On mobile, I can only find the October 2024 version, but on desktop, I can now find the new version.
EAZA Ex-Situ Programmes update
- Thread starter DesertRhino150
- Start date
Indolencio Aguilar
Active Member
Guys, so I'm aware of the recent revision of the Lions subspecies. Revision that merge the asian Lions and the North african in P.leo.leo; but if the EEP for indian lions remain is own thing, with the new North african lions EEP, is implied that the Eaza have "resurrected" by his own the barbary lion; or at least that the barbary lion genes in the various collections now, for some reasons are reputated valuable on their own ?
I'm truly confused
My guess is that they'll selectively breed all the known Barbary-descendent lions to "purity" until the program achieves somewhat fully pure Barbary lineage, as it has been done in the last years.
This also means that EAZA manages Indian and Barbary as separate, as it has always been the case, new taxonomy or not, merging these animals now would mean playing God with nature: they've been selected for years and years and if they will be used for reintroduction, which is always a plan for long term conservation, it's better this way according to the IUCN's principle of closest kin possible for reintroductions.
It may not be too good-looking from a genetic diversity point of view, but that doesn't excuse collegues on the other side of the Atlantic from doing the easiest thing while proclaiming that it is for genetic diversity that looks good on paper, and the fact that they don't even bother to control borders between subspecies: while current AZA higher ups don't see subspecies as worthy units of conservation, they seemed interested in selecting and managing the southern clade, but they imported sudanese lions that belong to the northern clade, so not even doing what they were supposed to correctly.
S. Venaticus
Well-Known Member
Didn't EAZA list long tailed macaques as phase outs? Is this an EEP to facilitate this phase out or has something changed?
Were gaur designated as a phase out again? I thought that the tag had decided to restart the program.
Only thing I can think of is that since the original phase-out plans, the long-tailed macaque was uplisted as Vulnerable. Not seen anything regarding the role of the EEP, although of course I personally hope it is to properly manage them.
I had heard the EEP was due to restart too. Although I guess that having the species available but not managed at all could be seen as superior to them being actively managed to be phased-out, which was the original role of the EEP.
I am really happy that the EAZA takes a more strict and methodological approach to (sub-)species delineations and focuses primarily on preserving the genetics of what is there in zoos and seriously attempt at conserving the gene pool as intact as is possible and in particular separates the Indian and Barbary lion breeding lineages.
What AZA is doing these days with lions and to a certain degree with leopards is certainly not my cup of tea ... and I fail to see the scientifically valid rationale behind it. To import Sudanese lions ... and then let them flow into a supposedly southern clade lion breeding program is just a big NO GO mistake.
Finally, looking back at some of the other recommendations: I do applaud that the Arabian leopard Panthera pardus nimr has finally been recognised at the EAZA/EEP level for studbook and species management. Admittedly, the ex situ population is robust enough to expand the program and increase founder representation exponentially. Further to that, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has created another breeding center near an Hejazi protected area system with the eventual aim to bring back the Arabian leopard to the area in situ. The site where the breeding center will be located is currently part of a large scale reintroduction effort for an assemblage of hoofstock (ibex, gazelle and antelope) as well as the ostrich (they use North-Africans for surrogates as the original Arabian subspecies is extinct)!!!
Earlier this year, Zoo Wuppertal had shared how they manage this EEP. Over the past few years, a lot of lions have been tested to figure out which subspecies they belong to. These tests help define different categories within the Northern Lion EEP based on how pure the genes are. The categories are as follows: at least 90%, at least 75%, at least 67% and at least 51% Northern lion genes. When making breeding recommendations, most attention is paid to the 90% and 75% categories, or if an offspring would represent at least 75%. Based on these tests, the Northern lion EEP population consists of 105 animals in 43 zoos. In addition, there are also many animals that have mixed genes or have not yet been tested.
Indians should also be referred as Northern, yet they are referred as Asian/Indian lions and Barbary/Moroccan/North African lions.
Other populations/subspecies are lumped with Northern, however if you are specifically talking about certain populations/subpopulations you should refer to them by old taxonomy or common name.
The latest lion taxonomy recognises two subspecies: the Northern lion (Panthera leo leo) and the Southern lion (Panthera leo melanochaita).
The Northern subspecies includes the Asian lion (but EAZA keeps them in a separate EEP), the Barbary lion and other lion populations in Western and Northern parts of Central Africa. The Southern subspecies includes populations from Eastern and Southern African regions.
I would be fairly apprehensive of this dumping and lumping into 2 clades of lions as opposed to African lion ESU's and ecotypes in various habitat types....
Typhlonectes
Well-Known Member
So Chester will be going into keeping Olm?
It's possible, but by no means guaranteed - Chester already run two EEPs for species they don't keep in their collection (rufous-fronted laughingthrush and margay).
The EAZA have announced on their Facebook page that the Larger New World Monkey regional species plan has now been completed. In total, 18 EEPs have been recommended, including 6 that will cover multiple species (for reference, there are currently 11 EEPs in this TAG group). The post only shows three species, all ones already covered by a breeding programme - the brown spider monkey, grey-handed dourocouli and coppery titi.
I am not sure whether it is part of the 18-strong list or additional to it, but they mention there was the proposal of 5 pending EEPs that will require further discussion with stakeholders in Brazil.
A couple of possible species have been known since at least 2019 - the capuchin Best Practice Guidelines mention that, in addition to the current programmes for buffy-headed and Panamanian white-faced capuchins, the blonde and Ka'apor capuchins were also both candidates for an EEP. Considering that Prague is supposedly due to get blonde capuchins in the near-future, I can definitely imagine that being one of the planned programmes.
I am not sure whether it is part of the 18-strong list or additional to it, but they mention there was the proposal of 5 pending EEPs that will require further discussion with stakeholders in Brazil.
A couple of possible species have been known since at least 2019 - the capuchin Best Practice Guidelines mention that, in addition to the current programmes for buffy-headed and Panamanian white-faced capuchins, the blonde and Ka'apor capuchins were also both candidates for an EEP. Considering that Prague is supposedly due to get blonde capuchins in the near-future, I can definitely imagine that being one of the planned programmes.
I thought the Panamanian white-faced capuchin program was put on a halt due to the European population consisting of hybrids. Is it just going to be an EEP similar to the extinct Columbiformes EEP?
There were definitely discussions about the future of the programme, partly due to the issue of (presumed) hybridisation and partly because much of the population is held outside of EAZA, and additionally the programme currently doesn't have a coordinator.
The latest report did mention the idea of a 'capuchin association' to allow for non-threatened species to raise funds for threatened ones - it could be that the white-faced capuchins end up being managed more via that.
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The autumn issue of Zooquaria has been released recently - there is very little information about EEPs, other than an article about the roles of the large-antlered muntjac EEP. The roles outlined are:
- To raise awareness of the species' conservation situation within the EAZA community and wider public.
- Gather technical knowledge - including on capture, handling and husbandry - to support the establishment of an ex-situ population in one or more range states.
- Supports research that informs the conservation and management of the species.
- Raise funds for both ex-situ and in-situ conservation actions.
Well, if it was a strict methodological approach, EAZA would have to admit that (almost?) all lions in zoo are hybrids. In other species with a wider genetic background animals would have been sorted out if they only fulfill 90% of the criteria.
I sometimes wonder how quickly new taxonomies such as for lions or orangutans (Tapanuli) are accepted. Not saying they are wrong, I absolutely cannot evaluate this. On the other hand the new taxonomy for giraffes had a much wider genetic and scientific base and it took suprisingly long until this was accepted.