Danny Samandingke, the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program (TKCP's) Education Coordinator from Papua New Guinea, has arrived in Seattle for a 10-week leadership training program through iLEAP (http://ileap.org/programs/intl-fellowship.html -- a local non-profit based here in Seattle). As part of his program he will be interacting with Katie Remine and Jennie Mears (WPZ’s Education Department) as part of the Miami University-Dragonfly Masters Program in Advanced Inquiry course this fall.

Danny will be one of 10 mid-career professionals from around the world in this program, so it is a great opportunity for Danny, for the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program, and for the Field Conservation Department and WPZ's connection with iLEAP, a local resource.  

Danny resides in  the Conservation Area of YUS,  as a landowner and TKCP staff member. He has a teaching certificate from PNG Balob College and a Bachelor's degree in Education from the University of Goroka in PNG. Danny has worked with the TKCP for over 10 years and has been involved in tree kangaroo research, GIS  and mapping, building the Conservation Area, and of course education. This is his first visit to the United States, so if you see him around the zoo, please give him a warm Seattle welcome!

Beth Carlyle-Askew, a Woodland Park Zoo’s Animal Keeper travelled to PNG in 2007 to assist with the handling of tree kangaroos while research samples were obtained and radio collars were placed. She was selected by WPZ to participate in this project to obtain field information of the tree kangaroos. She brought back an enhanced perspective on the tree kangaroo’s natural environment and first hand information on husbandry.  This new knowledge provided her with a sense of credibility of her husbandry knowledge which she has since used to enhance her presentations to donors and the public.

Following her return from the research trip, the zoo acquired 3 tree kangaroos; Elanna, Huen and Yopno giving Beth an opportunity to increase her involvement in the care of the Woodland Park Zoo’s tree kangaroos.  Beth is now the lead keeper for Australasia and the Day House areas at the zoo.    Elanna and Huen produced a joey on Dec. 6, 2010 which exemplifies their smooth transition to their new home!   (See the previous blog on sites to view this joey).

Beth is also involved in 2 studies currently going on at the zoo.  The first is a continuation study of mother/joey interaction (Dr. Lisa Dabek’s Master’s thesis) and the second involves the crittercam footage shot in PNG last year and comparing it to the behavioral observation of Yopno.

In November 2011, Beth will be involved in the Tree Kangaroo Husbandry Workshop being held in Seattle, WA .  This workshop is open to keepers worldwide to discuss husbandry, conservation, and research issues.  She was very excited with all she saw and the people she met in PNG and hopes to visit again in the future!

WPZ's Tree Kangaroos, Elanna and Huen produced a joey December 2010.  Footage of the joey can be viewed on the following links. This rare birth is an exciting achievement for WPZ, in support of the cooperative breeding Species Survival Plan program between North American zoos for this endangered species. The footage was made possible with a "keeper cam" recorder in the animal's enclosure at the Woodland Park Zoo.
 
Woodland Park Zoo's blog:  http://woodlandparkzblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/rare-tree-roo-joey-begins-to-emerge.html
 
Channel Q13 release:    http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-woodland-park-zoo-announces-birth-of-baby-kangaroo-20110613,0,6064747.story

http://seattlest.com/2011/06/13/pm_video_baby_tree_kangroo_emerges.php
 
More to come as the joey grows!

We are pleased to welcome Ruby Yamuna, PNG Program Coordinator to Seattle and the Woodland Park Zoo. Ruby is visiting TKCP headquarters for the first time since she joined the program in 2008. She will be representing TKCP at the "Partners for Wildlife" Summit from March 3rd - 7th, as well as researching the health care system programs in the United States to begin the process of expanding the public health model for the YUS villages of PNG. Ruby began her career researching marine life in Kenya and prior to joining the TKCP worked with WWF as their Protected Areas Coordinator. She will be involved in the ZACC (Zoos and Aquariums Committed to Conservation) Conference being held in Seattle next week (March 8 - 11, 2011).

She is also taking this opportunity to see the sights and experience the culture of Seattle. She arrived to some of the coldest weather we have experienced in the Seattle area (18 degrees F) and has seen snow for the first time. She has been trying new food varieties: Mexican and Puerto Rican dishes and engaging in some of the activities we enjoy in the Northwest: Zumba, National Geographic Live, University of Washington Lectures on Global Health Issues and much more. She has found Seattle to be an open and friendly city and hopes to continue her contact with those she has met.

So should you have the opportunity to meet her, please take a few minutes to say hello.

More coming soon,

Trish

Having traveled twice to the remote areas of the Huon Peninsula as a part of the research team radiocollaring Tree Kangaroos, it is with great pleasure that I am able to update all interested visitors on the various activities happening within and around the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program.  I hope you will visit often and participate in the new discoveries as they unfold.  It is my goal to have the partners and participants feel a deep and direct connection to the amazing people, culture, and animals of Papua New Guinea and this incredible conservation program. 

Enjoy,

Trish Watson
 
 
In April, 2010, a film crew from the German news broadcasting company Deutsche Welle visited YUS.  As a result of their visit,  the following two documentary pieces were created:
 
1.    The first piece takes you directly to the village of TepTep where you witness what steps the conservation members are putting in place to protect their environment and educate the children on their future role as conservators of their future.  You will be introduced to the Education Coordinator Danny Samandingke, Paul John, a landowner and Conservation Officer, Namo Yaoro as well as the children of TepTep. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,,13574,00.html
 
2.  The second piece is an "interactive documentary" of the people and places within PNG which make up a part of the TKCP program.  Learn more about the landowners and integral people working in this area through this unique educational tool!  Students and teachers alike will return time and again to learn more about this beautiful culture.    http://webdocs.dw-world.de/papua/index.php?lg=en 
 
 
One final stop today that will engage your imagination is the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program's page where National Geographic flies you to the research area to view the capture, CritterCam collaring, and release of a Matschie'sTree Kangaroo.  With the CritterCam in place, you now are able to crawl in the upper reaches of the cloud forest and view their world from the eye's of the Tree Kangaroo.  http://www.zoo.org/Page.aspx?pid=1298
 
I hope you enjoy and visit our blog often to see what's new in TKCP's work in YUS, and experience new stories from the cloud forests of PNG.  Lukim yu behain!

TKCP's work to protect the Matschie's tree kangaroo in Papua New Guinea depends on reaching out to supporters across the world.  Now, tree kangaroos have a new champion in the person of an elementary school girl in New Jersey named Tia.  Tia loves animals, both real and stuffed.  Recently she was given a stuff animal as a gift. 

It was unfamiliar looking and the hang-tag on it identified it as a "tree kangaroo".  Having not heard of such an animal, Tia was determined to learn about it.  So the next Saturday she and her father went to the library do some research.  They found the book "Quest for the Tree Kangaroo" by Sy Montgomery and Nic Bishop.  The book describes the efforts of Lisa Dabek and her colleagues to study what the book describes as a "big stuffed animal on a fairy tale island", the Matschie's tree kangaroo.

Fascinated, Tia and her family undertook some on-line research to learn more about tree kangaroos.  This ultimately lead them to the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program (TKCP) at the Woodland Park Zoo.  From officials at the TKCP, Tia learned of the need to raise money for the work with tree kangaroos.  Tia determined to do what she could to help.  So, with her 8th birthday party coming up she asked the invitees to make a donation to the TKCP instead of giving her gifts.

At the party, instead of a cake each attendee received a cupcake with a picture  of a tree kangaroo, and the donations to the TKCP were collected.  Tia also spoke to her school teacher about tree kangaroos.  As a result, the teacher featured the "Quest for the Tree Kangaroo" book in her teaching about animals and their habitats.

Now not only Tia but many of her friends and classmates have learned about this unusual animal, and the need to protect the habitat of the tree kangaroo and other endangered species.  Supporters like Tia make the work of Woodland Park Zoo and the TKCP possible, and TKCP is thrilled to have a great new advocate for the tree kangaroo!