Alliance for Sustainable Wildlife

They're gonna hold lions and flamingos, really? Probably the two breeding programs that would gain the least out of this facility and have no sustainability issues to begin with?
 
Coelacanth18 said:
They're gonna hold lions and flamingos, really? Probably the two breeding programs that would gain the least out of this facility and have no sustainability issues to begin with?
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Agreed, I'm disappointed with their species choices, for the most part. I was under the impression okapis currently had a sustainable population. And a pet peeve of mine: "reticulated" giraffes? Really? Giraffes for the most part are doing quite fine in American zoos (to the extent of my knowledge), and if they were going to choose to breed some, it should at least be a pure species (Masai). I also see no point in the inclusion of flamingo, lion, or even leopard unless we import new (sub)species (extremely unlikely) or are learning better management/breeding practices. I could see this for lesser flamingos, which are far less numerous (but still over 1,000) in the US. A full-flighted flock would also likely produce more chicks. However, we have no idea of their plans so we'll just have to see what happens.

I'm curious as to what "carnivores" will entail. My first thought was small cats, but there are of course other options.

It's great to see space being dedicated to whooping cranes and (presumably) Mississippi sandhill crane. However, the main problem with whooping cranes is no longer breeding, but reintroduction (stopping people from shooting them would be nice, too).

It's disappointing that of the 425 acres of the facility, there is so far only one comparatively minimal plot dedicated to tapirs.

It'll be interesting to see what this facility will develop into. I wonder what species other than those announced will end up at it, especially birds.
 
jayjds2 said:
Agreed, I'm disappointed with their species choices, for the most part. I was under the impression okapis currently had a sustainable population. And a pet peeve of mine: "reticulated" giraffes? Really? Giraffes for the most part are doing quite fine in American zoos (to the extent of my knowledge), and if they were going to choose to breed some, it should at least be a pure species (Masai). I also see no point in the inclusion of flamingo, lion, or even leopard unless we import new (sub)species (extremely unlikely) or are learning better management/breeding practices. I could see this for lesser flamingos, which are far less numerous (but still over 1,000) in the US. A full-flighted flock would also likely produce more chicks. However, we have no idea of their plans so we'll just have to see what happens.

I'm curious as to what "carnivores" will entail. My first thought was small cats, but there are of course other options.

It's great to see space being dedicated to whooping cranes and (presumably) Mississippi sandhill crane. However, the main problem with whooping cranes is no longer breeding, but reintroduction (stopping people from shooting them would be nice, too).

It's disappointing that of the 425 acres of the facility, there is so far only one comparatively minimal plot dedicated to tapirs.

It'll be interesting to see what this facility will develop into. I wonder what species other than those announced will end up at it, especially birds.
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For the most part, they seem to be going in a good direction with birds: cranes and curassows are definitely species that should and could benefit well from this.

Okapis aren't doing poorly and the population is growing, but I wouldn't call it sustainable. There's about 100 here in the US and about 70 more outside of Africa. They are a species for which only a moderate level of inbreeding causes a marked decrease in reproductive success; coupled with the fact that they produce fewer than one offspring a year, this makes them vulnerable in the long-term. What they really need are more founders (currently impossible), but increasing the population will extend the timeline a bit.

The information about the tapirs is disappointing. Equally too the reticulated giraffes, which are indeed generic hybrids, unless they import pure giraffes from Europe. The TAG even recommended reducing the space being dedicated to giraffes because they were demographically and genetically robust and were occupying space that could have been used by programs in a more precarious state.

As you said, lesser flamingos are the least common of the four species kept and bred here, but all species have over 500 individuals and are Green Programs. For lesser flamingos specifically, most of the population are unrepresented founders. The genetic diversity for captive flamingos is so high it's mind-boggling. I suppose their choice of flamingo species was correct, but I'm not sure I agree with choosing flamingos in the first place.
 
So here is a list of species that I think would potentially benefit greatly from this new site, based on the list of species AZA is focusing on and their demographic needs. I excluded species that they already listed. Priority species are bolded.

Native amphibians
Turtles from Southeast US
Chinese alligators
Cuban crocodiles
Equids (zebra, Przewalski's horse, onager, Somali ass)
Snow leopards
Tigers
Small cats
Waterfowl
Desert gazelles and oryx
Painted dogs
Chinese dhole
Maned wolves
Hyenas
Cervids (especially endangered Asian cervids)
Cranes outside of North America
Francois' langurs
Lion-tailed macaques (imported from Europe)
Other Old World monkeys
Bonobos
Parrots
Toucans
Hornbills
Vultures
Rhinoceroses (black and Indian specifically)
Louisiana pine snakes
Red pandas
Fossa
Binturong
Asian bovids
River hippos

If anyone wants I can defend/explain any listing or bolding.
 
Just saw this article about some of the births that have happened at the centre since it opened a year ago - two sable antelope, two eland, two Eastern bongo, a yellow-backed duiker and three giraffe (the latter were all born to females who arrived at the centre pregnant). Another giraffe and sable antelope are definitely pregnant and more eland and bongo may also be pregnant.

The article is included below:
https://phys.org/news/2018-07-girlgirlboygirl-baby-boom-two-zoo-partnership.html
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Just saw this article about some of the births that have happened at the centre since it opened a year ago - two sable antelope, two eland, two Eastern bongo, a yellow-backed duiker and three giraffe (the latter were all born to females who arrived at the centre pregnant). Another giraffe and sable antelope are definitely pregnant and more eland and bongo may also be pregnant.

The article is included below:
https://phys.org/news/2018-07-girlgirlboygirl-baby-boom-two-zoo-partnership.html
Click to expand...
The article also mentioned a female okapi arrived. Any clue on where she is from?
 
Great to see this partnership succeeding. Excited to see some new and rarer species brought in for phase 2. Hope a few more zoos create these kind of sites.
 
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