TOLEDO, Ohio — Conservation leaders from seven countries are in Toledo this week for the Toledo Zoo’s 125 Years of Impact Symposium, a free three-day event running October 21 through 23 marking a century and a quarter of conservation work. Thursday, October 22, is the symposium’s second day, with sessions for college audiences and conservation professionals focused on the Zoo’s global wildlife initiatives.
The Zoo says the gathering is meant to share stories, strategies and science shaping the future of wildlife conservation, from work in Ohio to projects in Africa, Nepal and the Pacific Islands. Jen Brassil, the Zoo’s director of PR and communications events, said in the Zoo’s announcement that “this symposium reflects the Toledo Zoo’s deep global connections” and that the speakers represent decades of field experience and community-driven conservation work.
Thursday’s global program, as outlined by the Zoo, covers initiatives in Nepal, the Philippines, Southern Africa and Cameroon, including snow leopards, red pandas, pied tamarins, Negros bleeding-heart doves, rescued gorillas and elephant reproduction science. The wider three-day schedule also reaches back home, with sessions on Ohio’s endangered turtles and butterflies alongside snow leopard conservation in Nepal and primate rehabilitation in Africa.
The speaker lineup reflects that range. Jerry Aylmer and Torie Curr Smith come from the Limbe Wildlife Centre in Cameroon, which rescues and rehabilitates primates from the illegal wildlife trade. Dr. Paras Bikram Singh of BIOCOS Nepal works on red pandas, musk deer and snow leopards in the Himalayas, while Matt Ward and Ysabella Montaño-Ward of the Talarak Foundation lead recovery programs for some of the Philippines’ rarest species, including the Negros bleeding-heart dove, the Visayan warty pig and spotted deer.
Other presenters include Dr. Lochran Traill of the University of Leeds, whose research focuses on elephants and other large African mammals; Toledo Zoo conservation biologist Joe Wood, who oversees the Zoo’s global initiatives and co-chairs an international pigeon and dove specialist group; biosecurity specialist Narelle Wilson, who advises the Zoo’s Solomon Islands dove recovery efforts; and Oliver Crowther of OC Aviaries in the United Kingdom, whose breeding work has supported twites, turtle doves and shrikes across Europe. Sessions include live discussions and question-and-answer opportunities, and a live stream is also available.
Admission to the symposium is free and open to the public. After the Tuesday and Wednesday sessions, attendees can stay for keeper talks, demonstrations and feedings at animal exhibits. The schedule turns to younger audiences on Friday, October 23, with youth-focused programming on education, community engagement and the future of conservation, before the event closes that evening with the separately ticketed Impact to Action: A Legacy Gala, featuring chef-inspired tastings, live music and animal encounters.
The symposium is part of the Zoo’s 125th anniversary campaign, “Honoring our past. Envisioning our future.” Founded in 1900, the Toledo Zoo & Aquarium is home to more than 16,000 individual animals spanning more than 680 species, participates in more than 80 species survival programs, and welcomes about 1.1 million visitors a year, according to the Zoo. Information and RSVP details for the remaining sessions are posted at toledozoo.org/125symposium.
Photo: DreamingKoala, CC BY-SA 4.0