Lecture 7 Flashcards
How many zoos and aquaria in the world?
10,000
Who are WAZA?
World Association of Zoos and Aquaria
Responsible for managing zoo regulations
5 roles of zoos
- Raise money
- Education
- “Arks”
- Boost wild populations
- Captive breeding program
Role of zoos 1: Raising money
- Bronx Zoo’s Congo gorilla forest: opened in 1999, $3 million+ gone towards conservation projects in Africa
- Minnesota zoo: adopt a park program, protects Sumatran and Javan rhinos
- WAZA: $350 million a year on in-situ projects
Criticisms of using zoos to raise money
- ‘Good zoos’ (proactive and benevolent) in minority
- $billions spent on hi-tech exhibits and marketing
- Some spend nothing on conservation
Role of zoos 2: education
- 600 million visitors a year worldwide (WAZA, 2006)
- Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS): world leader in designing innovative exhibits and environmental programs
Criticism of using zoos for education
Effectiveness highly debated
Evidence for or against is sparse
Zoos don’t always inspire the public
Role of zoos 3: zoos as ‘Arks’
Noah’s Ark Philosophy:
- Animals bred in captivity until threats in wild are reduced
- Insurance policy against extinction
Criticisms of zoos as Arks
- Only 5% of species in UK zoos were listed as endangered in 2000
- Only 15% of threatened species (Conde et al., 2011)
- Threatened species held are below 50/500 ratio
Example of zoos draining wild populations
Used to be huge trade in wild caught animals to stock zoos
In Whale Shark Aquarium, China, there are 5 whale sharks of unknown origin
Most snow leopards captive bred now rather than caught
Cuaron, 2005 wrote about this
Role of zoos 4:boosting wild populations
- Bali starlings and Golden lion tamarins used to reinforce wild populations
- Emergency action
- Many species aren’t fit to be returned to the wild
Role of zoos 5: captive breeding
Breeding plants or animals which have become rare in the wild, in controlled environments
Reintroduction programs:
-To increase a sizeable, stable and healthy population in order to avoid extinction
-To reintroduce species back into their natural habitat
What kind of animals are wanted for reintroduction programmes?
- Best sexual condition
- Most likely to breed
- Least selective of their partners
Pitfalls with breeding programmes
- Records can be poor
- Zoos handrails young
Animals bred in zoos tend to be:
- Least disturbed by human proximity and transplantation
- Least exacting in their environmental requirements
- Least disturbed by separation from their previous partners
- Least dependent on social facilitation
- Least discriminating in mate choice
- Most stimulating to sexual partners