Jaelean Carrero

Jaelean Carrero serves San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance as a Conservation Program Specialist in Recovery Ecology. In this role, she works with the critically endangered San Clemente loggerhead shrike breeding and release program. As the coordinator and husbandry supervisor for the program, Jaelean is responsible for the care of over 60 shrikes at the San Clemente Loggerhead Shrike Breeding Facility, where she oversees all medical care, artificial incubation, hand rearing, breeding pair activity, and preparation of juveniles for release to the wild.

Jaelean began on the shrike project as a Research Associate and moved to Research Coordinator a year later. She is very proud to be part of such a collaborative and successful recovery effort. During her time on the project, she has spearheaded many innovative ideas, but she is most proud of the incorporation of fostering into the program, a highly successful approach that involves giving salvaged eggs and chicks to other captive shrikes to rear instead of hand rearing.

Jaelean earned her bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation from the University of Florida, with a specialization in Pre-Veterinary Medicine. Her passion for wildlife and conservation has allowed her to travel extensively, from Alaska to Ireland, and she has worked with a wide variety of animals from pinnipeds to passerines. She obtained her wildlife rehabilitation license in New York in 2005, and has over 15 years of experience conducting wildlife rehabilitation and hand rearing.