Spending Koala-ty Time in the Australian Forest

00:00:04
Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Rick Schwartz linel Zsworld. I'm Marco went.

00:00:08
Speaker 2: Welcome to Amazing Wildlife, where we explore unique stories of wildlife from around the world and uncovered fascinating animal facts. This podcast is a production of iHeartRadio's Ruby Studios and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance in international nonprofit conservation organization which oversees of San Diego Zoo and Safari Park.

00:00:26
Speaker 1: Hey, Rick, so, I know early on in season one of Amazing Wildlife there was an episode about Koalas and there was even an interview with one of our conservation partners who helped with Koalas impacted by the fires in twenty twenty.

00:00:39
Speaker 3: Yep, that's correct.

00:00:40
Speaker 2: I believe that was episode three of season one. The interview you're talking about was with doctor Kelly Lee. She does amazing work, oh.

00:00:46
Speaker 1: No doubt, and as good as this episode is going to be, I want to encourage any one of our listeners out there to go check out that episode from season one.

00:00:55
Speaker 2: And speaking of this episode, we are focusing in on the Australian Force Contentation Hub and more specifically, we're looking at one of my favorite tree dwelling Marsupials the koala.

00:01:06
Speaker 1: Ooh, sorry, tree kangaroos looks like koalas are at the top of the tree for real.

00:01:11
Speaker 2: Oh come on, take it easy now, I said, one of my favorite tree dwelling marsupials, not the only favorite.

00:01:16
Speaker 3: Don't make the tree gangoos mad?

00:01:18
Speaker 1: Yeah right, nice say? I mean I don't want see to get any angry kangaroo male.

00:01:22
Speaker 2: I know, right, Okay, okay, moving on. One thing I do want to establish for everyone before we get too far into this episode is the term koala bear, though used often, is incorrect, and it's incorrect because koalas are not bears, but in.

00:01:36
Speaker 4: Fact marsupials exactly.

00:01:39
Speaker 1: And although the koala has a teddy bear like face, which is probably why people started calling them koala bears, actually if you look really closely, you can see their features are not at all like those in the bear family. And like you said, koalas are marsupials and bears are definitely not.

00:01:55
Speaker 2: Which, then, of course, does prompt me to want to make sure all of our amazing wildlife listeners know to kualify as a marsupial doesn't mean you have a pouch. It means you were raised.

00:02:04
Speaker 4: In a pouch qualify.

00:02:07
Speaker 2: Huh, I come on, I feel like it was appropriate for that moment, all right, Okay, Anyway, the reason marsupials are raised in a pouch is because they are very underdeveloped when born, so they crawl from the birth canal into the pouch latch on there until they grow enough to start venturing out of the pouch on their own.

00:02:23
Speaker 1: Nicely, said my friend, and speaking of koualified, nice, thank you, thank you. I think it's a good time for us head on over to our researcher to get an update on koala conservation, right, don't let's do it.

00:02:37
Speaker 5: I am Jen Toby. I am a researcher here at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. I research koalas.

00:02:47
Speaker 4: That's great. I mean, everyone loves koalas.

00:02:50
Speaker 1: I hear about it all the time, and it's actually pretty good for our guests to know, because every time I'm in the Safari park, a guest comes up to me like Marco, where are the koala is?

00:02:56
Speaker 4: And I gotta remind them they're not here, They're at the San Diego Zoo. Can you speak a little bit about.

00:03:01
Speaker 1: Some of these myths misconceptions about this really unique Marswoopia being found in Australia.

00:03:06
Speaker 5: Actually, historically they used to be out here at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park too. So those of you who might be as old as me might remember walking through the areas of the village where we have different animals now.

00:03:24
Speaker 6: But we actually used to have koalas there too.

00:03:26
Speaker 5: So that might be why you're getting questions about it, oh is because historically we did have them out here.

00:03:33
Speaker 1: It's good to know these things, and especially for our guests, if they have a really specific animal they want to see, you can always check it on our website too. So now we know Koala's at the San Diego Zoo, correct, and there is a long history with the zoo and with Koala's right.

00:03:46
Speaker 4: Can you speak a little bit about that that unique relationship.

00:03:49
Speaker 5: Absolutely, because that continues today with things. You know, we say that we have the largest breeding colony of koalas outside of Australia, and that actually still is true.

00:03:59
Speaker 6: Oh yeah.

00:04:00
Speaker 5: In fact, I was just in Columbus, Ohio and saw three of the koalas that are technically considered part of that colony that are housed there, one of which is an offspring.

00:04:11
Speaker 6: So a Joey.

00:04:12
Speaker 5: That's I think they said she's about a year old or so. So what our koalas are part of is a bigger kind of consortium, including animals that are over in Europe as well that are all part of this breeding colony. And we do that so that we can keep the genetics going on that lineage. And historically we started with koalas back in the nineteen twenties, believe it or not. They were a gift from the children of Sydney to the children of San Diego. From there more represented of what we have now, more like in the nineteen eighties, which for those of us that is not twenty years ago. So back in the nineteen eighties, the colony of koalas that you see now when you go to the San Diego Zoo they come from that lineage. So that was where we actively started with our colony and creating that large colony outside of Australia.

00:05:18
Speaker 2: Which is really important. Like you mentioned, it's for the genetic purposes, and also I think the side effect that I've seen when I've gone to other zoos is the educational component that I think being here in San Diego, we sometimes take for granted some of the unique species we get to share.

00:05:33
Speaker 3: Our life with.

00:05:34
Speaker 2: But you go to other zoos where getting a koala is you know, it makes the news and it's an important part of really educating people what's going on in Australia, educating people about koalas. And on that note, I want to go back to Marco's original question that we kind of got sidetracked from, which is one of our favorite things to do in the podcast is talk to people who know these species really well to ask about what are some of the myths or misunderstandings that the general public might have the speed she's you know so well, so for koalas, what might that be jen.

00:06:03
Speaker 5: If you've had the pleasure of seeing koalas anywhere, it was interesting At Columbus they showed us where all of this was so. Koalas predominantly eat Eucalyptus browse. They're picky. Even though they just eucalyptus. You would think, oh, they'd eat all these varieties. They don't, so we have to harvest it and places that can't grow it, like in San Diego, we have a huge farm that we can farm our brows from, which is fantastic.

00:06:33
Speaker 3: And brows being just the fresh cutting right exactly.

00:06:36
Speaker 5: So basically, the leaves that we feed we still leave attached to a branch of a eucalyptus tree. So in other places you don't necessarily have access to it because they get snow or otherwise and maybe can't grow what is needed for those animals. So with that, a lot of what I tend to hear is, oh, koalas sleep a lot, which ps they sleep eighteen to twenty hours a day.

00:07:05
Speaker 3: That's a lot. That's a lot.

00:07:07
Speaker 5: Yeah, yes, I always ask teenagers, so would you like to be a koala? Yes? Anyway, So what I hear a lot is that the koala is sleep that much because they're drugged somehow with things. That is not the case, but it is tied into their food. Anyone who's ever looked at any kind of eucalyptus and they come in many varieties, but those leaves are very tough and they're very thick. That is the predominant way that koalas get their water, believe it or not, from those thick, tough leaves. So if that's what you're eating, your sleep and a whole bunch to digest it, because that's.

00:07:46
Speaker 2: Very tough, tough fibers, so you think about that being their only source, and it's not high in calories, so they're not gaining a lot of energy front correct, having to work on digesting that right.

00:07:57
Speaker 5: And you can even liken it to things like carnivores and all where they go out and they gorge themselves and then what do they do sleep?

00:08:07
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's a line right, sleeping.

00:08:10
Speaker 6: Exactly. So it's the same kind of idea. It's just with leaves.

00:08:14
Speaker 5: So it's not necessarily what's in the leaves that is causing them to sleep, but the fact that they have to digest those leaves so they're not high off of the leaves.

00:08:24
Speaker 6: It's just a matter of correct correct.

00:08:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've heard that before. People have asked me that before when giving tours the zoo. You know, oh, is it true that they get a high off of the Eucalyptus aga toxic for a lot of other species. But those toxins aren't making them high. It's just the heavy, tough, dense fiber.

00:08:41
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:08:41
Speaker 5: To erect correct do they actually have to get very technical with it. A very large secum, which is the part of the digestive track for the size animal they are, so for that mass to move through and for them to be able to digest it, yeah, it.

00:08:56
Speaker 6: Takes some time, thanks, and they might as well sleep.

00:08:59
Speaker 4: Right as well.

00:09:00
Speaker 1: Right there hundreds of species if you calyp this, which makes it really proud to be a San Diego and cruising around the Safari Park in San Diega is and seeing a lot of these plants were growing on property, which is really great.

00:09:10
Speaker 4: It's a village, wouldn't you say, guys.

00:09:12
Speaker 1: I mean it's not just right the specialist taking care of the koalas on habitat at the zoo. But I love when I'm cruising around and I see all our horticulture seem way up on the treetops collecting all that great brows for those koalas.

00:09:23
Speaker 4: I mean they need what fresh brows?

00:09:25
Speaker 1: They need more than one species every single day, right.

00:09:29
Speaker 5: Yeah, So they spend a lot of time doing that, and then we try not to show them what gets pulled out from those habitats at the end of the day, because remember I said, koalas are picky about what they eat. So yeah, it's one of the things that I show, especially to students and all. Okay, this is what it looks like going in fresh this is what it looks like coming out.

00:09:54
Speaker 6: So can you tell which is which?

00:09:56
Speaker 3: Sometimes you can't, you can't, sometimes.

00:09:57
Speaker 6: You can't go usually, but yes, yeah, they're.

00:10:00
Speaker 2: To nibble on the freshest sprouse, right and usually on the ends only, right, exactly.

00:10:05
Speaker 4: It's a unique adaptation to can you actually speak a little bit? What is so unique?

00:10:09
Speaker 1: But a koal in that Australian ecosys. This is one of our conservation hubs as well in Australia. Right, So when I think of koala, I'm thinking of one up in a tree.

00:10:17
Speaker 4: So what is that? What's the behavior around that?

00:10:20
Speaker 5: Yeah, actually that's a really good question because then you go, okay.

00:10:23
Speaker 6: They sleep all the time.

00:10:25
Speaker 5: But as I say to people, a lot, animals just have to behave to the extent that they can survive, right, And koalas don't have a bunch of predators, and.

00:10:37
Speaker 6: Who knows, maybe that's because they have changed over the years.

00:10:42
Speaker 5: You know, their closest living relatives are actually ground dwelling animals and that would be the wombat. Who I know some people that's their favorite animal, right. Yeah, I'm looking at my husband about it.

00:10:57
Speaker 4: And I didn't know that honestly, So that's super unique.

00:11:01
Speaker 5: Yeah, so it's interesting because one is purely on the ground.

00:11:05
Speaker 3: You don't see one of the ground sometimes.

00:11:07
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, growing absolutely so. And in fact, if you think it's bad when we have our ground squirrels around here in southern California and the holes they make, now imagine a wombat. And for those of you who don't know what a cute wombat looks like, they're a bit bigger than our ground squirrels, and they actually dig out dens. So with the wombats, and they are mercupials, so they have a pouch. So their pouch is what we call rear facing. So in other words, if you look at a kangaroo or a wallabye or similar that when they're upright, their pouch is upright, so you're seeing the baby's head come out the top. Whereas with a wombat, Now if you think they have to dig into the ground, so they're they're they're throwing dirt around everywhere. If their pouch we're facing that same way, they'd be thrown dirt in.

00:12:00
Speaker 6: We wouldn't be seeing wombats, that was the case.

00:12:02
Speaker 5: Right, So their pouch faces the opposite direction, ironically than koalas who are up in trees have the exact same thing. So their pouches do not face upwards like a kangaroo. They actually are rear facing, similar to what you get in a wombat.

00:12:22
Speaker 3: So how did the joey's not fall out of it?

00:12:27
Speaker 2: Something that's my phone would fall out.

00:12:32
Speaker 4: I'm always losing chain, So there's something to that.

00:12:35
Speaker 5: Right, just saying so this is where mother nature has always steps in with things. So when you look at the biology and how the physiology of those pouches work, they're not open.

00:12:49
Speaker 6: They're not like our pockets in our pants.

00:12:53
Speaker 4: I'm thinking, like we need a poo.

00:12:54
Speaker 2: You know.

00:12:54
Speaker 1: The kangaroo, you know, all this stuff is in that bag or in that pouchs.

00:12:58
Speaker 4: Not like that, not like right.

00:12:59
Speaker 5: Well, when you think of it in the same way as like a kangaroo, a mother kangaroo, when that joey is really small, isn't like, oh, I can't bounce around, I can't move anywhere because bouncing any of us who have hit a bump in the road or otherwise know what flies out of you know, your bags in the car otherwise, right exactly, So different from that you actually have parts of the pouches that will tighten up so that anything in there isn't going to come flying out. Now, it's not a perfect seal. It's not like you're sealing it up. Hence the wombat who still will need the rear facing because it's not like velcrow. So even though kolas are up in trees, there's two things that are working for them with that. So when Joey is born, it's like they're all head and mouth and like limb. The great part is when they're rear facing, it's pretty easy for that Joey to climb then into that pouch from when they're born, right versus a kangaroo has to go up and around and then down into the pouch. So with any of the marsupials, the other thing that happens is that that baby is then going to find mom's nipple and attached to it, and believe it or not, that attachment is pretty good. The other thing is that then the pouch with that attachment, the mom knows like, oh okay, I have a baby, and so that pouch will tighten up and so that it's also keeping it in there.

00:14:38
Speaker 4: So yeah, that's interesting and their native range.

00:14:41
Speaker 1: Where would say, for Australia, where would that be specifically for koalas.

00:14:44
Speaker 5: So koalas have a really large home range. Yeah, so I believe they're across most of their historic home range, believe it or not. So they go all the way from almost the northern tip, which is up in Queensland area, which for those of us who live in North America and all, that's the hotter part because it's closer to the equator. But they stretch all the way down into the southern realm as well.

00:15:15
Speaker 6: So yeah, so there are.

00:15:16
Speaker 4: Across all sorts of terrains right.

00:15:18
Speaker 6: Pretty much the eastern seaboard. Yeah, as.

00:15:23
Speaker 3: Correct.

00:15:24
Speaker 5: Correct if you've ever been to Australia, the center of Australia is desert, so you're not going to find koalas out in that area. But that's also part of the reason they don't have as many predators is because we're they're at you don't have some of those more predatory type animals that you might find on the cusp of those desert area.

00:15:45
Speaker 1: I don't really envision like a wedge tailed eagle like cruising around that forest are trying to pick off.

00:15:50
Speaker 5: Right, and koalas get big enough, so across that range they actually differ in size, so they get bigger as you go southern, which colder colder.

00:16:03
Speaker 1: That made me think of something actually, because everyone thinks of koala is cute and cuddly.

00:16:07
Speaker 4: You know, you stun them.

00:16:08
Speaker 1: But the way you're describing him now, I mean they can defend themselves, right, They can move quick if they have to, right, So you.

00:16:13
Speaker 5: Have to think even though they're tree dwelling and I come from the primate world with things too, where you have primates that will jump from tree to tree, Koalas don't do that unless there is a reason, i e. They're scared or something else is going on. So normally koalas will climb down out of trees and then run across the landscape to wherever it is that they want to go up into another space.

00:16:39
Speaker 4: Oh cool.

00:16:40
Speaker 5: So because they climb up and down, they have really big claws. So because they have to show me up eucalyptus trees and you can absolutely see their claw marks on the trees when you go out. For the most part, because of the way the bark is on most of the eucalyptus trees, they go up and down In fact, it's a way in Australia that we can track down where koalas have been.

00:17:05
Speaker 6: So yes, they've got nice claws.

00:17:07
Speaker 5: The other thing, remember we talked about the tough eucalyptus le yes, So how do you get those? Well, you got to have teeth that actually can take those off of the branches.

00:17:20
Speaker 3: And a powerful jaw to grind it up too.

00:17:22
Speaker 5: Correct, Right, So I tell people a lot of times, especially here in North America, if you've ever seen rabbit teeth or like rodent anienship, it's similar to that in the front because they're biting off of things and then they have to grind it up in their back teeth.

00:17:39
Speaker 2: So as well equipped as a quala is to defend itself if it has to, we also know they do face a lot of challenges that clawing or biting isn't going to help.

00:17:49
Speaker 3: With environmental issues.

00:17:50
Speaker 2: And that's part of your work, that is researching population sustainability, working with our partners we have in Australia too, to maintain and look at populations for safety issues. Not too long ago, there's the big fires and Blue Mountains and our partners were part of helping those walls out as well. I'd love to start diving into some of the conservation side of things and the work you do to help better understand them and what they need.

00:18:13
Speaker 6: Yeah.

00:18:14
Speaker 5: Absolutely, So we work with two field researchers right now. One is more in that northern area in Queensland and then the other one is in the Blue Mountains area, which is about two and a half hours west.

00:18:29
Speaker 6: I have to get my east west right west of Sydney.

00:18:33
Speaker 5: And the reason I say that is because when you have that big of a home range for a species, there are very different conservation issues you're dealing with. So up in the Queensland area, because it's the warmer climate, it's nice, they're nice beaches. Those of you who might want to go out to the Great Barrier Reef. This is a very tourist type area, so there's a lot of I don't want to say, but a lot of overlap between where humans want to be and where koalas want to be. And this has been going on for a very long time and doctor Bill Ellis, who works there, who I work with, has been doing a lot of work looking at.

00:19:17
Speaker 6: Those specific things.

00:19:18
Speaker 5: So to take a quick example of that area, he currently is looking at releasing koalas in an area that historically you would have found koalas, but because there are ranchers in the area that a lot of their habitat and their interconnective part, I know, we talk about that with a lot of different animals is having some kind of connection in the field where they can get from place to place. So with the work that he does in that area, what we're specifically looking at is can you release animals back into those areas and have them successfully repatriate it. What's interr is doctor Kelly Lee, who's down in New South Wales looking in the Blue Mountains is actually looking at that on a natural scale. So the Blue Mountains prior to the big fires that came through, and we can touch on that a little bit too, that area people came through and put orchards in. So over the past probably twenty five years or so, those orchards for the most part, the small farms and all have gone away. And the eucalyptus and those of us who know eucalyptus, it grows like a weed.

00:20:34
Speaker 2: Right.

00:20:35
Speaker 5: So this is a World Heritage site people do live in and amongst it. It's also National Park, State Park and all, so it gets utilized for multiple purposes. But these areas where you're having this natural repatriation of eucalyptus, well what comes right behind it. So she's starting to see areas where koalas are coming back in.

00:21:00
Speaker 3: Oh, that's great.

00:21:00
Speaker 5: The Blue Mountains used to be sort of like the epicenter type area of koalas. Historically, the koalas in that area were part of where people went out to hunt them when you start hearing about the fur trade that was out of that area, So there were lots of them back in the day. But now to start seeing that natural repatriation of them coming back in is really actually fascinating. So when you see that, and then having the work done up in Queensland as well, where we're looking at, okay, can we do this and put these animals back in and have them be successful. The great news is that it's working. Awesome, so great, and koalas once again they're picky eaters. That is going to be the main thing that you know, can this landscape actually sustain it? The really great part for both the work that we do in those two areas is that you really have a lot of buy in these days from the people who live in those areas, and that's what you need. In the case of where doctor Ellis's with things, they had a rancher who this is what he wanted to do. And it's not that he's turning the land back into just koala habitat. He actually is continuing to ranch. And what's fascinating is that when you start having these kind of collaborations, you can start see, especially on the conservation side, does this work. Can we do this without saying, oh, you just have to turn the land back right exactly? And I know from previous work, not with koalas, that a lot of times when you have trees growing in areas and pasture land, that the pasture land is more productive, it's more viable. It's fantastic to see this sort of symbiosis between two sea guys.

00:23:03
Speaker 2: I want to jump back real quick too, with all this work you just touched on and the idea of reintroducing species or them coming in on their own. There's a lot of knowledge though that. For example, I know firsthand doctor Bill Ellis's work on Saint bees and all the studies that have been done on their vocalizations, their communications, everything within that whole concept of knowing and studying what do they need to exist and how do they exist in their space? Now we can take that information and apply it to these ideas of Okay, let's bring koualis into what was.

00:23:33
Speaker 3: You know, a ranch only. But this rancher wants to work with us.

00:23:36
Speaker 2: I'm assuming doctor Ellis can leverage what he knows is actually needed to create that solid footprint to reintroduces.

00:23:43
Speaker 5: It's really good and this really highlights how San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and how our hubs can work with things. So, like I said, we've been doing stuff with koalas on ground since the nineteen eighties. The other thing we've been doing since that time is going over to Australia and assisting in these conservation projects. Both doctor Ellis and doctor Lee contacted me because of work that I was doing. The research I was doing here with our koalas, So there's this great connectedness with staff, in particular some of the things you were talking about in vocalizations. I was recording vocalizations here of our koalas trying to figure out from our standpoint, Okay, we're looking at things like mate choice and how do we keep our colony robust and looking at the genetics. So we're coming at it from sort of our zoo lens. But then what's happening is you have field conservationists and researchers who are like, hey, you have this information. So we started looking at things and so something that I was looking at in terms of okay, so how are they communicating here? How can that help us with things on grounds that now, when you're trying to record the movement patterns of koalas, that you might go, oh, maybe I should be looking at vocalizations as well. So there's a lot of that kind of overlap that ends up happening. Doctor Lee contacted me about some cent work. So the male koalas have what we call external or chest scent gland, and for us here we were curious to be like, okay, you know it appears to quote turn on and produce things. What is it producing? What does that look like? But in comparison to field researchers, for the most part, when I show up every day to collect some of the type of information and data, I know where our koalas are, right, I can tell you firsthand it can take days sometimes if not ours to find koalas out in the field, I think, so we can help them with speeding up some of these processes, and then they take that information and can really go with it. And in the case of some of these types of things that we're looking at, like the release of koalas into areas, that is all made possible by some of the previous work that Bill was doing, which then also tied into our animals here at the San Diego Zoo.

00:26:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, so the San Diego Zoo koalas. We're basically creating a baseline of information, which is if anybody has know when we're talking about science, having that baseline, having that basically Okay, this is our level, and then we can go out and explore from there is so very important. What a foundation you helped create with your research for Bill doctor ellis to apply then in what he's doing. And now we can look back and see how all of that's time together to these quals being reintroduced to old habitat that's been ranches for years.

00:26:54
Speaker 3: And then, like you said, it's that tie in.

00:26:56
Speaker 2: With the local community, those that are living there in these spaces to really allow all that data and information that you've been a part of for so long to come to fruition now to have koalas going back out there, that's so cool.

00:27:09
Speaker 5: Right, It's very cool because there's a lot of times where people come and they see, say, are different animals and you know, how does that tie in with stuff? And it's not just koalas. You know, there's a lot of different species that we work with here and why we do the research, and it's always great from our end to see it come full circle that it really enhances the work that's being done out in the field as well.

00:27:36
Speaker 2: It really is awesome to hear how the collaborative work of the zoo and our partners, you know, I mean we're the Wildlife Alliance.

00:27:43
Speaker 3: Right, the Wildlife Alliance, and it's just.

00:27:46
Speaker 2: Great to hear the stories of how it's all coming together, not just the current work, but the history as well. I can't thank you enough Jen for your time today. I really appreciate you being on amazing wildlife and sharing all your passionate and knowledge with everybody.

00:27:57
Speaker 6: You're welcome.

00:27:58
Speaker 5: Thank you for inviting me to talk about the cute fuzzy koalas that we.

00:28:02
Speaker 3: Have the tree dwelling.

00:28:05
Speaker 7: I love to eave them more Now, such a great conversation about koalas with Jen, and I really appreciate how Jen explained the challenges and success they're having with reintroducing koalas back into those lands that they once inhabited.

00:28:22
Speaker 4: I mean, I wonder what it's like for those people.

00:28:24
Speaker 1: Right, you wake up one morning and then all of a sudden, you hear a koala sound like like a koala bellow.

00:28:30
Speaker 2: Just for our listeners that that was Marco trying to do a k Hopefully our sound engineer can give us a proper bellow. But you're right, it is a very unique and odd sound if they have not been in that area for a while.

00:28:41
Speaker 3: I can only imagine what the people in.

00:28:42
Speaker 2: That area must think when they hear that for the first time. And with that said, the fact that it's the rangers asking to have the koalas come back to the land that they ranch is so great. It gives me hope for other species that have been displaced. Maybe we'll start seeing others work with conservationists to bring species back to areas that they were once found in before the land was developed for human.

00:29:02
Speaker 4: Use, Right, I mean, it's awesome.

00:29:04
Speaker 1: I love how much gens work and research of the koalas at the San Diego Zoo ended up being so important and helpful to those doing koala conservation back in Australia.

00:29:13
Speaker 2: Another great example of the impact of the San Diego Zoo wildlife flans and how working together allows us all to do such great things.

00:29:20
Speaker 4: He really is a great example.

00:29:21
Speaker 1: Right, just makes my hot smile and we are always welcoming other allies for wildlife. Anyone can join us and support our conservation efforts. I encourage anyone interested in joining us to go to our website SDZWA dot org to learn more about our conservation hubs and how to get involved.

00:29:40
Speaker 2: You know, speaking of conservation hub, there is one hub we have yet to dive into this season.

00:29:46
Speaker 4: Why do I feel like I'm walking into something right now?

00:29:48
Speaker 2: You know me so well, Marco and yes, I think it's time for us to dive into the ocean's hub.

00:29:56
Speaker 3: What was that?

00:29:57
Speaker 2: Be sure to subscribe and tune into our next episode to Marco and I find out more about the bears that are considered marine mammals.

00:30:04
Speaker 3: The polar bear. Now, Marco went and I'm Rick Schwartz. Thanks for listening.

00:30:13
Speaker 2: For more information about the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

00:30:17
Speaker 3: Go to SDZWA dot org.

00:30:20
Speaker 2: Amazing Wildlife is a production of iHeartRadio's Ruby Studios. Our supervising producer is Nikkiah Swinton and our sound designer and editor is Sierra Spreen. For more shows from iHeartRadio, check out the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.