standardization of records keeping in indian zoos - Central Zoo ...

ACCESSION NUMBER
Accession No.= Local ID # = Specimen # is the number you provide to your animal for
individual logical identification. There are many ways of assigning a Local ID# to the
animals. Some authors have suggested the use of 8 character long Local ID. Which gives
added information about the class, year of acquisition and the order of arrival of the
animal. But as the ARKS system accepts only 6 characters for Local ID this method
cannot be used.
The best way to assign a Local ID # to your collection is to keep it simple, just start at
“1” and go from there. An accessuion number should not be used to indicate anything
about the animal. You will notice some of the animals are coded, for e.g. 98MO34 to
indicate that the animal was receive din 1998, it was a mammal (M) and it was the 34 th
mammal received in that year. Coding by years fell apart when the year 2000 came
around because then you would have to start with leading zeroes which is discouraged
because many people disregard the leading zeroes in data entry.
When to give an accession number to an animal?
Every animal in your zoo gets a unique accession number
You choose this number
You accession an animal
A. When it is born
Mammals :
Accession all births, premature births, still births and abortions
For stillbirths and abortions, etc., enter birth and death on the
same day. It is very important to keep accurate records of these
events – they can have huge effects on successful breeding
programs.
Birds:
Accession all chicks on the day they hatch
Reptiles and Amphibians
Fish
Accession all reptiles and amphibians when they hatch (do
not wait for metamorphosis).
Viviparous – accession when born
Larval stage – accession when recognizable as fish
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