there. Juan Carlos worked for Fundacion Neotropical as well, and Fausto was a Ph.D. student in Boyaca to be studying the released Andean Condors. Fausto and I talked about Cracids afterwards and he certainly knew the conservation issues regarding these birds in his country. We hopped in a cab and went to the University of Tunja, where Alan presented on the Andean Condor Recovery Program and Dr. Sheppard presented on telemetry. This is where I learned of the extent of ground-breaking work accomplished by Dr. Sheppard, especially with California Condors. Fausto may be doing the same type of telemetry work as Dr. Sheppard but with the Andean Condors. There were a number of students and participants of the Recovery at the presentations. I met a number of people involved in the program like Andres, Ulga, Carolina, and many more. The Colombian biologists, veterinarians, and conservationists were exceptionally passionate about the program. The presentation was a great idea- it got people interested in the program.

Training participants, including Andrew
Schumann (fourth from right)

Afterwards, all participants in the recovery program headed to Belen. It was there that we all met in an auditorium to go over the telemetry equipment, and in detail the telemetry software. Again, it was amazing to see everyone strictly concentrating to learn this software to help conserve a species. I felt proud to be one of the many participants of the program.



12/3: The team headed to the town square in Belen. Dr. Sheppard had the solar-powered GPS transmitter with him to charge in the sun. I gave out White Oak Conservation Center hats and a few tee shirts to the crew. They really loved them, and every single person wore the hats for the rest of the day. It took some time to try to explain in Spanish what White Oak Conservation Center does, but they really seemed to like our mission and what we do. After the transmitter found satellites and was fully charged, we got a taxi and went up into the mountain next to Belen to see if it would take appropriate readings. This was one of the highlights of my trip.

Working in the field while wearing hats
from White Oak Conservation Center

I saw so much wildlife and the unique ecosystem found above treeline, called Paramo, was incredible. We stopped on the top of the mountain and walked around. I was really excited to potentially catch a glimpse of a condor, but it was raining and I knew that it probably wouldn’t happen. The release site was only a few mountains away. We walked around and the guys taught me about the vegetation and wildlife. I saw some great birds, but no condors! I was happy in knowing they were out there somewhere. I was profoundly content and I really did not want to leave! Eventually we headed back to the taxi and descended back to Belen to check our readings. Unfortunately the transmitter wasn’t working. Dr. Sheppard was very disappointed, as was the Recovery Team. But they now knew how to use the telemetry, and after receiving a new transmitter they will be able to attach it to an Andean Condor and receive the subsequent data. This data will help the Recovery Team monitor the reintroduced Condors and therefore help conserve the species in Colombia.






Watching a Blue-winged Teal in the Paramo



 We headed back to Bogota that evening. I felt very fortunate to be in Colombia, to meet the Andean Condor Recovery Team, and to be involved in Andean Condor in-situ conservation. I learned a great deal on this trip. It was great to meet Alan Lieberman. He is a huge figure in the conservation field, and he showed me how to inspire people to conserve their wildlife and how to be a conservationist of action. Dr. Sheppard taught me the latest in wildlife telemetry. The Recovery Team exhibited great hospitality towards me, and taught me about their country and the Andean Condors that lie within. I want to thank all mentioned above, and of course White Oak Conservation Center. I was fortunate in representing White Oak in Colombia. I was very fortunate that I could introduce the work we do at White Oak Conservation Center to those conserving wildlife like Andean Condors in Colombia.

WOCC Participates in Andean Condor Release

In December, the largest bird of the Americas took flight aboard a plane bound from Miami to Bogotá, Colombia in a project organized by White Oak Conservation Center.

Two juvenile Andean condors spread their 10-foot wing span and soared as part of a successful international collaborative program that has been reintrodu...cing this endangered species for two decades.

One bird hatched at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, the other at the Denver Zoo. The pair was being prepared for their release into the wild while at WOCC. After their arrival in Colombia, the birds will spend a short period in an acclimation aviary before their release into a wilderness area 50 miles northeast of Bogota.

"For the past two years the two condors have been living in a large flight enclosure, receiving natural prey, and were isolated from contact with people, all important factors in creating excellent candidates for the release program in South America," said Mike Taylor, avian collection manager at WOCC.

Conservation Centers play an important role in reintroduction projects providing socially and physically conditioned animals as excellent release candidates.
This species of vulture is found throughout the Andes Mountains from Colombia to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Primarily, the Andean condor lives in high mountainous regions and open grasslands and feeds on carrion.

The Andean condor is threatened in its northern range and has become rare in Venezuela and Colombia. These two countries developed the reintroduction program with AZA institutions to release captive-bred birds from North American conservation organizations back to the wild.

White Oak Conservation Center Research Intern Travels to Charleston

The internships at White Oak Conservation Center are designed to improve the abilities of the students and to provide students with opportunities to meet experts in their designated fields. As the WOCC Research Intern, I have had the chance to meet experts in the field of reproduction, and was recently given an opportunity to be trained by highly qualified embryologists in an assisted reproductive technology at the Southeastern Fertility Center in Charleston, SC.

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is a highly advanced technology used to improve human fertility when the quality of reproductive cells is considerably poor. It is performed by injecting a single sperm into an egg and incubating the resulting embryo to the stage where the embryo can be cryopreserved or transferred into a recipient. Because single cells are involved, ICSI instruments are highly complicated and require a large amount of training in order to successfully use. Under the direction of Southeastern Fertility Center’s Dr. Rodney Wade, I received one week of training for this technique in order to gain a basic understanding of ICSI.

This opportunity provided to me is invaluable as I will use this training extensively in the next phase of my scientific career. My goal is to determine if ICSI can be used to improve captive breeding in endangered species where cryopreservation of gametes can be challenging. My doctoral research project will use ICSI in multiple animal models and species in order to investigate this question. My internship at White Oak Conservation Center has provided me with the resources necessary to start my doctoral research project as well as become a successful scientist in the field of reproductive conservation.

Tigers at White Oak!

What makes good enrichment for our tigers? Often, it is something as simple as a log. We took some logs from a fallen tree and lined them around the tigers’ pool. Then we sprayed them with different perfumes and sprinkled different spices like ginger and cinnamon. The tigers love finding the different scents and carry the logs off as a prize. As you can see, a 50lb log is nothing to a tiger!



Submitted by Kelly D., White Oak Conservation Center animal keeper.

How Much Does a Mississippi Sandhill Crane Chick Weigh?

This little one weighs 111 grams!! Watch a video of Mississippi Sandhill Crane being weighed, and WOCC avian specialists hard at work.




During the first few weeks of a crane chick’s life at White Oak, it is checked by the veterinary staff on a regular basis to ensure that it is growing well and staying healthy. Once the chick is checked by the vet staff, it is safely returned to its parents.

Blog from Africa

Dr. Rolando Quesada, White Oak Conservation Center 2009/10 veterinary resident, traveled to southern Africa for the international component of his residency.

During his three weeks there, he participated in rhino and zebra relocation projects as well as spending two nights capturing Nile crocodiles for tagging and collecting data.

While in Africa, Dr. Quesada kept a journal of his activities. Follow Dr. Quesada’s complete journey here at the White Oak Conservation Center blog!