Hi, I wanted to ask what is the problem with importing new ungulates to zoos in European Union? I heard conflicting information that it is impossible due to veterinary restrictions. However, last years there came at least gerenuks from the USA, Marco Polo sheep from Russia and Balabac chevrotains from Philippines. Actually, I feel zoos should lobby to be exception from veterinary regulations in the EU. These are aimed at bulk imports of hundreds of livestock and tonnes of meat which goes directly to the market, not at few animals in zoos shich will remain managed and isolated for all their lives. Zoos have a good case: zoo animals are more isolated and supervised than farm animals, and zoos cannot switch to import from other countries, unlike e.g. importers of meat.
It would good, I want to see Beisa, Gerenuk, Lesser kudu, Caama etc. closer to Hungary. Oh, I'd like to see Saiga, too.
I think that beisas are even in Hodonin zoo, not so far from Hungary (but I might be wrong, maybe they are gemsbok or are gone, hm) But saigas I would like to see too. Are they even held in Europe, out of Russia and Ukraine?
Babirusas from USA as well... I think the country of origin probably matters a lot, the veterinary restrictions (at least how I heard it) are aimed at African countries...it's mentioned semi-regularly when discussing starting an ex-situ population of Giant Elands...
Saiga cannot be imported into the EU under current EU regulations. Not legally anyway. The only place where you could theoretically get founders is Askania Nova in the Ukraine. They are selling off calves each year.
There has been no saiga in European collections since the last male died at Köln Zoo in 2009. Köln could have continued with imports from Askania Nova, but imports from third counties were impossible by that time under EU regulations. Almaty Zoo has a small group. Founders came from the breeding centre in Uralsk, in Western Kazakhstan. They are very difficult to maintain in zoos anyway, I wrote a comparative study on their captive management. Keeping them in zoos is far from an ideal setup for them, and has just about zero conservation value. A very interesting ancient species, a key species for the steppe ecosystem (all other ungulates/grazers,e.g. equids died out), also critically endangered, for which zoos are sadly hardly an option.
It takes a LOT of administrative work and lobbying to transport ungulates from the US to Europe or vica versa. You need to be very determined... If it was easy, exchanges would be common. They are not. I guess the elands came from a zoo that was acknolwedged as a zoo in the EU, and was willing to produce the piles of paperwork necessary. With the US, it is not impossible, just very very comlicated. Saigas can only be purchased from Askania Nova in the Ukraine, which is not recognised as a zoo in the EU. Askania Nova could not issue the necessary paperwork either (veterinary papers). Their saigas are not identified individually, breeding occurs uncontrolled, naturally, and the animals do not receive any veterinary treatment. You'd need to build a special calf-rearing station in line with US or EU standards and raise calves there, and then fight the ban on importing non-zoo Bovids from third-countries.
