New in 1975 | San Diego Zoo 100
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Bird keeper Wayne Schulenburg holds a three-week-old nene gosling, one of seven that hatched in 1975 for the first time in the Zoological Society's collection. These endangered Hawaiian geese were almost wiped out in their native habitat on the islands of Hawaii and Maui by hunting and introduced predators, reduced from a population of about 25,000 at one time to less than 50 by the 1950s. A Nene Restoration Project initiated in 1959 helped to bring the numbers up to more than 600, making reintroductions possible. The Zoological Society became involved in the early 1970s, receiving two adult pairs to help contribute to the breeding effort. The fuzzy gosling above was the happy start of good things to come—our nenes were clearly in good hands.
Keeper Dick Sweeney bottle feeds the first bontebok calf born at the Zoo. The first-time mother did not know how to nurse it, but she did not reject it, so the keepers tried coming into the exhibit to bottle feed it while she looked on. She accepted the situation, and it turned out well for everyone.
Rare Madagascar red frogs were exhibited at the Zoo's Reptile House for the first time in 1975. Little was known about this rare amphibian species at the time, and the Zoo had the opportunity to record interesting behavioral and physiological observations.

1975

New Era 1967 - 1976
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