EAZA Ex-Situ Programmes update

DesertRhino150

DesertRhino150

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I haven't seen a thread for this before, so I will make one here with the aim of updating it as the main list is updated over the years.

Very recently (yesterday or today), the December 2021 update for the EAZA's list of Ex-Situ Programmes was released online. These are the additions or changes from the previous update (August 2021) that I have noticed:

Freshwater Teleost TAG
- Four new family level EEPs have been announced, the first ones since the Fish and Aquatic Invertebrate TAG split into five separate TAGs (Freshwater Teleost, Marine Teleost, Elasmobranch, Coral and Jellyfish):
  • Toothcarps Valenciidae being coordinated from Bristol Zoo
  • Mudminnows Umbridae being coordinated from Tiergarten Schönbrunn
  • African tetras Alestidae being coordinated from Budapest Zoo
  • Poeciliids Poeciliidae being coordinated from Ostrava Zoo
Songbird TAG
- The blue-crowned laughingthrush and Emei Shan liocichla have both had their programmes upgraded to the new-style EEP
- A new EEP for the red-billed chough, being coordinated from Paradise Park

Tapir and Suiform TAG
- The Malayan tapir and Chacoan peccary have both had their programmes updated to the new-style EEP

The December 2021 document is included here:
https://www.eaza.net/assets/Uploads/CCC/Other/December-2021.pdf
 
Looking again at both the December and August 2021 studbooks and I have noticed another couple of changes I missed earlier:

Monotreme and Marsupial TAG
- Both the agile wallaby and tammar wallaby are no longer managed and their ESBs have been removed from the list
 
Although it's not an update to the list, I did notice on the EAZA Facebook page that the Felid TAG has met with in-situ experts to discuss the statuses of wild cats and deciding which should be managed under new-style EEPs.

The recommendation is that 30 species or subspecies of felid should have EEP programmes established, where currently there are 22.
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Although it's not an update to the list, I did notice on the EAZA Facebook page that the Felid TAG has met with in-situ experts to discuss the statuses of wild cats and deciding which should be managed under new-style EEPs.

The recommendation is that 30 species or subspecies of felid should have EEP programmes established, where currently there are 22.
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Interesting to know wchich would be the missing 8-10 species.
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Although it's not an update to the list, I did notice on the EAZA Facebook page that the Felid TAG has met with in-situ experts to discuss the statuses of wild cats and deciding which should be managed under new-style EEPs.

The recommendation is that 30 species or subspecies of felid should have EEP programmes established, where currently there are 22.
Click to expand...
What are the current 22?
 
Mayki said:
What are the current 22?
Click to expand...

There are EEPS for:
1. Southern cheetah
2. Northern cheetah
3. Asian golden cat
4. Sand cat
5. Margay
6. Geoffroy's cat
7. Pallas' cat
8. Rusty-spotted cat
9. Fishing cat
10. Clouded leopard
11. Asian lion
12. African lion
13. Jaguar
14. Sri Lankan leopard
15. Amur leopard
16. Persian leopard
17. North Chinese leopard
18. Amur tiger
19. Sumatran tiger
20. Snow leopard

There are also two ESBs:
21. Oncilla
22. Eurasian lynx
 
Any idea on the new ones?

The existing should not have been a question as the list was in the attached file.
 
Although I don't know exactly what the new ones are, I imagine the European wildcat will likely be one of them - a well-managed population of genetically healthy animals would be ideal from a reintroduction perspective.

I am pretty confident that wildcats will be one of the new programmes, but anything else would be guesswork on my part.
 
The Felid TAG have also suggested in a paper that North Chinese Leopard should be lumped with Amur Leopard from a taxonomic point of view.

https://www.researchgate.net/public...ask_Force_of_the_IUCNSSC_Cat_Specialist_Group

I guess this would easen significantly management of those 2 EEP, allowing for a broader genetic basis. In the meantime, evidences need to be very strong as it difficult to go back once you started mixing the subpopulations.
 
Therabu said:
The Felid TAG have also suggested in a paper that North Chinese Leopard should be lumped with Amur Leopard from a taxonomic point of view.

https://www.researchgate.net/public...ask_Force_of_the_IUCNSSC_Cat_Specialist_Group

I guess this would easen significantly management of those 2 EEP, allowing for a broader genetic basis. In the meantime, evidences need to be very strong as it difficult to go back once you started mixing the subpopulations.
Click to expand...
I would not go on one science paper alone. I need evidence in terms of biogeography, txonomomic measurements, morphogical data and genetics and the latter with at least 25 different samples of individuals for each ssp. ever described to be valid. I remain at this point unconvinced. Show me the actual data and deliver otherwise just opinionated perceptions of the day.
 
Using the information in https://www.eaza.net/assets/Uploads/CCC/Other/December-2021.pdf, EAZA's list of Ex-Situ Programmes has the following total of taxa in different IUCN categories:
Extinct in the wild (EW): 2
Critically Endangered (CR): 83 + 1 genus
Endangered (EN): 89 + 1 genus
Vulnerable (VU): 101 + 1 genus
Near Threatened (NT): 47
Least Concern (LC): 113 + 1 genus
Data Deficient (DD): 7
Not Evaluated (NE): 2
?: 5 + 3 families
While I understand that some species are much more popular than others, I find it strange that the category with most taxa, Least Concern, is the least endangered.
 
@Dassie rat : that's a strong argument from anti-zoos organizations.
On the other hand one could tell that if compared to UICN redlist, endangered taxa are over-represented.
And Ex-situ programme does not meen breeding as much as possible but rather breeding control and management. For non-threatened species, this may be done in favor of endangered sister-species in captivity (more space for breeding) or in-situ (by gathering funds, awareness and husbandry knowledge).
It is difficult to conclude from this simple list of ex-situ programmes, it is needed to diver deeper into the objectives of each of those programmes and even more, how zoos are applying it to their own choices.
 
You are forgetting the entire evaluation process by which zoos are choosing species to include in ex situ conservation breeding programs. Same is true over category (of threat) and space availability. What the list tells you is what number of species in different orders and taxa are included in managed programs.

There might also be a entire group of species or genus represented within EAZA/EEP for which taxa are in situ threatened and zoos play a part as assisting the recovery and conservation of that the species in situ. For total impact you would to look at supported conservation programs too.
 
The EAZA Ex-Situ Programmes page was updated today, and includes a few additional new studbooks:

Freshwater Teleost Tag
- Another five family-level EEPs have been announced:
  • Perches Percidae being coordinated from Aquatis
  • Asian killifish Aplocheilidae being coordinated from ZSL Whipsnade
  • Pupfishes Cyprinodontidae inc. Aphaniidae being coordinated from ZSL Whipsnade
  • Rainbowfishes Melanotaeniidae being coordinated from Nausicaa
  • Madagascar rainbowfishes Bedotiidae being coordinated from Bristol Zoo
Reptiles TAG
- A new genus-level EEP for three species of Batagur - the painted B. borneoensis, Northern river B. baska and Southern river terrapins B. affinis, coordinated by Prague Zoo

Penguin TAG
- The separate EEPs for the Northern and Southern rockhopper penguins have been combined into one rockhopper penguin EEP, coordinated by Tiergarten Schönbrunn (who coordinated both studbooks when they were separate)
- A new EEP for the Magellanic penguin, being coordinated from Zoo Augsburg

Waterfowl and Pelecaniformes TAG
- A new EEP for the lesser white-fronted goose, being coordinated by Nordens Ark
- A new EEP for the red-breasted goose, being coordinated by Cotswold Wildlife Park

Tapir and Suiform TAG
- The pygmy hippopotamus and common hippopotamus have both had their programmes upgraded to the new-style EEP

The new studbook list can be found here:
https://www.eaza.net/assets/Uploads/CCC/Other/April2022.pdf
 
Why should one manage an EAZA program while none of these animals are present in european collections? (Tragulus kanchil). Some one an idea?
 
john said:
Why should one manage an EAZA program while none of these animals are present in european collections? (Tragulus kanchil). Some one an idea?
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Because all lesser mousedeer in Europe are likely T. kanchil and not T. javanicus, which were considered conspecific in the past, but the genetic make up of the European population is still not clear afaik. Singapore Zoo is an EAZA zoo that 100% keeps T. kanchil.
 
Can you distinguish the kanchil and the javanicus on the level of collagen?
 
DesertRhino150 said:
The EAZA Ex-Situ Programmes page was updated today, and includes a few additional new studbooks:

Freshwater Teleost Tag
- Another five family-level EEPs have been announced:
  • Perches Percidae being coordinated from Aquatis
  • Asian killifish Aplocheilidae being coordinated from ZSL Whipsnade
  • Pupfishes Cyprinodontidae inc. Aphaniidae being coordinated from ZSL Whipsnade
  • Rainbowfishes Melanotaeniidae being coordinated from Nausicaa
  • Madagascar rainbowfishes Bedotiidae being coordinated from Bristol Zoo
Reptiles TAG
- A new genus-level EEP for three species of Batagur - the painted B. borneoensis, Northern river B. baska and Southern river terrapins B. affinis, coordinated by Prague Zoo

Penguin TAG
- The separate EEPs for the Northern and Southern rockhopper penguins have been combined into one rockhopper penguin EEP, coordinated by Tiergarten Schönbrunn (who coordinated both studbooks when they were separate)
- A new EEP for the Magellanic penguin, being coordinated from Zoo Augsburg

Waterfowl and Pelecaniformes TAG
- A new EEP for the lesser white-fronted goose, being coordinated by Nordens Ark
- A new EEP for the red-breasted goose, being coordinated by Cotswold Wildlife Park

Tapir and Suiform TAG
- The pygmy hippopotamus and common hippopotamus have both had their programmes upgraded to the new-style EEP

The new studbook list can be found here:
https://www.eaza.net/assets/Uploads/CCC/Other/April2022.pdf
Click to expand...

Considering the extremely high number of participations (I counted 14) for a relatively small zoo, I hope the closing of the Bristol Zoological Gardens won't effect too much the breeding programmes

I also see an EEP for bilby (Wilhelma Stuttgart): would that mean that there still is an intention to establish a european population?
 
Philipine eagle said:
Considering the extremely high number of participations (I counted 14) for a relatively small zoo, I hope the closing of the Bristol Zoological Gardens won't effect too much the breeding programmes

I also see an EEP for bilby (Wilhelma Stuttgart): would that mean that there still is an intention to establish a european population?
Click to expand...

I know that 6 of the 15 (by my count) species or groups managed by Bristol will be moving over to the new site, so I imagine they at least will continue to be managed by them. Hopefully the move doesn't cause too much disruption.

As for the bilbies, the 2020 TAG report provides the most recent update - it simply says that there are no animals available for the EAZA so far.
 
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