Zoo InternQuest is a career exploration program for high school students. For more information see the Zoo InternQuest Journals. For more photos see the Zoo InternQuest Photo Journal.

Wading through a yellow and purple sea of flowers, I followed J.P. Montagne, a researcher from the San Diego Zoo’s Applied Animal Ecology Division, to a point on the crest of a hill. I navigated the final few feet through the phacilia (the purple flowers) and fiddle neck (the yellow flowers) to where Mr. Montagne was standing and explaining how he monitors the animal diversity throughout the undeveloped back acres of the Wild Animal Park. There are 20 arrays spread across the “back 900” undeveloped acres of the Park, which are checked every morning for a week each month to see what types of animals have crawled into the buckets or tubes.

San Diego County and other areas of coastal Southern California are part of a “biodiversity hotspot,” a home to many rare and endangered species. San Diego County encompasses a myriad of habitat types in close proximity, such as chaparral, forest, grassland, coastal, and desert. Surrounding the Park is coastal sage scrub habitat, the most endangered habitat in the United States. Mr. Montagne observes the 12 different species of lizards and 16 different species of snakes to learn more about the native animals, many of which are endangered. Upon finding an animal, Mr. Montagne weighs, measures, and marks each specimen before releasing it.

During the recent wildfires, most of the back 900 acres were burned. Luckily, chaparral plants have evolved to be fire resistant and to use the fires to help them grow. Because plants such as the yucca are fire resistant, other nonnative plants will burn away, allowing for the native yucca to propagate. Even with larger plants such as the laurel sumac, we saw fresh branches growing from the base of the singed tree. Although the wildfires were devastating, it allowed for the regrowth of many natural plants that have not been seen for years. Thankfully, according to Mr. Montagne, other than a temporary displacement of critters, there has been no population decline with the reptiles.

Amelia, Conservation Team

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