EAZA eNews_February 2013 - European Association of Zoos and ...

EAZA eNews
February 2013
Save the date: EAZA Conservation Forum 2014
Bird TAG vacancies
Save the date in 2014 for the third EAZA Conservation
Forum, hosted by Leipzig, Germany, and taking place from6-
9 May. The EAZA Conservation Forum is a biennial event
bringing together over 100 representatives of zoos and
aquariums, conservation organisations and in
situconservation projects for three days of workshops,
presentations and other activities. Further details and a call
for papers will follow over the coming months.
We are looking for enthusiastic colleagues who want to get
involved in the EAZA Pelecaniformes TAG or EAZA
Toucan and Turaco TAG. Both TAGs, which are overseeing
very different but both charismatic bird species, are looking
for a new chair. If you would like to take the lead in Regional
Collection Planning discussions, how to maintain sustainable
populations for certain species, how to tackle husbandry
issues and/or how to link up with initiatives in the field the
position of chair may be a new, inspiring challenge for you!
The Pelecaniformes TAG is mainly overseeing pelicans
and cormorants and all their challenges.
The Toucan and Turaco TAG is overseeing a great

Pigs in (web)space
EAZA Academy Graduates in 2012
variety of perhaps unexpected bird species, like
woodpecker, kingfisher, bee-eater and roadrunner.
If you are interested and/or would like to have more
background information please get in touch with William van
Lint.
The IUCN/SSC Wild Pig Specialist Group has recently
launched a new website dedicated to information about wild
pigs and the work of the SG. Please visit the site here and
go back regularly as much more is still to come! One thing
that would help to make the site even more attractive is
beautiful photos of wild pigs. We hope that you already have
an abundance of beautiful, cute, interesting and awe
inspiring pictures of these wonderful animals in your
collections and that you might be willing to make some of
them available for the website.
Please send your photos (with credits) to your EAZA Pigs
and Peccaries TAG chair and Wild Pig SG
member: Alastair Macdonald.
Congratulations to the 379 people who completed EAZA
Academy courses in 2012. In total 19 courses were offered,
ranging from breeding programme management to forage
production, from visitor studies to zoo and aquarium
management. 72% of course participants came from EAZA
members, with the top three countries sending people on
courses being the Netherlands, United Kingdom and
Germany.
Further information about EAZA Academy course graduates
can be seen on the EAZA Academy Graduates page.
If you would like to be on the list for this year the EAZA
Academy prospectus for 2013 is out now!

ZIMS web-based platform processes 1 millionth data
transaction
Measuring Conservation Impact
International Species Information System (ISIS) announced
its Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS) webbased
solution processed over 1 million data transactions
since the product launch 8 months ago in April 2012.
"Over 470 zoos and aquariums in our network have selected
ZIMS as their world-standard in animal data collection and
information sharing across 80 countries," said Roger
Stonecipher, CEO of ISIS. "This makes ZIMS the largest
animal management platform used by the zoo and aquarium
community. The continually growing database now contains
the critical information on 2.6 million animals and over
10,000 different species."
The millionth data transaction on ZIMS during 2012 was
recorded on December 14 as the disposition to another
institution of a Western Cattle Egret by Registrar Min Hsiu
Kwang from Apenheul Primate Park located in Apeldoorn in
the Netherlands. Apenheul was the first zoo in the world
where apes and monkeys could walk freely in the natural
forest environment and among the visitors.
In recent years there has been growing international
recognition for the need to measure the success of
biodiversity conservation projects and show evidence of
conservation impact. With threats to biodiversity growing
and limited funds available, zoos and aquariums supporting
field conservation need to ensure that their investments in
conservation are making a significant impact, and be able to
show tangible and quantifiable results.
In response to this, Chester Zoo and WAZA have developed
a Conservation Impact Form based on the existing
methodology formulated by the Zoo Measures Group1. The
form is designed to provide a straight forward format for
project coordinators to summarise project achievements and
for these achievements to be evaluated for their conservation
impact in a standardised manner. The EAZA Conservation
Committee has provided input in the process of developing

Callitrichid Enrichment Publication
the tool and recommends EAZA members to use the form as
a tool for evaluating the impact of its institutional
conservation activities.
The Project Conservation Impact Summary Form can be
downloaded by clicking on Conservation Impact in
theConservation section of the WAZA website
In support of the EAZA Callitrichid TAG, Wormell et al. have
been actively researching the effect of enriching
environments for callitrichid species and published a paper
on “Enriched environments for callitrichids”.
In order to find out which foraging devices, shelters and
types of vegetation work best for enriching the lives of
marmosets and tamarins, please click here (you must be
logged in to the Member Area of the EAZA website in order
to view it).
April 2013: Join the Saola Awareness Month!
BEAR in Mind conference, May 2013
All zoos participating in the EAZA IUCN SSC Southeast Asia
Campaign are encouraged to host ‘Saola Awareness Month’
in April this year.
The aim of Saola Awareness Month is to focus attention on
the campaign with the support of campaign flagship species
such as the saola. Whilst the events will be promoted as part
of ‘Saola Awareness Month’ participants are encouraged to
select any species that helps to communicate the campaign
objectives in conjunction with the biodiversity crisis in
Southeast Asia as the focus of their activities.
For more information about this event and to download
special resources, visit the campaign website.

From May 23 – May 25, 2013 Alertis – fund for bear and
nature conservation, is organizing the BEAR in Mind
conference. The conference offers a three-day program with
many interesting speakers, opportunities to give an oral or
poster presentation about your bear project, festive evening
programs, a silent auction and a special photo competition!
For more information about the program, registration and
possibilities to present your project during one of the
sessions on May 23 or 24, please visit the website.
You can submit your abstract and register through the Alertis
website soon. Special registration fee for students. Limited
space available! The conference will be conducted in
English.
For more information, please contact José Kok or Koen
Cuyten.
Symposium: Madagascar’s Eastern Rainforests
Madagascar’s eastern rainforests are amongst the world’s
most diverse ecosystems and are a biological treasure trove
with a largely endemic flora and fauna. As a consequence of
anthropogenic pressure, the future of these forests is in
immediate danger. Among others, the main causes of
deforestation are slash-and-burn agriculture, locally called
“tavy”, as well as charcoal production and logging of precious
timber trees.
Zurich Zoo and ETH Zurich both have long-standing
research projects and collaborations with Malagasy
authorities, universities and NGOs to assist and encourage
protecting the dwindling eastern rainforests. The present
symposium brings together an international group of
scientists and policy makers with the goal to assess the
value and the use of these forests and to explore
perspectives for economically, socially and ecologically
sustainable conservation strategies.
Click here for more information...

Elasmobranch FAITAG workshop
From the 8-9 of April this year EAZA and EUAC as part of
the Fish and Aquatic Invertebrate Taxon Advisory Group
(FAITAG) will organize an Elasmobranch FAITAG workshop,
hosted by the Zoological Society of London.
The goal of this workshop is to discuss how we should
proceed in Europe on the sustainable management of
captive elasmobranches.
We’ll focus on the following subjects:
• Collection planning, including development of the Regional
Collection Plan for Elasmobranches
• Breeding programme and breeding techniques
• Disposing of surplus animals
• Husbandry problems
• Communication
Registration for this meeting is £30 to cover the costs of
lunch and refreshments
More information can be found here
Pre-announcement: Call for proposals
We are pleased to announce the opening of the next round
of applications for the EAZA Ape Campaign Fund. So far the
Fund has supported 13 projects working on the conservation
of gorillas, chimpanzees, orang-utans and gibbons.
Funded projects will:
Have the central goal of ‘ape conservation’
Be managed by, or are partnered with, an EAZA member
zoo
Address one of the following issues: habitat loss; hunting
and illegal trade of apes; ape disease and health; and,
conserving ape species and their habitats through
rehabilitation or reintroduction.
All ape projects that meet these criteria are eligible, and we
would particularly encourage applications in relation to orangutans
and gibbons.

Application information can be found EAZA Ape
Conservation Fund webpage
Changes in Breeding Programmes
Please pay particular attention to the eligibility criteria and
the assessment criteria.
The closing date for applications is Friday 26th April 2013
Mark Habben (ZSL) has been appointed as Falconiformes
TAG chair
Elodie Rey (PARIS-ZOO) has been approved as
European otter EEP coordinator
EAZA, the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, represents and links 345 institutions
and organisations in 41 countries. Formed in 1992, EAZA’s mission is to facilitate cooperation
within the European zoo and aquarium community towards the goals of education, research
and conservation.
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