Zoos working with hobbyist breeders/keepers

[equidae]

Stumbled across Citizen Conservation the other day, and it got me wondering more generally about the extent that zoos these days still work with hobbyist or private collections as part of conservation programs.

For example, in the UK, we have Terri Hill Livery who holds several surplus equids for zoos. A friend of mine used to breed an endangered species of fish, and some of her animals were moved into zoo collections. mrcriss also mentioned on the Beale Park thread that there are private holders of guanacos in the UK.

What other examples are there across the world? I’m particularly interested in cases where private breeders have been notably influential in increasing a species’ numbers, or if there are any other private holders known for carrying surplus animals of a larger species or family.

In the US, breeding exotic species seems comparatively common, but do these animals ever end up in conservation programs or are they too poorly bred?

(And on a more niche note, with the phasing out of gaur across Europe, does anyone know of private holders of the species?)

 

[lintworm]

You might be interested in this thread:

Zoos giving animals to individuals/private collections

It generally does well to search the forums to see if your question hasn't been asked already before creating a new thread.

 

[equidae]

You might be interested in this thread:

Zoos giving animals to individuals/private collections

It generally does well to search the forums to see if your question hasn't been asked already before creating a new thread.

I was aware of that thread, but felt it would be inappropriate to bump it, as I’m looking for private keepers notably working with multiple zoos as part of a conservation program, and data on the success of such work, rather than general removal or movement of surplus animals. Perhaps my OP was a bit muddled.

 

[DDcorvus]

There are such cases one of the more organised one is focused on herps in Germany. A lot of the other are quite ad-hoc and often based on personal connections and relations. In many cases it also is limited to zoos taking animals from private breeders to start or expand a programme or zoos moving surplus animals that can't go to other zoos to private individuals. There are exceptions of course. There are examples were private individuals are part of a programme but they are very limited. I do know one example where animals bred by a private breeder moved back to the range country to support reintroduction. Zoochat might not be the best place for a comprehensive research into it, as most people will have knowledge of cases, but no overview of the scale and rate of success.

 

[Iguana_Cabana]

In the US, breeding exotic species seems comparatively common, but do these animals ever end up in conservation programs or are they too poorly bred?

AFAIK for herptiles it’s mostly just a bunch of influencers who always use the label of conservation when they really just want to breed shiny new morphs that most herptile hobbyists think look nice. There may be a few people who actually send their stock to zoos though… maybe someone who has insider knowledge can give us some examples if I’m wrong?