Greenville Zoo to present Conservation lecture – July 19
July 18, 2018
The Greenville Zoo continues its popular Conservation Lecture Series on Thursday, July 19 with Preserving and Protecting Madagascar Biodiversity. Special guest Dr. Virginia Rodriguez Ponga, Program Director for the Madagascar Fauna and Flora Group (MFG), will discuss how the MFG works with the Malagasy government to conserve the country’s rich biodiversity. Attendees will learn about lemurs, which the country is best known for, as well as other unique species and how local communities are working with MFG to protect them and their habitat.
The MFG is an international coalition of zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens and related institutions working together to conserve Madagascar’s biodiversity. The Greenville Zoo is a member of the coalition and according to Dr. Nikolay Kapustin, deputy zoo administrator and veterinarian, it has supported MFG’s initiatives in Madagascar through the Quarters for Conservation program and with a portion of the proceeds (totaling $10,000) from the last two Brew in the Zoo events.
“Through the Conservation Lecture Series, we’re able to shine a light on the amazing people who have devoted their lives to conservation and on organizations like MFG that are effecting positive change in areas throughout the world,” said Kapustin. “As luck would have it, MFG’s annual meeting is in Chattanooga this month, so we are very fortunate that Dr. Ponga is spending some of her time in the United States with us and we look forward to introducing her to the Greenville community.”
Dr. Ponga graduated from Madrid’s veterinary school in 1998 and went on to practice small animal medicine at its veterinary teaching hospital. In 2007, Virginia became the volunteer Great Ape and Human Health Coordinator of the Mikongo Conservation Center in Lope National Park, Gabon, permanently changing the direction of her professional career to wildlife conservation. In 2009, she spent eight months in a highly unstable area of the Democratic Republic of Congo working as a veterinarian in the Lwiro Primate Rehabilitation Center, near the Kahuzi-Biega National Park. In 2010, she moved to Congo Brazzaville, where she spent four years rehabilitating and reintroducing western lowland gorillas as the veterinarian and administrator of the Gorilla Protection Project in the Lesio-Louna Gorilla Natural Reserve. Since 2014, and until she took over as MFG’s Program Director in Madagascar in April 2017, she served as director of the Deng Deng National Park Technical Assistance Project for the Cameroon Ministry of Environment, based in the Cameroonian East Region with a special focus on great ape protection.
The lecture begins at 7 p.m. at The Children’s Museum of the Upstate, located at 300 College Street. The Conservation Lecture Series is free and open to the public and the subject matter is appropriate for the entire family. While not required, attendees are asked to pre-register online if possible. The lecture will be held on the first floor and attendees should use the museum’s side entrance off Academy Street. Free parking is available at the Heritage Green parking deck.
