Rehab animals and zoos

[Jurek7]

I started thinking about all these posts about tropical animals extremely rare in zoos, which turn up as rehabilitated in their native range is substandard zoos or 'sanctuaries'. African golden cats, marbled cats, too many cattle-killing leopards to count, whatever. Most of them live short and sad lives in substandard conditions and have no chance to breed. Maybe they educate some local people about wildlife.

Could zoos make a concrete effort to get such animals to good conditions? Match single rescues into pairs? Import them to start new breeding programs, maybe exchanging for another animal with educational value? In the age of internet and social media, one can know there is a rare animal in a zoo in the tropics.

 

[Great Argus]

I started thinking about all these posts about tropical animals extremely rare in zoos, which turn up as rehabilitated in their native range is substandard zoos or 'sanctuaries'. African golden cats, marbled cats, too many cattle-killing leopards to count, whatever. Most of them live short and sad lives in substandard conditions and have no chance to breed. Maybe they educate some local people about wildlife.

Could zoos make a concrete effort to get such animals to good conditions? Match single rescues into pairs? Import them to start new breeding programs, maybe exchanging for another animal with educational value? In the age of internet and social media, one can know there is a rare animal in a zoo in the tropics.

Hypothetically, yes, they could. Unfortunately I don't think it will ever really happen given relatively low interest in such imports. I think it could bring in a lot of interesting species, as well as some new bloodlines, so I'd support it if it ever happened.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

I started thinking about all these posts about tropical animals extremely rare in zoos, which turn up as rehabilitated in their native range is substandard zoos or 'sanctuaries'. African golden cats, marbled cats, too many cattle-killing leopards to count, whatever. Most of them live short and sad lives in substandard conditions and have no chance to breed. Maybe they educate some local people about wildlife.

Could zoos make a concrete effort to get such animals to good conditions? Match single rescues into pairs? Import them to start new breeding programs, maybe exchanging for another animal with educational value? In the age of internet and social media, one can know there is a rare animal in a zoo in the tropics.

Maybe , but why not just assist (via zoos in the developing world , NGO's etc.) the zoos in these felines native ranges with adequate funds to improve the enclosures and chances of captive breeding and overall husbandry ?

Afterall , given the anthropogenic pressures on wild populations there will be many more animals continually being brought in to local zoos and sanctuaries injured and unable to be returned to the wild.

 

[Westcoastperson]

This is totally possible and is something that happens here in America the only difference is that many of the animals get sent to very large and skilled zoos whereas in Africa it is small groups of locals with little experience. For example, the Bronx zoo helped rehabilitate the African spray toad by forming a partnership with a small organization in Africa and the two work together to breed and then release spray toads. The same concept could totally be used in large mammals.