Jenny Wren Rambles : Page 2 of 3 : Conservation and Wildlife Blog

8 Ways Zoos and Aquariums Support Conservation

You might think a trip to a zoo or aquarium is just a fun way to spend a day out. But did you know that it’s also a great way to support conservation? While they may have originated as simple menageries to show off strange animals from foreign lands, modern zoos and aquariums are focused on saving endangered species around the world. Here are 8 ways zoos and aquariums support conservation, from education to inspiration.

1. Education & Exposure

Zoos are important points of education for visitors young and old. Through a variety of signs and interactive displays, visitors can learn about the animals and habitats they are seeing as well as the threats they face. Educational programs in the form of keeper talks, school visits, and topical displays allow visitors to engage more deeply with topics of conservation. Studies have shown that after visiting a zoological facility or participating in zoo education programs, visitors and children show an increased understanding of what biodiversity is and what actions they can take to protect it. They can also expose visitors to wildlife and conservation projects they wouldn’t have known about otherwise. With so much to see and explore, visitors are sure to find an animal or project that they connect with.

2. Funding

When you buy a ticket or a souvenir from the gift shop, where do you think that money goes? To the care of the animals, and paying the employees? Of course! But that’s not all!

Zoos and aquariums donate millions of dollars a year to support conservation projects around the world. They help fund and provide supplies for projects on the ground doing the work in the homes of threatened habitats and species. The AZA estimates that $231 million was spent last year in supporting conservation projects by AZA-accredited facilities. When you go to the zoo or aquarium for a day of fun, you are helping “fun-d” direct action to help endangered species around the world. How great is that?

Beyond the entry tickets, there may be other opportunities to donate at certain exhibits. There may be signs and donation boxes to highlight a certain species or group. Zoo Boise and Zoo Atlanta have a program where 25-50 cents from each admission ticket will go to fund a field conservation program. Visitors can then vote for which of 3 causes they want the zoo to donate to for that year. Other zoos have similar programs for visitors to choose which project the zoo supports or for them to directly contribute to a particular project.

3. Breeding & Reintroduction Programs

Photo by Matt Flores on Unsplash
Golden Lion Tamarin

Zoos have been an integral part of the breeding and reintroduction of many species. Perhaps one of the best known is the California Condor which was brought back from the brink with only a few individuals. Zoos have had success breeding and reintroducing many other species such as the Golden Lion Tamarin, Arabian oryx, and Przewalski’s horse. They have done this through carefully thought out species survival programs (SSPs). These are plans put together to consider the genetic health and diversity of populations at risk. Individuals are carefully matched up for breeding and once safe habitat is secured, they can move towards reintroducing groups of individuals into parts of their native habitat. If the reintroduction is successful, they will continue to release more individuals in the same or nearby areas where it is safe to do so.

David Sischo/Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources
Hawaii is home to a unique diversity of snails, found only on the islands and nowhere else. They have beautiful shells but unfortunately it’s estimated that over 90% of their species diversity has been lost.

And it’s not just the popular species they do this for. Zoos and aquariums also breed and release animals such as frogs and snails which may not be the most charismatic of species but are, nonetheless, an important part of their ecosystems. The Honolulu Zoo has been breeding and re-introducing an endangered species of Hawaiian snail into protected habitat. Like the Hawaiian snail, some of the species bred in zoos are locally endemic, so not only do zoos support exotic species, but they help protect and re-establish their native wildlife as well.

4. Protect Habitat

While breeding animals is important to restore populations, zoological institutions recognize that this is meaningless without healthy, protected habitat to return them to. Protecting habitat is vital for saving and restoring wild animal populations. Zoos and aquariums support this goal in 2 ways.

One is by collaborating with habitat restoration projects. With the help of volunteers, trash and invasive plant species are removed and native species are planted instead. Native plants provide food and homes for local, native wildlife and pollinators. Aquariums may organize beach cleanups to remove litter and fill holes that could trap hatching turtles. They may also establish patrols to locate and monitor nests. This helps species to recover and return to local areas.

Picture: Glenn Walker
The Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve covers 330,000 acres of wetland habitat in Queensland and serves as protected habitat and a study site for researchers and scientists.

The other way they protect habitat is by the purchase of land. Some zoos are able to purchase and set aside land to protect the habitat. Perhaps the most famous example of this is the Australia Zoo. They have purchased and set aside over 450,000 acres of native habitat across Queensland. This land is protected for wildlife to live in undisturbed. 330,000 acres of this land makes up the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve which is available for scientists to conduct ecological and conservation studies. Being able to set aside such a large amount of land is an amazing accomplishment, but not many zoos have the same star power as the Australia Zoo. That’s okay though, every little bit helps. A smaller example of this is The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens which has set aside about 1,100 acres of desert. This land has hiking trails for visitors to enjoy the natural landscape and spot wildlife. It provides a safe space for many desert critters, such as bighorn sheep and roadrunners, to roam safe away from the roads.

5. Research

Coinciding with their education goals, zoos and aquariums are also centers for research. They may have research teams on staff or work in collaboration with universities, other scientists, or research groups. And they publish their studies in a variety of scientific journals such as the Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, Zoo Biology, Biology of Reproduction, and Marine Mammal science. A study on AZA contributions to peer-reviewed research found that in the 2 decades from 1993-2013, AZA organizations produced over 5,000 publications. This research contributed to understanding the biology and health of captive and wild species.

Another way they contribute to research is by collecting valuable data from captive animals that can help scientists. Two separate studies of polar bear metabolism were conducted with cooperation from polar bears at the Oregon and San Diego Zoos. Using a modified treadmill to track their gait and an accelerometer collar, scientists tried to determine the efficiency of their gait. In another study, a polar bear was trained to enter a water chamber where she would rest and then swim against the current. Scientists measured the bears’ respiration to estimate how much energy they needed to use. In both studies, they found that polar bears had much higher energy expenditures and therefore higher metabolic needs than previously thought. For wild polar bears, this means that food available on land is insufficient and they need the high-fat content of marine mammals to survive, and sea-ice to hunt them.

Research in zoos and aquariums helps us understand the biology, reproduction, and medicine for exotic species. Through this knowledge, we can better understand the effects of our changing world on wild populations. It can also assist field researchers and vets with appropriate dosages and protocols when caring for wild individuals that need to be rehabilitated, sedated, or moved.

6. Rescue & Rehabilitation

Speaking of rehabilitation, certain facilities have rehabilitation centers to take in injured wildlife and nurse them back to health. With their expertise and experience in caring for these species, they give top-notch care and a home for as long as the animal needs to recover.

Photo: Mike Baird
Otterly amazing! Monterey Bay Aquarium has been saving sea otters for 35 years!

A great example of this is the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s sea otter program. Orphaned pups are rescued, fostered by resident adults to learn otter behavior, and later released back into the wild. The success of their program is backed up by research that shows otters they have rescued and released, and their offspring, have made up more than half of the population growth in wild otters. After being hunted nearly to extinction for their fur, they have grown from a group of about 50 to about 3,000 individuals today. Having this much population growth is a big success for the species and was helped by the Aquarium’s rescue program.

Other facilities have similar programs such as The Jacksonville Zoo’s Manatee Critical Care Center and Oregon Coast Aquarium’s Bird Rehabilitation Program. And if the animal cannot be released back into the wild, they can find a permanent home at a zoo, aquarium, or sanctuary where they can help teach visitors about human impacts on wildlife or be surrogates to young rescues.

7. Share Expertise

With all of the research they participate or assist in and the constant work towards improving their standards of care, zoos and aquariums form a deep knowledge base of animal care. This knowledge is shared between facilities so they can benefit from each others’ experiences and solve problems. When they make new developments in the diet or care of an animal, this is shared among the zoo and aquarium community as well as conservation projects abroad.

ZIMS, a product of Species 360, has modules for husbandry, studbooks, education, and more

One of the ways they share this information is through ZIMS, or the Zoological Information Management System. Members of the system can input health and care data, access health and genetic records for individuals, or look at general information on species such as husbandry practices and medical care. It is used by “wildlife professionals working within zoos, aquariums, refuge, research, and education centers in 97 countries” and with about 1,200 institutional members is “the world’s largest set of wildlife data.” This data can assist with field conservation efforts around the world and the extensive information on species reproduction (rate, survival, success in captivity) can even help wildlife officials identify possible wildlife trafficking in species that are being passed off as captive-bred.

8. Inspire

And finally, one of the last ways zoos and aquariums help conservation is by serving as a source of inspiration. No matter how clear or exciting the picture on a screen, it can never compare to experiencing an animal in person. Experiencing the difference in size, feeling the roar of a lion in your chest, or the light reflecting off vibrant scales, skin, or feathers. Having that personal experience, the connection to another life we see in front of us is what inspires us to do better. It is what kindles a passion and love for nature that lasts a lifetime and creates a new generation of scientists, conservationists, and naturalists.

Photo by David Clode on Unsplash
Emerald Tree Boa

One of my earliest zoo memories was a family visit. I remember going through the reptile room and excitedly running up to a tank set in the wall with an Emerald tree boa curled up on a branch. This was a snake I had seen in my favorite TV programs on animal planet and in books. A living jewel, and there it was right before my eyes. Staring in awe, I told my dad what species it was, excited twice over to know the name of this emerald given life. I can’t pinpoint exactly when I became interested in animals, but it is surely these magical trips that helped cultivate my interests and passion to protect and care for the diversity of life on our planet.

Zoos and aquariums inspire and connect us with the biodiversity on our Earth. Although we may not notice, there are many ways behind the scenes that they are supporting conservation projects and initiatives. By purchasing a ticket and attending an accredited facility, you are helping fund programs to save threatened species around the world. And by becoming educated on the threats they face and the ways you can help them, you can take direct action in your own life to help them too.

The next time you look for a zoo or facility to visit, check out their website to see what they’re working on. Many places will have a section that explains the conservation initiatives they are working on. And if you know of any great initiatives at your local zoo or aquarium, let me know! I love hearing about all the cool projects going on.

References/Additional Reading

Packing and Preparing to Ship

After my plans to send stuff home was thwarted by a pandemic, I had to come to terms with the fact I would now need to pack and ship several boxes home somehow. In the end, I was probably always going to have to resort to a shipping company since I vastly underestimated how much stuff I actually had.

Whittling It Down

First I had to finish separating the clothes and various other items I didn’t need or want anymore. Some things needed to be thrown away because they were worn down or just really old. Other things I just realized I didn’t wear or wasn’t that attached to anymore. Once I had created a large pile in my hallway I asked a friend to give me a lift to the secondhand shop. With that gone my hallway felt larger and I felt a little relief.

The Packening 1

After weeding out all the clothes and miscellaneous stuff I didn’t want or need anymore, my first round of packing was to see how much of what was left would fit into my suitcases. While I’d narrowed down my winter wear to a solid set of well-worn pieces, the downside was that a lot of these were bulky items, like a few sweater dresses. I also had a sheepskin rug and a couple of jackets I needed to get back which took up quite a bit of space. Thinking I might need to just pay for an extra bag, I kept going to see how much I would fill.

Just my running clothes took up a good half a suitcase. I was starting to worry. I realized I was not going to be able to fit all my clothes into 3 suitcases, let alone all of my other stuff. Godzilla figures, books, camera equipment, and laptop. Fours years worth of stuff all needed to come with me. I had hoped I could ship some of this a bit at a time via airmail, but with the effects of the pandemic that was no longer possible (or at the very least incredibly inefficient). I was going to need boxes and a shipping company to get all this home.

Test Pack

So thankful for my co-teacher driving me because there was now way I could walk or ride my bike carrying these boxes home.

Before I decided on the shipping company, I wanted to try and figure out exactly how many boxes I would need. With the help of one of my JTEs, I made a trip to a home center to get a few boxes of varying sizes. My plan was to fill these and see how much was left. Or even fill, take out, and refill a few times to try and gauge how many boxes I’d be sending.
It turned out 3 would not be enough.

Checking to see if the box is big enough to fit my largest Godzilla. He fits!

While most of my winter clothes fit in 1 box, I had a lot of other miscellaneous things to bring back with me (the Godzilla figures for one). See, the downside to being good at neatly stacking and putting things away in smaller boxes is that you end up with more stuff than you realize. I have a small apartment and everything is put away neatly. I would be leaving all the furniture behind and some other things like kitchenware and some room decorations, so I didn’t think I had that much to bring back. I failed to realize just how much of my stuff I had stowed away.

Searching for Shipping

I started researching international shipping companies but wasn’t getting many results. I was also a little frustrated with how they did their pricing. A lot seemed to be by weight but I obviously wouldn’t have the total weight until I finished packing, and even then it could be inaccurate since I was using a basic bathroom scale. I didn’t want to wait until I had completely finished packing to get the booking process started. After asking for recommendations in a JET Facebook group only one company was suggested.

They were able to give me their pricing/estimates for shipping by sea and air and after receiving estimates from 2 other companies, I decided to go with the one I was originally recommended. Japan Luggage Service would ship to the port nearest my town and their prices were a little better than the other quotes I received. I was going to have to just swallow the high cost of getting all my stuff back (~$800-$1000). I hadn’t planned on paying that much but considering my flight was being covered by my school and this was the first time I’d be “moving house”(and internationally), I guess it averages out ok.

Return to the Home Center

I had an idea of the price and what limit I was working with. The base cost was for 1 meter cubed of space, so if I’m paying for it, I may as well use it up. I needed double-thick cardboard for sea shipping and a few more boxes. I got another ride back to the home center, only to find the sizes available were not what I was looking for. Awesome. They only had the extra thick boxes in one of the sizes I wanted. I bought 3 in that size and a roll of bubble wrap for my Godzilla figures. Then we checked out a couple more home centers to see if they had the other sizes. No such luck. Only the first home center even had the extra thick ones. Oh well. I could at least start with what I had.

The Packening 2

To keep things organized, I bought some smaller boxes to divide things up and make it easier to pack in the bigger boxes. I spent a whole weekend packing things into these smaller boxes as well as into the 3 large boxes I had bought. I tried to write down the contents of everything since it was required for the paperwork but honestly, I skipped the minutiae of some of the smaller stuff because I couldn’t be bothered. Do I really need to count every single keychain and phone strap souvenir I have? If I estimate how many books I have and am off by a couple is it really such a big deal?

I had quite a lot of printed material (books, magazines, postcards, letter sets) and that weight can add up fast. I’m on the 3rd floor of the building and there’s no elevator so I needed to be mindful of the weight. I did some switching around to try and distribute the book weight throughout the boxes, with the smaller boxes on the bottom and clothes to fill the rest of the space. I was semi-successful.

Taking a Break

Surprisingly, I was mentally and physically exhausted after a weekend of packing. Even though I hadn’t been doing anything that strenuous, I think just being on my feet all day long and trying to constantly organize and rearrange everything really took it out of me. Looking at how much was still sitting out also kind of made me feel like I had a long way to go, even though I knew that some of it was being left behind. I took a popsicle break and then tidied everything up. I stacked the boxes I had finished and organized what was left to assess what still needed to be packed.

An earlier lunch break, trying out a potato and sausage pizza from Dominos

Once everything was neat, I felt better. I realized there wasn’t as much left to pack as I thought and I could briefly relax. I put together the things that would be left behind and bought a few more small boxes to put things in. I realized the closet had emptied out a bit and most of my clothes were packed except for what I needed. I was making good progress. Still needed more boxes though.

The Final Home Center Run

I made one last run to the home center with my JTE during lunch and bought 3 more big boxes as well as 3 of the long boxes. I also picked up a better roll of tape. The previous weekend I had taped up 3 boxes with a roll of cheap stuff that screeched whenever you pulled it and kept tearing which made everything take longer. I paid for a nicer roll of thicker, quiet packing tape for my own sanity. I was also positive these would be the last boxes I would need.

The final pack, for real this time

I spent a second full weekend packing. This included reopening one of the boxes to remove some weight. This is where the long boxes came in. I figured if I put more of the books and DVDs, the heavy stuff, in the smaller long boxes, even if I filled them they wouldn’t be too heavy to carry. This would remove some of the weight from the bigger boxes and I could fit more clothes and miscellaneous items. I filled the 3 long boxes with my books, magazines, and some stationary and was able to fit most of my clothes in the larger boxes. My Godzillas were occupying most of one box along with some plushes to fill space. In between were boxes of various souvenirs and merch I had bought in my 4 years in Japan. The whole time I was trying to keep (mostly) meticulous track of the number and type of items in an excel sheet for the shipping paperwork.

I did some math to try and make sure I was under the base limit and wouldn’t incur additional charges (90% sure I’m ok) and finished taping the last box shut on Sunday. I was able to keep the weight of most of the boxes down to a reasonable level, with maybe one being a little heavy for 1 person to carry. In the end, I had 6 large boxes and 3 long boxes that are stacked on my floor taking up about half of my apartment. I packed away most of my clothes so now I should be able to fit what clothes I have left (plus camera equipment and laptop) in my 2 suitcases and carry on bags without needing to pay for extra luggage.

Relief and Reflection

After dedicating 2 full weekends to packing my belongings, I am so happy it is over. I have to wait for my school to reserve my flight home before I can arrange to ship it, so, for now, it’s just sitting taking up floor space. A constant tangible reminder that I’m really leaving soon. I never thought I would spend 5 years of my life living in Japan (4 of those working) and I’ve come to really enjoy my lifestyle here. Even though I would like a bigger kitchen and a little more space, I really did enjoy my little apartment. It was enough. And I think because it was my first real apartment as an adult, it’ll always hold a special place in my memories.

Through the packing process, I think I’ve also realized how much stuff I buy. Japan is bad for encouraging this with limited edition items (like all the special aluminum coke bottles which yes I did pack those the cherry blossom ones are beautiful), and of course, there’s the fandom side of buying all the keychains and posters and other merch for your favorite shows or characters. I think that is something I won’t really have to worry about once I leave Japan and don’t have easy access to those kinds of things. The other side is souvenirs and hand made goods. I’ve done quite a lot of travel in my 4 years in Japan, way more than I ever did back home. And in the desire to commemorate and remember those trips I tend to buy souvenirs. Especially if it is a special or local product.

Me coming back from Ecuador with an Alpaca wool blanket, an alpaca wool jacket, a hat, and a bag full of, you guessed it, more souvenirs.

And if I see handmade goods, as someone that enjoys crafting, I want to support that person and buy from them. So I have a lot of miscellaneous handmade keychains, masks, and purses. Adding on to that, I am bad for buying fabrics and patterns and other things I think I could use for decoration or in a future craft project. I recently bought some summer weight fabric when the mall reopened with the intent to sew some shirts even though I probably won’t have the time to do that for another year.

Moving forward, I want to focus on other ways of remembering my trips instead of just buying something that looks cute. I want to put more effort into my photography so I can capture the views and the experience. I also want to maybe try something more artistic, like an art journal, that might force me to spend more time in the moment rather than rushing to the next attraction. And when I do buy something, I want to be more intentional in what I buy. I want to get something with more use or meaning, like my alpaca blanket from Ecuador or sheepskin rug from the Isle of Man which provide comfort and warmth during the winter. Or try more foods which I can enjoy while there but won’t take up luggage space.

Getting back to Japan though, my time here is coming to a close. I really enjoyed living here, and want to come back again someday, but realistically I can’t have my dream career here. I need to get back to biology and conservation, where my heart is, and try and build a career for myself.

My First Online Conservation Expo

During the monotony of my stay-at-home work schedule, I needed something to do. Scrolling through the Facebook feed, I came across a post for a virtual conservation expo in one of the wildlife groups. I’ve never attended a real conservation expo let alone a virtual one, so I thought I’d sign up and see what happens.

The only problem was it was on US time which meant I would have to be up at 12:30 AM. I opted for a short power nap before waking up and watching about half of the conference. After that, I had to go back to sleep so I could function like a normal person for the rest of the day. Throughout the presentations, I took some notes so I will share some of those and my thoughts from each presentation below.

I watched presentations for 4 different animal projects as well as a COVID-19 panel. If you don’t feel like reading through each one I have a summary of some of the main themes at the bottom. The full recordings of the expo are also available online if you’re interested in seeing some of the other presentations or getting more info on the different conservation projects.

Save the Elephants

In the “Save the Elephants” panel, they started by explaining some of the effects of the pandemic and other pressures in Africa. In addition to the virus, Africa has also had locust swarms to deal with, destroying their crops. These two things have affected jobs and food supply which could potentially increase conflict with elephants as pastoralists seek new areas to graze livestock and compete for resources with elephants and other wildlife.

They then covered some of the reasons why elephants were important for the ecosystem, such as their role as ecosystem architects, creating and maintaining habitats for other species. They are also important seed distributors, carrying the seeds across large distances and then depositing them with a healthy amount of fertilizer. One fact that surprised me was that forests with elephants absorb more CO2 than forests without.

Finally, they described some of what the community needs were to better coexist with the elephants. The main need was education access so that they could get better jobs and so the women would have better outcomes as well.

Painted Dog Conservation

This panel was very interesting to me as they mentioned the need to understand some of the social and historical biases against the dogs. In the past, they were viewed as a pest and a threat to livestock. So people were paid for every wild dog they killed. Communities also believed that they spread rabies and distemper to their village dogs, when in fact it’s the reverse. Village dogs are the ones that spread distemper and rabies to the wild dogs.

I was impressed with the focus on community outreach and addressing the community’s needs in order to help the wild dogs. To ease the worry of the wild dogs spreading diseases to the village dogs, they established a vaccination program for the village dogs. They also had a snare removal program, which is beneficial to the villagers because the snares set for the wild dogs can also catch and kill their livestock. They’ve even considered community health and started a “Dog Run” for people to socialize and stay fit. But perhaps the most impressive was the efforts they’d made for education.

African Painted dogs are also known as African Wild dogs, but I think “painted” better describes their looks.
Photo by Steve Hillman on Unsplash

At the local schools, they established nutritional gardens to help feed and improve the health of the village. That way, the children could stay in school and provide food for their families, reducing the poaching pressure. Also, they established an environmental education program so that the children could understand and connect with their local wildlife. They do this through game drives and wildlife films so that the kids can have a positive experience of their wildlife instead of fearing it. By educating and accounting for the community’s needs, they were able to change public opinion and get the painted dogs protected in Zimbabwe.

While taking care of the community is important, they are still looking out for the painted dogs. They have a rehabilitation center where they can bring dogs badly injured by snares to recover and be released later. But painted dogs are highly social animals that live in packs, so what they do with rescued individuals? They pair them together to create new packs. And they don’t just rescue dogs injured from human snares, they will also take in dogs badly injured from natural causes. This is because the population as a whole is in decline, and with numbers so low every dog counts. Just one of the dogs they rescued and re-released eventually led to 137 new dogs born into the area.

Niassa Lion Project Q&A

In between some of the panels, there was the chance to join one of 4 live Q&As with other conservation projects. I decided to watch the Niassa Lion Project Q&A and they did not disappoint. To start they talked about the elephants and the bees.

No, this isn’t “the talk” this is a creative strategy to relieve human-elephant conflict, protect habitat, and provide an income stream to the villagers. It works like this: elephants are afraid of bees. So to prevent elephants from entering human areas, they essentially make a fence of beehives. The bees keep the elephants away, and the villagers can sell the honey as elephant sustainable for extra income. I had heard of this before, but what I didn’t know was that the hives can also be placed to protect habitat. The bees need the natural vegetation to create honey, so they can’t clear the land. And because the hives provide income with their honey, there is less need to clear land for additional crops or livestock.
Small changes go a long way

Dealing with predators can be contentious, and often out of fear people will turn to killing first. But sometimes, all that’s needed is a small change. And that can go a long way in reducing human-lion conflict. The Niassa Lion project educates people on reducing dangerous behaviors so they do not become a target of lions. Behaviors such as sleeping outside, walking late at night, or walking drunk can make humans a target because they are alone, out at the same time as the lions, and may look weak and ill. By simply avoiding these humans can reduce their chances of being attacked. They also found that if they raised goats instead of cattle, lions were less likely to target their livestock.

Finally, they brought up the need to diversify the income streams. During the pandemic, the major halt of travel has left a lot of conservation projects short on volunteers and volunteer money, as well as tourist revenue. But a major epidemic or pandemic is not the only thing that can halt the flow of visitors. Natural disasters, conflict, and economic crises can also affect people’s ability or willingness to visit different areas. So there is a need to develop new strategies and jobs so that they do not become over-reliant on tourism.

COVID-19 Panel

Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash

This panel had a lot of interesting information.

To start, they talked a little about emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) and the role of wildlife, and wildlife markets, in their spread. Over half of infectious diseases in humans are zoonotic, or diseases that can jump from animals to humans. COVID-19 is an EID, and most EIDs originate in wildlife. So there is a clear danger with the extensive and illegal trade in wildlife for another pandemic or spillover event to occur. In recent decades, there have been multiple events where diseases have jumped from animals to humans. And they’re happening more often and with greater consequences, as we can see with the COVID-19 pandemic.

For these reasons (in addition to many others) they are trying to end the wildlife trade. Interestingly, their focus is on wildlife restaurants and the urban trade and consumption of wildlife. Thinking about it, this makes sense as there is a larger population in urban areas and therefore higher demand. They also wanted to get behind the current shift in public opinion which is turning against wildlife markets and the consumption of wildlife, especially in China which is a major market.

Wet market in Hong Kong
Photo by Natalie Ng on Unsplash

Some interesting points they brought up about the consumption of wildlife. First, they wanted to differentiate between commercial wildlife markets and indigenous subsistence living. They are not trying to prevent indigenous communities from living from the land and feeding themselves. They are trying to prevent the largescale poaching and overexploitation of wildlife for human use. No, animal parts don’t have magic curative properties and no, your desire to show off your wealth does not validate mutilating scores of wildlife to put in your banquet. The second point they brought up was: what is the difference between bushmeat and game?

I hadn’t given it much thought before but I always had the impression that bushmeat was like poached meat, illegally taken, from endangered species or species I wouldn’t normally consider eating (like primates). Whereas I associated game meat as wild meat regulated by the government and of animals like deer and ducks. Turns out though, they’re basically the same. Bushmeat and game meat are both taken from wild animals. The only real difference is that the term “game” is used for meat in western countries like the US and England while bushmeat is used for meat in Africa. Essentially the same thing but with very different connotations. Interesting.

Finally, they talked about the need to educate how to cohabitate with wildlife, and not kill them out of fear. While it hasn’t been fully confirmed which animal COVID-19 jumped from, there is the possibility it came from bats. Unfortunately, this had the panelists worried for bat conservation. Conservationists have already had to work hard against the negative stereotypes against bats and people’s fear of them. They worry that the pandemic may set their progress back as people may fear getting diseases from them again. We need to be careful to not jump to conclusions or retaliatory action against wildlife.

Okapi Conservation Project

The final panel I watched (before I finally had to sleep) was for okapi conservation. The okapi is known as the shy cousin of the giraffe. They live in the jungles of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and are classified as endangered.

This panel explained some of the pressures for okapi. To start, their home in the Congo has had a lot of problems. Ebola, civil war, and conflict have created disturbances and pressures for wildlife. Additional threats are poaching, logging, mining, and slash and burn agriculture. Not only is their habitat being destroyed, but the workers will also hunt them for meat. As a shy, solitary creature, the okapi is very sensitive to any human activity or disturbance in the forest. So even if they manage to evade the hunters, all of the additional disturbances can still impact their ability to survive by scaring them off and preventing natural behavior.

Okapi are also known as the “forest giraffe”. They are actually related to giraffes and are in the same family.
Photo by Brian McGowan on Unsplash

To counteract these pressures, this project is trying to introduce better agricultural practices to reduce the need to constantly clear more land for planting. By keeping the soil healthy and growing food sustainably, they can keep planting in the same spot. They are also introducing foods that are of more nutritional value so that it can better sustain them. Besides trying to improve their food supply and nutrition, they have also built a medical facility that accommodates the local culture. In the culture of the local indigenous tribe, they have to have a fire inside their home. So they built the medical facility so that patients could have a fire inside their room.

Another key point was the partnership and support from zoos. The okapi conservation project works with zoos to help educate people about the plight of the okapi, and 85% of the zoos that care for okapi provide financial support for the okapi project. Zoos provide a significant amount of funding and exposure for the project throughout the US and Europe. I imagine this is a big help as it can be difficult to secure funding in countries dealing with conflict.

TLDR: The Gist of Things

If you didn’t want to read all that, here are the main points.

Effects of the Pandemic

One of the main ways this pandemic was affecting conservation was the loss of income. The need to social distance, and prevent the spread of infection, as well as the drop in tourism, has affected locals’ ability to work. If they are unable to provide for their family (monetarily or nutritionally) this can increase the pressure on wildlife through poaching. There is also the chance that progress in bat conservation in shifting public perception of bats may be set back because of the possibility of bats being a source for the coronavirus. So there is a need to educate how to safely coexist with wildlife (including bats) without allowing new biases to develop.

Education

Across the board, education was a large part of conservation projects’ efforts to protect species. Not just education about the animals and their ecological importance, but educating the communities on how to safely coexist with them. Small changes to their behavior, such as avoiding walking drunk outside and raising goats instead of cattle, reduced human-lion conflict in Niassa. Some projects have established environmental education programs for children to have a positive experience learning about and connecting to their local wildlife.

Education was also important for improving economic outcomes for locals. Projects help support schools and provide training so that locals have the skills to get better jobs and support their families without resorting to poaching. And while on the ground projects were educating local communities, spreading education and awareness through zoos was also an important aspect of getting the message out about these species and the threats they face.

Social/Community Programs

In their efforts to protect wildlife, conservation did not forget community needs. Every project whose panel I watched had some community program or facility that they helped develop to improve the lives of the locals. This ranged from a medical facility that accommodated indigenous tribes’ culture to better agricultural practices that reduced the need to clear habitat and provided more nutrition and food for the communities. Some of these practices even led to new sources of income. At the Niassa Lion project, they used beehives to save habitat from being cleared and act as a natural elephant fence. Villagers were then able to collect the honey and sell it as elephant sustainable, providing additional income to the farmers.

Direct Action

While taking care of the community and educating about wildlife is certainly important, let’s not forget that these projects do take direct action to help endangered species. Snare removal programs reduce the direct poaching/hunting threat to wildlife as well as help farmers whose livestock can also become trapped and die. Vaccination programs for village dogs prevent the spread of disease to their wild counterparts as well as alleviate local concerns for their pets’ health. And finally, rehabilitation facilities help save injured individuals and potentially increase the population. Painted Dog Conservation rehabilitated and released 1 dog which eventually led to an additional 137 being born into the African Painted Dog population.

Zoo Partnerships/Support

Zoos play an important role in conservation. At the beginning of the expo, they mentioned that zoos were an important source of funding for on the ground conservation programs. This was later reiterated by the Okapi Conservation Project who said they rely on zoos for funding support and exposure. Zoos also help educate and spread the conservation message to the public, so that more people are aware of the challenges these species face and how they can help.

So that was my first online conservation expo. The full expo recording would be posted later online, so technically there was no need for me to lose sleep to try and watch. But that wouldn’t be as fun would it? I enjoyed hearing directly from the different projects (and even a brief intro by Jane Goodall!) and finding new conservation accounts to follow on Instagram. While I would love to attend an expo live, I think it’s great that they are becoming more available online to watch the recordings after the expo or to watch live. That way, people who couldn’t normally attend due to cost or inability to travel can still participate and learn.

If you are interested in watching, I will have the link for this expo down below and linked in the text. If you watch, tell me what you think! Which panel did you watch? Did anything surprise you? Comment here on the blog or on my Facebook page, I’d love to hear from you!

3 Ways Feeding Wildlife is Dangerous for Humans

In the last post, I talked about why feeding wildlife, especially at tourist sites, can be bad for the health and well-being of the animals. Today I want to go into why feeding wildlife is also dangerous for humans. There is the obvious risk of bites, but feeding can also create conditions for disease spread and pose risks to community safety.

1. Increased Aggression/Attacks

Kangaroos are built to fight, with strong legs and long claws for kicking and slashing.
Photo by David Clode on Unsplash

When tourists become a regular source of food for wildlife, the animals begin to expect food from any human that approaches. If they don’t get the food they are expecting, they can react aggressively; chasing, biting, or scratching to get the food they think the tourist has, or the food the tourist has but isn’t giving them. Watching an animal trot up to you looking for food may seem cute, but it becomes significantly less so when it’s a kangaroo ripping a gash in your stomach for not sharing your chips. One popular spot for seeing kangaroos in Australia saw a noticeable increase in aggression after tourists kept feeding them junk food. This led to gashes and stitches for several unlucky tourists. If you don’t want 17 stitches to your face as a souvenir, it’s best not to encourage aggressive behavior in wildlife by feeding them.

This aggression towards humans has been documented in many cases around the world with a variety of animal species that have been fed by humans. Bears in U.S. national parks, primates in a variety of countries, and marine mammals such as sea lions and dolphins. Sea lions, used to eating the scraps thrown from boats in the marina, now haul out and rest on the docks and pose a threat to the people working on the boats. Their willingness to be so close to humans has also resulted in attacks on tourists. You may remember a few years ago when a video spread showing a young girl being pulled from the edge of a dock and into the water by a large sea lion, who had food tossed to him minutes before.

Pure muscle waiting to launch out of the water and grab you. . .
Photo by Paul Macallan on Unsplash

Scientists have also documented many cases of dolphins biting, ramming, and even pulling people underwater. In our books, and movies, and myths, we often characterize these animals as friendly and playful. We forget that they are apex predators, very capable of harming us. Can you imagine going for a swim, hoping for a magical encounter with a dolphin only for it to turn into a nightmare when it grabs your leg and starts to drag you down? If you don’t want hangry dolphins coming after you, don’t feed them junk food and let them catch their own healthy meals. And if that’s not enough of a deterrent, consider the up to $100,000 fine you may have to pay for violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act in the U.S.

2. Risk of Disease

Diseases that can jump from animals to humans are called zoonosis.

Do you know what helps those diseases to jump to humans?

Close contact with animals.

Do you know what encourages animals to get up close to humans?

Feeding them.

When tourists feed animals and encourage them to be in close contact with humans (through the expectation of food) it increases the opportunity for disease to jump to humans. Especially if those now aggressive animals scratch or bite, providing direct transmission through body fluids (their saliva). Getting 17 stitches to the face is a bad souvenir, but getting herpes from a monkey bite or an antibiotic-resistant strain of “seal-finger” is probably worse.

This particular point may be of additional significance given the current state of the world. We are experiencing a pandemic of unprecedented scale and for the first time for many, it has directly affected their daily lives. While the host has not been confirmed, it is believed the coronavirus originated in bats with pangolins as a possible intermediate host before jumping to humans. These are 2 wild animals that humans would not usually have close contact with. But once brought into the crowded, unsanitary wet markets where people could purchase them for meat, it bred the perfect conditions for the virus to spread.

“Hey, don’t blame us just because you humans can’t keep your hands to yourselves.”
Photo by vishu vishuma on Unsplash

Wet markets are a separate topic, but the important thing to remember is just like humans, animals have evolved with their own unique sets of disease. To them, these diseases may cause little to no harm because they are naturally exposed and have their own antibodies to fight it. The problem is when you introduce this new disease to populations that have never encountered it before. Studies have shown that over half of new disease outbreaks are from zoonotic diseases, and the more we bring the animals into our environment (or push into theirs), the greater our chances of having another epidemic. This is not the first time it has happened (SARS, Ebola), and it is happening with increasing frequency.

3. Disrupt Community

Despite signs asking them not to feed the animals, tourists often ignore them and feed the animals anyway.
By Tess McBride, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

And finally, once the tourists leave, it’s the local community that’s left to deal with the mess they created. The aggressive, bitey, potentially disease-carrying mess. We’ve already established that feeding can increase attacks and aggression as well as pass on diseases. For tourists that are only there for a few hours, this may not be a concern. People always like to think, it won’t be me. I’ll just give the animal some food so it won’t bite me and take a selfie while it’s munching away. The problem is, now everyone that lives near those animals have to constantly deal with the risk of those animals coming after them, in expectation of food, while they’re trying to carry on with their daily life. Those kangaroos from before? Live just outside a functioning hospital. And while we’re on the subject of Australia, you know the whole “dingo ate my baby” story? Yeah, that might be tourists’ fault too. One area that had experienced dingo attacks blamed it on tourists feeding and drawing in dingos because tourists expected that they could see them up close from tour pamphlets.

In my other post I also mentioned animals, addicted to human foods, raiding garbage. These are “nuisance” animals that break into garbage cans and dumpsters outside of homes, shops, and restaurants. This can create animosity between people in the community and the animals, and may put them in a difficult position with visitors who want to see these animals. They need to be able to live their lives safely, but if animals continue to attack and cause problems, they may decide to remove or eliminate those animals for public safety. This is a common occurrence with bears in parts of North America. In some cases they may be caught and relocated. But if they keep coming back, authorities will make the choice to euthanize them. People in tourist areas may have to weigh the value of the animals as a tourist attraction with their own safety, and chances are safety is going to come out on top.

Human Nature vs Wild Nature

The urge to cuddle is a strong one.
Photo by Eric Ward on Unsplash

Humans are social, tactile animals. We want to befriend and touch everything we see and there are plenty of posts online joking about our willingness to “pack-bond” with anything, including inanimate objects like roomba. We keep pets of all shapes and sizes and treat them as beloved family members, so it would seem it’s in our nature to want to share that love with other animals we see. But we need to learn to suppress that nature and respect wildlife’s need to stay wild. We need to maintain a respectful distance and not try to lure in animals for the sake of a “cool selfie”. This is not only for the animal’s health but for our personal and community safety and health.

The scale of the current outbreak has forced many to change their daily habits and drastically reduced global and domestic travel. If anything good comes from this, I hope that perhaps the break from tourist feeding will allow time for wildlife to unlearn begging behaviors and return to more normal, natural feeding behavior. And perhaps people will be more cautious of trying to touch and get close to the wildlife so that they can stay wild.

In the future, if you are ever traveling and come across local wildlife at a natural park, or beach, or wherever, please keep these points in mind and educate your friends and family about them as well. And if you want a closer picture of an animal, maybe consider a telephoto lens. It might be cheaper than the hospital visit to treat your stomach gash from the hangry kangaroo (at least in the U.S.).

They even make telephoto lenses for phones!
https://www.amazon.com/Apexel-Telephoto-potencia-tr%C3%ADpode-Smartphone/dp/B07TB6N6LJ/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=telephoto+lens&qid=1590410136&sr=8-3

References/Additional Reading

Pandemic Snapshots

Just a meandering look at changes to daily life in Japan during the pandemic.

In my last post, I talked about how the coronavirus situation unfolded for me in Japan and some of the bigger changes going on in the country. Now that school closures have been extended (again) and I’m starting to get a little bored working from home, I thought I’d write about some of the changes in my daily life.

The Rush for Masks and Toilet Paper

In Japan, it’s pretty normal for people to wear masks outside for a variety of reasons. If you have a slight cold, trying to block pollen, or even to keep warm in the winter. Usually, there’s a whole section of masks to choose from at the drug store and even at school in the staff room, there’s a box for teachers to grab a mask from if they need it. Given this, I wasn’t expecting masks to run out that fast because I assumed most people already had some at home anyway. Japan didn’t seem to be taking the virus that seriously at the start, so I thought there wouldn’t quite be that rush on supplies like I see back home when there’s a hurricane. I live just a couple minutes from a drug store and planned to grab a pack to have on hand, just in case, on one of my many trips to pick up snacks.

Turns out I was already too late. I noticed a big gap on the aisle as I walked toward it. Empty shelves where the masks used to be.

Sign: Masks, tissues, toilet paper out of stock

This didn’t bother me too much since I don’t usually wear masks. What was a little worrying was when toilet paper disappeared too.

Luckily I had been to Costco in December and picked up a big pack of toilet paper, so I was fine. But the fact that it was constantly out of stock by the time I was heading home for lunch was surprising and started to become worrying as my own stash started to dwindle. A rumor had been spread online that toilet paper supplies could run low because China would be using the supplies or ingredients to make masks. This turned out to be laughably false since the materials used for masks and toilet paper are different and 98% of the toilet paper in Japan is produced domestically. Not from China.

Before I started working from home, I would see a line of people waiting outside the drug store for it to open. The stores had instituted limits on how much people could buy, 1 pack of masks and toilet paper per person. Even so, it was consistently sold out or not in stock by lunch. Eventually, the TP panic died down and once it started to stay on the shelves I bought another pack. The shelves are back to being fully stocked for TP but there still aren’t many masks.

Luckily I happened to have enough fabric to make a few masks.

Since I can’t seem to buy disposable masks, I finally made my own cloth mask. Being a hoarder of craft supplies came in handy and I happened to have enough fabric to work with and a borrowed sewing machine to use. After a few unsuccessful patterns and 1 failed mask, I made one that fits ok.

Shops, sheets, and sanitizers.

Another one of the early changes was some of the germ-fighting measures the food shops implemented. Supermarkets and bread shops have always had a bottle of hand sanitizer out front but not everyone used them. I am one of those people mainly because more often than not the supermarket’s automatic dispenser either doesn’t respond or is empty. After Coronavirus started to spread though, they pulled the hand sanitizer out so it was a little easier to see and use. Other places that didn’t have it before started putting it out for customers, like my local drug store.

My favorite donut shop, which usually had trays of donuts for you to grab from and put on your tray, attached vinyl sheets that you had to lift to grab the donuts. Later on, convenience stores, supermarkets, and drug stores erected vinyl sheets in front of the registers to limit any cross-contamination between customers and cashiers. (Just don’t sneeze on your hand before you give them the money.) At the bread shops and the deli section of the supermarket, everything was prepackaged into plastic trays or bags instead of being left out for customers to grab on their own.

Supermarkets, drug stores, convenience stores, and more have put up these vinyl screens at the registers.

Normally, these foods in the deli section would be on trays for people to grab and package as much as they want. Now everything is prepackaged.

The most recent development is many shops closing and restaurants changing their operating hours. My local mall closed everything except for the supermarket area and local restaurants have earlier closing hours. Some of the izakaya (bars), which are normally small, enclosed spaces, are shifting to selling pre-made lunch sets to make up the difference now that they can’t operate as normal.

The Food Situation

I did a pretty good job of gradually stocking up on food early on just on the off chance that people went crazy and stripped the shelves a la US hurricane season. Despite the toilet paper panic buying, no one was panic-buying food at that point. There were a few times the ramen shelves got low but everything else seemed normal. After the state of emergency was declared this changed a little and in kind of a weird way. My mom had been telling me how everyone was buying up dried pasta and pasta sauce back home in the US. Dumb because you can’t just live on pasta, you need some fruits and veg in there. Theoretically not a problem because the fruit is comparatively cheap and easy to get in the US and our refrigerators are larger, so more storage space. Chop that stuff up and freeze it.

Not the case in Japan. I did fill up my modest freezer space with some fruit, vegetables, and meat; bought some canned goods and dried beans, and some seasoning and quick meal packs so I would have a nice diversity of foods to get through. I’ve cooked pasta once in like the past 2 or 3 months. I was not surprised by the instant ramen selling out. It’s Japan. I was surprised that pasta also sold out in Japan. The rest of the aisle, with all the other Asian noodles and seasonings, seemed well stocked. Why is everyone buying pasta? Potato chips also got a little low which I thought was odd until I realized that Japan doesn’t have the same diversity of snack foods as what I’m used to in the US. (I weep as I get to my last few fig bars from Costco)

My small (cluttered) fridge. To give you a sense of size, the top only comes up to my chest (I’m 5’4″) and it’s only about as wide as my body.

Most of the food is staying stocked but some of the meal and seasoning packs are consistently low. Flour is also sold out because everyone has started baking at home. Even though I had a decent stock of food, I still find myself heading to the store as often as I used to. This is because everything is smaller here. My fridge, the portions sold at the supermarket, and the space I have to store dry goods. I keep burning through bread, eggs, and milk. I miss the days where I could make a trip to Food Lion or Walmart and get 2-3 weeks of food in one go and not have to go out again. I think Japan is socially set up on an assumption that you’ll grocery shop nearly every day, buying the ingredients for that night’s dinner and not much else. I laughed when I read that Tokyo was advising people that they needed to go to the supermarket less to reduce crowd exposure, and try and get enough food for 3 days at a time. 3 days at a time? Minimum I always try to shop for a week’s worth.

My food situation is fine with the exception that more time at home makes me feel snacky and I’m trying to resist eating too many potato chips.

Trying to branch out from potato chips. Fish fry flavored rice crackers.

Social Distancing and Avoiding Travel

One of the earliest changes I saw with regards to social distancing was actually with the movie theaters. In February I went with a friend to see a movie and noticed that every other seat was blocked out so that you couldn’t buy 2 seats next to each other (seats are chosen at the kiosk when buying your ticket in Japan). Then there were suggestions to change work times to avoid peak travel and work from home. I won’t go into that too much since I mentioned it in the last post, except to say it has not worked well for Japan.

Heading into April one of the big changes/worries was cherry blossom season. Often, people will take tarps or blankets to the park and have a group picnic or drinking party with friends and coworkers. Popular cherry blossom spots can be quite crowded with people looking to celebrate the start of spring and get some nice pictures. To combat this, some parks put up ropes to discourage people from having picnics in the grass (to no avail) and even my local park had signs up. Luckily, our park is pretty small (not a tourist draw) so locals could walk around or have a small picnic with their family and still maintain social distancing.

Sign in the local park asking people to refrain from drinking parties. Luckily the park didn’t have too many people so it was easy to practice some social distancing.

Around this time there were some campaigns for an at-home hanami (flower-viewing) party which I leaned into. Dominoes pizza put up some videos with music on YouTube that you could watch at home with a hot pizza (no-contact delivery available). I spent a day or two making cherry blossom decorations and after a walk at the local park, came home to have my own solo hanami party.

Sakura decorations: check. Pizza: check. Got everything I need for my own cherry blossom party.

The next big change is the requests for avoiding travel. Last week was Golden Week which is a peak travel period in Japan. It’s one of the few times when multiple public holidays line up together and Japanese people have the opportunity to travel without having to use as much paid leave. Imagine everyone taking a holiday at the same time and that’s pretty much Golden Week in Japan. Japan had hoped things would normalize by this time, and the original school closure was due to end this week. But social distancing and contact reductions did not go as planned (not even close) and people have continued to go out in crowds and use public transport as usual (partially due to the poor implementation of work from home).

Only recently have they been requesting more businesses to voluntarily close and areas that have reopened too soon have seen cases spike again. With that in mind, and the cheap airfares, there were renewed calls for people to exercise restraint and stay home this Golden Week. Okinawa, a popular destination, had openly asked people to stay away with the hashtag 来ないで(don’t come). Students in University have been asked to stay there and not travel back to their home prefectures and they have even started announcing over the public intercoms requesting people reduce their excursions.

How I’m Handling Things

I’ll admit it, I miss traveling. I had to cancel a family spring break trip and have now passed two 3-day weekends and a week of public holidays sitting at home. Looking back on all the trips I’ve made during these times (as Instagram is kind enough to bring up in memories), I can’t help remembering how much fun it was to go out and explore a new place. A chance to get out of the house and stretch my legs, see new sights, try new foods. I was looking forward to a couple more trips before I end my time in Japan, but I’m grateful I was able to travel as much as I have in the past 4 years. I’m staying home now (and by home I mean literally not going farther than like a 1-mile radius of my apartment) and sacrificing travel for the safety and health of the community I live in. It sucks, but I can’t complain since I have food and entertainment and a salaried job.

So what exactly am I doing with this time?

For a start, I’ve been working from home which has been pretty easy though it’s starting to get a bit boring. My contract allows me to also use this time to study Japanese so I’m going to try breaking up my workdays with some more studying. I have plenty of books I can practice reading with and I’ve started making online flashcards again.

I’ve been bouncing around doing crafts again, trying new things and trying to make new project ideas a reality. This has been a little less successful since I tend to start many projects but finish few. The cross-stitch patterns I downloaded from The Stranded Stitch have been a lot of fun to complete and don’t take too long to finish. Crochet has been trickier as my habit of ignoring the needle and yarn sizes for patterns means the pattern usually does not turn out right and I have to start over again. I need to just pick something easy and repetitive so I can use up all this yarn I’ve been hoarding.

Finished my second cross stitch. Stranded Stitch has a lot of fun patterns you can download and print at home.

Socially I haven’t been struggling since I normally don’t go out that much anyway. I’m pretty much living life as usual with less travel. That being said, being stuck at home so much has become a little monotonous. One of the Facebook groups I’m in has been having weekly watch parties, so I’ve been able to get a little social interaction out of that while watching some new shows and movies. That’s given me something to look forward to during the week. My almost daily skype calls home have continued as usual so I can chat with my parents or siblings. And of course, I can send quarantine memes to my co-ALT while we work on lessons together via google drive or chat over messenger about we’ve been watching lately. Add in all the streaming services I have access to thanks to family accounts and a VPN and I have plenty of options for killing time. Killing it, but not necessarily being productive. That is one thing I’ve been struggling with.

Exercise is another thing I’ve been lacking. I thought all this time at home would be a great way to get back in the habit of regular exercise. Unfortunately, I’ve mostly been staying up late watching streaming, snacking, and sleeping in. I did sign up for a virtual run event and so far I’ve managed to do each weekly run, but my goal would be to run 2-3 times a week. Now that the school closure has been extended and I will be working from home a little longer, I’m going to try harder to establish a daily routine and incorporate short workouts and runs.

Run for myself? Maybe tomorrow. Run for the animals? Sign me up I’m already out the door.

All in all, things are not too bad on my end. Just trying to do my best to stay healthy and occupied.

Potential Postgrad Postponement?

Looking at how the pandemic has progressed for me in Japan and what this might mean for my postgrad plans in the fall.

A whole lotta questions and indefinite answers.
Photo by Emily Morter on Unsplash

The recent pandemic has led to a lot of changes and disruptions. There is no vaccine yet and there’s no way of knowing for sure what the near future holds. This means that my postgraduate plans are at risk of being postponed, and before that, whether I can even get out of Japan is unsure. My current situation is that I am working from home while schools are planned to stay closed until May 6th. I’m mostly staying at home in my apartment except for grocery runs. In the meantime, I thought I’d sum up what my experience has been so far and what my contingency plans are.

Background

To start, some quick background on my situation. I’m currently in my 4th year on the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program (JET). I teach at a prefectural high school and was planning to finish my contract and return home this summer in August before starting my postgraduate program at Bristol University in September. I live in Hyogo prefecture, one of the prefectures with several cluster outbreaks and one of the original 7 prefectures that Abe declared a state of emergency for before it was extended to cover the whole country. And currently, school is closed until May 6th and I am working from home.

The Beginning

Japan gets a lot of tourists from China, so when cases spiked and travel restrictions were enacted on China’s end, Japan took notice due to the large drop in tourists at popular sites. Many places banked on reservations for tourists traveling during the lunar New Year, and the decrease in tourists was noticeable in places like Kyoto and Nara which are regularly packed. However, at this point, Japan seemed less concerned with the possibility of the disease spreading and more concerned with the economic repercussions. In February, there was a new tourism campaign where posters of nearly empty sites were put up encouraging people to take advantage of the rare lack of tourists.

Top poster: “It’s been a while since there were more monkeys than humans”
Bottom poster: “Crossing easily…excuse me.”

I’ll admit, I did make a trip to Kyoto (2/24) as there were still very few cases (2 in Kyoto at the time) and an uncrowded Kyoto was too much to resist. I headed to Arashiyama since I had already planned to go and enjoy the hot springs and had made a trip only a few weeks before that. I planned to limit where I would be going, just the hot spring, the main shopping area, and park so I wouldn’t be traveling that far and I could get there without going through Osaka, a travel hub. The lack of visitors was refreshing but locals were already feeling the sting. I talked with an artist selling postcards of his work and he said that an art conference he was planning to attend in Tokyo had been canceled. Stories in other areas were starting to come out of drastic declines in visitors and sales while it seemed Gion was happy for a break from the tourist hordes.

Left: Spring 2018 when my mother visited, the famous bamboo path crowded as usual.
Right: Winter 2020 the same bamboo path with far fewer tourists. You can actually see the path!

Watching and Waiting

As a member of an international exchange program, belonging to several program-related groups on FaceBook (prefectural, regional, etc.), and having friends from a variety of different countries, I had a lot of virus-related information flowing through my feeds. I also had some insight into what was happening in different areas of Japan. Many were skeptical and suspicious of Japan’s handling of the virus. The cruise ship quarantine was botched and a story came out of people disembarking from a flight from Wuhan, which had passengers who tested positive for the virus, who did not get tested. Testing was voluntary but if you tested positive hospital quarantine was mandatory. Have fun picking through that logic loophole.

A lot of us suspected Japan was refusing to test and covering up cases in a bid to have the Olympics continue as scheduled. (We were unsurprised when suddenly after the Olympics were postponed there were a large number of cases reported in Tokyo.) Finally, there was an outbreak in Hokkaido and Japan had to start taking things more seriously. Hokkaido closed schools, but things still somehow felt far away as everything in my area seemed to be business as usual, except for masks being completely sold out.

Sign outside my local drugstore:masks, tissues, and toilet paper out of stock.

I decided not to do any more travel for the time being and start gradually buying some extra food supplies to have on hand. The end of the academic year was coming and I was focused on getting through my last few classes, preparing for spring English programs, and saying goodbye to my 3rd-year students. Then, the evening before my school’s graduation(2/27), Abe made a surprise announcement. Large crowds were a risk factor for the spread of the virus and it was graduation season. Ceremonies were to be minimized, shortened, limited in attendance, or altogether canceled. Schools nationwide would be closed until the spring holidays to try and curtail the virus spread. Parents and teachers rejoiced at being given no notice and no time to plan for this change and suddenly have to make arrangements for their children at home while still going to work. (sarcasm)

Schools Close (The First Time)

Luckily for our school, students would still be able to have their ceremony but there would be a hand disinfectant station at the gym entrance and all but the core parts of the ceremony were cut. After ceremony celebrations were to be kept short, although seniors still took a couple of hours to take pictures and say their goodbyes, and as usual the English club party was on the long end. Once students had left the teachers had one of many meetings to try and figure out what was next. Essentially, the school was closed to students, spring day camps were canceled, and no club activities for 2 weeks. ALTs began to watch what was going on closely as we had already been watching how the virus was hitting other countries.

With the best interests of students, staff, and ourselves in mind, ALTs wanted to stay at home during this period. Despite an implied need to limit outings and keep gatherings small, the board of education would not let us stay home unless we used paid leave. Usually, this is the norm during spring break but we were hoping that in these circumstances the rule would change. It did not. I took a couple of Mondays off and one week of half days. Waiting to see more aggressive containment policies or signs that the virus was being taken seriously, as we watched nearby Asian countries take more serious measures such as South Korea’s aggressive testing or Taiwan and Hong Kong’s strict travel and quarantine restrictions. Surely Japan would do something any day now?

Starting to take it seriously?

More and more cases were starting to pop up. Online, ALTs shared that coworkers were coming in coughing, sick, but being denied testing. Or, not wanting to get tested because of the social stigma. Japan, perhaps still in denial, limited the testing to those who had been abroad recently or in contact with someone who had. Typical of Japan, they said they didn’t want to fill up hospital beds as positive cases were required, per law, to stay in hospital. It didn’t occur to them to change the law for asymptomatic cases. And despite aggressive testing leading to positive results in places like Italy and South Korea, Japan decided to focus on backtracing cluster outbreaks. In other words, wait for an outbreak to happen and then take action rather than try to identify and isolate before it spreads.

Like in the U.S., some governors seemed to take things more seriously than others. Before a holiday weekend (3/19), the governor of Osaka requested that those in Hyogo, which had growing numbers of infection, refrain from traveling into Osaka and vice-versa. Osaka is a large city and a travel hub which is the perfect recipe to spread the virus. The Hyogo governor, instead of supporting the moderate restraint requested by his neighbor, claimed he was being overly cautious. I wonder what he thought when news came out that Hyogo residents that had attended a concert in Osaka then tested positive for the virus?

Not what you thought. . .

With community spread confirmed and cases growing by the day, Hyogo finally had to face the facts. The school closure was to be extended with some modifications. Were those modifications online classes? Nay! Despite the image many may have a high-tech Japan, it is far surpassed by its Asian neighbors which were able to set up virtual classrooms for their students to stay on track through quarantine. Computers at home in Japan are not as common as many rely on smartphones for their internet browsing. Schools continue to almost exclusively use chalkboards with limited use of technology in the classroom and many teachers lack experience or confidence in using it.

A typical classroom at my high school. Teachers write everything on the blackboard. Each floor has 2 large monitors (not all of which work) that can be rolled in but are bulky and difficult to position so everyone can see because there are so many desks.

So what were the modifications? To reduce the number of students at the school, they split the attendance and had each year group come on a different day to pick up/turn in assignments and receive updates. Clubs would be canceled (there was a brief period during the first school cancellation when clubs were allowed with reduced duration, only 2 hours allowed). In the meantime, ALTs were in an uproar. The best way to reduce the spread of the virus was to stay at home, and it looked like schools were resistant to this idea. Many ALTs e-mailed their embassies, their prefectural advisors, CLAIR (manages the JET Program along with the government), and Boards of Education outlining their worries and reasons why we should be allowed to work from home.

Logic Finally Wins. Sort of.

Many excellent points were made. ALTs travel throughout Japan and internationally a lot more often than our co-workers, so there was a higher chance we could have picked up the virus. Many are not fluent in Japanese and could have trouble navigating the healthcare system if we were to get sick. We are also far away from our home countries and families and so lack social support in the event of having to quarantine ourselves. On top of this, we were dealing with the anxiety and worry for our families back home. We don’t receive sick leave and the amount of paid leave varies. This means that if we become sick, we may run out of paid leave, and because our contracts may not allow unpaid leave, we could lose our income and position within the program. Otherwise, we could have our pay reduced because of missed working time.

As educators, we are also very concerned with protecting our students and coworkers. If students continue to attend school it increases opportunities for students to spread it among themselves, or to us, and vice versa. The staff room also breaks most of the “3 c’s rule” Japan has been touting to reduce risk. Avoid closed spaces with poor ventilation, crowded places with many people nearby, and close-contact settings. Desks are close together in tight rows and people covering their mouth when they cough or sneeze (let alone washing their hands with soap) is not as common as you would hope. Many teachers may be older and so at increased risk from the virus. Meanwhile, ALTs, which are supposed to be assistant teachers, have fewer administrative responsibilities and a lower workload. Most of us are used to using technology in making our lessons (google drive, PowerPoint, etc.) and are better positioned to do our work at home with our personal laptops.

With all this considered, in addition to official recommendations for social distancing and self-quarantine, we had good logical reasons to work from home. However, that would be deviating from the norm, the established rules, and Japan doesn’t like that. Even in a global pandemic. Luckily, it seems there was enough pressure, between embassies, ALTs, and finally an announcement from Abe declaring a state of emergency for 7 prefectures. Word came down that ALTs would be allowed to work from home given some additional paperwork and restrictions.

Work From Home

Sorry, some ALTs. In some places. In my case, prefectural ALTs directly hired by the BOE would be allowed to work from home on days students didn’t come to school. That would be 2 days a week. Meanwhile, municipal ALTs living and working in the same city as us could not. (Not long after this staff from a local elementary school would test positive. The municipal ALTs did finally get work from home permission.) It was very haphazard. At any rate, we took it as a win. Implementation of this varied among schools (some people had already been allowed to work from home and others had different requirements for showing their work) but it was better than nothing and honestly more than I expected to get.

The new rules were we had to fill in a form showing which days we would work from home and then outline what work we planned to do for those days. We have to email at the beginning and end of our shift and cannot leave our apartment within those hours except for our lunch break. We also have to report what work we have done during the day by the next working day. (This part has been vague in my case since I haven’t been told what exactly they want so I’ve just been attaching whatever I’ve done to my end of shift e-mail.)

Schools close. . .again

This lasted all of a couple of days before there was another change. Despite splitting year groups, having hundreds of students still commuting to and from school from the surrounding cities on public transportation doesn’t do much to reduce the chances of catching and spreading the virus. The first week into the modified schedule and school was abruptly closed again to students. Some students in Kobe were among another spike in cases. This meant that students would not be coming to school at all and we could increase the number of days we would work from home. It also meant that the Japanese teachers would also finally be allowed to work from home some days.

Getting Back to the Point

Sorry, that was a long ramble and I still haven’t addressed the main subject of this post: how the pandemic may affect my ability to start my postgraduate program. As this whole situation has devolved there has been a weird disconnect between the inaction and small changes I was experiencing in my daily life while there was a massive influx of information and updates online within the JET community and the news I was reading. I may go through some of those moderate changes in a separate post but let me explain how it is finally starting to affect my future.

When cases started to increase in Japan and international flights were being reduced, the U.S. Embassy sent out e-mails advising travelers to return home and refrain from any unnecessary travel. Initially, this was aimed at short-term travelers in Japan who might not have the income, health insurance, or resources to be able to quarantine in place. Later, another e-mail was sent advising English teachers specifically to either return home immediately while there were still flights or be prepared to stay in Japan indefinitely. It will come to no one’s surprise that as an American I opted to stay where I had affordable health insurance and income and not risk my family’s health with an international flight back or my financial security with the U.S.’s hyper-inflated healthcare costs. (Let alone use up funds earmarked to pay my tuition.)

The main problem here is whether I will be able to get a flight out of Japan in August. International flights out of Japan are down to about 6% of the normal volume. In light of this, and Japan’s lagging response, a fair number of ALTs cut contract and flew home early to be with loved ones. (This may also have helped push BOEs to allow work from home as that would be preferable to suddenly having no ALT, no replacement, and getting left dealing with their remaining belongings and bills.)The situation is constantly changing but seeing as we are most of the way into month 2 of the outbreak and conditions are not improving, it’s hard to say if things will have settled down by the summer. Even if they do, we don’t know what restrictions may still be in place. I would have to make 2 international flights, one home to the U.S. and then on to England. If quarantine was still required for international arrivals that could add up to 4 weeks for me. That doesn’t give me much time to move back to the U.S. and prepare for another year abroad.

In light of this uncertainty, I have been e-mailing people within the JET Program, the embassy, and my University to find out if there are any plans for if conditions do not improve. Bristol is so far still holding to the September start date. Within the JET Program, some areas may be considering extending our contracts into the summer if ALTs are not able to get in or out as planned. In the meantime, contracting organizations have been encouraged to support ALTs leaving and paying for their flights home. Normally, COs pay for our flight back after completion of our contract. Leaving early would void this and the ALT would be on the hook to pay for their flight. Now though, with the global situation and the fact that schools are closed for the foreseeable future, they are being advised to consider our contracts as fulfilled and still pay for our flight.

Contingency Plans

Like I said before, I’m going to stick it out until the end of my contract. Hopefully, things will improve by the summer and I can return as scheduled. If not, there are a lot of alternatives I have to juggle. The main factor being Bristol. If I cannot get to Bristol in time, I would need to defer. Difficult because I have already used my one deferral and haven’t heard back yet on the possibility of a second. If they push back their start date that might give me enough time to move and repack. If I can and do defer, I will probably look for an internship to pass the time and work on my career skills. Possibly return to one of my previous internships. It’s all still up in the air. Not reassuring or helpful for making plans.

In the meantime. . .

I’m enjoying work from home, although having to turn in work every day when normally my work at school would be sporadic is a little annoying. It is nice though to do things at my pace in the comfort of my home. Before stores closed I picked up some additional craft supplies and I already had a healthy stockpile at home to work with. Surrounded by books, crafts, and my trusty internet connection, staying at home isn’t that bad. I still go into school once a week to help record and upload English videos for the students, and since my school is right down the street I don’t have to use public transportation. Now that Japanese teachers can work from home too, my exposure to other people is limited. So I’m going to keep holding down the fort here and wait for any more updates.

Picked up some more embroidery patterns and thread.

5 Ways Tourists Feeding Wildlife is Harmful to Animals

The recent spread of Coronavirus and subsequent restrictions on travel have led to a significant and noticeable drop in tourist numbers in many areas around the globe. It is also bringing to the surface issues regarding public health and safety. One issue that is often overlooked is the feeding of wildlife in tourist areas.

A deer from Nara park that followed people into an underpass near the park after being fed. This photo is from 2013, but deer are now wandering farther outside the park and into the streets looking for food.
Photo credit: Anna Ayvazyan

One video being shared shows a large group of monkeys in Thailand spilling out into the road, fighting over a yogurt cup. In Japan, the deer of Nara Park are roaming outside the park and deeper into the surrounding city in search of food, hungry from the lack of the usual crackers they would receive from tourists. While it may seem like a fun activity on vacation, feeding wildlife can be harmful to their health.

1.Poor/Inappropriate Diet

A monkey, known as “Uncle Fatty”, was fed sugary and high-fat foods by tourists.
Photo Credit: Viral Press

Animals are evolved to eat a very specific diet, one that does not include the numerous junk foods that humans eat. If they eat too much of the wrong foods, it can have serious consequences for their health. Our junk foods are highly addictive (have you ever eaten just 1 chip?), and once exposed many animals may prefer the high calorie highly flavorful human foods. You will probably not be surprised to hear that when wild animals eat too much junk food, they can develop some of the same problems as humans. Obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, joint issues. The reduced mobility and added pressure on their immune system can make it more difficult for them to forage for natural foods and encourage them to continue going after the easy human foods.

Eating nutritionally deficient foods (or the wrong nutrition balance) can also impact the growth and development of young animals. A good example of this is the feeding of bread to ducks and waterfowl. Bread is not a natural part of their diet and lacks the nutrients they need. Birds that eat too much bread (or popcorn, or crackers) can go on to develop conditions such as angel wing and metabolic bone disease (MBD). Birds with these conditions have weak or malformed bones which can lead to malformed wings and feathers that grow in wrong. If not caught and corrected in the early stages, birds suffering from these conditions become unable to fly, leaving them vulnerable to predators and less able to compete and find food.

Muscovy Ducks with Angel Wing
By Cengland0 – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4936599

I mentioned the addictive nature of human foods before, and this is important because it feeds (pun intended) into another problem. Once animals get hooked on human foods and associate human areas with that easy food, they will actively go in search of it. This can mean monkeys stealing food from tourists, deer going after the trash from food stalls, or bears breaking into cars. In my visits to Nara park which is famous for its friendly deer, I have personally seen people holding out sharp wooden skewers, smelling of sauce, out to the deer to eat or plastic containers for them to lick the sauce out of. Despite signs warning people to keep their food and trash out of reach and put away, many see this as a way to entice the deer closer, laughing as the deer follow them around. The direct consequences of this have already been seen as multiple deer in the park have been found dead with stomachs full of plastic. Enticed by the smells on the trash, they end up eating it and developing blockages or internal damage that prevents them from eating.

2.Exceed Natural Carrying Capacity

Regularly feeding wildlife can artificially increase the population size in 1 of 2 ways. The first is that it attracts individuals that would normally be more spread out in the environment to a smaller more concentrated area. Animals naturally devote a lot of their time foraging for food and moving throughout their environmental range in search of that food. When large numbers of tourists become a reliable source of easy food, animals will be drawn to that and converge on the area. The other way population size increases is through natural births. If animals can meet their caloric needs and fill their stomachs with easy food quickly, this frees them from having to spend as much time and energy foraging. This allows them to spend their time on… other pursuits, leading to more babies.

The consequence of this increase in population size is that the animals may exceed the environment’s carrying capacity. Carrying capacity is the number of animals (or plants, or people) that an area can support without becoming degraded. This means that the environment has enough resources (food, water, space) for that population to survive. Once that population exceeds that capacity, there may be environmental degradation (for example, eat all the plants or trample the ground and then nothing can grow) and because there are not enough resources to go around, it can lead to animals going hungry and possibly dying. This may be happening to the deer in Nara park, who, due to the lack of tourist handouts, are leaving the park to head into the city in search of food.

3.Increased Disease/Injuries

When more animals are drawn into an area and in close contact with each other, this can lead to greater competition and fighting over food. The animals can be injured through these fights. Also, having the animals in close quarters in high numbers, where they are all eating and pooping in the same concentrated area, makes it easier for the animals to spread disease and parasites to each other. A study assessing stingrays fed as an attraction in the Cayman Islands showed that the tourist-fed stingrays had more parasites, more injuries (bites from other stingrays competing for food), and higher stress levels. With higher stress levels and open wounds, injured animals can have a harder time recovering and may spend longer periods healing than in less crowded conditions. So even though it may be an easy meal for them, the conditions created by tourist feeding sites can actually cause greater disease and injury spread.

Why did the deer cross the road? To get the deer crackers on the other side!
Photo by Christian MacMillan on Unsplash

And of course, feeding encourages animals to come closer to human areas. When they try to scavenge or are hanging out waiting for food, this puts them at risk of further injury. Currently, herds of deer at Nara have been wandering city streets and disrupting traffic. Animals gathering near roads or crossing roads looking for food can be hit by cars. Animals that get into garbage can be cut digging through or trying to eat the garbage. (I’m sure we’ve all seen the videos of animals with their heads stuck in food cans.) There are also dogs and unkind humans for them to contend with, so it would be in their best interest to stay away.

4.Reduced Ability to Survive on Their Own

If animals get used to handouts from humans they can lose vital survival skills. This is because they will spend less time foraging and gaining experience of what foods they can eat and where or how to find them. This is especially a problem if the adults are choosing to go for the easy food and don’t pass the necessary survival knowledge on to their young. Instead, the young are led to the handouts or the garbage to search for food. One study showed that bears learned nuisance behaviors, such as raiding livestock feed and garbage, from their mothers. Rather than learn proper foraging behavior. the behavior of relying on human foods is passed on to the next generation. Without these foraging skills and knowledge, it can be difficult for animals to feed themselves once the tourist handouts stop. If they are not given food to supplement their diet, and if they are unable to find food from lack of experience or lack of natural food, they may starve to death. Otherwise, they will continue scavenging and targeting human foods which will put them in more conflict with humans.

Do you think mom will bring back McDonald’s?
Photo by anthony renovato on Unsplash

5.Vulnerable to Predators

Finally, the last reason I want to cover is that feeding wildlife can make them more vulnerable to predators. Ill, injured, or less mobile animals congregating in the same area make an attractive target for predators. They are also in a predictable location and higher numbers which could mean an increased chance of success for the predator. Studies show that exposure and habituation to humans can make animals less wary of natural predators or other humans, or more bold in their interaction with predators. This has been demonstrated in tourist habituated gorillas that were slower to run or hide from poachers and were killed with greater frequency than non-habituated gorillas. While the gorillas were not fed by tourists, it does show that increased exposure to humans can have serious consequences when it alters animal behavior.

Feeding wildlife has direct (nutrition, disease, injuries) and indirect (survival skills, predator vulnerability) consequences. When we travel, we want to have a good time and enjoy the chance to see local wildlife. However, we need to respect wildlife and recognize the influence of our actions. Animals will eat any food they can get because they are concerned with getting enough to survive. They do not know the nutritional or caloric content of what they are receiving, but we do. It is up to us to make the responsible choice, and push aside our self-indulgence for the health and wellbeing of the animals.

Sources

The Search for Accommodation

After living abroad in the same apartment for 4 years, it occurred to me that I would actually have to search for accommodation for pretty much the first time in my life. Up until now, housing had always been provided or quickly offered. I lived at home for most of my time at University. When I decided to move closer to school, I spent a very brief time looking at apartments and craigslist ads before my boss offered to rent me a room in her house. I stayed in a dorm during my year abroad and then went back to living at home while searching for jobs and internships. The internship I was accepted to had a house for interns to stay in and when I was selected for the JET Program, housing was taken care of by my contracting organization.

So that leaves me, a 28-year-old soon to be postgraduate student, having to search for accommodation abroad for the first time in her life. Now, technically I was guaranteed university housing for my first year. But University housing isn’t always the cheapest or best quality. (I also later found out it would not work well for my specific program) I wanted to minimize my costs as much as possible and find someplace I could be comfortable in for the duration of my degree.

What surprised me:

Going into this search, I expected things to be expensive and competition to be high, but there were still a few things that surprised me.

1. High-end Student Apartments

Going through some of the student accommodations offered by private companies, I was surprised that there were several marketed as high-end apartments. I don’t know how things are across the pond, but isn’t the student experience about making the best of basic accommodations and getting a place that’s up to code, clean, and functional? Smart-TVs, design-led, modern, high-spec kitchens, I’m reading through these descriptions and wondering who can afford this?

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen bottom of the barrel basic dorms that I could barely stand one night in. But I’ve also been in student apartments that look totally fine and liveable without having luxurious modern design and built-in TVs. Maybe this is on me for even looking at private accommodation providers in the first place. Maybe this is a cultural difference. I understand the attraction in terms of social life and convenience, I mean, who wouldn’t love a smart tv and in house cinema you could rent to watch movies with friends?

2. Prices

I knew since I would be living in the city, and a University city at that, I would have to pay city prices. But given my limited rental experience, the numbers were still a bit of a surprise. (And that was before converting the currency、ouch) Trying to look at other options revealed that elsewhere prices weren’t much better and house shares often had the added cost of bills to consider. Not looking good. I was also momentarily confused by the fact that rent was listed on a weekly basis? I’d only ever experienced paying rent on a monthly basis, maybe prorated if I leave halfway through the month, but generally given on a monthly basis. So for like half a second, I thought the rent wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. And even when I thought I found somewhere reasonable, there was another surprise.

3. Speed of Reservations

Big city competition means places get snapped up as quickly as they’re listed. Those accommodation provider apartments had already been mostly reserved a year in advance. My mother found a listing for a place I thought would be perfect, a small apartment with its own kitchen and bath, and when I sent an email to enquire only a day later it had already been reserved. Reading through the student Facebook groups I had joined, any listing quickly had multiple people commenting with their interest. Others said that if you didn’t have notifications for various apartment sites set so you could answer immediately, someone else would take it before you had a chance to see it. That just increased the pressure to find something and make a decision on it fast, which I was reluctant to do because of the high costs and the fact that I couldn’t check the places out in person, not to mention the disadvantage of being in a different time zone.

4. Conflicting Reviews

Wanting to do my due diligence in research, I tried to find student reviews for the university and private accommodation. The problem was that some of the places I looked at either had very few reviews or had very conflicting reviews. I wasn’t sure if I should trust the handful of negative reviews bringing up valid issues about temperature and air circulation or give more weight to the more numerous positive reviews. It also sounded like the university postgraduate housing blocks were in noisy areas with a lot of construction. My current apartment is right on a road and I’ve had enough of being woken up by large trucks driving by. I wasn’t interested in trading that in for construction noise.

What I was looking for:

Going into it, I thought I had reasonable wants for my accommodation. After living in my own apartment for 4 years I have gotten used to not sharing and wanted to continue that streak, but I’ve done okay with a shared kitchen in the past. The main features I was looking for were:

My own bathroom and shower
Near transport and/or the zoo where my practical sessions would be
Preferably in a quiet area
Bills and furniture included

Is this reasonable? Or delusional? I don’t really know, being an inexperienced renter and all.

I wasn’t going to have a lot of money to spend on furnishing someplace for such a short time, and bills included would just make budgeting and payments easier. I’ve never been big on parties or nightlife so I wanted to stay as far away from that as possible so I could concentrate on my studies. I would really only be traveling to maybe 2 places regularly for classes so as long as transport links were relatively close that would suffice.

What was suggested:

The University accommodation office‘s website had a lot of information and links to read through, which I did before starting my search. There were links to private accommodation providers as well as specifications and costs for University housing for postgraduates. They also had some tips for choosing a place and what to look out for. The problem was they strongly advised against signing an agreement for a place without seeing it in person. Difficult to do when you are living halfway across the world and will only have about a month turnaround moving from one country to another and starting school. This worried me since I didn’t want to commit to something and risk getting scammed or have a bad living situation. The speed at which listings were getting filled though meant I wouldn’t have time to arrange a trip to do an accommodation search. I also didn’t want to wait until the month before classes started when competition would probably be highest.

What I went with:

The downside to starting my search so early was that most listings weren’t for the next academic year, but were for short term winter or summer lets. Seeing how fast things were getting snapped up though, I was afraid to wait too long. I tried to get a lettings agent to help me with my search, but they didn’t respond after I told them I was out of the country. I responded to a post on the school search board and again, never got a reply. Finally, I found another place that looked nice on the student union’s lettings page. I contacted the live-in landlord through the page and was able to ask a few questions and set up a meeting in just a few days. It wasn’t a self-contained apartment but it did hit some of the points on my list.

So what did I end up with?

House share
Shared bathroom and kitchen
Quiet residential area near park and shopping street
Large bedroom with bay windows
View of the garden
Bills inclusive
Includes cleaning of the room, linens (which are provided), and common areas

Initially, I was kind of against a house share since I had seen so many that were listed as being for like 7 people, which I felt was too many for me to deal with. I also really, really wanted at least a private bathroom since I’ve never actually had to share before and, let’s face it, sometimes when you have an upset stomach you kind of want a private bathroom to deal with that. After seeing the listing, the house rules, and speaking with the landlord though I decided it would be doable for the short time I’d be there. The house has 2 bathrooms and only 3 other rooms are being rented so I wouldn’t have to share use with that many people (one of the school dorms said bathrooms may have to be shared with up to 9 people. No thanks!) and she said it had never been a problem. It was also in a great residential area which would be quieter than the dorms in the middle of the city.

A big plus for me was the proximity to the park where I could go for runs and enjoy some of the green space as well as being close to one of the main shopping streets with supermarkets, restaurants, and independent shops. And of course, having bills inclusive and furnishings provided would make things a lot simpler for me as an international student. The price was just slightly cheaper than the postgraduate dorms (although still a tough swallow once I converted the currency). Overall, the convenience and location made it worth not having a private bathroom so I made a deposit and have secured my accommodation in advance.

I think searching for accommodation can be pretty stressful, especially if you are searching from outside the country and can’t make it there to check things out in person. I was really afraid to leave it last minute and risk having to settle for something I didn’t like or would cause more stress or be too expensive. Given the conditions I was under, the best I could do was search through the University run listings page. I’m looking forward to enjoying the big windows overlooking the garden and thinking about what things I can bring to personalize the room a little (a favorite blanket or some postcards perhaps), so until then I can relax a little and enjoy my remaining time in my little Japanese apartment.

5 Tips for Dealing with Eco-Anxiety

Living in an age of extinction and mass ecological degradation can be hard to bear for those of us who have a love of nature (and desire for a habitable planet). The toll this has taken on our mental health has even coined a new term: eco-anxiety. According to Medical News Today, eco-anxiety (or climate anxiety) is “a fear of environmental damage or ecological disaster. . . largely based on the current and predicted state of the environment and human-induced climate change.” It affects a wide range of people, from scientists and researchers to young children as well as people who have experienced extreme weather events such as wildfires and hurricanes. If you find yourself feeling more anxious about the environment, as I have at times, then here are 5 tips for dealing with eco-anxiety.

1. News/Technology Cleanse

Sometimes you just need to turn things off and step away.
Photo by Aleksandar Cvetanovic on Unsplash

We live in a time where we are constantly connected and receiving endless updates on anything and everything that is happening. However, this constant feed of bad news can cause us distress and impact our health and ability to work. As a biologist, I frequently face the news of damaged habitats and declining species. This has led to some sleepless nights and feelings of depression. After a particularly bad bout of such news, my dad told me to stop reading it. I felt like I couldn’t, that it would be morally wrong to ignore what was going on. But it was becoming too much to handle. So I took a week off from reading the news. At work, I found other things to occupy my spare time and at home, I focused on cooking meals for myself and keeping my apartment tidy. Over the weekend I cleaned and re-organized my apartment and relaxed at home working on my hobbies and catching up on my favorite shows.

Photo by Max van den Oetelaar on Unsplash

I felt. So. Much. Better.

The constant drag of the depressing headlines on my mentality every day had been building up and wearing me down. Going a week without it I felt fresh and more awake. I was able to focus on other things and just generally feel better, both physically and mentally. Since then I’ve been trying to restrict how much news I read during the day to just 1 hour in the morning and nothing during the weekend. I also try to avoid reading too many negative stories.

If the bad news is getting you down, try a news/technology cleanse. Turn off news alerts or take a break from taking it in at all, for one day or even a whole week. It doesn’t have to be forever, just long enough for you to recover and have the mental and emotional energy to handle it. Then set a reasonable limit for how much you can consume without compromising your emotional health.

2. Self-care

A scented candle, a good book, and a hot drink are just one type of self-care. What’s yours?
Photo by Stella Rose on Unsplash

Self-care isn’t just a hashtag on Instagram, it’s a necessary part of our health and well-being. It’s also going to mean something different to each person. Maybe it’s taking the time to pamper yourself a little with a face mask or a relaxing bath. Maybe it’s working on your physical health and trying some healthy recipes or exercising. And maybe it’s just giving yourself the time to relax, take a break from work, and enjoy your hobbies or some entertainment. Regardless of what shape it takes for you, we need to take time to care for ourselves, something we often neglect in our busy modern world. By taking this time for ourselves, we can recover and be better placed to handle the stresses of the news cycle or work.

For me, self-care is treating myself to a movie or bingeing a favorite show after work. Especially comedies or relaxing shows that will put me in a good mood at the end of the day. It also means taking some time to work on my hobbies: crochet and hand stitching. I find crafts like these where there is simple repetition to be relaxing and helps occupy my mind. In fact, craft therapy (which includes knitting, embroidery, and other hands-on crafts) has been used to help veterans and those suffering from PTSD, physical, and other emotional trauma since the first world war.

Self-care can take as little or as much time as you need, but the important point is you making the time for it. Set aside the time and make it a part of your daily or weekly routine.

3. Look for the Positives

Look for the good and count the positives in your life.
Photo by Amanda Jones on Unsplash

The almighty algorithm seems to favor the shocking and most negative headlines, pushing them to the top of your feeds. In the face of this, it’s important to make an effort to find the positive stories. Following pages or sites that focus on these positive stories is one way to ensure you get your dose of positivity in the news cycle. Also, it’s important to focus on positives in your own life as well.

In my case, I follow groups like “Zoos Saving Species” on Facebook so I can see the positive impacts zoos are making on species recovery and a biological station where I can see trail camera photos. I also follow some of my favorite zoos and aquariums on Instagram so I can enjoy the great photos of animals and laugh at the excellent sea puns by Monterey Bay Aquarium (seriously their Instagram is on point). Each month I also make a point of writing my list of accomplishments in my journal. What counts as an accomplishment varies, but making yourself recognize the good things can help drown out the bad.

Do a bit of research on the platform and field of your choice and see if you can find some accounts you are interested in to follow. The good news is many more scientists and professionals in their fields are becoming active on social media. This can give you a window into their work and the progress they’re making in their field. For positive science news, there’s also the “Good News Network“. You can check out positive news stories at work via their website or on the go via their mobile app.

4. Find a Focus

This is going to be a weird place to bring up a fiction series about dinosaurs, but one thing that comes to my mind is the 7th code of Dinotopia: “Do one thing at a time”. Many threats are impacting our planet’s ecology and the species we hold dear, but there is only so much we can do at one time. Rather than let yourself be pulled in a million directions, choose one thing to focus on. Choose one change to make or one action to take at a time. This can help you dilute the barrage of information you are subject to a more manageable amount and give you the motivation and energy to follow through on your goals.

There are already tons of posts listing the various individual actions we can take to reduce our footprint, so I won’t go into it too much here. I will say that a personal effort I am working on is reducing how much meat I eat and adding a little more variety in my diet. I’ve made a page to track the amount I eat in my bullet journal and I’m trying to lookup more recipes to try. If a lifestyle change is what you choose to focus on, choose something manageable. Keep track of your efforts and at the end of the week or month, reflect on your progress. What problems did you encounter in trying to make this change? What are some ways to address these problems? Is there a different change that would be easier for you to make?

Lifestyle changes aren’t the only thing you can focus on though. Find a specific issue of interest to you to read up on. Get educated on it and find out what actions you can take to try and address it. This could mean getting involved in volunteer activities or contacting organizations and government representatives. It can be hard to make large scale changes, so start local. Even helping get the word out among your friends using social media to bring awareness to the issue is a step in the right direction.

5. Volunteer

Joining local volunteer or conservation groups are one way to take action and find some social support.
Photo by Brian Yurasits on Unsplash

This last suggestion is of course for those that have the time or opportunity available to them, but if you are feeling like you’re not making a difference, try joining in on some volunteer activities in your local community. By volunteering you can feel like you are making a tangible difference; like you are taking action. Getting out and being around like-minded people may give you some social support for dealing with your eco-anxiety and open up more opportunities to take action.

If you can’t get out in person, don’t worry. You can try volunteering some time on online citizen science sites. I recently found Zooniverse and have tried out a few different camera trap projects. Classifying the photos is easy to do and you can enjoy seeing the animal pictures. Plus, how much time you give is completely up to you. A few spare minutes or even a longer session, however much time you spend it will be helping out real scientific efforts.

Bonus: Get out in nature!

Take in the sights, sounds, and scents of nature.
Photo by Zach Betten on Unsplash

How exciting! A bonus tip! If you are worried about the environment, surrounding yourself in nature can actually help you feel better. Studies have shown that spending time outside in green space, even listening to natural sounds or having natural materials and house plants can trigger physiological changes that lower our blood pressure and stress hormones. There is even a growing field of ecotherapy, where outdoor activities and exposure to nature are used to improve our physical and mental health.

Knowing about all the loss that is occurring can be hard to bear, but all the more reason to get out and strengthen your connection to nature. Take a walk in a local park and get some fresh air. Head down to the beach or out to the forest for a hike. Or, if the air is not so fresh where you live (or you are lacking green spaces), try looking up some nature podcasts to listen to. Sound by Nature is a podcast that has long tracks of outdoor recordings of things such as rainfall, birdsong, and frog calls in a variety of natural locations.

Whenever you start feeling eco-anxious, try these tips to take a break, recover, and find your focus. This will help you maintain your emotional and mental health and be ready to face whatever life (and the news feed) throws at you.

3 Reasons You Shouldn’t Give Injured Wildlife Water

The devastating fires in Australia have destroyed wide swathes of habitat and left many animals injured and homeless. Rescue organizations, firefighters, and citizens have come together to do their best to help these animals in need. You may have seen many images and stories, like those below, of people giving injured and dehydrated koalas water from their water bottles. Unfortunately, while this is an admirable gesture, it can actually be deadly for animals already suffering from the traumas of bushfire.

Pouring water into a thirsty koala’s mouth may seem kind, but it actually does more harm than good.
Image: YouTube Colin Phil Cook

Animalia wildlife recently shared a post explaining what happens to the koalas given water this way. Many can develop a condition known as aspiration pneumonia and subsequently die from the infection it causes.

What is aspiration pneumonia?

Aspiration pneumonia is a condition that occurs when a human or animal accidentally inhales food, liquid, or other foreign matter into their lungs. This causes irritation to the lung tissue and the foreign matter that was inhaled can spread bacteria to the sensitive lung tissues, causing an infection. For an animal that is already injured or under stress, this can make recovery even more difficult. They will have to fight off an additional infection on top of trying to recover from other injuries or illness, all while struggling to breathe. This was the case for Arnie the koala from Animalia Wildlife’s post. Even though his burns were minor, he was unable to fight off the infection that developed from the water he inhaled while drinking from a water bottle, and sadly he died.

How does it happen?

While thirsty humans can easily sip water through a straw or take a big swig from a water bottle without choking on the contents, other animals do not get their water this way. As explained in Animalia Wildlife’s post, koalas get most of their moisture content from the leaves they eat. When they do drink water, they lap it up with their head angled downward, similar to how a dog or cat might. When people offer water to them by holding a bottle up above their head and tipped down towards their face, too much can flow out too fast for them to handle and they can end up inhaling some of it. Animalia suggested offering water in a bowl or cupped in your hands so that the koalas can lap it up safely, and do not try to force them to drink.

Providing bowls or tubs of water where animals can reach it is safer for koalas who can then drink it at their own pace.
Image: Youtube/ Koalification

Not Just Koalas

While this issue has recently been put in the spotlight for koalas given the recent impact of the bushfires, this is not just a problem for injured or dehydrated koalas alone. Many people want to help when they find injured or abandoned wildlife and may try to water or feed animals such as baby birds or mammals. However, this carries the same risk that koalas are facing. If improperly given, water or inappropriate foods can hasten the death, or at the very least lengthen the recovery process, for injured wildlife. Across the board, wildlife rehabilitators advise not to give injured wildlife water or food and to bring them to a licensed rehabilitator as soon as possible instead. Giving incorrect food can cause its own set of problems, but for this post, I’m going to focus on water. With that in mind, here are 3 reasons you shouldn’t give injured wildlife water.

The Dangers of Giving Water

1. Aspiration Pneumonia

As stated above, giving water improperly can cause the animal to inhale it and develop aspiration pneumonia. To the untrained, it can be difficult to get the water “down the right hole”, especially without proper tools such as elongated syringes or tubing. If the animal is injured or has other underlying issues, it may be lethargic and unwilling to drink on its own. In cases like this, trained rehabilitators can enact a proper fluid protocol and give fluids via subcutaneous injections (under the skin so it can be directly absorbed) or a tube passed directly to the stomach. Improper tools or techniques will greatly increase the chances of aspiration which can be a death sentence for the animal.

Giving water to an injured animal isn’t as simple as pouring it in its mouth. Special tools and techniques may be needed.
Image: *Bjorn Olesen* , https://wrscomsg.wordpress.com/tag/wildlife-rescue-centre/

2. Reduced Body Temperature

If using poor technique, the wrong tools, or just struggling to deal with an injured and non-compliant animal, you may end up spilling water over them. If the animal becomes damp or wet, this can lead to a drop in body temperature. For animals suffering from heatwave conditions, it may be recommended to mist them with water to cool off. But in other cases, this can be deadly. Animals need to maintain proper body heat to be able to digest their food. If an animal is sick, a drop in body temperature can affect their ability to fight off disease or infection because they are expending energy trying to keep their body warm. This is why rehabbers often give fluids that are room temperature or slightly warmer so that the animal doesn’t have to spend extra energy trying to warm up. If an injured animal is found, rehabbers recommended keeping them warm until they can be brought to a licensed professional. This is especially important for small animals which can lose body heat rapidly, like birds or small mammals.

Young animals especially need to be kept warm, so rehabilitators will often provide soft bedding and use a heating pad or incubator until they are healthy enough to go without.
Image: Mary Cummins/ Flickr

3. Stress and Shock

An injured or ill animal is under stress, and coming into contact with humans, however benign their intentions may be, is only going to cause more stress. Too much contact or handling of an animal, like trying to make it drink or eat, can raise stress levels to the point of impacting their recovery. Increased stress levels can reduce an animal’s ability to fight infections, disrupt its appetite and ability to digest food, and when coupled with shock from an injury may cause the animal to die. Chintimini Wildlife Center provides a more detailed explanation of how stress affects an animal physically so check out their post about handling injured animals if you want to know more. The important thing to remember though is instead of trying to treat the animal yourself, the best option is to keep it in a calm, dark environment and handle it as little as possible.

Wild animals naturally want to stay away from humans, so being handled can cause a lot of stress.
Image: https://www.chintiminiwildlife.org/injured-animal-handling.htm

What should I do?

In the case of a heatwave or fire, if you find an animal in need of water, the best thing you can do is provide water in a container or bowl they can lap from. Do not try to force it into their mouth. Make sure the bowl is solid/heavy enough to not easily tip over and spill. If you are leaving water out, try to provide ramps or bowls of varying sizes so different animals can access it or climb back out if they fall in. Clean the containers regularly and change out the water so that it does not stagnate and stays clean.

A tub of water can provide much-needed water for a variety of species. Perfect Pets Australia provides some helpful guidelines sourced from wildlife experts for providing water to wildlife.
Image: Perfect Pets

For injured wildlife, the first thing you should do is call a local rehabber or wildlife center. They can tell you whether the animal is really in need of help and how you can safely capture them to bring in for help if needed. In this case, you will need to keep the animal warm and quiet. The safest thing, for the animal’s sake, is do NOT try to give them water or food.

1. Education & Exposure

2. Funding

3. Breeding & Reintroduction Programs

4. Protect Habitat

5. Research

6. Rescue & Rehabilitation

7. Share Expertise

8. Inspire

References/Additional Reading

Whittling It Down

The Packening 1

Test Pack

Searching for Shipping

Return to the Home Center

The Packening 2

Taking a Break

The Final Home Center Run

The final pack, for real this time

Relief and Reflection

Save the Elephants

Painted Dog Conservation

Niassa Lion Project Q&A

COVID-19 Panel

Okapi Conservation Project

TLDR: The Gist of Things

Effects of the Pandemic

Education

Social/Community Programs

Direct Action

Zoo Partnerships/Support

Links

1. Increased Aggression/Attacks

2. Risk of Disease

3. Disrupt Community

Human Nature vs Wild Nature

References/Additional Reading

The Rush for Masks and Toilet Paper

Shops, sheets, and sanitizers.

The Food Situation

Social Distancing and Avoiding Travel

How I’m Handling Things

So what exactly am I doing with this time?

Background

The Beginning

Watching and Waiting

Schools Close (The First Time)

Starting to take it seriously?

Not what you thought. . .

Logic Finally Wins. Sort of.

Work From Home

Schools close. . .again

Getting Back to the Point

Contingency Plans

In the meantime. . .

Further Reading

1.Poor/Inappropriate Diet

2.Exceed Natural Carrying Capacity

3.Increased Disease/Injuries

4.Reduced Ability to Survive on Their Own

5.Vulnerable to Predators

Sources

What surprised me:

1. High-end Student Apartments

2. Prices

3. Speed of Reservations

4. Conflicting Reviews

What I was looking for:

What was suggested:

What I went with:

1. News/Technology Cleanse

2. Self-care

3. Look for the Positives

4. Find a Focus

5. Volunteer

Bonus: Get out in nature!

What is aspiration pneumonia?

How does it happen?

Not Just Koalas

The Dangers of Giving Water

1. Aspiration Pneumonia