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.

With hot weather, hot trends, and some wildfires, San Diego is quite the hotspot. But it’s not just any hotspot, it’s a biodiversity hotspot! Fifteen amphibian, 492 bird, 82 reptile, and 144 mammal species reside here in sunny San Diego County. We’ve got birds, shrews, lizards, snakes, things that look like snakes but are actually lizards, frogs, toads, things called horny toads that are actually lizards, and many more (but you get the idea!). Within San Diego’s diverse animal population, we have many different endangered species.

Mr. Jean-Pierre Montagne of the San Diego Zoo’s Applied Animal Ecology Division works in the field of the 900 wild acres at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park, essentially counting animals. (Please see the Careers Journal written by Lindsay and the Conservation Journal by Amelia for more details on how to do that.)

Quantitative population data like these are the basis for calculating the status of a species: stable, vulnerable, threatened, or endangered. The work of field biologists like Mr. Montagne is the link between the state of the environment and public awareness. It would be difficult to know what species to help conserve if we didn’t have an accurate idea of how they are surviving on their own. Especially here in San Diego, in a biodiversity hotspot, we need all the help we can get to attune public awareness in order to preserve the wonderfully varying types of animals and habitats of San Diego.

Natalie, The Real World Team

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