Lecture 21 Outline of Last Lecture II. Value of parks to wildlife III. Problems with parks with regard to wildlife IV. Kinds of Protected Areas V. General guidelines for establishment VI. Specific priorities in setting up protected areas VII. Designing Protected Areas VIII. The Biosphere Reserve Program IX. Management Challenges Outline of Current Lecture II. Original Purpose of Zoos III. The New Zoo IV. What are the major problems? V. How do you manage captive populations? Current Lecture What roles might zoos play in the conservation of the endangered San Francisco garter snake? Original purpose of zoos = main motivating factors -came about because people that could afford it thought it would be cool to have a menagerie of a variety of animals as well -Zoological garden instead of a botanical garden Entertainment - private — might like to share with greater public - public — open to everyone NRC 261 1st Edition These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best !used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute. !Make money -if very rich people were entertained by looking at odd animals then you can get people to pay to see these unusual things -charge admissions to go to zoos -eventually people could make money by raising animals in captivity and selling them to other places (production from your own zoo) Past problems with zoos Inadequate facilities -people won’t pay to come look at an animal in bad conditions Poor public perception -historically it was entertaining for people to watch wild animals do things like perform (liked the idea that you could train them to do things they wouldn’t normally do) -as time has gone on people don’t find this entertaining anymore, its not natural Poor scientific knowledge base -many species we don’t know much about -ex: took a long time to get Giant Pandas to reproduce in captivity - nobody could get cheetahs to reproduce in captivity because they were all taken from the wild Poor education centers - places had wrong information or not enough information even though they claimed to be educating The New Zoo – “Conservation Centers” -in the last 20 years (coinciding with environmental manner) people started looking at zoos more like conservation centers — won’t survive unless they can show that they’re doing something to help the animals -San Diego Zoo and the Bronx Zoo Captive propagation of endangered species How do zoological parks/conservation centers contribute to global biodiversity? 1. Serve as refugia — under the worst of circumstances species can be taken in and taken care of until things become good enough to release them into the wild ex: California Condor: population drop to 15 in the wild, and a decision was made to bring them into captivity and try to figure out why situations were not good in the wild - must change something in the wild if you’re going to take a species out of thewild, but in the meantime you can maintain them in captivity (breed) 2. Provide propagules for repopulation -golden lion tamarin lived mostly in Brazil, popular in zoos and in captivity because of personality and looks -augment wild populations (if there’s minimum amounts of habitat and new habitat can be created) -you can breed the monkeys and then release their offspring into the wild (grow a lot of them, and release them into the wild) 3. Reinforce natural populations -red wolves (at one point brought into captivity and reintroduced) -as that reintroduced population is growing, it can be reinforced by putting new wolves in the wild -problem is that they interbreed with coyotes when populations of red wolves are low -if there was a litter of cross-bred pups you can substitute the hybrid litter for full red wolf litter raised in captivity (within the first few weeks) and the adults will raise this new litter 4. Maintain repositories of sperm and eggs — like sperm and egg banks for people -Gaur in southeast Asia, fertilized egg was placed in a domestic cow, and domestic cow gave birth to a baby gaur -even if you don’t have the actual animals themselves in captivity, if you have the eggs or sperm you can create these animals using substitute mothers and fathers 5. Conduct research — behavioral research, physiological research, nutritional research are easier because they’re in captive places - allows you to get samples and info you couldn’t easily get in the wild 6. Educate the public — if info is presented in a way that looks interesting and mimics where the animal comes from and if there’s info about why the animal is in the zoo and what is being done for its conservation - must be done right, but if it is it can be one of the most effective forms of education there is because people get to get up close with the specimens What are the major problems? Relatively few endangered species are currently being held in zoos -many more threatened or endangered species in the world that zoos are unable to handle -must figure out which species they can help/ do something with, which ones that people want to see and what they will contribute etc. (more charismatic endangered animals are more likely to attract more visitors)Which species to save? -endangerment -not necessarily what can we make the most money on, but what can we help -feasibility — if its not going to work for some reason, then its better not to waste energy on it Money —need enough money to do what you want to do -upkeep — health, nutrition, behavioral stability (need enough space, enough money to get the right number of animals) -Facilities -Conservation actions — wealthy zoos are able to have their own conservation initiatives, all reputable zoos have some sort of grant or research opportunity (they can help do research with species that they’re intersted in) -can say that some of the money coming into the zoo is going towards research as well, not just the upkeep of the animals Upkeep - animals cost a lot to take care of Facilities – useful, pleasing enclosures Conservation Action How do you manage captive populations? Space How much space do you have? in a whole network of zoos too - managing populations in captivity in many different zoos, not just individuals How much to you need? -may have x amount of space but if it takes y amount of space, then they don’t match up