EAZA News 58-9 - European Association of Zoos and Aquaria

eaza news 58
2007
08
eaza madagascar campaign
Madagascar; an island still to discover
Martin Bauert, Zürich Zoo, Switzerland
Madagascar, an outstanding piece of the prime continent Gondwana,
is largely undiscovered, even today. More than 65 million years
of isolation in the Indian ocean have led to the survival of many
ancient organisms and an enormous species radiation in many plant
and animal families. The living plant fossil Takhtajania perrieri,
a contemporary of the dinosaurs, was only known from a single
herbarium specimen for more than eighty years. But to everyone's
surprise this basal angiosperm was recently rediscovered in the
pristine mountain rainforests on the east coast of Madagascar.
An unbelievable diversity of natural habitats from perhumid
rainforests to subarid deserts can be found in Madagascar, bearing an
extraordinary flora of up to 90% endemic species. Outstanding are the
more than 150 endemic palm species, many of which were described
just in the past few years. Famous are the giant baobabs (Adansonia
spp.): seven species of these water-storing trees from Madagascar
have been described, compared to just one species in Africa and two
in Australia. Madagascar also carries a virtually unknown flora of
Campaign mascots Tia and Aïna
Pierre Moisson, Mulhouse Zoo, France
Takhtajania perrieri photo zürich zoo
succulents, of which the pygmy baobabs of the genus Pachypodium
and succulent members of the dogbane or Apocynaceae family are
perhaps the best known.
As living ambassadors of Madagascar, many of these plant species are
under threat of extinction in their natural environment. In cooperation
with experts on succulents and the Zürich Zoo, Switzerland, the
Stadtgärtnerei Zürich (the city gardeners service) has set up a
programme for the reproduction of these Malagasy succulents,
under the supervision of the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species (CITES) secretariat. All plants are reproduced
and grown in Zurich, so no plants are taken from the island.
Registered campaign participants can sell these extraordinary plants
for the benefit of the Madagascar campaign. For more details on order
and delivery, please refer to your Madagascar Campaign Info Pack or
contact zoo@zoo.ch.
Mulhouse Zoo, France, has created a special mascot to promote the EAZA Madagascar Campaign. The Sclater’s
lemur (Eulemur macaco flavifrons) was chosen for this purpose, because of the zoo’s involvement in the AEECL
(Association Européenne pour l’Etude et la Conservation des Lémuriens) and the Sahamalaza conservation
project for the Sclater’s lemur in particular. Furthermore, the zoo is responsible for the EEP of this species.
Students from a school in Mulhouse specialised in design (Institut Supérieur de Textile d’Alsace)
assisted in developing the mascot. Their annual project was to create the zoo’s campaign mascot
and use it as a flagship for their annual ceremony at the end of the school year. The official
inauguration of the mascot they developed took place in November 2006, and Mulhouse Zoo is now
able to use it for the campaign year (e.g. for educational panels, educational games, direction panels,
tourist communication).
The mascot was named Tia (which means ‘love’) by a student in Madagascar, Guy Randriatahina, who is
finishing his thesis on Sclater’s lemurs in Sahamalaza. Initially, the goal was to create different items for the
zoo shop with Tia as an ambassador of all lemurs, but unfortunately her name was already being used by a
photo nick garbutt