A zoo in Omaha, Nebraska, has found a way to fix two problems at once.
According to WOWT, Henry Doorly Zoo has started feeding its animals invasive browse shrubs from the nearby Folsom Point Nature Preserve in Iowa.
This has helped pare back the plant's negative impacts on local biodiversity and given animals lots of nutrition.
"It provides a very naturalistic food item for many of our animals here at the zoo," said Kayla Iske, the director of nutrition at the zoo, per WOWT. "Our elephants, giraffes, great apes, gorillas, and orangutans are huge browse consumers, so it's perhaps the most natural diet item we can provide to them, a lot of what they'd be eating in their native habitats."
The Folsom Point Nature Preserve is one of the few remaining homes of the Great Plains skink in Iowa. It is also a rare mating area for northern and southern Leonard's skipper butterflies.
Invasive plants are a major biodiversity challenge. When a species is put into a new habitat, it's free of the checks and balances it evolved with. In a new home, it can outcompete native species for vital resources like food, water, and space.
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Over time, this can lead to a monopoly over resources, pushing native species out of the habitat, reducing biodiversity, and ultimately harming ecosystem services that many depend on.
This dependency includes humans. One study estimated that invasive species cause hundreds of billions of dollars in economic costs worldwide each year. Another tally suggested that over 50 years, invasive species have cost the global economy over a trillion dollars.
Finding a feeding endpoint is an entirely viable way of getting rid of invasive species. Some restaurateurs have capitalized on the overabundance of boar and lionfish to the benefit of their menus, for example.
The Nature Conservancy was thankful for the partnership with the Omaha Zoo, and it highlights the importance of keeping the grasslands of Folsom Point clear of invasives.
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Sign me up 👍 "Grasslands are the most threatened, least protected habitat type on Earth — they're more endangered than the Amazon rainforest," said The Nature Conservancy Director Graham McGaffin.
"Invasive trees and shrubs are a growing threat to our remaining grasslands and all the native plants and wildlife that depend on them."
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