#CrowdfundDartmoorZoo

It's amazing what we can do
if we all come together

On the 17th of November, Dartmoor Zoo will embark on a bold new chapter in the story that began in 2006.

We'll be launching a crowdfunding campaign which will help us convert fully to charitable status and secure the future of the zoo as a centre of excellence for education, conservation and research.

In 2006 the Mee family bought Dartmoor Zoo to prevent the majority of the animals from being destroyed.

Since then, despite the release of the Hollywood film 'We Bought a Zoo' which was based on the bestselling book by Benjamin Mee, the threat to the zoo remains. Two global recessions and five of the wettest English summers on record have shown that this zoo needs to shift its centre of gravity from dependence on seasonal tourists towards becoming a charity focusing on research and education. This process is already well underway.

Our aspirations for the future are unashamedly ambitious - and will have a global impact. As well as developing our international conservation and education programmes, we aim to establish a world class research centre in animal cognition, exploring animal consciousness to promote the rights and welfare of animals everywhere. But our project is also about regenerating people, using the platform of the zoo to encourage volunteering, training and education, from pre-school to postgraduate and beyond. People from around the world have been inspired by this story of hope. Now everyone can actively participate in keeping this hope alive.

The crowdfunding campaign kicks off on the 17th November with a launch event at Plymouth University featuring a Q&A with Benjamin Mee and a showing of the movie, We Bought a Zoo. Unfortunately, seats for the event were snapped up in record time but you can help in the meantime. Our Thunderclap campaign is already underway and you can 'pledge' your social media following to ensure we get the message out to the widest possible audience. It's really simple, takes a few clicks and it's absolutely free.

You can add your voice to the Thunderclap campaign using the widget on the right.

There will be some special events during the campaign so be sure to keep up-to-date via our Twitter and Facebook profiles and keep an eye out for the hashtag #CrowdfundDartmoorZoo. #CrowdfundDartmoorZoo Tweets

DNA Mystery

Fudge: European or Syrian?

Here at Dartmoor Zoo there are two bears named Hayley and Fudge. It was originally believed that both were European Brown Bears, however there are notable differences between the pair. The most obvious differences, which indicate that Fudge may not be a European Brown Bear are the length of her claws, her overall size and fur colour. As a consequence, despite her records showing otherwise, we have long thought that Fudge is in fact a Syrian Brown Bear.

So, we decided to turn to scientists at Plymouth University for a definitive answer.

We contacted several zoos around Europe to find a collection willing to send hair follicles from a true Syrian Bear to compare to our own. Heidelberg Zoo in Germany kindly sent a sample of hair from a Syrian Brown Bear in their collection. We also took samples from our own bears, a process which thanks to their training was stress free for all concerned.

Dr Mairi Knight of Plymouth University’s School of Biomedical and Biological Sciences is currently working with the samples. At this point, it’s important to point out to all readers familiar with CSI that DNA sampling isn’t a straightforward case of shaking liquids about in test tubes.

The first step is to extract DNA from all the samples. Whilst extracting DNA from hair is now routine in many laboratories, since there is not much DNA contained in hair (the main source being from the follicle cells in the root) yields of usable material can be very small. To get at the DNA the scientist will digest the cells using particular enzymes to free up the DNA, and then carefully remove the other cellular material by a process of ‘chemical washing’ to leave a clean solution of just DNA. In mammal hair often colour pigments can inhibit part of the later processing and so care needs to be taken to ensure that these are also removed.

Once the DNA material has been isolated, a technique called ‘PCR’ (Polymerase Chain Reaction) is then used to amplify a small section of DNA into enough copies for analysis.

This final step involves using a Genetic Analyser which highlights the particular strands of interest. DNA sections or ‘regions’ that are known to be particularly useful for tracing the ancestry of a species will then be screened. The exact sequence of DNA from Fudge and the comparison brown bear samples can then be analysed for similarities and differences, allowing Fudge’s most likely ancestry to be determined.

There are many subspecies of the Brown Bear, which have adapted to different habitats making the specie as a whole more diverse. Brown Bears are distinguished from others by their shoulder hump, the consequence muscles specially adapted for digging. They have the widest distribution of any of the bears and can be found in Europe, Japan, North Asia and other places. Subspecies of the Brown Bear include the Alaskan, Asiatic and European Brown Bear, as well as the Grizzly Bear, Himalayan Snow Bear, Kodiak Bear and the Syrian Bear.

European Brown Bears have small, round ears and have brown fur ranging from yellow to dark brown. They can be found in Northern Europe and Russia and are the most widely distributed subspecies of bear.

Syrian Bears are the smallest subspecies of Brown Bear and the only Bear known to have long white claws. Their fur is very light brown while the fur on the shoulders has a darker grey base. Also, on some Bears there is a dark stripe running down the back.

Syrian Bears are found generally in the mountainous areas in Iran, Iraq, Turkey and the former Soviet Union, however due to habitat loss and poaching, the population is in decline. They can no longer be found in Syria.

Fudge is a very special part of the DZP collection. If our suspicions are confirmed, she will be the oldest of her kind in captivity (she recently celebrated her 35^th birthday). However, the search for a definitive answer to the question of Fudge’s origins is a lengthy and complex process and there’s even the possibility that the results will raise more questions. There are some within the scientific community that believe, despite the obvious physical differences between what we term to be European and Syrian Brown Bears, that at a genetic level there is a case for declaring no difference at all.

We’re very much looking forward to seeing where our investigations will take us.

Hollie Dutton
Keeper