Pine Beetles:  We Hate ‘Em, Yeah-Yeah-Yeah!

by Jane Dewar, Sunday 18 November 2001

The Beetles

Well, construction never seems to go as fast as you would hope or plan and the GH project, while going well, is still subjected to delays and changes no one could have predicted or anticipated. The entire southeast region of the USA has been hard-hit by pine beetles, for example, which slowly but effectively kill black (or pitch) pines (latin name: pinus rigida), which make up a large portion of GH's evergreens. Thankfully, we also have a large and diverse population of white pines and hemlocks, so while initially the loss of all the black pines will be devastating, soon their absence will mean newer, stronger and healthier trees will be able to take their place. And things here in the north Georgia mountains grow fast! Just look at Julicat! (photo right– with new toy).

So the entire Phase 1 & 2 habitat is now undergoing a transformation none of us had thought would happen. The islands of tall pines we had hoped to maintain are being taken down and removed, as are literally 100's of other dead or dying black pines on the property. We're trying to spray the few so-far unaffected black pines to save them, if possible, and in the spring, we'll do another survey to see what's still healthy and what areas need replanting. Since we've been here, we've already planted over 1,000 trees and seedlings (mostly white pines, but also hardwoods like maple, oak, etc). Photo left shows the changes in the habitat of Phase 1 from last year (top) compared with today (bottom).

In the Fall of 2000, a professional botanical survey of the property (concentrated but not limited to the habitat of Phase 1 & 2), by Kevin Caldwell, consulting Biologist of Appalachian Ecological Consultants based in Penrose, NC. Kevin identified approximately 140 kinds of trees, shrubs, vines, herbs, moss, ferns, grasses and even one sedge (Pennsylvania sedge), including several which are listed as "toxic," but nothing deadly to humans or gorillas (unless consumed in great quantities and there aren't enough for that). Some toxic plants, like pokeweed (latin name: phytolacca americana), we're told were used by locals in salads, when they first start to grow in the spring, but by the time they reach maturity in the summer, they are poisonous, so we'll remove all such plants, just to be on the safe side. Unless the tree removal currently underway destroys them (and being Fall now, they're not in bloom and therefore difficult to identify), we also had approximately 25 specimens of the rare Pink Lady Slipper (latin name: cypripedium acuale).

 2nd Volunteer Day

On November 3, 2001 we had our second Volunteer Day, which went very well, thanks to the hard work (mostly tree debris removal!) of everyone who helped. It was a smaller group than our previous Volunteer Day, but the enthusiasm and good cheer hadn’t diminished.  Special THANKS to the following who joined us a second time:

Margie Deeb – for continuing the computer work!

Michele Davis & Kerry Stumpe – for continuing the sign postings before jumping in to join the others removing debris!

Jennifer Miller – for making another 12 hour roundtrip drive to participate!

Amber Gray – who wasn’t at the first official Volunteer Day, but who had been a special friend and visitor to GH since 1997, helping us on previous projects before we officially organized Volunteer Days …

And a special thanks too to Brenda Shafer, who drove over 6 hours roundtrip to help on her first Volunteer Day!

 And even though they’re paid staff members, Pete Halliday and Kelly Daugherty, as well as Lynn Hilton and Ted Bauman worked hard that Saturday as well, for which we are also sincerely grateful and appreciative.

 

Progress

Meanwhile, the barrier on Silverback Villa is complete (photo left) and now construction of the roof over the outside cages has begun. The barrier (to prevent gorillas from being able to climb the mesh to the top of the outside cages) will be lightly spray- painted dark forest green to blend in with the surrounding nature, as will the cages themselves and eventually the entire Great Wall of Morganton.  The top of the outside cages will be a spot to observe gorillas in the habitat, as well as being a place where keepers will toss food to encourage the gorillas to climb.  Other nitty-gritty details of Silverback Villa are being slowly put into place – the reinforced windows, weigh scale, squeeze cage, sliding (motorized) doors, etc. Photo top right was taken from the top of the inside cages (showing walkways for roof-feeding and maintenance). Emma and Pitchou villas have had the final Stonhard coat applied this week so the other three villas are now ready for the steelwork. Photo right, below shows Pitchou, Emma and Bonz villas.

The Researcher & Food Prep building is also being finished, concentrating on the second floor, where Pete and Kelly’s offices will be, as well as the observation room overlooking the habitat.  Finding a reliable and competent plumber has been a challenge and most of the delays seem to be plumber related!  If there are any decent, hard-working and available plumbers out there, please contact us!.

But the main delay will be caused by newer, stricter regulations for our veterinary clinic, in accordance to AZA guidelines.  We’re in the process of moving the maintenance building to a new location, closer to Headquarters, preparing and constructing an entirely new building for it.

The current maintenance building will now be used for recovery cages and a necropsy room to complement our existing vet building next door, which will now be completed as a surgery procedure room, complete with patient prep and surgeon scrub areas.  The current maintenance building is a bit larger than it needs to be for recovery and necropsy (the ironic combination of uses are the result of what we’d already built in the original vet building, which has been stone-harded), so the extra space could be used for storage – something we’ll always need!

The new maintenance building and pole barn will be down near Quinton’s Crossroads (photo left shows the cleared pad area.  This will actually work better, since we designed the roads to more easily accommodate large trucks and provide a loading dock. It will also be well situated for supporting the Phase III habitat.  But that also means we need to pour the building pad before December and freeze potentials arrive, which means we’re pulling off our crew from Silverback Villa to work on the new maintenance building area … thus more delays.  Sigh.

We’re now surveying where Phase 3 (a smaller version of Phase 1 & 2) will go, between Phase 1 & 2 and Headquarters.  Fall is the best time to survey, since leaves are down and the thick underbrush is easier to see through. And we’ll be hosting Bala Amarasekaran from Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Sierra Leone, who arrives in time to enjoy a belated Thanksgiving Feast with us, before we head off to drive to Florida where we’ll attend the Zoos & Aquarium: Committing to Conservation conference, as well as visiting other zoos en route.  That will be another update though … if and when I recover!