Zoo loses access to some species survival plans

That occurred two years ago. But it came to light only in September after one of the Pittsburgh Zoo’s Amur tigers died, and the AZA told the Post-Gazette that the Pittsburgh Zoo had not been part of its “green” level SSPs —including one for Amur tigers (also known as Siberian tigers) — since it left the AZA in 2015.

Although the Pittsburgh Zoo participates in other conservation programs, SSPs are an important part of a zoo’s mission by fostering genetic diversity among the species it cares for, demonstrating to visitors that it is trying to help animals, as well as providing a way for staff members to elevate their prominence in their field by being involved in the programs.

“Zoos started as entertainment. But now we find ourselves as an ark for animals that aren’t found regularly in the wild anymore,” said Tami Murphy, a zookeeper at Como Park Zoo in St. Paul, Minn., and the saki monkey SSP program leader. “Having an animal that’s part of an SSP program signals to visitors that this is a species that is carefully managed, and I think they like that.”

The 12 SSPs that Pittsburgh was removed from include some of the zoo’s most iconic and beloved species: Lions, gorillas, orangutan, Amur tiger, black and white ruffed lemur, cotton-top tamarin, siamang, and three other penguin species (gentoo, macaroni and southern rockhopper).

It lost the king penguins and river otter because they were owned by other institutions. The other 10 species all stayed in Pittsburgh because the zoo owned them, though they’re no longer part of the SSPs.

Ken Kaemmerer, the zoo’s curator of mammals, said he would have preferred to stay in the SSPs.

“But nothing has really changed from when we left,” he said. “We still stay in touch with those SSPs.”

Still, the Pittsburgh Zoo now cannot engage other AZA zoos in breeding exchanges in those 12 SSPs that it left, and has to find other, non-AZA institutions if it wants to do so.

The zoo left the AZA in August 2015 after it refused to follow a new AZA safety policy that mandated “protected contact” between zookeepers and the zoo’s six elephants. AZA data showed that nine elephant keepers had been killed since 1987 at the 68 AZA-accredited zoos. That included one keeper who was killed by an elephant at the Pittsburgh Zoo in 2002. Even more keepers were injured by elephants.

After leaving the AZA, Pittsburgh joined the Zoological Association of America, which was founded just seven years ago and has just 60 members. The ZAA has only recently started what it calls Animal Management Programs, which are similar to SSPs. But it currently has only four such programs up and running for blackfooted penguins, mandrels, Schmidt’s guenons (a monkey) and cheetahs.

“We have a lot more going on, but not formally launched yet,” said John Seyjagat, director of the ZAA. “We want to get everybody up to standard before we start them.”

Pittsburgh leaving the SSPs and curator of birds at the Detroit Zoo.

That can be seen readily in how the Pittsburgh Zoo advertises the SSP programs that it has been involved in in the past. The SSP logo — a simple drawing of a baby rhino huddling against an adult rhino — is on many information signs for various speciesat the Pittsburgh Zoo.

For the last decade, the AZA has broken SSPs into three categories with different requirements: Green, yellow and red.

Green level SSPs have more than 50 animals and more than 90 percent genetic diversity. Yellow SSPs also have more than 50 animals, but less than 90 percent diversity. Red level SSPs have 20-49 animals and less than 90 percent diversity. And programs that are just forming and have fewer than 20 animals are considered “candidate” programs until they reach a sustainable level.

Because green level SSPs typically have the most animals in them, the AZA sets the most conditions for participation. To limit membership in green SSPs, one of those conditions is that members should be part of the AZA.

This is what led the Pittsburgh Zoo to being removed from the 12 SSP programs, which were all green level.

The red and yellow levels typicallyhave fewer animals and less genetic diversity. Because they are seeking to grow their numbers, almost any zoo or animal park can be a member, even if they are not part of the AZA.

As a result, the Pittsburgh Zoo continues to participate in 50 red and yellow SSPs, including in programs for polar bears, snow leopards, giraffes and Vasayan warty pigs, among others.

That’s five more red and yellow SSPs than the zoo had in 2015, Mr. Kaemmerer said, “because we’ve gained new species through new exhibits.”

Most of the new species are located in the “Jungle Odyssey” section of the zoo that opened in 2016. Among the species there that are in red or yellow SSPs are the capybara, ocelot and giant anteater.

But SSPs can change from red to yellow, and yellow to green. That is what happened to the saki monkeys last year, which is why Pittsburgh was then kicked out of that program and Ms. Vacco was removed as SSP program leader. Meerkats and red pandas also moved from yellow to green, resulting in Pittsburgh being removed from those programs as well.

But the opposite can also happen, which is why Pittsburgh was later added back to the siamang and black and white ruffed lemur SSPs when they were downgraded from green level to yellow.

While Mr. Kaemmerer said he would have liked to have stayed in the SSPs — he asked to join at least a few of them as a nonmember but was turned down — he said they may be able to rejoin them someday.

“At some point in the future we will most likely rejoin the AZA again,” he said. “We stepped away over a philosophical issue. But I think in time we will rejoin them.”