Animal-Lover's Career takes flight

by Laura Overturf Stetser, AS ’99

From his new perch as director of animal programs at The National Aviary in Pittsburgh, Steven J. Sarro, AS ’82, oversees the care and sustainability of more than 200 birds from nearly every continent.

The aviary, one of the first zoos to present its collection in free-flight rooms and natural settings with more than 25,000 square feet of space, features large walk-through exhibits. These create an intimate, up-close interaction between visitors and free-flying birds, including opportunities to hand-feed and to meet many species rarely found anywhere else in the world.

As a director of this special zoo, the span of Sarro’s new job is wide. He is charged with overall husbandry, nutrition and care and directs the horticulture and education departments. Sarro is also responsible for managing the zoo’s participation in Association of Zoos and Aquariums conservation programs, including the Spectacled Owl Population Management Plan and the African Penguin Species Survival Plan, efforts he is quick to point out as an important mission.

The preservation of the African penguins is a pressing issue, he says.

“Many of this species are suffering from habitat loss, pollution and over-fishing,” Sarro says. “Oil spills are an acute problem for the penguins. Most people hear about pollution and think of it as more of an abstract problem, but when you say ‘oil spill’ they really get the picture.”

But, the more tangible challenges of today are not the only issue affecting birds. Though it hasn’t truly touched bird populations yet, global warming will have a “major impact” on them, Sarro says, most probably by changing migration patterns.

“Global warming will affect birds in some way, but how is yet to be seen,” he says. “When one part of the ecological puzzle is changed slightly, the ramifications flow downstream. It’s the butterfly effect.”

The latest result of the aviary’s conservation efforts is the zoo’s recent arrival, a female Andean condor chick, born in June. For the first few weeks of her life, the chick, which was about the size of a baseball at birth, remained out of sight under her mother in a corner of her outdoor exhibit. Now that she has grown, the chick can be seen exploring her environment during daily viewing times.

The chick will play an important role in the survival of her species. Once she has matured, she will be released in South America as part of the AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) Andean Condor Species Survival Plan, a closely managed breeding program. In 2005, her parents’ previous offspring, a 2-year-old male condor named Kendall, was released in Bogota, Colombia, and according to recent tracking reports, is thriving in his new home.

Sarro started out knowing that he wanted to work with animals “in some fashion,” but it wasn’t until he began to work at the Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research in Newark, Del., while studying biology at the University that he realized how dynamic birds can be. “I haven’t looked back since,” he says of that experience.

After graduation, Sarro worked at various zoos along the East Coast, including the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore and the Salisbury (Md.) Zoo, and for a brief period with birds in Alaska.
While zoo professionals like Sarro are charged with keeping an eye on the larger global picture of bird survival, the visitors to his zoo might prefer to learn about the animals, which is where The National Aviary’s many educational programs come into play.

The nearly 100,000 visitors to the zoo since 1999 have participated in the daily interactive programs offered, such as penguin and raptor encounters, “Breakfast with the Birds” and the annual summer free-flight bird show. All programs are approached from an educational standpoint and most are highly interactive, Sarro says.

“We don’t train a cockatoo to ride a bicycle or anything like that,” he says. “We focus on their natural behavior and teach people about conservation and the natural history of the birds.”
The programs also touch on information about how to select and care for a pet bird, which Sarro says is an important message to share with visitors.

“Birds can make great pets,” he says. “But, often parents get a large parrot for a child to teach them responsibility, and while in theory it’s a great idea, most people don’t realize how long a parrot lives.”

Sarro says the aviary constantly gets calls from pet owners who never expected to be responsible for a parrot for the 40-60 years that it is expected to live and want to donate the bird to the zoo.

He suggests that visitors educate themselves on the personality and the expected life span of a species before bringing home a bird as a pet.

“There are birds out there that make great pets, like finches and canaries,” Sarro says. “But parrots and macaws not only talk, they are known for screaming in the morning. Most people don’t know that up front. And, sometimes, these two species also pick favorite people. So, they might be nice to one person, but not another. ”