Towards Sustainable Population Management - Waza

10 ZAA Sustainability
WAZA magazine Vol 12/2011
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Of significant interest were the findings
of the Health Check Report that
highlighted the challenges associated
with achieving recommended
animal transfers and breeding.
There is a need for detailed assessment
of contributing factors so that
resolutions can be developed. These
outcomes may also indicate a need
for greater alignment of genetic
management strategies with the biology
of the species in order to support
long-term sustainability outcomes.
In addition to providing direct
feedback into the TAGs, the results
of the Health Check Report now
feature in every executive summary
for all Annual Reports and Recommendations
generated for intensively
managed populations. The executive
summary also includes graphical
evidence of the five-year trends of
both the genetic and demographic
management of the programme, as
well as reporting against the strategic
goals of the CMP (where these have
been developed), or against a set of
generic managed programme goals.
These executive summaries will be
collated at the end of every year and
published as a Director’s Executive
Summary, so programme performance
is not only being reported to
curators and keepers, but also to the
chief executive officers and directors,
allowing all those involved to gain
an understanding of how the programme
is tracking both in the short
and long term.
As described, the Health Check Report
is not a complete piece of work
but rather an evolving one. Although
there appears to be a good delivery
on annual reporting by species coordinators,
in the future ZAA will be
devoting a concerted effort towards
the development of a greater suite
of CMPs that guide a more strategic
approach over the longer term. To
date ZAA has already completed the
realignment of the CMP process to
meet a range of operational, small
population biology and business
outcomes.
In conclusion, the Health Check
Report:
• currently provides every TAG with
an up-to-date assessment of the
managed programmes within their
scope and focuses activities on
constant improvement;
• allows the ASMP Committee to ensure
that all managed programmes
are receiving the appropriate level
of attention from the TAGs, participating
institutions and ZAA species
management staff;
• provides the membership of ZAA
and its Board of Directors an assurance
that a detailed level of scrutiny
will ensure every effort is applied to
continued improvement, accountability
and persistence of the region’s
priority populations.
The Health Check Report provides
a succinct graphic representation of
the performance of our managed
species programmes, clearly capturing
the outcomes towards agreed
goals achieved during the year.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Stephanie Behrens
from the ZAA New Zealand Office for
helpful feedback on this article and
the ASMP Committee for their continued
support and encouragement
of this project.
References
• Ballou, J. D., Lees, C., Faust, L. J.,
Long, S., Lynch, C., Bingaman
Lackey, L. & Foose, T. J. (2010)
Demographic and genetic management
of captive populations.
In: Wild Mammals in Captivity:
Principles and Techniques for Zoo
Management, 2nd ed. (ed. by
Kleiman, D. G., Thompson, K.
V. & Kirk Baer, C.), pp. 219–252.
Chicago, IL: University of Chicago
Press.
• Barlow, S. C. & Hibbard, C. (2005)
Going, going, gone. A zoo without
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148b. Canberra: Department
of Agriculture, Fisheries
and Forestry.
• Lees, C. M. & Wilcken, J. (2009)
Sustaining the Ark: the challenges
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• WAZA (2005) Building a Future
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Berne: WAZA.