Abstract

The reserve at Punta San Juan (PSJ), Peru provides protection to many important populations of marine species found in the Humboldt Current ecosystem. The Chicago Zoological Society and Saint Louis Zoo have provided fiscal support for the reserve for the past decade, but a partnership with the Center for Environmental Sustainability at Cayetano Heredia University (CSA-UPCH) over the past five years has allowed for expansion of conservation programs beyond simple monetary support. Veterinary field projects centering on the Humboldt penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) and South American fur seal (Arctocephalus australis) have created a foundation for a long-term conservation medicine program focused on ecosystem health.

The PSJ reserve protects Peru's largest population of the endangered Humboldt penguin. Field projects initiated in 2007 have provided an evaluation of the population health and serve as a baseline for long-term monitoring programs. During annual fieldwork, over 725 penguins have been tagged to date. Medical evaluation and sample collection from 350 of these penguins have established references for normal health, infectious disease exposure (16 avian pathogens), and environmental contamination/toxicant exposure. Samples have also provided a foundation for population genetic assessments and comparative values for several captive penguin research efforts (ocular health, nutritional studies, aspergillosis testing, and calcium homeostasis). Single year health surveys of the Peruvian pelican (Pelecanus thagus) and guanay cormorant (Phalacrocorax bougainvillii) populations at the reserve were also conducted to evaluate avian infectious disease concerns and establish markers of routine health.

The reserve is also home to a key breeding population of South American fur seals, a species that saw its Peruvian population decimated by the 1997/98 El Niño Southern Oscillation. Expanding on the success of the penguin field projects, in 2009 a field program to evaluate the health of this recovering population was initiated. Over two field seasons, samples have been collected from 44 adults and 59 pups anesthetized for veterinary examination. Establishing markers of baseline health and infectious disease exposure (14 pinniped pathogens) in this population have been the initial objectives of the project, with studies on toxicant exposure and environmental contamination set to begin this year.

As veterinary field projects provide the data for monitoring ecosystem health, we have developed an education program targeting children in the PSJ region to augment the conservation impact. The intention is to use this site as a model for broader coastal ecosystem education programs. The CSA-UPCH has also developed an education campaign for better resource management of the Peruvian anchoveta, the primary prey species of both the aquatic birds and marine mammals. Industrial overfishing of anchovetas has led to drastic population declines of multiple marine species in Peru and limits population recovery of the wildlife.

The aforementioned programs represent a foundation for ecosystem conservation efforts at PSJ. We continue to expand in new directions, such as a new project investigating marine invertebrates as a marker of ecosystem health and the development of new programs for schoolchildren. Assessments of population health provide an understanding of the current threats and future risks facing wildlife, but must work in concert with conservation and education programs to succeed in eliciting a change.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank all the other persons involved in these field programs, specifically Franco Garcia, Paulo Guerrero, and Armando Valdes. The authors also thank the Saint Louis Zoo WildCare Institute Field Research for Conservation Fund, Chicago Zoological Society's Chicago Board of Trade Endangered Species Fund for financial support of this project.