EEP: species that are not endangered?

[Adax]

I've just discovered that species that were not threatened were nonetheless the subject of EEPs: Geoffrey's marmoset, black cockatoo, bottlenose dolphin, etc.
But the aim of the EEP is to establish a population of a threatened species with a view to its reintroduction.
Does anyone know why these particular species are in the programme?

 

[Père Damian's Deer]

• Some species may be classified as ‘Least concern’ as a species, but are very endangered in certain parts of their range. F. E. Dolphin is endangered in Greece.
• It is also good to have a back-up in case a disaster happens like a wildfire which could extinguish a large population of a species.
• Species such as the African Penguin have also quite recently been classified as ‘critically endangered’ when they were ‘endangered’ before.

 

[Adax]

• Some species may be classified as ‘Least concern’ as a species, but are very endangered in certain parts of their range. F. E. Dolphin is endangered in Greece.
• It is also good to have a back-up in case a disaster happens like a wildfire which could extinguish a large population of a species.
• Species such as the African Penguin have also quite recently been classified as ‘critically endangered’ when they were ‘endangered’ before.

As for the third point, I checked, and I couldn't find any “proof” that Geoffrey's marmoset, for example, had been threatened.
As for the second point, I don't think that's one of the reasons (otherwise we might as well have an EEP for all the species). For me, this point justifies the presence of certain non-endangered species in zoos, but the EEPs are for endangered species.
So I think it's the first point, I'll check for the other species. Thanks

 

[GiratinaIsGod]

Does anyone know why these particular species are in the programme?

The reason is quite simple. These are species, either very interesting for the public, or as aspect of their uniqueness. And often, like the bottlenose dolphins, difficult to breed. To keep these species without importining new ones from the wild, and avoiding inbreeding, managing them is key. #In simple terms they are just trying to create stable zoo populations of other species

 

[DesertRhino150]

Firstly, EEPs are not necessarily for threatened species - it just stands for European Ex-situ Programme, so there is no exclusivity there for threatened animals.

In fairly recent times, EEPs have expanded their roles, to the point where some exist entirely to reduce the populations (such as for hamadryas baboons and meerkats) or in some cases totally phase out some species from EAZA zoos (the common and black-tufted marmosets and invasive small carnivores programmes are examples).

In the specific case of the Geoffroy's marmoset, we actually have an EEP page on the EAZA website that shows why they are being managed - it is partly as an educational programme for the public, and partly to provide a starter species so that zoos can develop expertise in housing callitrichids so that they can gain experience for more threatened species.