About Us
"College taught me how to look at the world around me.
Keeping reptiles taught me how to look at life."
Karla Waters
Karla was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and spent most of her childhood in Atlanta, Georgia. As a child she was an active member of the 4-H Club where a lifelong passion for animals began.
She graduated from the University of Kansas in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science in Organismal Biology, and achieved Departmental Honors in the Biological Sciences. She is a member of Golden Key International Honour Society, and Phi Beta Kappa (Honors Society).
During her time at KU she conducted independent research on structural color in feathers using the Transmission Electron Microscope under Dr. Richard Prum. Dr. Prum is currently Curator of Ornithology at Yale and is famous for being one of the preliminary scientists on the scene for the discovery of feathered Raptors (Dinosaur Feathers) in China in 2000.
After graduation she had the great opportunity to work with Dr. Frank Serra, a Veterinarian with nearly 5 decades of experience. The information learned at this time would prove priceless to breeding research. Karla has been studying and breeding reptiles since 1996.
The Moment that Changed my Life
During my studies I came across a Carolina Parakeet, Conuropsis carolinensis. This parrot (extinct since the 1920's) was a North American conure much like the very popular Sun Conures found in pet stores today. I had long known of the extinction of this animal, and often had wondered what they really looked like as the only representations I had seen were drawings. The real tragedy of the loss of this animal never really hit me until I saw the taxidermy specimen. It was in that moment when I actually held the animal in my hands and felt the soft feathered creature that I truly realized what a great and terrible loss the extinction of this species was. For the rest of time the only Carolina Parakeets in the world are now tucked away as specimens in drawers.
Contrary to popular belief, most animal extinctions are not caused by wild collection, but rather by loss of habitat. Much of the ecological wonder of Madagascar is found only there, and most of Madagascar's rainforests have already been clear-cut for human expansion and agriculture.
Some animals like the Spix's Macaw, Cyanopsitta spixii, are now extinct in the wild and are only alive in captivity. All attempts to reintroduce the Spix's Macaw to the wild have proved unsuccessful. Were it not for the captive breeding efforts of a few Zoological Parks, the Spix's Macaw would have suffered the same fate as the Carolina Parakeet. It became my goal to preserve what I could for the future through captive breeding.
