CALENDAR ITEM: MU Conservationists Host Lecture on Tiger Ecology, Education Efforts

March 22nd, 2012

By Kate McIntyre

WHAT:
During the past century, three of the eight tiger subspecies have gone extinct; many of the surviving tigers are threatened by poaching, logging and conversion of forests to commercial use. Now, Mizzou Tigers for Tigers will host a lecture “Sulley’s Story: The Fate of Illegally Held Captive Tigers in the U.S.”

Derek Fox, associate professor of small animal orthopaedic surgery in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine and associate director of the MU Comparative Orthopaedic Laboratory, will discuss an innovative and challenging surgery his team performed in 2007 to correct the extreme bowed legs of a tiger named Sulley.

Steve Bircher, curator of mammals and carnivores and head of Big Cat Country at the Saint Louis Zoo, also will discuss the zoo’s tiger conservation efforts and education programs.

Mizzou Tigers for Tigers was established in 1999 as the nation’s first mascot conservation program. The program unites MU students, faculty, staff and alumni who support education and research on tiger ecology and biology and who promote conservation efforts locally and worldwide.

WHO:
Events are open to the public.

WHEN:
Thursday, March 22
3-5p.m.

WHERE:
Memorial Union South Room 110
MU Campus

NOTE: For more information about Mizzou Tigers for Tigers, please visit http://tigers.missouri.edu/