E very year, more than a million people visit the Indianapolis Zoo. For Dr. Rob Shumaker, the President and CEO, that’s over a million opportunities to help someone care about the core of the organization’s ethos: the conservation of animal life and the entire planet’s vitality.
The Indianapolis Zoological Society celebrates conservation heroes through The Indianapolis Prize, a biennial honor first awarded in 2006 and often referred to as The Nobel Prize of animal conservation. The Winner receives $250,000 for their achievements in saving animal species and ecosystems, and five Finalists receive $50,000 each.
This year, the Prize went to Dr. Pablo Borboroglu, a marine biologist specializing in penguins and the founder and president of the Global Penguin Society (GPS). Atlantic Re:think spoke with Dr. Shumaker and Dr. Borboroglu to learn about their personal and philosophical connections to animal life, the high stakes of biodiversity, and how each of us can be a conservationist.
What brought you to conservation, and what made you realize it was important to you?
I always imagined myself working with animals. It’s the only thing I can remember being completely devoted to and passionate about. I grew up in the Washington, D.C. area, so my exposure to animals and the natural world was almost exclusively through the National Zoo. I worked there for 20 years, and some of the apes that I used to look at when I was a child are apes I wound up taking care of later in life.
I’d heard about the destruction of rainforests and hundreds of baby orangutans winding up in rehabilitation centers in Borneo and Sumatra throughout my career. There’s an orangutan named Azy who’s 45 years old and lives at the Simon Skjodt International Orangutan Center at the Indianapolis Zoo. I’ve worked with him since he was about five, so we’ve known each other for a really long time, and it hit me out of the blue: ‘Well, Azy is no different than these orangutans dying in Southeast Asia.’
My passion and focus has evolved over the years, but that’s where it started. That was the doorway that got me into caring deeply about conservation and preservation of biodiversity on a global scale.
The person that connected me to nature was my grandmother. Almost a century ago, she used to visit penguin colonies along the coast of Patagonia, and told me stories about her trips when I was two or three years old.
In Patagonia in the 1980s, 40,000 penguins died every year due to oil spills. I used to pick up survivors on the beach and bring them to a small rehabilitation center I built for them. When I released my first rehabilitated penguin back into the wild, I thought to myself, ‘If I can make this small effort and have such a big impact on this penguin population, what happens if I dedicate my life to this? I can replicate this on a larger scale.’
I created the Global Penguin Society, which is an international organization that promotes the protection of 18 species of penguins through guided action. For example, we create protected areas in the ocean or on land for penguins, and management plans to improve human activities like fisheries and tourism. We also have a big education program to reach local and global audiences.
Why should non-experts care about conservation?
Let’s take penguins as an example. Penguins are an incredible indicator of the health of marine ecosystems. When things are good for penguins, things are good for marine ecosystems, and that means things are good for humans. We’re all interconnected, and that’s one of the most fundamental reasons that people should care about protecting biodiversity. The better we are in terms of the health of our environment and biodiversity, the better life is for humans.
Wildlife has been on this planet for millions of years. Human beings showed up in the last five minutes of history, so to speak.
Wildlife conservation is critical for all of us because it helps us to maintain the structure and function of the environment. For example, we are all concerned about carbon emissions, and wildlife populations capture large amounts of carbon.
Additionally, there’s a lot of income that comes through nature-based tourism. Conservation, a healthy environment, and healthy animal populations are also good for the economy.
The Indianapolis Prize is obviously a very meaningful way to celebrate and bring attention to conservation. What does it mean to both of you?
The Indianapolis Prize was inspired by what we do with sports heroes, entertainers, and sometimes politicians. The idea is, ‘Why aren’t we doing that for conservationists as well—people who are making an extraordinary difference in the world that benefits all of us and biodiversity?’
Every single one of the people who has won the Indianapolis Prize is still working in conservation. Some of those people are now in their eighties, but not one of them is retired. The Prize is in perfect alignment with our mission because it has allowed us to have a clear local, national, and international impact, with billions of people promoting and advancing a conservation ethic.
I was so honored just to be nominated. And when I won, I said to my dad, ‘Is this really happening?’ It’s the dream of all conservationists. What I really value is the feeling of accomplishment that comes when you are recognized for your hard work and dedication.
Sometimes as a conservationist you feel alone because you are fighting against a lot of interests. Some of these interests are geopolitical, some are financial, and some are safety-related due to the remote nature of our work. So, this award provides motivation and more encouragement to continue pursuing my passion for protecting penguins.
It’s also important to give visibility to the cause, and this kind of award is critical because it provides funding to expand conservation action. It also helps encourage young generations to work in conservation.
What are some ways that other institutions and organizations can support conservation?
Zoos and aquariums in many cases are like what my grandmother was for me: A first connection between children and nature. Many of these institutions are making a great effort to connect people with nature, and with effective communication they can show what can be done to help protect animals in the wild.
Zoos and aquariums in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)—the Indianapolis Zoo is AZA-accredited—are all different. Each year AZA institutions support about 2,500 conservation projects in about 100 countries, and collectively spend about $160 million supporting conservation efforts around the world.
Zoos and aquariums are helping to positively impact their perceptions and their desire to advance conservation efforts locally or around the globe. We are having an impact on all those people in terms of developing a conservation ethic with them.
It’s heartening to hear that there are so many successes. There’s no denying that this field is challenging to work in. What keeps you motivated and hopeful?
It’s easy to find bad news about the state of world biodiversity. By every measure, we are losing biodiversity and species at a dramatic rate. We have to pay attention to it.
But I would say there’s also lots of good news. I see that when interacting with people like Pablo and knowing that he is doing that work day in and day out. I once heard somebody compare progress in this area to a trip on a boat; Even while the people on it are sleeping, the boat is making progress to their destination. That’s what it’s like for me to interact with these Prize Finalists and Winners. I know that they’re constantly making progress. That gives me tremendous optimism.
One of my reasons for hope is that young people have conservation in their DNA. I have two sons—one is an economist, and the other one is studying mechanical engineering. They don’t need to be biologists to work in conservation because they consider the environment in whatever they do. This is really great because at some point, their generation will represent most of the global population.
Penguins constantly motivate me and give me hope. I admire them because they’re very brave and determined. Their one goal in their life is to produce chicks. Take a Magellanic penguin. They can swim 10,000 miles per year and can live up to 30 or 35 years. During their lifetime, they can swim the equivalent of 12 trips around the planet. That’s unbelievable. When they’re on land, they defend their chicks, look for food, and contend with the challenges of fisheries, pollution, human disturbance, and predators.
Still, they go for their goals. Their life is not easy, but penguins have that determination. They remind us that even in harsh conditions, we can overcome our challenges and emerge stronger. I don’t know why, but when I have to make a very important decision, I need to be surrounded by penguins. I realize that maybe it’s a way to connect with my grandmother again.
