my name is ian recchio. i'm the curator of reptiles, amphibians,and fish at the los angeles zoo. i'm standing here in front ofa newly-renovated exhibit. this is actually an original exhibit fromthe los angeles zoo, it's 50 years old, and we kind of tore it down, piece by piece, andrebuilt it and made it look nice, and made
River Safari Singapore, it habitable for a new species thatwe're bringing into the zoo. indian gharials are one of the most criticallyendangered large vertebrate animals on the planet. they suffer from many of the same issues thata lot of endangered species do. that is, habitat destruction, pollutionis an especially bad issue for them,
overpopulation in some of the natural range. it's really fantastic that the los angeles zoowas chosen to receive these animals, and the journey's been: being hatched in india, theywere brought in by the bronx zoo, by wcs, they were kept there for a couple of monthsthrough kind of a quarantine period, and then they were sent here. and we're going to receive a male and threefemales, which eventually will hopefully breed for us. what we try to focus on here at the zoo areworking with endangered species, and when you visit the lair, you see kind of this concentrationof animals from all over the world. many of them are endangered, many of themare part of ssp programs, and this is just
another program that we now have anopportunity to get involved with. and it's not just a small snake or lizard,it's a mega reptile! so, when these animals first come in, we'llweigh them, because they're already in a crate, so they're already contained, so it's easyto get a weight that way. and then we'll check their transponder. each animal has an individual id, a microchip that'simplanted in them so we can identify them easily. then we will measure them. so, we measure from snout to the tip of theirtail, that gives us a good reference for them, as these guys will be getting larger.
it's a good way to track themfor their overall health. and then we'll do a brief exam, check themfor any lesions, any wounds or scars or any ulcers, or any kind of defects in their skinthat may have happened during shipping. and then we pull blood so we can look at theirwhite blood cell count and look for any signs of infection. we look at their red blood cell count andmake sure they're not anemic. and then we look at their liver and theirkidney and other functions, other organs. well right now, i'm just kind ofhanging out on top of her. i'm not pushing down on her at all,i'm just straddling her.
but i'm allowing my body warmth to warm herup a little bit so that way, the temperature change from her body temperature, which isabout 60 degrees right now, and then the 75 degree water, is not a bigtemperature shock to her. so, we're trying to warm her up a little bitjust so it's an easier transition into the water. once she warms up, then we'll release her. first, we'll cut off the red tape, which isjust a safety precaution for shipping. it covers their eyes so they don't see asmuch visual stimulus. so it allows them to be a little bit calmer,but also it allows us to grab on to the snout, which is a very delicate snout.
you can see how long and slender it is. very good. that way! just slide her in. perfect. look at that! how should we do this?-slide her in. on three, we're going to slide. one, two, three!
other way, buddy! we're all really excited that we get the opportunity to work with indian gharials. it's the first time that the species has beenworked with at the los angeles zoo. we've been here for 50 years,so this is a real treat. from a herpetology standpoint, these are kindof like in that class of okapi, giant panda, and species like that, so we're super excited. it's a tremendous honor, really,to be able to work with them.
my name is ian recchio. i'm the curator of reptiles, amphibians,and fish at the los angeles zoo. i'm standing here in front ofa newly-renovated exhibit. this is actually an original exhibit fromthe los angeles zoo, it's 50 years old, and we kind of tore it down, piece by piece, andrebuilt it and made it look nice, and made
River Safari Singapore, it habitable for a new species thatwe're bringing into the zoo. indian gharials are one of the most criticallyendangered large vertebrate animals on the planet. they suffer from many of the same issues thata lot of endangered species do. that is, habitat destruction, pollutionis an especially bad issue for them,
overpopulation in some of the natural range. it's really fantastic that the los angeles zoowas chosen to receive these animals, and the journey's been: being hatched in india, theywere brought in by the bronx zoo, by wcs, they were kept there for a couple of monthsthrough kind of a quarantine period, and then they were sent here. and we're going to receive a male and threefemales, which eventually will hopefully breed for us. what we try to focus on here at the zoo areworking with endangered species, and when you visit the lair, you see kind of this concentrationof animals from all over the world. many of them are endangered, many of themare part of ssp programs, and this is just
another program that we now have anopportunity to get involved with. and it's not just a small snake or lizard,it's a mega reptile! so, when these animals first come in, we'llweigh them, because they're already in a crate, so they're already contained, so it's easyto get a weight that way. and then we'll check their transponder. each animal has an individual id, a microchip that'simplanted in them so we can identify them easily. then we will measure them. so, we measure from snout to the tip of theirtail, that gives us a good reference for them, as these guys will be getting larger.
it's a good way to track themfor their overall health. and then we'll do a brief exam, check themfor any lesions, any wounds or scars or any ulcers, or any kind of defects in their skinthat may have happened during shipping. and then we pull blood so we can look at theirwhite blood cell count and look for any signs of infection. we look at their red blood cell count andmake sure they're not anemic. and then we look at their liver and theirkidney and other functions, other organs. well right now, i'm just kind ofhanging out on top of her. i'm not pushing down on her at all,i'm just straddling her.
but i'm allowing my body warmth to warm herup a little bit so that way, the temperature change from her body temperature, which isabout 60 degrees right now, and then the 75 degree water, is not a bigtemperature shock to her. so, we're trying to warm her up a little bitjust so it's an easier transition into the water. once she warms up, then we'll release her. first, we'll cut off the red tape, which isjust a safety precaution for shipping. it covers their eyes so they don't see asmuch visual stimulus. so it allows them to be a little bit calmer,but also it allows us to grab on to the snout, which is a very delicate snout.
you can see how long and slender it is. very good. that way! just slide her in. perfect. look at that! how should we do this?-slide her in. on three, we're going to slide. one, two, three!
other way, buddy! we're all really excited that we get the opportunity to work with indian gharials. it's the first time that the species has beenworked with at the los angeles zoo. we've been here for 50 years,so this is a real treat. from a herpetology standpoint, these are kindof like in that class of okapi, giant panda, and species like that, so we're super excited. it's a tremendous honor, really,to be able to work with them.