"There is no conservation value in keeping exotics in Australian zoos" - prove me wrong.

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FBBird said:
We’d all be complaining about the proliferation of Unicorn exhibits....
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The 'complaints' on here can be pretty inconsistent.
Lots of such, bemoaning the lack of (conservationally important or otherwise) little brown jobs, and yet continuing acclamation for the one (UK sorry) collection which only keeps charismatic mammals, and no lbj's at all, or reptiles, or birds...
I'm sure I don't need to name it :) - but the public love it too.
 
Andrew Swales said:
The 'complaints' on here can be pretty inconsistent.
Lots of such, bemoaning the lack of (conservationally important or otherwise) little brown jobs, and yet continuing acclamation for the one (UK sorry) collection which only keeps charismatic mammals, and no lbj's at all, or reptiles, or birds...
I'm sure I don't need to name it :) - but the public love it too.
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What collection would this be ?
 
Andrew Swales said:
The 'complaints' on here can be pretty inconsistent.
Lots of such, bemoaning the lack of (conservationally important or otherwise) little brown jobs, and yet continuing acclamation for the one (UK sorry) collection which only keeps charismatic mammals, and no lbj's at all, or reptiles, or birds...
I'm sure I don't need to name it :) - but the public love it too.
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Would this be the one that still has White Lions, and has just opened a bells & whistles Tiger exhibit?
 
Andrew Swales said:
I've actually though of another which has no lbj's, and only a couple of birds, and again is loved and supported...
I've not been to either so have no personal opinion - just based on what I've read on here...
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You’ve got me there.....I’ve been to the other one, and was hugely underwhelmed :)
 
Mr. Zootycoon said:
Zoos often claim that animals have ambassador roles for in-situ projects: zoo animals can help to foster an emotional connection to the species in question and the presence of species visitors have never heard about can raise awareness.
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When I visited Shepreth Wildlife Park, there was a lot of information recommending visitors to support various wildlife charities, many of which involved species not kept at Shepreth. Many visitors can find out about animals via TV programmes, DVDs and the internet, as well as books, zoos and museums. They do not need to see a live animal of a well-known species to be interested in it. Similarly, they are more likely to become interested in an obscure species by seeing it, although this will require zoo staff researching species and providing material that is more interesting than a common and scientific name and a map.
 
Andrew Swales said:
I've actually though of another which has no lbj's, and only a couple of birds, and again is loved and supported...
I've not been to either so have no personal opinion - just based on what I've read on here...
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Yes but I'm wondering what zoo this is , because from the description I cant think of anywhere that matches it.
 
Dassie rat said:
Many visitors can find out about animals via TV programmes, DVDs and the internet, as well as books, zoos and museums. They do not need to see a live animal of a well-known species to be interested in it.

Similarly, they are more likely to become interested in an obscure species by seeing it,
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Surely these two sentences contradict each other...?
or, are you suggesting that there is a difference between well-known and obscure spp?
Yes - I guess an animatronic Tyrannosaur will be of interest as it is well-known already. That was certainly the case at the NHM.
 
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Andrew Swales said:
Surely these two sentences contradict each other...?
or, are you suggesting that there is a difference between well-known and obscure spp?
Yes - I guess an animatronic Tyrannosaur will be of interest as it is well-known already. That was certainly the case at the NHM.
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I have been to various zoos and seen animals I had never seen or heard of before and species I never expected to see. Surely seeing something for the first time and learning interesting information about it would interest many visitors more than seeing a species they have seen many times before. How many visitors do you think are excited by seeing the 6th enclosure of a species they have already seen that day?
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Fair enough, will have to remain a mystery then as I dont know a zoo in UK that meets that description.
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The only two major UK collections I can think of offhand which keep zero birds or reptiles - Howletts and Monkey World - possibly do not fit, given both *do* meet with criticism on the forum.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Yes, I totally agree with you that it would be of greater benefit to do that kind of work with captive breeding and reintroduction (in addition to all of the other important aspects of conservation intervention) in an in-situ capacity within the range country when it comes to many of these Pacific island nations like the Solomons, Vanuatu, Fiji etc.

Even so (and again I'm not very familiar with how things work Down Under) there must have been cases in the past or perhaps even currently / ongoing where it has proved beneficial to establish an ex-situ captive population of a threatened species from these islands in Australian zoos ?
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The only case I can think of currently is the Fijian iguanas, which were introduced into Australian zoos. Not sure of their current status.

Lord Howe Island is a Pacific island but is also part of Australia. LHI woodhens were saved from extinction by a breeding program. The original idea was that birds be bred at Taronga but while a small number of birds did go to Taronga most of the program was undertaken on the island. The LHI stick insect recovery breeding program, however, was conducted solely at Melbourne Zoo.
 
kiwimuzz said:
We Humans are an interesting species, we infrequently value the common wildlife that lives with us, but we love the exotic/different/foreign.

Exotic wildlife differs wherever you are in the world. Something you see for free everyday can have no local value, but is considered exotic overseas. When I lived in Cairns, Busloads of tourists used to stop at the local park to view Agile Wallabies, whereas locals barely gave them a second glance, and complained about their poop on the footy pitch. When visiting a major zoo, I would estimate that 80% of Australasians think their local wildlife is less appealing to see than the exotic charismatic mega fauna, and it is the exotic that drives visitation to the major Zoos in the country. (you only have to spent a few minutes in the entry queue to hear what people want to see, and sadly in my many years of visiting zoos I have yet to hear anyone say “I want to see the Red-Tailed Phascogale / Eastern Barred Bandicoot / Spinifex Hopping-mouse”… all charismatic and interesting creatures that should be better known in Australia.)

Re-reading the Australasian Hippo Population thread, the only time the “Conservation” word is listed is in my post where I stated “We are talking about major conservation organisations that are multi million dollar businesses, that have the backing, funding and support of State governments” and in this context I was referring to the Zoos in the region that currently display Hippos.

I can’t see where anyone is advocating for 500 Hippos to be brought into the Country. The last movements in the region were in 2013 (exports to Indonesia) and there is speculation that to keep the Hippo population going that some female Hippos be bred with their Sire. (The current 2.9 Hippos and 3.2 Pygmy Hippos in the region are all closely related) I appreciate that the region is along way from the other major zoo regions and that importing Hippos is a difficult and complex business, with difficult legislative and quarantine requirements. I truly hope that some progress can be made in importing a few hippos to improve the overall genetic health of the next generation of individuals to be held on display. I hope that it can be done sooner rather than in the next decade – otherwise we would be better off phasing them out of the region ( it's only going to take the untimely death of 2.0 Hippos and 0.2 Pygmy Hippos for the phase out to be a fait accompli).
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I must say I did take your mention of zoos being "conservation organisations" as implying that Australian zoos therefore had some conservation responsibility to maintain hippo populations in Australia. Never mind, I was only using it as an example.

I didn't say there needed to be 500 hippos in Australia but mentioned that number in connection with successful conservation breeding programs for orange-bellied parrots and Tasmanian devils, and the impractability of building similar programs for exotic species.

Regarding the future of hippos in Australia, there cannot be any further imports until an IRA is in place. I do know that Australian zoos are planning to obtain an IRA and given they are willing to tackle such a time-consuming and difficult task indicates they are committed to hippos. Given that both species are common in captivity world wide and breed well, I would expect the Australian population will rapidly recover once that takes plan.
 
MRJ said:
The only case I can think of currently is the Fijian iguanas, which were introduced into Australian zoos. Not sure of their current status.

Lord Howe Island is a Pacific island but is also part of Australia. LHI woodhens were saved from extinction by a breeding program. The original idea was that birds be bred at Taronga but while a small number of birds did go to Taronga most of the program was undertaken on the island. The LHI stick insect recovery breeding program, however, was conducted solely at Melbourne Zoo.
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Thats interesting, somehow I expected it to be far more species.

Even with the inherent challenges I do think that Australian zoos should when and where necessary play a role in building ex-situ insurance populations of vulnerable / threatened species from the region and I think there are bound to be many of these in the near future with climate change on the horizon.

Nevertheless I also agree with you that in-situ work should always be the priority and that Australian zoos can play a key supporting role in this.
 
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