Not at all sure if you are joking or serious - if the latter, I think you are being rather unfair given a) the vast majority of Plzen's oddities come from Czech private keepers and hence aren't imported from far-flung climes and b) I suspect a massive proportion of the zoo budget is devoted to the ongoing redevelopment and refurbishments of the zoo which have taken place over the last 25 years; it's easy to forget that well into the 1990s Plzen was regarded as a poor quality backwater zoo of no note even by zoonerds, and that since the end of the Cold War the zoo has come along by leaps and bounds.
1) We are talking about in situ conservation 2) I think it is both but on the premises of the safari park. 3) No - Plzen isn't Anyway doesn't detract away from the fact that they are still participating in it. 4) So? I was joking - when I post beside it it normally means it is meant jokingly.
That giant panda research is done in situ? I'm a little surprised that China uses outside labor/expertise for in-country panda conservation.
It is. They monitor wild panda eating, sleeping and movement patterns. Source: https://institute.sandiegozoo.org/sites/default/files/2019-ICR-Book-Pages-Email-10MB.pdf Quote: ' Our Reproductive Sciences team developed key advances that led to the first successful artificial insemination. For more than 20 years we have collaborated with Chinese researchers on behavioral studies, sensory biology, nutrition, spatial ecology, genetics, and animal health. Today, we continue behavioral studies of pandas as they are reintroduced into the wild.'
I believe mainly spread of disease. This method of keeping elephants is what introduced the herpesvirus into the Asian Elephant population in the first place and that's why zoos aren't supposed to do it anymore. ~Thylo
Keeping the two species mixed undermines any work to preserve Asian Elephants in the wild- although hybridisation is rare it is not unknown and it's a risk SD should know better than to take; it also increases the risk of zoonotic infection between species.
However it does not cancel the conservation work they are doing out. I don't see how this has any bearing on their in-situ elephant work at all.
Well I think SDZ's elephants are all older females so hybridization isn't really possible. It's more the passing of infection that bothers me. @amur leopard it doesn't really cancel out their conservation work, but it is bad husbandry and therefore worthy of note regardless. ~Thylo
Also about the amount of money spent on conservation: Plzen hasn't adopted the "Crown from a ticket" policy yet. This policy gives 1-3 (depending on zoo) crowns from each ticket sold to conservation projects and the bigger Czech zoos (Prague, Zlin, Ostrava) use it. This could also see the amount of money given to conservation efforts rise. Using this policy, Zlin has raised from April (when they started using this policy) to December 2018 949 thousand crowns, split to three conservation projects. Ostrava raised 500 thousand crowns that split to 13 projects.
Other than to the degree that actively creating a situation which potentially exasperates one of the biggest conservation issues facing Asian Elephant both in the wild and captivity weakens their conservation work
Don't see how an infection spread by African elephants is a major issue faced by Asian elephants. EDIT: Sorry I meant wild Asian elephants
Are you aware of Elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus? Without exaggeration, this virus could single-handedly wipe out the entire species if it infects all the wild populations considering it has a near 100% mortality rate in elephant calves in captivity. As it stands, less than a dozen calves across the US and Europe have ever been able to be saved once the disease takes over since its identification in the mid-90s. The disease spread from African elephants to Asian Elephants thanks to zoos continuing to mix their herds/hold them in close proximity. This is why it's pretty awful to me that San Diego insists on continuing to house elephants in this manner. ~Thylo
In some ways it's a similar comparison to the point I tried to make in the Chester/Taronga match with regards to the former collection having to work more, and choose, to have its strengths with regards to Islands.
