Often, working to conserve wildlife actually means working to better the lives of the people who live with them. One of the many challenges that the human population near Betampona in Madagascar face is food security. Villagers are often forced to hunt for wild animals in forested habitats to meet their protein and nutritional requirements.  

Two years ago, the Madagascar Flora and Fauna Group was awarded an IUCN-SOS grant to assess whether vaccinating chickens against Newcastle disease, a deadly chicken disease, will increase chicken production and, if so, reduce pressure on Betampona’s lemur populations.   

Join Dr. Fidy Rasambainarivo, a Saint Louis Zoo affiliate scientist, who will present the results of this ongoing investigation and discuss wildlife conservation in Madagascar through village poultry health management.    

Dr. Fidy Rasambainarivo, Dr. Lisa Kelley, and Mike Poletti as moderator.

Their life history is like something from some twisted graphic novel.  Under the cover of night, a couple secrets away a dead body in an underground chamber.  Then, after a weird courtship ritual that involves embalming the body, they wait patiently to feed the flesh to their offspring.  But that is pretty much what American burying beetles do.  

Grab a STL Zoo Bier Kölsch Ale and come learn about how conservationists at the Zoo have been working to bring this species back from the brink of extinction. 

American burying beetles used to be found in 35 states (including Missouri) east of the Rocky Mountains.  Now they are found in just six. Several Zoos across North America are working with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and other local partners to return this beetle to its former range.  Join Center Director Bob Merz, Zoological Manager of Invertebrates Kayla Garcia and Invertebrate Keeper Renée Hazen to learn more about their work to raise these large carrion beetles and return them to Missouri.