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Alliance for Sustainable Wildlife

Discussion in 'United States' started by Giant Panda, 29 Dec 2016.

  1. Giant Panda

    Giant Panda Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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  2. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    That really looks great. Thanks for sharing Giant Panda !
     
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  3. DragonDust101

    DragonDust101 Well-Known Member

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    Maybe they'll get Mountain Tapirs....
     
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  4. Coelacanth18

    Coelacanth18 Well-Known Member Premium Member 5+ year member

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    They won't, though I admire your optimism.
     
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  5. jayjds2

    jayjds2 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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  6. Coelacanth18

    Coelacanth18 Well-Known Member Premium Member 5+ year member

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    They're gonna hold lions and flamingos, really? Probably the two breeding programs that would gain the least out of this facility and have no sustainability issues to begin with?
     
  7. jayjds2

    jayjds2 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Agreed, I'm disappointed with their species choices, for the most part. I was under the impression okapis currently had a sustainable population. And a pet peeve of mine: "reticulated" giraffes? Really? Giraffes for the most part are doing quite fine in American zoos (to the extent of my knowledge), and if they were going to choose to breed some, it should at least be a pure species (Masai). I also see no point in the inclusion of flamingo, lion, or even leopard unless we import new (sub)species (extremely unlikely) or are learning better management/breeding practices. I could see this for lesser flamingos, which are far less numerous (but still over 1,000) in the US. A full-flighted flock would also likely produce more chicks. However, we have no idea of their plans so we'll just have to see what happens.

    I'm curious as to what "carnivores" will entail. My first thought was small cats, but there are of course other options.

    It's great to see space being dedicated to whooping cranes and (presumably) Mississippi sandhill crane. However, the main problem with whooping cranes is no longer breeding, but reintroduction (stopping people from shooting them would be nice, too).

    It's disappointing that of the 425 acres of the facility, there is so far only one comparatively minimal plot dedicated to tapirs.

    It'll be interesting to see what this facility will develop into. I wonder what species other than those announced will end up at it, especially birds.
     
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  8. Coelacanth18

    Coelacanth18 Well-Known Member Premium Member 5+ year member

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    For the most part, they seem to be going in a good direction with birds: cranes and curassows are definitely species that should and could benefit well from this.

    Okapis aren't doing poorly and the population is growing, but I wouldn't call it sustainable. There's about 100 here in the US and about 70 more outside of Africa. They are a species for which only a moderate level of inbreeding causes a marked decrease in reproductive success; coupled with the fact that they produce fewer than one offspring a year, this makes them vulnerable in the long-term. What they really need are more founders (currently impossible), but increasing the population will extend the timeline a bit.

    The information about the tapirs is disappointing. Equally too the reticulated giraffes, which are indeed generic hybrids, unless they import pure giraffes from Europe. The TAG even recommended reducing the space being dedicated to giraffes because they were demographically and genetically robust and were occupying space that could have been used by programs in a more precarious state.

    As you said, lesser flamingos are the least common of the four species kept and bred here, but all species have over 500 individuals and are Green Programs. For lesser flamingos specifically, most of the population are unrepresented founders. The genetic diversity for captive flamingos is so high it's mind-boggling. I suppose their choice of flamingo species was correct, but I'm not sure I agree with choosing flamingos in the first place.
     
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  9. Coelacanth18

    Coelacanth18 Well-Known Member Premium Member 5+ year member

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    So here is a list of species that I think would potentially benefit greatly from this new site, based on the list of species AZA is focusing on and their demographic needs. I excluded species that they already listed. Priority species are bolded.

    Native amphibians
    Turtles from Southeast US
    Chinese alligators
    Cuban crocodiles

    Equids (zebra, Przewalski's horse, onager, Somali ass)
    Snow leopards
    Tigers
    Small cats
    Waterfowl
    Desert gazelles and oryx
    Painted dogs
    Chinese dhole
    Maned wolves
    Hyenas
    Cervids (especially endangered Asian cervids)
    Cranes outside of North America
    Francois' langurs
    Lion-tailed macaques (imported from Europe)
    Other Old World monkeys
    Bonobos
    Parrots
    Toucans
    Hornbills
    Vultures
    Rhinoceroses (black and Indian specifically)
    Louisiana pine snakes
    Red pandas
    Fossa
    Binturong
    Asian bovids
    River hippos

    If anyone wants I can defend/explain any listing or bolding.
     
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  10. Loxodonta Cobra

    Loxodonta Cobra Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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  11. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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  12. DesertRhino150

    DesertRhino150 Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Just saw this article about some of the births that have happened at the centre since it opened a year ago - two sable antelope, two eland, two Eastern bongo, a yellow-backed duiker and three giraffe (the latter were all born to females who arrived at the centre pregnant). Another giraffe and sable antelope are definitely pregnant and more eland and bongo may also be pregnant.

    The article is included below:
    https://phys.org/news/2018-07-girlgirlboygirl-baby-boom-two-zoo-partnership.html
     
  13. Jaxton

    Jaxton Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    The article also mentioned a female okapi arrived. Any clue on where she is from?
     
  14. nczoofan

    nczoofan Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Great to see this partnership succeeding. Excited to see some new and rarer species brought in for phase 2. Hope a few more zoos create these kind of sites.