Brooke Durham is the Founder, Director, President of REP For Wildlife and SoCal Parrot. With her first priority always as animal care, Brooke has begun assembling an elite team of professionals to Represent, Educate, and Protect For Wildlife (REP4Wildlife). The first chapter of this organization is SoCal Parrot; a fledgling non-profit that exists to bridge the gap of care and consideration that naturalized parrots fall into because they are neither native wildlife nor truly domestic. Brooke is currently involved in every aspect of REP4Wildlife and SoCal Parrot; from personally assessing each animal, to working with other professionals to develop proper protocols and techniques, and all the way to keeping up with the administrative and organizational demands of a non-profit organization.
After growing up in Kentucky on a small farm (and always being “Ellie May” to all the critters), Brooke formalized her desire to help injured and orphaned wildlife by becoming an active volunteer with San Diego based Project Wildlife in 2005. Early on with Project Wildlife Brooke was especially interested and dedicated to large avian species like raptors (birds of prey). After spending the first five years of her time with PW working in the Wildlife Triage Center she gained exposure to working with a huge variety of wildlife species (reptile, mammal, and avian) that call Southern California home.
A peculiar thing happened when a pair of featherless nestling parrots were blown out of their tree, nest and all, in Spring of 2007. They were brought into the PW Triage Center during one of Brooke’s regular shifts. These green Amazon parrots were not considered native wildlife in San Diego and as such no real protocol existed to deal with the baby orphans. With the help of another PW technician who had experience with domestic baby parrots Brooke and her husband Josh raised the pair to be a members of her own personal flock and family.
These particular parrots were too young to avoid imprinting on humans and had no chance of being released as wild birds. However, the idea that there may be a chance for a parrot release program in the future is beginning to take hold among wildlife agencies. Many of the species of parrots found in the wild in Southern California are critically endangered in their native ranges, with habitats dwindling and little hope of preserving those wild instincts.
Recently wildlife agencies began releasing study information that initially shows no real threat to native wildlife from the wild parrots. It seems ironic that while these beautiful creatures may have diminishing chances of surviving their historical native ranges, mostly in Central America, they too find coastal Southern California to be as irresistible as the human populations do. More studies, information and communications need to be enacted in order to determine the impact – whether good or bad, that these birds have on the ecosystem. By working collaboratively with other experts in her field and establishing REP for Wildlife and SoCal Parrot Brooke is working to bridge the gap of care and consideration that naturalized parrots fall into because they are neither native wildlife nor truly domestic.
Dr. Tim Reichard has been active in the national zoo community for over thirty years. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians, the Association of Exotic Animal Veterinarians, the Toledo Veterinary Medicine Association, and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. In addition to being a top zoo veterinarian Dr. Reichard is a distinguished educator, researcher, and author. He has shared his expertise for over ten years with veterinary technician students as well as interns under his supervision and mentorship. Additionally, he has authored and co-authored thirty five articles in a variety of publications. 
Jason Crean, MS, EdD is a degreed biologist and zoo consultant, an avid aviculturist specializing in the propagation of green aracaris and white-backed mousebirds, President of The Avicultural Society of Chicagoland, and First Vice-President for the American Federation of Aviculture. Crean often speaks to avicultural groups across the country and acts as consultant to zoos and other institutions, including the Wildlife Genetics lab at Loyola Medical Center and Chicago Nature Museum. He specializes in taking actual scientific research, like that of the Genetics lab, and incorporating it into education programs to illustrate how science affects conservation. As Education Chair for the AFA, he has begun incorporating this work so people around the world can view the importance of Aviculture in their classrooms. He also runs a live animal education program that does free interactive programs for a host of different audiences.
