its a bit of a worry when you consider that basically every non-North American/European bear species could do with a back-up ex-situ program. im all for international breeding programs but in the case of bears it would be great to see North America and European zoos actually split the focus on all bear species and choose regionally, with little to no overlap a few species to concentrate on and plough all resources into them. and then use satellite regions like Australasia and Japan/SEA as back back up.
For example, see North America focus on native bears including polars and perhaps giant panda, sun bear and spectacled bear, with European Zoos shifting focus to mainly Eurasian Brown, Asiatic Black and Sloth.
just an idea.
i think its a worry when the worlds two biggest zoo regions drop managed programs for the same vulnerable species
