Tragic. I often don't recommend that critically endangered species be whisked out of the homelands to be sent off to O/S zoos, preferring to take the specialists to the species, however in the case of the long-beaked echidna species, I've been very frustrated at the lack of action to establish a breeding program here in Australia. I think there is a strong argument to say if anyone is going to have success in a CBP for these animals, its Australia, where the global experts in monotremes reside and where at least one Zaglossus species historically existed. We can certainly keep Zaglossus alive and we have proven we can now breed the short-beaked species relatively regularly. The conservationist in me would argue getting approved import standards for monotremes and (marsupials) take precedence over all others, since we are the most logical choice to invest in and develop CBP's for the ever increasing list of critically endangered New Guinean mammals.
