Reporter:  Bret Anderson
Click HERE for the video


Isn’t there a fable about an owl and a tortoise?  Well, these characters were there to greet us as we came in to the meeting today.   The owl was Kova but I didn’t catch the name of the lady tortoise.  Along with these two and their gracious escorts, we also had about 23 young visitors who accompanied Rotarian friends and relatives.  These potential Rotarians had special tables and even received gifts of plush animals.
Rotarian Don Kraft (well known for 65+ years of perfect attendance) organized our young guests by height and taught them how to properly honor the Star Spangled Banner. 
After a thoughtful invocation by Aubrey Buxton we had a video presentation of Rotary kids expressing their opinion of the Woodland Park Zoo and its inhabitants, sharing their favorite animals with us. The day chair for this meeting was Kathy Williams, who is a board member of the Zoo.  She gave us a brief history of the Zoo which for more than 100 years has been introducing Seattleites to animals that they would not normally meet on their own.  The Zoo educates visitors about the challenges faced by animals and helps explain their situation.

Kathy introduced Bruce Bohmke, Acting President and CEO of the Woodland Park Zoo. Bruce has been associated with the world of zoos for 30 years in Oakland and Phoenix.  He told us how the WPZ  cares for animals here in Washington and around the world.  Wildlife is losing ground and we need to spread the story.  The goal is to save animal habitats through education of people here and in the animal’s own territory. The theme can be summarized as: “Learn, Care, Act.” 

The WPZ  aims to help develop future scientists and conservationists.  They have had a 22% increase in visitors this year with over 1,289,000 so far.  This includes 70,000 teachers and students who have been able to learn about animal behavior and needs. The Zoo supports 35 conservationists working in the field who, along with other agencies, have been able to preserve 2.2  million acres. The goal is to create a healthy future for both humans and animals. 

One of their projects is the Malayan tiger brothers at the Banyan Wilds Exhibit.  A century ago there were 100,000 tigers in the jungles of present day Malaysia; now there are only 3,200 in the wild. The aim of the project is to double the number of these tigers.  Bruce pointed out that in preserving the habitat for the tigers, there are benefits to other animals who live along side them from butterflies to turtles.
Next we heard Dr. Darin Collins who reckons he has the best job in Washington. He is head veterinarian for over 2,000 animals. When Dr. Collins goes to the Zoo, he meets his patients and friends. We heard how he organized surgery for a 400 lb gorilla with a sinus infection. He also described how he assisted a gorilla female to give birth to a baby. Sounds like fun. If that wasn’t enough, he also works at UW and is a field vet for Washington State Fish and Wildlife.
Our third speaker was Trevor Holbrook, who is the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program Coordinator. I don’t know about you but I had never even heard of this animal. They are incredibly cute, but live in only one small part of New Guinea.  They are also a food source for the local people. How to save these wonderful animals? It is a complex situation that required educating locals and helping them improve their own situation so that they were in a position to value and protect the tree kangaroos. This means helping them to develop infrastructure and identify their needs. By identifying coffee as a potential income source, Trevor's program was able to make a connection to Caffé Vita which has imported 10 tons of coffee and pays the farmers 40% more than they would get at local markets.
 
A major need of these people is health care, and this project provides training and supplies. Seattle Rotary helps support this project. Steve Crane presented Trevor with a check for $9,800 to train local health workers.

Finally, we all learned that this is the 108th birthday of big brown UPS, and next week's speaker Myron Gray is their President of US Operations. I didn’t know UPS was founded in Seattle. Keep those packages coming.
 
 
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