In total, the Dallas Zoo counts 14 staffers who volunteer as either a studbook keeper or SSP coordinator for 24 different species, 20 of which reside at the Dallas Zoo. “We’re in the top 10–20% of zoos in terms of how many SSP programs we manage,” James estimated. “We are proud of the many hours of volunteer work put in by our teams.” It’s a feather in the Dallas Zoo’s cap to have as many SSP coordinators and studbook keepers on its staff as it does. And holding one of these positions speaks to the caliber of scientist, according to James. “When we’re hiring zoological managers and curators, we’re looking for this experience on their resume,” he said.

James has been the SSP coordinator for red river hogs since 2015; he took on an additional SSP coordinator role in 2018 for the yellow-backed duiker, a species of forest antelope native to Africa;  plus he’s served as the vice SSP coordinator for the enormous giraffe population across North America since 2019 — there are about 650 giraffes in the SSP. “Representatives from other institutions will contact me when they have a litter of red river hogs, so we can update our studbook — or if one of their adult duikers passes away, we can make a recommendation to transfer an animal from another zoo, so they can continue their breeding program.”

If it seems complicated, that’s because it is. AZA facilities consult with population biologists who study the pedigrees of all of the animals in the SSP to determine relatedness and which would be a good genetic match to breed. In fact, the AZA funds a population management center with a handful of population biologists on retainer for this purpose. “It’s a puzzle with a lot of different information that we have to figure out how to piece together,” James said.

As far as the southern ground hornbill population, Knutson serves as both the SSP coordinator and studbook keeper, striving to keep the species’ gene pool as varied as possible. Specifically, she said she is “aiming to keep 90% genetic diversity in the population for the next 100 years.” The reason that the Dallas Zoo went through the trouble of bringing the southern ground hornbill chick, Kune, to Dallas when he was still in his egg, as told in our article Transporting a Southern Ground Hornbill, is because his genes are extremely valuable to the population. To give him the best care, they wanted him to have a family group, which is how southern ground hornbills live in the wild. “We brought this egg to be raised by our family group here, specifically, because they are such a good family group,” she explained. “There are probably fewer than 10 family groups in human care in the whole world,” Knutson estimated. “It’s so rare and special to have a family group at the Dallas Zoo. We’re leading the way for the care of ground hornbills worldwide.”

Kune’s new parents are dedicated to say the least. “They each have such distinctive personalities,” Knutson said.

Dad, Okpara, catches bugs and snakes to feed to the boys. Mom, Nanjamba, had already learned Kune’s specific call before he was fully hatched. Kune’s older brothers, Mosi and Pili, act just like human kids would: they play, they fight. “Dad yells at them when they’re getting too rowdy.” “Mosi is a ham and gets in trouble often; Pili gets scared easily; and Kune is calm and personable, and avoids conflict.”

While the southern ground hornbill family doesn’t have a public-facing habitat just yet, that’s something that the Dallas Zoo is working toward providing for visitors since these “tiny velociraptors” need a reinforced enclosure that can withstand their athleticism. “Their beaks are so strong, and they can jump six feet straight up,” Knutson explained. They were previously housed in the former cheetah habitat that now is home to African painted dogs, if that gives you an idea — the Zoo needs to provide similar housing for them as it does to a large mammal predator. Until then, visitors can get a glimpse of them on the Dallas Zoo’s social media pages.

Since arriving in Dallas, Kune has been doing well, according to Knutson. “He’s learning so much. He can eat on his own now, but dad still feeds him quite a bit,” she said. Knutson told a story about the dad catching a snake for Kune, who didn’t know what to do with it. “Pili grabbed the snake and ran off, which made Kune have quite a tantrum — he was squawking, begging their dad to intervene,” Knutson described. “Pili felt bad, so he walked back slowly with the snake. It was such a little brother-big brother interaction.”

Knutson said sibling rivalry behavior is typical for these highly intelligent birds. “The older brothers were jealous of Kune getting so much attention in the first couple months. Now, they’ve accepted him since he can play with them… Every time I go out there, they’re exploring or playing with each other,” Knutson said. “It’s really fun to watch them interact.”

Seeing family groups like these Southern Ground Hornbills thrive, and knowing that each family of animals at the Zoo plays a role in the survival of their species, is the ultimate reward for the hardworking staff who commit their time to make SSPs successful. Your annual membership support makes the Dallas Zoo’s work with programs like the Species Survival Plan possible.