Protecting elephants: New Pittsburgh Zoo CEO wants to make Somerset conservation space more welcoming

Apr. 14—SOMERSET, Pa. — Since its debut 15 years ago, Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium's International Conservation Center near Fairhope has often made great strides with little fanfare toward the preservation of the African elephant.

Somerset County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ron Aldom noted Wednesday that people often don't believe him — or expect a punchline — when he first mentions, "Somerset County has elephants."

The zoo's new president plans to change that during his tenure, saying he wants to create ways to open the conservation center's gates to the community — and perhaps even to different species of animals, such as the endangered whooping crane.

During a meeting Wednesday with Somerset County Chamber of Commerce members and supporters, Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium President Jeremy Goodman said plans are now underway to hire the center's first director in more than a decade.

And once that individual is in place, it will be their job to work with Somerset County stakeholders to determine what a more "community-based" center might look like, he said.

"Is the best fit to have more educational partnerships or to add volunteer programs? Or maybe efforts to increase tourism," he said, noting that, hypothetically, a drive-through safari concept might be embraced by one community and shunned by another.

"What is wanted or not wanted here?"

Over his more than 25-year career, Goodman said he's learned there's no "magic formula" for creating a great conservation center — or zoo.

But through stops operating zoos in South Bend, Indiana; New Jersey; and Providence, Rhode Island, the Garden State native learned that it must involve making the community a core part of it.

And that's what he hopes to do in Pittsburgh and Somerset.

The International Conservation Center is spread out across 1,000 very rural acres in Fairhope Township.

Much of it serves as farmland where a small crew of operators grow hay to feed conservation center elephants and many of the Pittsburgh Zoo's 8,000 creature inhabitants.

As of now, the conservation center is home to five elephants — including the center's longtime bull, Jackson — and five handlers who Goodman said "become part of the herd."

Established as a sanctuary where elephants can breed without fear of predators, the Somerset center has seen calves grow up there in recent years and sometimes find new homes at other zoos.

Two vets care for the elephants, including Tsuni, the boisterous baby "calf" born during a tsunami last summer.

She is now adding a pound of weight per day thanks to continuous care — and a special platform to help the small elephant stand high enough to nurse, Goodman said.

Given that an average of 99 African elephants a week are killed for ivory in their homeland, the conservation center's original mission to keep the species repopulating will never change, Goodman added.

The center's director will live in the Somerset County community, and a key role would be to help gather ideas and identify projects that could move forward — with the community's help, he said.

But Goodman noted that there will be an increased effort regardless to find ways to give county residents access to the 1,000-acre space for events such as open houses, which is already in the works.

That idea was praised Wednesday by Windber area resident Lori Hutchison and her granddaughters — Delaney, 12, and Ryann, 10, of Collegeville, Montgomery County.

All three said they've seen elephants in zoos, but they smiled when they envisioned being able to watch the mighty, magnificent animals roaming in a wide-open setting.

"I think they are probably a lot happier there," said Delaney, who called elephants "my favorite animal."

Somerset Area School District agriculture program teacher Dan Overdorff said he'd like to see the zoo establish "community service" programs at the conservation center, where some of Somerset Area's 70 or so Future Farmers of America students could get hands-on experiences on the farm or around the animals.

"It would give students a unique experience that you can't really get anywhere else," he said, calling the center a hidden gem.

Even field trips would be popular, Somerset Area senior and FFA member Caleb Antram said.

Antram, 17, said he was fascinated that the conservation center is putting modern science and technology to work to more successfully breed healthy African elephants.

He said he plans to begin attending Penn State University this fall to pursue a veterinary science career.

"As a student," he said, "it would be pretty cool to see the animals and how they are taking care of them, especially when they are doing these things to benefit (nearly) extinct populations."

Goodman said it will take time — and money — to turn ideas into reality.

Fundraising will be big part of that process for the center's future director, he said, noting that different ideas — if embraced — could carry different price tags.

But changes will happen, he said.

"It's important to share our story," Goodman said. "If we're not doing that and getting the word out, then shame on us."