AZA Ungulate Updates

Kudu21

Kudu21

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
As the meetings were free and accessible to anyone that signed up, and as this information should be posted to the AZA Ungulates website in due time, I figured I would go ahead and share this year’s Ungulate TAG updates to get ahead of any rumors/discussions, since I actually attended the meetings. There’s nothing terribly surprising if you are generally aware of the populations. We’ll have to see how things develop in the coming year as the SSP program changes because the more than 15 holders and more than 50% of the population in AZA zoos requirements will greatly affect ungulate programs.

The following species are now officially slated for phase out:

Cervid TAG:
-Mexican red brocket deer
-Siberian musk deer

Caprid TAG:
-Armenian mouflon
-Japanese serow
-Kordofan auodad

Antelope, Cattle, Giraffid, & Camelid TAG:
-Black duiker
-Cuvier’s gazelle
-Gaur
-Kirk’s dik-dik
-Nubian red-fronted gazelle
-Red lechwe
-Uganda kob

The following species have been designated as “monitored species”, meaning that they will not be official programs, but studbooks will be maintained and the TAGs will watch to see where the populations are headed in the coming years:

Cervid TAG:
-Bactrian deer
-Moose
-White-lipped deer

Caprid TAG:
-Chinese goral
-Nubian ibex
-Transcaspian urial

Antelope, Cattle, Giraffid, & Camelid TAG:
-American pronghorn
-Blackbuck
-Cape buffalo
-Cape steenbok
-Domestic Bactrian camel
-Fringe-eared oryx
-Giant eland
-Grant’s gazelle
-Guanaco

The following species are candidate program species, meaning that depending on interest and trends, these species could become program species in the near future:

Caprid TAG:
-Rocky Mountain goat

Antelope, Cattle, Giraffid, & Camelid TAG:
-Plains bison (Pure)
 
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Is being a "monitored species" a bad thing? Does this mean they're on the way to phase out or that the population is struggling to survive? If so, it's really unfortunate so many species are in such a tough spot.
 
Neil chace said:
Is being a "monitored species" a bad thing? Does this mean they're on the way to phase out or that the population is struggling to survive? If so, it's really unfortunate so many species are in such a tough spot.
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Not necessarily but potentially. It depends on the species. Here are a couple of examples of what it can mean:

For the Chinese goral and Nubian ibex, this is likely the case. Despite AZA interest in goral, breeding has been really poor and a lot of breeding age animals have been lost. The ibex has lost three breeding facilities and is no longer sustainable without cooperation with the private sector or additional founders. Both of these species will likely be managed until extinction.

Now, with the Bactrian deer and cape buffalo, both species have a very dedicated program leader and very dedicated holders-- there just aren't very many of them. These species will likely continue to be around, but as a consortium between the few dedicated holders.

And with the moose, most moose in AZA facilities are rescues and there is little/no breeding. Having them as a monitored species allows for the animals to be tracked over time and to maintain a liaison with Fish and Wildlife departments and zoos interested in housing the species.

The domestic Bactrian camel has been downgraded from an SSP because of its domestic status, and zoos are being encouraged to replace them with more endangered species. The population will continue to be monitored because a studbook does exist and to make sure that conservation connections are being made with the wild species.
 
Kudu21 said:
As the meetings were free and accessible to anyone that signed up, and as this information should be posted to the AZA Ungulates website in due time, I figured I would go ahead and share this year’s Ungulate TAG updates to get ahead of any rumors/discussions, since I actually attended the meetings. There’s nothing terribly surprising if you are generally aware of the populations. We’ll have to see how things develop in the coming year as the SSP program changes because the more than 15 holders and more than 50% of the population in AZA zoos requirements will greatly affect ungulate programs.

The following species are now officially slated for phase out:

Cervid TAG:
-Mexican red brocket deer
-Siberian musk deer

Caprid TAG:
-Armenian mouflon
-Japanese serow
-Kordofan auodad

Antelope, Cattle, Giraffid, & Camelid TAG:
-Black duiker
-Cuvier’s gazelle
-Gaur
-Kirk’s dik-dik
-Nubian red-fronted gazelle
-Red lechwe
-Uganda kob

The following species have been designated as “monitored species”, meaning that they will not be official programs, but studbooks will be maintained and the TAGs will watch to see where the populations are headed in the coming years:

Cervid TAG:
-Bactrian deer
-Moose
-White-lipped deer

Caprid TAG:
-Chinese goral
-Nubian ibex
-Transcaspian urial

Antelope, Cattle, Giraffid, & Camelid TAG:
-American pronghorn
-Blackbuck
-Cape buffalo
-Cape steenbok
-Domestic Bactrian camel
-Fringe-eared oryx
-Giant eland
-Grant’s gazelle
-Guanaco

The following species are candidate program species, meaning that depending on interest and trends, these species could become program species in the near future:

Caprid TAG:
-Rocky Mountain goat

Antelope, Cattle, Giraffid, & Camelid TAG:
-Plains bison (Pure)
Click to expand...

Regarding Kirk's Dik-Diks is that the whole population including Cavendish's?
 
Kudu21 said:
Not necessarily but potentially. It depends on the species. Here are a couple of examples of what it can mean:

For the Chinese goral and Nubian ibex, this is likely the case. Despite AZA interest in goral, breeding has been really poor and a lot of breeding age animals have been lost. The ibex has lost three breeding facilities and is no longer sustainable without cooperation with the private sector or additional founders. Both of these species will likely be managed until extinction.

Now, with the Bactrian deer and cape buffalo, both species have a very dedicated program leader and very dedicated holders-- there just aren't very many of them. These species will likely continue to be around, but as a consortium between the few dedicated holders.

And with the moose, most moose in AZA facilities are rescues and there is little/no breeding. Having them as a monitored species allows for the animals to be tracked over time and to maintain a liaison with Fish and Wildlife departments and zoos interested in housing the species.

The domestic Bactrian camel has been downgraded from an SSP because of its domestic status, and zoos are being encouraged to replace them with more endangered species. The population will continue to be monitored because a studbook does exist and to make sure that conservation connections are being made with the wild species.
Click to expand...
That's really unfortunate for the Ibex and Goral- two of my favorite ungulate species. Only recently, I have begun to take up a much bigger interest in ungulates, whereas before they wouldn't really excite me much (excluding okapi, tapir, and wild pig species). Now, some of the ones that interest me the most are the caprid species and some of the smaller ungulates. Its too bad most animals in these groups are going to be gone from US Zoos during my lifetime.
 
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I have been skimming the documents and it seems that finally in 2021 the TAG came to reality. It's real unfortunate that their is not space for all these amazing species but focusing on the programs they assess to have the best chance, is for the best imo. I'm sure some on this website are going to be angry that AZA could not manage 80 species into the future, but no one ever lays out a path forward with that number of populations.
 
nczoofan said:
I have been skimming the documents and it seems that finally in 2021 the TAG came to reality. It's real unfortunate that their is not space for all these amazing species but focusing on the programs they assess to have the best chance, is for the best imo. I'm sure some on this website are going to be angry that AZA could not manage 80 species into the future, but no one ever lays out a path forward with that number of populations.
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I have to agree. I seethe to the idea of loosing a lot of species, and how zoos are being more homogeneous. But at the same time, I don’t think it would matter too much to the average zoo visitor’s experience (maybe with the exception of dikdiks being phased out).
 
PossumRoach said:
I have to agree. I seethe to the idea of loosing a lot of species, and how zoos are being more homogeneous. But at the same time, I don’t think it would matter too much to the average zoo visitor’s experience (maybe with the exception of dikdiks being phased out).
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I think dikdik and Gaur are the biggest losses for phase out species, I personally like Brocket deer but the population was so low to begin with, as is the case with many of these. I'm honestly surprise Japanese serow hasn't been phased out already, and I thought Cuvier's Gazelle already was as well. Kordofan Aoudad comes as a bit of a shock, and that could also be a loss- but hopefully losing aoudad leads to an increase of Ibex holders so we can save another struggling program.
 
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I'm a bit surprised honestly re: Kirk's Dik-Dik because I recall that they recently released (~1 year ago) a Breeding and Transfer Plan that had a quite aggressive breeding strategy in an attempt to make the population viable.
 
Kudu21 said:
We’ll have to see how things develop in the coming year as the SSP program changes because the more than 15 holders and more than 50% of the population in AZA zoos requirements will greatly affect ungulate programs.
Click to expand...

Was the rationale behind the change to at least 15 holders (or as it also says, potentially 13-14 depending on situation) explained during the meeting?
 
Kudu21 said:
As the meetings were free and accessible to anyone that signed up, and as this information should be posted to the AZA Ungulates website in due time, I figured I would go ahead and share this year’s Ungulate TAG updates to get ahead of any rumors/discussions, since I actually attended the meetings. There’s nothing terribly surprising if you are generally aware of the populations. We’ll have to see how things develop in the coming year as the SSP program changes because the more than 15 holders and more than 50% of the population in AZA zoos requirements will greatly affect ungulate programs.

The following species are now officially slated for phase out:

Cervid TAG:
-Mexican red brocket deer
-Siberian musk deer

Caprid TAG:
-Armenian mouflon
-Japanese serow
-Kordofan auodad

Antelope, Cattle, Giraffid, & Camelid TAG:
-Black duiker
-Cuvier’s gazelle
-Gaur
-Kirk’s dik-dik
-Nubian red-fronted gazelle
-Red lechwe
-Uganda kob
Click to expand...

This entire list makes me sad. Most of these have already been phased out, there's barely any left :(
 
Most of the species getting dropped were already disappearing, but still sad to see.

Gaur is unfortunate, personally I'd like to see some of the impure bison phased out and replaced with Gaur and Banteng. Hopefully Bronx will keep the species going for awhile, and maybe eventually get it viable again.

I don't understand why Moose is being monitored, they're limited to certain areas due to heat and humidity restrictions, as well as not being readily mixable with other hoofstock or even each other.
 
Pure Plains Bison being a potential candidate for breeding programs certainly is welcomed addition even with all the potential lost programs mentioned. Are there enough or any Pure Plains Bison in current collections that have proven sustainability so far or expect to import founders from federally protected lands? I want to thank you @Kudu21 for keeping us posted on the situation!
 
I also think it is wrong that American zoos want to phase many ungulates (or primates) which are either threatened or can be quickly threatened, and which could not be imported again.

I think American zoos need to urgently lobby to modify the import laws for extemption for zoos. They could be successful. Zoo animals carry little risk because before and after import they are separated from the farming and meat industry for generations. And zoos, as we know, rely on exchanging many and unusual animals with many and unusual countries. These laws are meant for large scale import of meat and farm animals along well-known trade routes.

I think zoos also need to rethink their whole concept of conservation breeding. The plan since ca 30 years is to identify which species are threatened and which common, under the assumption that this will be constant, and build decades-long completely self-sustaining breeding plans. This is no longer valid, because status of species in the wild changes every few years, foreign zoos and reserves take an active part in conservation, and a new obstacle are bureaucratic regulations making it near-impossible to import new species. The whole idea of prioritizing species for conservation is somewhat difficult when status of a species can change several times within lifetime of an individual rhino or a giraffe.
 
Reignite a general interest in hunting, through the promotion of it’s conservation value in the preservation of habitat and viable wildlife populations. Most “Game Animals” are ungulates. Hemingway probably indirectly contributed to the large variety of deer and antelope species being exhibited that those of us 45 and older remember.

Bring back the “game farm”. A few high quality examples still exist...mostly of the safari drive through and feed the animals from your car variety...but hey, promote them. Not overlooking those facilities that specialize in native wildlife.

Get past knee-jerk “invasive species bad” thinking...(I know)...encourage the preservation and naturalization of introduced game animals (I’m thinking particularly of the United States here: Sambar, Sika, Axis, Fallow, Gemsbok, Nilgai, Blackbuck, Mouflon, and Aoudad all viable...with Scimitar Oryx, Addax, Ibex, Red Deer, and several other species potentially so...then we get to the Horse, Ass, and Pig).

Combine the above three points into increased and open cooperation between the AZA and private holders...some of which may offer hunting opportunities for viable populations of animals, others will specialize in viewing. I.e. Financial incentive to maintain large numbers of ungulates, which can then be jointly managed with the AZA into perpetuity. Got to get past the anti-hunting bias though. This may already be quietly taking place.

Support your local “wild park” exhibiting native species. Arizona, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, Maine, New York, and Alaska all have such facilities. Some state run, some private. Lobby for them...now get those naturalized populations represented.

In AZA facilities promote ecological exhibition. Maybe already a failure really...2009, Oregon Zoo displayed Wolves, Cougars, and Elk. Usually (or at one time) works with Africa themed exhibits...but, display the popular predators in proximity to their natural prey and promote education in that fashion.

Look outside the AZA. AZA facilities cooperate with the Alaska Zoo (maybe because of the Alaska Zoo’s being a first stop for many rescued native species destined for zoos in the lower 48). Expand on that. We are pretty lucky here in Alaska when it comes to our two Anchorage area zoos and nearby exhibit farms:

Moose
Elk
Caribou
Blacktail Deer
Wood Bison
Yak
Muskox
Mountain Goat
Dall Sheep
Domestic Sheep
Domestic Goat
Alpaca
Bactrian Camel
Domestic Ass
Horse
Domestic Pig

Next to the following large predators:
Amur Tiger
Snow Leopard
Grey Wolf
Coyote
Brown Bear
Black Bear
Polar Bear (displayed near Harbor Seals).

I do wish the signage better reflected the connection of the above species, their wild counterparts, and ecological proxies...but if you squint you can almost make it out. Beringian Lions and Yukon Horses may be gone from Alaska...but at the Alaska Zoo you can view Tigers and Domestic Horses in the same field of view.

That’s all philosophy...just my thoughts.
 
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Ituri said:
Regarding Kirk's Dik-Diks is that the whole population including Cavendish's?
Click to expand...
Okapi Lover said:
I'm a bit surprised honestly re: Kirk's Dik-Dik because I recall that they recently released (~1 year ago) a Breeding and Transfer Plan that had a quite aggressive breeding strategy in an attempt to make the population viable.
Click to expand...
It would, indeed, be the whole population. They have cited poor breeding success, high infant mortality, loss of breeding age adults, and a steady program in Europe for the reasons behind this phase-out. Red-flanked or blue duikers are being pushed as replacements.

nczoofan said:
2021 Mid-Year Meeting — AZA Ungulates

Here are the links to the presentations from this years event.

I don't see much of this as shocking, although Gaur are one of my favorite species so this is sad. I wonder if Bronx will halt breeding or continue the program on their own?
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The decision to phase out gaur is the most gutting decision for me as well, although I've seen it coming. The Bronx has had seven births in the last year, so they don't seem to be slowing down yet, anyways.

PossumRoach said:
I'm surprised that the Rocky mountain goat wasn't a candidate/monitored already
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Prior to 19 individuals being brought into the AZA over the last couple of years as a part of the translocation project, there weren't many Rocky Mountain goats in AZA zoos, just a couple of rescue animals. Now there is the potential beginnings of a viable population with the potential for new founders.

Neil chace said:
Kordofan Aoudad comes as a bit of a shock, and that could also be a loss- but hopefully losing aoudad leads to an increase of Ibex holders so we can save another struggling program.
Click to expand...
The Kordofan aoudad program never really got off the ground. There was a very high level of infant mortality and of motherly neglect. The population is highly inbred and not sustainable. A genetic study was conducted, and the Kordofan population might not actually be Kordofan after all (they were assumed Kordofan because the founders came from the Khartoum Zoo), as they match up quite closely with A. l. sahariensis (as do many generic auodad in the US). Plans were made to try and supplement the Kordofan population with generic blood, but the facilities initially interested in the plan pulled out. I wouldn't expect the loss of the auodad to increase ibex holders because there was a lot of crossover between auodad and ibex holders, and those facilities still dropped the ibex.

Coelacanth18 said:
Was the rationale behind the change to at least 15 holders (or as it also says, potentially 13-14 depending on situation) explained during the meeting?
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The Animal Population Management group said that through a lot of number crunching, they determined that 15 holders, on average, is the minimum for long-term sustainability. The "On average" means that over time the population has had on average at least 15 holders, meaning that it won't automatically be downgraded if it falls below 15 holders. The borderline species with 13/14 holders could look to become SSPs if they meet the criteria within a certain, limited amount of time. Overall, the reworking of the SSP program is to refocus on sustainability, possibly rebranding as Species Sustainability Programs.

Great Argus said:
I don't understand why Moose is being monitored, they're limited to certain areas due to heat and humidity restrictions, as well as not being readily mixable with other hoofstock or even each other.
Click to expand...
The moose is staying as a monitored species because a studbook already exists and is well maintained and the zoos that have them are interested in keeping them long term. As these animals are mostly all rescues, having a studbook and a manager allows for a liaison between zoos interested in maintaining moose in their collection and the Fish and Wildlife departments that might need to place rescues.

Julio C Castro said:
Pure Plains Bison being a potential candidate for breeding programs certainly is welcomed addition even with all the potential lost programs mentioned. Are there enough or any Pure Plains Bison in current collections that have proven sustainability so far or expect to import founders from federally protected lands? I want to thank you @Kudu21 for keeping us posted on the situation!
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The Bronx, Minnesota, and Oakland, I know, all have pure herds currently. I'm honestly not sure if others do or not. There is a lot of institutional interest in moving forward with the switch to only purebred animals in AZA zoos and building a relationship with indigenous communities, national park services, etc. to help bolster the purebred population and prepare for further reintroductions.
 
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