The Strategy

The increasing need to protect species from extinction and the limited amount of captive habitat available in accredited American Zoo and Aquarium Association facilities has necessitated that the animal species held by AZA zoos be managed in a collective manner to maximize the ability for certain species to be assured adequate captive habitat space. This has led to the hard decisions of which species to propagate and which species to eliminate. There are numerous zoological species being phased out of zoological collections that are currently held in sufficient numbers in the private sector to form the basis of a sustained long-term captive population. For instance, in the felid taxon, jungle cats, European lynx, Siberian lynx, Geoffroy's cats, bobcat and cougar are plentiful and genetically diverse enough in the private sector to warrant a management plan. Reasons for phasing out species vary, but some wild animal species are not reproductively successful in a zoological exhibition situation and fair much better under the peace and quite of privately owned facilities. Lynn Culver Len Davidson Kevin Chambers Colette Griffiths Lynn Culver

Cooperation and long term planning and goals are necessary to insure the survival of captive populations. The animal holders can perform a valuable service to themselves and their species held by forming such plans and goals so that species not covered under Species Survival Plans (SSP) benefit from a similar type of management formula.

To meet this goal, the Species Enhancement Strategies will initially focus on species not designated for management by AZA, but held in sufficient numbers and with sufficient interest by the private sector and zoos.

The Species Enhancement Strategy (SES) will be a constantly evolving program for each species, reacting to new demographic trends and scientific information to best aid the respective species. Each species will be guided by its own Management Advisory Committee (MAC) consisting of two types of members: Voting representatives and non-voting members (see below for definitions). In order to be a participating facility in the SES, the facility must register its animals with the studbook keeper and file an application with the MAC secretary. In the event the facility sells or removes the species from its collection, it will no longer be a participating facility. Its voting representative will lose its voting status but may remain as a non-voting member, if they so desire.

1) Voting Representative: Each participating facility currently owning or holding species that are in a breeding situation or available for breeding and participating in the SES shall designate one voting representative. Voting representatives may hold office and positions within the SES. In the event the representative is no longer employed or associated with the owning/holding facility, a new voting representative will be designated by the facility and the former voting representative will no longer be a voting member unless so designated by another facility. The former voting member may remain a member of the MAC as a non-voting member, if they so desire.

2) Non-voting members: Additional representatives from participating facilities, researchers, governmental agencies, interested individuals, and persons holding non-breeding specimens (sterilized, or post reproductive) etc. may serve on the MAC. These members are equal in status to the voting representatives with the exception of voting privileges. They may hold office and positions within the MAC.

Responsibilities of Participating Facilities: The following are actions that are needed to make the SES successful. While compliance is not mandatory, cooperation from the participating facilities is needed to provide the information and actions necessary to assure the survival of a healthy captive population. Keep in mind that all suggested transfers made by the species coordinator are made with the sustainability of the species in mind. All transfers are to be arranged by the involved facilities on a voluntary basis.

  • Complete application form to be submitted to the MAC.
  • Submit name of voting representative to the secretary of the MAC.
  • Register all currently owned or held specimens to the studbook keeper and provide as much information as possible including ancestry, offspring, birth dates, death dates, or any other information requested by the studbook keeper.
  • Complete and return any surveys from the species coordinator.
  • Inform the species coordinator of all pairings so that they may keep tract of all unpaired animals in order to make possible pairing suggestions.
  • Make use of the species coordinator to make suggestions for possible mates when placing animals in a breeding situation.
  • Inform Species coordinator of any animals that may be surplus or available for trade so that they may give recommendations for possible recipients with appropriate use for those animals
  • Register any future acquisitions or offspring born to the facility.
  • Permanently identify all current and future specimens (if not already permanently identified).

Responsibilities of the MAC: Each SES shall formulate a master plan. This master plan should include the following items:

    Mission statement

    Long range goals

    Demographic Trends- include population summary of the current captive population including recent and historical growth or decline.

    Population Genetics

    Special Concerns- include any special medical or husbandry issues.

    Budgetary Needs- include expected expenses and proposed methods for raising funds to be used by the SES.

    Short-term Goals- include realistic goals that should be attained within the coming year.

    Management guidelines and methods - establish guidelines and methods to be used by the Species Coordinator in assisting facilities in finding appropriate mates. Data that might be used in determining the best possible mate include pedigrees, mean kinship, inbreeding coefficients , etc. It should be remembered that mean kinship and other statistical data are not necessarily foolproof data. Much of the information used in determining these figures are based on assumptions. An example is that all wild caught founders were totally unrelated in the wild. Mean kinship values only represent the percentage of relationship of the particular specimen to the other specimens in the population as a whole, not to specific potential mates. For example, both a male and a female may have the same low mean kinship value, but these same two specimens may be siblings and thus do not represent an ideal mating. Inbreeding coefficients also only show the percentage of inbreeding in the ancestry of that specimen. This information is valuable in striving for offspring with lower inbreeding coefficients, but it should only be used as a tool in determining potential pairings. Therefore, this data should not be solely relied upon for selecting mates. Pedigrees provide the most reliable data available for determining the best pairings. The phenotype of the animal should also be of utmost importance in determining its use in the breeding program. Any animals showing obvious signs of congenital defects should not be used in reproducing the species, regardless of its genetic importance when only considering mean kinship and inbreeding coefficients

    Identification system for SES animals- establish recommended permanent ID methods such as microchips, tattoos, ear tags, etc.

The MAC will elect officers consisting of Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and Secretary. Duties of these officers are:

Chairman:

  • Presides over all meetings.
  • Calls for any elections or votes of confidence and tabulates the votes (to be verified by the vice-chair).
  • Appoints committees (i.e. research, education, web site, etc.).


Vice Chairman:

  • Presides over meetings in the absence of the chairman.
  • Temporarily fills in any of the operational positions left vacant by resignation or a vote of no-confidence until an election has been completed to fill the position.
  • Verifies voting results.

Secretary:

  • Keeps minutes of the meetings.
  • Mails minutes, meeting and election notices, and membership updates to the MAC.
  • Maintains records of funds received and dispersed.
  • Maintains a current membership status of participating facilities, voting representatives, and non-voting members.
  • Receives applications for new participating facilities and passes along the information to the studbook keeper and species coordinator.

The MAC will also elect operational positions consisting of studbook keeper and species coordinator. Their duties are:

Studbook Keeper:

  • Maintains and updates studbook.
  • Provides species coordinator with appropriate information from studbook to enable them to make breeding recommendations
  • Provides species coordinator with current data for the yearly SES report

Species Coordinator:

  • Works closely with studbook keeper to advise holders on species acquisitions and pairings
  • Maintains a duplicate of the studbook database as provided by the studbook keeper to be used as a failsafe and for compiling genetic management data
  • Prepares the yearly SES report detailing the current population and age demographics, number of specimens held in breeding and non-breeding situations (such as research, or education categories), state of captive holding space, holder number growth or decline, any legal issues, health considerations, research findings and reproductive success or failure trends for the previous year.
  • Assists and directs interested parties to resources available on the proper husbandry of species.
  • Acts as a clearing house on research and publications devoted to the in situ and ex situ conservation of the species.
  • Conducts surveys of participating facilities as needed for information to be included in the yearly report

Terms of Office

The term of the Studbook Keeper and Species Coordinator will be indefinite and the members will hold the position until they resign or are voted to be replaced. The MAC may replace these individuals in the following manner. A voting representative can file a request to the officers of the MAC to conduct a vote of confidence/no confidence. The Chairman will then conduct the vote U.S. mail. If a majority of all eligible voting representatives vote for confidence, the individual shall maintain their position. Should the majority of the eligible voting representatives convey a vote of no confidence, the Vice-Chairman shall immediately assume the position of either Studbook Keeper or Species Coordinator until a replacement has been elected. The Chairman shall inform the entire MAC and call for nominations for the position and, as expeditiously as possible, hold the election. The vote will be tabulated by the Chairman and the ballots sent to the vice-chairman for verification. The person gaining the simple majority of the votes will immediately assume the position. A voting representative shall be limited to calling for a vote of confidence/no confidence only once in a twelve month period. No more than two confidence/no confidence votes may be conducted for either position in any twelve month period, regardless of the number of calls for a vote of confidence/no confidence. The term of the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Secretary shall be one year. Officers are elected by a simple majority of votes cast.