European Studbook for Siberian Wapiti Cervus ... - Zoo Ostrava

Introduction and acknowledgements
The second edition of the European studbook for Siberian wapiti brings updated records as
of the 31 st December of 2012. It also includes summary of changes in 2012. That year the biggest
holder Olomouc Zoo, Czech Republic stopped keeping of the species and transferred most of their
animals to a private holder. Therefore, the current European population consists of no more than 31
individuals. Moreover, as stated in the first edition the population is in fact divided into two
metapopulations with difficult transfer possibilities between them due to veterinary limitations. In
European Union only 3 zoos keep in total 20 individuals. Several other animals are kept by private
breeders.
The other metapopulation is formed by individuals in three zoos in Russia and one in
Kazakhstan (Alma-Ata). Alma-Ata Zoo is the only non-responding institution. Although this
population is smaller including 10 individuals only, it is based on animals imported from the wild
recently and there would not be a problem to import other animals from the wild.
Thus, the intensive cooperation among all current holders would be necessary to sustain the
population of this subspecies in European zoos for future. Introducing this subspecies to any other
EAZA (European association of zoos and aquaria) member would be highly welcomed.
In comparison to the first edition of the studbook, this one involves also detailed census and
institutional reports. It should be noted that a lot of data from the past were lost. Therefore, the real
numbers of this subspecies kept in European zoos in the past were higher than referred in the
reports. Thus, these reports should be interpreted with caution.
The second edition involves completed data from one of the most important former holders
Halle Zoo (Germany). This would not be possible without the kind help of Jutta Heuer from Halle
Zoo. The records from Hannover Zoo, Olomouc Zoo, and Riga Zoo were highly improved due to
the help of Klaus Müller-Schilling, Jitka Vokurková and Guna Vitola, respectively.
Last, I would like to thank all people from zoos that hold Cervus canadensis sibiricus and
responded to this year questionnaire. My thanks are due to Jana Michálková from Ostrava Zoo,
Lubomír Gala and Ilona Pšenková from Brno Zoo, Evelina Sabashvili from Chelyabinsk Zoo, Olga
Shilo from Novosibirsk Zoo, Christian Kern from Tierpark Berlin and Rezeda Flegontova from
Kazan Zoo. My special thanks go to chair of the Deer Taxon Advisory Group of European
Association of Zoos and Aquaria Noam Werner for his encouraging support. The technical help of
Laurie Bingaman Lackey from ISIS is highly appreciated. My thanks are also due my colleagues
from Ostrava Zoo, namely Zdeněk Berger for the illustrations, Dana Škorňáková, Monika
Ondrušová, Antonín Říman and my wife Jana Pluháčková for their valuable comments. The
publishing of this studbook was supported by the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech
Republic.
Any errors or questions regarding the information this studbook supplies should be sent to
the studbook keeper.
Thank you very much for your contributions.
Ostrava, March 2013
Photo on the cover: Male T230 in Ostrava Zoo.
Jan Pluháček
European studbook keeper
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