Would this be the Species co-ordinator who is based in Australia, if so she seems to have a blanket objection to any lion breeding from what I hear, but someone may be able to correct me on that if I'm wrong.
She cannot "ban" anything. She can make recommendations and does so. Her recommendations would be unlikely to encourage the continued breeding of highly inbred animals. She performs a very difficult function in a voluntary capacity.
Pretty obvious she can't ban anything, Zion is proof enough of that, pity though, as some proper control over the breeding of lions and tigers in particular would be a good idea. I'm not sure how dififcult her job is as she would probably only have anything to do with the breeders who want her recommendations, and know it's available My family has been involved in breeding lions for well over 60 years, and I didn't even know there was a species co-ordinator until I came to NZ.
Zion doesn't belong to ZAA, so the coordinator wouldn't make any recommendations regarding their stock...
Even patronising know all gits can teach people something new. I'd never even been to a zoo for my first few decades, let alone know anything about ZAA species co-ordinators. But now I do know about them the knowledge has been of absolutely no use whatsoever. I have lost count of the number of lions I have been involved in the breeding of, the hand rearing of, the selling of, the transportation of, the caring of, and long since lost count of the number of days spent watching lions in captivity and in the wild. But all that experience doesn't even qualify me to speak to a species co-ordinator unless I have a related degree as well. I freely admit I am not an expert, but it would be impossible to work in that particular industry for an extended period without picking up some knowledge. However when I asked for some expert advice on breeding from the reccomended people, I was simply ignored. Thankfully not all Zoo people are as quick as you seem to be rebuffing enquiries, in fact a well known Zoo expert who seems to get his fair share of criticism on here was more than helpful.
How do you know the lions are inbred without any obvious physical symptoms? Or without viewing the studbook/knowledge of the animal's genes/family history? I suppose this can go both ways
I was not aware that I have ever rebuffed you - patronising know-all gits are usually very keen to share their knowledge! Not sure what to make of the rest of your post - I don't have a degree of any sort and yet I can pick up the phone and get all the help in the world from the species co-ordinator.
My apologies for that comment. As for you getting all the help from the species co-ordinator, well it's well known who you are, so not surprising. Maybe they weren't as keen to help an unknown SA breeding farm worker. But things may have changed. I have though run up against the academic vs the practical in the past. There is a belief amongst some (though I admit not all) academics that only a uni education will enable someone to work with animals. Many zoos won't employ anyone without a degree of some sort. Most of the very best people I worked with were uneducated illiterate men who had never seen a high school let alone a university. They still managed to have a great understanding of the animals they looked after though.
Apology accepted. It helps to know that your comments were made about an earlier time in zoological history. The zoo world used to be a lot more elitist than it is today - and that includes the zoo association. While some of the co-ordinators are better than others [that's human nature] the vast majority are extremely passionate about what they do and are keen to do all that they can [in their own time] to help move populations forward. Your assumption about the difficulty, or otherwise, of the job is probably one that I would have shared until I joined the Zoo Aquarium Association [ZAA]. Seeing the situation from the inside has been a real eye-opener. These people are thinking and planning for 100 years from now, and the workload that they have taken on is enormous. However, they are not infallible and they are certainly capable of making some blunders. Some of the people who have made some of those blunders have been academically qualified people. As a result the Association seems to now be increasingly willing to match the expertise of the non-qualified, practical, animal-savvy person with the theoretical knowledge of the academic. A lot of zoos do put practical knowledge on a par [or ahead of] academic knowledge when it comes to hiring keeping staff. There is certainly room for people from both backgrounds.
