Zoos Print January 2012

Magazine of Zoo Outreach Organisation Vol. XXVII No. 1, January 2012

ISSN 0971-6378 (Print); 0973-2543 (Online)

Be sure to read “Time is running out!” by Dr. Bert de Boer, Pp. 4-7

Date of Publication: 24 January 2012

Magazine of Zoo Outreach Organisation Vol. XXVII No. 1, January 2012

Contents 2011 CBSG and WAZA Annual Meeting CBSG -2011 CBSG Annual Meeting News, P. 1 -Presentation of U.S. Seal Award for Lifetime Achievement to William G. Conway, P. 2 WAZA -WAZA Conference theme: “Partnering for Sustainable Zoos and Aquariums”, P. 3 -Time is running out!, Bert de Boer, Key note address, Pp.4-7 -Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) & its Elegant Strategy, Sanjay Molur, Pp.8-9 -Wildlife Conservation & Animal Welfare need one another - “Conservation Welfare”, Sally Walker, Pp.10-17 Opinion : Elephants in Zoos, Elephant Camps, Rescue Centers in India, Sally Walker, Pp. 18-19 Opinion: Zoos Vs Rescue, Heidi Riddle, P. 19 Zoo and Wildlife News, P. 20 Guidelines for the Acquisition and Management of Felids (Cat Species) in Captivity adopted by Ministry of Environment in Pakistan: Short Review - Reviewed by Editor, P. 21 Technical articles -Veer dam as important winter migratory ground for Bar-headed Geese Anser indicus (Latham, 1790) Family: Anatidae, with special reference to observations of tagged Bar-headed Geese -- Ruta Bandivadekar, Rohan Pandit, Aditya Ponkshe & Pranav Pandit, Pp. 22-23 -Dismantling and shifting of nest, a rare behavior of Ashy prinia (Prinia socialis skyes) -Gajendrasingh S. Pachlore & Sarika P. Pachlore, P. 24 -Sighting of Green Avadavat Amandava formosa in Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary, Odisha, India -Himanshu S. Palei, P. 25 -Crotalria clarkei Gamble (Fabaceae), a new record for the State of Maharashtra -- Vijay A.Paithane, S.B. Sonje & A .S. Bhuktar, Pp. 26-27 Announcements New IUCN vacancy, P. 17 Third Seminar on Small Mammals, Kathmandu, Nepal, P. 25 Wildlife Week 2011-Education Reports, Pp. 28-32

ISSN 0971-6378 (Print); 0973-2543 (Online)

2011 CBSG Annual Meeting - Prague and other CBSG News The CBSG Annual meeting was conducted in Prague, Czech Republic from 30 Sept - 2 October with 74 people from 21 countries. Dr. Ivan Rehak and Martin Munzar and their staff put on a perfect event for CBSG and WAZA. At the CBSG meeting the focus was on intensive management of populations and the “One Plan” approach for integrated species conservation planning. Working groups addressed aspects of these and related topics. Gerald Dick, EO of WAZA convened a working group to discuss and strategise education in the Decade of Biodiversity. Other working groups included revised IUCN technical guidelines for ex situ management, paradigm shifts needed in the conservation community, needed tools and processes for intensive population management.

This meeting also marked the changeover of IUCN SSC Specialist Group Chair from Robert Lacy to Onnie Byers.

After eight years of dedicated service to CBSG, Robert Lacy stepped down as CBSG Chair in October 2011. Bob was selected as CBSG Chair after the death of Dr. Ulie Seal. Bob had big shoes to fill but he did it well and in his own style.

He opted out so that he would have time to work on the projects requiring his computer skills, such as intensive management of populations, continued evolution of VORTEX, etc. Onnie Byers has been an employee for CBSG for many years and a good friend of CBSG South Asia. She was CBSG Executive Director for many years, and her enthusiasm and generosity has made her a very popular officer. Onnie is, as expected, very excited about the new opportunities ahead for CBSG. Bob Lacy a contributor to the technical growth of CBSG for decades will remain an integral part of it and will continue to contribute greatly to our work in his new role as CBSG Science Advisor.

The Ulysses S. Seal Award for Innovation in Conservation is always a high point of the meeting. This year William Conway, a renowned conservationist was the very deserving recipient. Bill’s doctor recommended he not fly so Bill was visited personally and given the citation, medallion & our admiration. Bob Lacy delivered the moving citation which is included later in this overview.

Other CBSG News Release of PMx 1.0 The population management and planning software program PMx has been officially released and is available for download at: www.vortex9.org/PMx/PMx.html. PMx expands upon the demographic and genetic analytical tools provided by the PM2000 program, and includes new features such as stochastic projections, increased breeding and group management options, and options for evaluating interpopulation transfers. Training courses using the new software have begun and will continue in 2012.

Recent CBSG Workshops Western Chimpanzee PHVA for Sierra Leone -Sierra Leone is home to the second largest wild population of the Endangered Western Chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes verus.

Over half the chimpanzees live outside protected areas, often with local communities and accompanying threats.

Chimpanzee numbers are declining due to a variety of serious threats. Sierra Leone Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security, invited CBSG and CBSG Europe conducted a Western Chimpanzee PHVA workshop in May 2011 leading to a National Chimpanzee Conservation Action Plan.

PVAs for Brazilian Species - In the past few months CBSG Brasil has been involved in several Population Viability Analyses (PVAs). In May they assisted in facilitation and modelling for a Puma PVA in Atibaia, Sao Paulo. Also since July CBSG Brasil has been working on a population viability model for bush dogs (Speothos venaticus) with the help of CENAP/ICMBio and 12 field researchers. Finally, a two-day meeting was held in September to use population viability models to evaluate and make recommendations for a reintroduction program for populations of the endemic endangered red-billed curassow (Crax blumenbachii) in the Atlantic forest.

Human-Elephant Coexistence in India and Thailand Six workshops were conducted on human-elephant coexistence in elephant areas. Three were held in 3 villages near Coimbatore June-July 2011 sponsored by International Elephant Foundation. Three more occurred in August 2011 in Kanchanaburi, Thailand in collaboration with Elephant Conservation Network sponsored by US Fish and Wildlife Service, Columbus Zoo, and Cologne Zoo. Zoo Outreach Organization (ZOO)/CBSG South Asia were primary resource persons and organizers for all six workshops.

History of Zoos Symposium - In May CBSG participated in a two-day symposium at Chester Zoo titled “From Royal Gifts to Biodiversity Conservation: The History and Development of Menageries, Zoos and Aquariums”. The symposium provided a comprehensive overview of history and development of living wild animal collections across the world. It marked the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Society for the History of Natural History SHNH. Many CBSG members were present and gave presentations at the conference, a joint collaboration between SHNH, Chester Zoo, Linnean Society of London, Bartlett Society and WAZA. CBSG’s paper, “From Captive to Conservation: CBSG and the evolving role of zoos” will be published in the Symposium proceedings.

Training Activities - Recent CBSG has conducted several training activities on population management and population modeling software.

- Studbook and Pop. Management Workshop, Cisarua, Indon.

- Studbook training (SPARKS 1.6) 17 Indonesian PKBSI studbook keepers - PMx Population Management Training, Australasia - PMx Population Planning Workshop, Beijing, China - Vortex training course for European wildlife agencies, etc - Small Mammal Field Techniques Training by ZOO, WILD CBSG South Asia and Bat & Rodent networks.

Upcoming training courses for CBSG PMx training for JAZA (Tokyo, Japan) in February, Vortex training in Mexico in August, PMx and Vortex training courses in the US in 2012.

Recent Publications Intensively Managed Populations for Conservation Workshop Report, 2011 (Available on the CBSG website.)

Towards sustainable population management. WAZA Magazine (Vol 12): Articles by CBSG members and other conservationists. (Available for download from the WAZA website (links to PDF) (www.waza.org).

Status and Distribution of Freshwater Biodiversity in the Western Ghats, India Report (Available on the IUCN website).

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Presentation of the Ulysses S. Seal Award for Innovation in Conservation to William G. Conway Prague, 2 October 2011 “Ulysses S. Seal’s great passion and talent was his creative thinking about how new science could be most effectively applied to solving the problems of wildlife conservation. His contributions were amplified many times over by his further ability to recognize, encourage, and utilize others who also were making such innovative contributions. The CBSG has chosen to honor Ulie by creating the Ulysses S. Seal Award for Innovation in Conservation.” Nominations are solicited from CBSG membership, as well as from SSC and others.

It is impossible to summarize in this short message all that makes Bill Conway such a notable recipient of this award, and almost as hard to be as eloquent as spokesperson for the CBSG and Ulie as Bill always has been for conservation.

Given his stature in the world of zoos and wildlife conservation, it is interesting to note that Bill actually started his career in the world of zoos as a volunteer keeper in the reptile department at the St. Louis Zoo. He moved up through the ranks of keeper, curator, assistant to the director, and then General Director and President of the Wildlife Conservation Society until he retired in 1999.

“Retired” is a relative term, and Bill has been no less active and influential in retirement – as evidenced in his ongoing field work in Argentina, his continued guidance to CBSG, and his unrelenting passion as a spokesperson for wildlife and for doing the right things for wildlife.

The list of professional committees and organizations he has led fill many pages, but several stand out in their relevancy to the work of the CBSG. He founded the AZA’s SSP Committee and worked with Ulie Seal, Tom Foose, and others to get the AZA to embrace the responsibility for joint, scientific management of irreplaceable populations. Bill Conway also founded the AZA’s Field Conservation Committee, helped to write its first Field Conservation Manual, and he led the profession toward recognizing that species conservation, even as practiced by zoos, must include integrated approaches that combine responsible management of assurance populations, protection of remaining wild populations, scientific study, and inspiration and education of the general public. Along these lines, he has recently challenged us to think about how isolated populations in the wild need the same kinds of careful management as the ex situ populations in our more obviously direct care.

In promoting collective, integrated, scientific conservation of populations, Bill also has been an early and ongoing champion of ISIS and shared data, and a passionate advocate for CBSG and shared work on the behalf of species. He serves as a Fellow of the St. Louis WildCare Institute, an example of the use of the expertise within a zoo to achieve conservation also in the field, and he has provided excellent advice to many other conservation programs, either in a formal role as an advisor or just as a friendly and thoughtful message.

Bill Conway also never stopped thinking about how zoo exhibits could serve conservation as well as entertainment and recreation. His early signature paper “How to Exhibit a Bull Frog” is still a classic today. Bill recently wrote an update of that classic paper, in which he points out how

much more than just exhibitry zoos could do to save species. He said: “How is it that zoos spend so much effort on exhibits of animals vanishing in nature but so little to assure that they don’t vanish—even in the zoo?” Fortunately Bill Conway has often identified the directions that we need to go to develop the approaches and methods to be sure that species don’t vanish on our watch. As a true leader in the multifaceted field of zoo and conservation biology, Bill raised the bar many times over for all zoo professionals as to what we should and could accomplish whether it be in exhibit design, conservation education, field conservation, or the synergistic intertwining of all of these.

For the past 5 decades, Bill Conway has been publishing important papers that guided the way for zoos and aquariums to be effective in species conservation. Bill’s insights were so far ahead of his time that many of his influential papers were presented even before there was a CBSG. He was a key collaborator with such other notable colleagues as George Rabb, Ulie Seal, Tom Foose, Nate Flesness, and many more. His revolutionary impact on zoos and their role in wildlife conservation paved the way for other innovative thinkers such as Dr. Ulysses S. Seal.”

Bill Conway has already been given every other conservation award, including: - AZA’s R. Marlin Perkins Award - WWF Commander of the Order of the Golden Ark - Society for Conservation Biology Distinguished Achievement Award - American Association of Museums Medal for Distinguished Service to Museums - WAZA’s Heini Hediger Award - Audubon Medal - Henry Shaw Medal of the Missouri Botanical Garden - IUCN SSC’s highest award – Sir Peter Scott Award for Conservation Merit - Honorary Doctor of Science degrees from St. Lawrence University, Fordham University, and Trinity University.

All these awards and many others that Bill has received do not diminish the importance of the Seal Award to Bill, or the importance to us of presenting the award to Bill. The qualifications for the award state: The contributions of a nominee need not have been through work connected with the CBSG, but should reflect the CBSG values of creative thinking that results in improved conservation action. Bill has certainly had a huge impact – on zoos, on the SSC, bird conservation, exhibit design, field programs, developing science in zoos, and many more areas of conservation. But his biggest impact has been on all of his colleagues, either directly or indirectly, so it is absolutely appropriate that we present him with our highest award – the Ulysses S. Seal Award for Innovation in Conservation. I know Bill is pleased and proud that we have chosen to honor him, but I also know one thing that we could do that would be an even greater honor to Bill – to push forward to defeat Bill’s devil by making the investment not just of funds, but also of time, energy, creativity, and passion, necessary to protect species so that they don’t vanish from zoos, from wildlife reserves, or – especially – from their wild habitats.

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“Partnering for Sustainable Zoos and Aquariums” at WAZA Conference

Group photo of WAZA conference attendees at the beautiful Prague Zoo

WAZA conducted its 66th Annual Conference as a “global commitment to species conservation”. The conference took place in the exotic city of Prague in Czech Republic. Every year WAZA meets in a different country hosted by a different zoo ... for the most part. A few older and more ambitious zoos have hosted the conference more than once.

WAZA is the unifying organisation for the global zoo and aquarium community. WAZA’s slogan is “United for Conservation” ... bringing together its many zoos which have more than 700 million visitors every year. WAZA has different types of members, zoos and aquariums which have passed a rigorous examination to insure their quality, (National Zoo New Delhi, Mysore Zoo, Darjeeling Zoo, National Zoo Sri Lanka and Kathmandu Zoo currently are members) affiliate organisations such as ZOO and CZA, association members such as SAZARC and corporate partners (businesses).

The theme of the 2011 conference was “Partnering for Sustainable Zoos and Aquariums” or how to intensify partnerships for sustaining viable animal populations. Over 200 participants from 40 countries joined the conference.

To help discussion 20 participants presented high level papers addressing the future of animal populations and their welfare and conservation, following by working groups, one of which was devoted to the Decade on Biodiversity.

Also this conference provided an opportunity for WAZA to lay out its upcoming objectives : - Involvement of all WAZA members for the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity - Commitment of WAZA members to cooperate on the sustainable management of animal populations - Improvement of ethical standards for the future - Further WAZA membership focus on Asian countries

Jorg Junhold, who took the office of President for next two years at this conference said: "I trust WAZA is most aware - Improvement of WAZA communication outreach of its role and responsibility to support CBD in the Decade on biodiversity which is a major challenge for both organizations.

I am very confident that our community of member zoos and aquariums will make significant contributions to the Decade in the fields of raising awareness of their visitors and effective conservation measures for threatened species".

Some things about WAZA that may interest you on the World Wide Web: A selection of more than 200 conservation projects of WAZA members can be found on www.waza.org, on the following link: WAZA conservation projects. Many of these are in South Asia.

The education manual on biodiversity "Biodiversity is life", developed by WAZA and IZE (International Zoo Educators) is available on: Biodiversity Manual. You can also read it directly on this link: Biodiversity Manual.pdf. Two people from India worked on it, e.g. B.A. Daniel and Meena Nareshwar.

Attending the conference from South Asia were B.S. Bonal, M.S. Central Zoo Authority India, Sanjay Molur and Sally Walker from ZOO in India and Bhashwara Senaka Gunarathna, Director, National Zoo, Sri Lanka.

Bert de Boer delivered a seminal keynote address which follows this brief introduction. Sanjay and Sally presented papers at the conference which follow this brief introduction.

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Time is running out!

Bert de Boer*

Keynote address, WAZA 66th Conference, Prague, October 2011 The overall theme of the 66th WAZA Annual Conference is “Partnering for Sustainable Zoos and Aquariums”, with the following as sub-themes: “Secure long-term animal collections”, “Animal welfare and public opinion”, “Business prerogatives: Making money and saving wildlife”.

My contribution focusses mainly on the first of these, with an emphasis on “partnering”, and will here and there touch on the third aspect (business). It does not present really new information, but merely gives an introduction to the theme and summarizes developments in the past decades.

The title of this presentation, “Time is running out!”, was inspired by two references from the literature. Firstly, the 1993 edition of the World Zoo Conservation Strategy, the last chapter of which called upon the zoos and aquariums of the World to “help build a time bridge” for wildlife to survive a critical period of increasing threat caused by human activities. Secondly, the 2010 paper by William Conway in Zoo Biology, entitled “Buying time for wild animals with zoos”, a paper with the same overall message. Between 1993 and 2010, however, the urgency of this message considerably increased. Although nobody in 1993 was really optimistic about the future of wildlife and natural areas world-wide, meanwhile human pressure on our planet’s natural systems has increased tremendously. Habitat destruction accelerated and the percentage of surface area still available for natural life diminishes by the year. Climate change undeniably is progressing. Human over-consumption is rocketing. The end of these developments seems further away than ever. Thus, the “time bridge” must be built, and we must buy time as rapidly as possible.

Speaking of bridging a critical period for wildlife, the question should be asked “how much time do we need?”. In 1986 Soulé, one of the founders of the theory behind small population management in zoos, suggested that a period of some 500 to 1,500 years should be bridged to help wildlife survive what he called “demographic winter”. In the 1980s SSPs, EEPs and other breeding programmes started to plan for a 200 year time-span, as they hoped for stable human population size before the end of that period, after which wildlife might recover again. A few years later, however, SSP/EEP understood that planning for 200 years might be too difficult, so they reduced their target to 100 years, amongst others on the basis of the expectation that gene banks for wild animals would become operational meanwhile. William Conway, though fully advocating the need for long-term planning, always underlined that zoos, simultaneously should also work on short-term (10-15 years) “rescue operations” (bring into captivity, breed, and re-introduce as quickly as possible), that proved to have great potential in saving Critically Endangered species.

Obviously, in order to play a substantial role in assisting the survival of wildlife, zoos and aquariums need to build up sustainable populations of endangered species. But what is “sustainable” in this regard? As Lees & Wilcken (2009) and others have explained, here we must distinguish between “self-sustaining” and “sustainable”. A “self-sustaining” population should remain viable in the long run without any addition from the outside. In order to be “self-sustaining” a population should number at least several hundreds to several, or even many thousands of individuals. A “sustainable” population, on the other hand, can be much smaller (let us say a few hundreds to one thousand individuals), as occasional addition of animals from outside

the core population is part of the strategy to keep it viable over a long period of time. Without wanting to go into any detail (there is an abundance of literature on this subject), the required population size in each of the two categories depends on factors such as the generation time of the species under concern, the number of founder individuals that formed the basis of the population, the speed with which the founder population grows towards the final population size, the percentage of genetic variability the program wants to preserve, the length of time during which this should be preserved, the effectiveness of population management, etc.

The objectives of sustainable zoo populations (for what do we want to maintain them?) also play an important role. If a species is (nearly) extinct in the wild, there is no choice: we should aim at-sustainability. If we want to help save threatened species by building up “reserve populations” in captivity, occasional additions from the wild seem fully legitimate, and we could do with much smaller populations.

Sustainable zoo populations, however, are also needed in support of other zoo and aquarium conservations tasks, such as education, research, awareness-raising, and raising funds for conservation. In fact, zoos and aquariums need sustainable populations for their own future. There is no future for zoos without animals!

By the way, when discussing sustainable zoo populations, it is often feared that the need for sustainable – “writ large” – populations will unavoidably lead to an overall decrease of species diversity in the collections of the regional/global zoo and aquarium community. The opposite – I believe – is true: the maximum number of species we can all together keep in the future is determined by the degree of sustainability we can realize for each individual population, combined with the best possible joint collection planning. That is, how do we, all zoos and aquariums together, assign space to each of the species populations we want to maintain for the future. The less sustainable our populations are, and the less effectively we plan our collections, the poorer they will be turn out to become in the future.

The first cooperative zoo breeding programmes were initiated in the 1980s and their number and quality has increased. The theory of small population management basically is in place, and all required knowledge is available.

Data management systems were developed, ISIS, ARKS, SPARKS, ZIMS. The regional zoo and aquarium associations set up professional organizational structures to run regional breeding programmes. Meanwhile the number of successful reintroductions of animals from captivity into the wild increased, and much knowledge on reintroduction techniques was accumulated. Altogether, the potentials of zoos and aquariums in supporting the survival of wild species by captive breeding became realistic and undeniable.

However, recent evaluations of the performance of breeding programs – after almost 30 years of hard work of hundreds of dedicated zoo and aquarium staff – do not show a very hopeful picture. Both Baker (2007) and Lees & Wilcken (2009) concluded that no more than 50%, or – depending on the criteria used – even far less of the studbook populations currently attained sustainability. And that, while less still than 30% of all zoo populations is managed as *

Retd, Director, Gaia, Email: lemdeboer@hetnet.nl

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studbook or breeding programme populations. Thus, in spite of all efforts, we are not doing well at all. Lees & Wilcken literally concluded that “the zoo Ark, it seems, is sinking”.

So what went wrong? All kinds of things: e.g., lack of breeding success in many species. Lack of space; even if a species is propagating sufficiently, it is often difficult to place the offspring. Inadequate exhibits; many exhibits are perfect for presenting species to the visitors, but often not for optimal breeding and partner choice (e.g. groups too small to breed optimally). Implementation of rules and recommendations of breeding programs often pose problems. Programs, in fact, are run by “volunteers” with time on their hands, whereas, especially the complex programs with large populations, would require full-time professional management. Effective regional joint collection planning (important for assigning enough space to the selected species populations) in most of the regions so far hardly came off the ground. And, last but not least: zoo and aquarium breeding program success suffers from a lack of partners.

institutions has such an intensive, effective and widely distributed network. However, this global network could (and should) even become more efficient after a reconsideration and redefinition of relationships and task divisions between WAZA and the regions. Additionally, WAZA should play a more prominent role in the coordination of global breeding programs. As I said: the regional associations are well equipped to organise their regional breeding program (WAZA could never do that), but an increasing number of species programs requires some level of inter-regional coordination, and that is where WAZA should step in (Figure 1). Inter-regional coordination of species programs does only mean that regional species coordinators should be brought together in order to discuss and plan occasional animal exchanges between their regions (depending on the species, its captive population size and history, no more than one or a few inter-regional exchanges per generation). Not a big task for WAZA, but an important one.

Speaking of partnerships for sustainable zoo collections, I would like to distinguish three categories: 1. Internal partners (partners within your own institution), 2. Zoo network partners, and 3. External partners.

Starting with internal partners: building up and maintaining sustainable zoo collections seems to have become too much a matter for curators only. Unlike 25 years ago, even zoo directors now hardly want to be directly involved.

Sustainable zoo collections and all their aims and objectives, however, require the full support and interest of zoo managerial, PR, marketing, educational and financial staff, as well as those of zoo governing bodies (boards, cities, etc.). Admittedly, there are excellent exceptions: examples of zoos and aquariums that have done extremely well in involving all sections of their staff, management and authorities in species conservation, and are performing superb conservation PR and marketing. Still, overall, it seems that a majority of zoos and aquariums have yet much work to do to abandon traditional views of the roles and functions of their institutions. Explaining and marketing the necessities and potential benefits of zoo conservation breeding internally and externally requires much attention.

In this regard, I want to underline once more that the “recreation/conservation conflict” does not exist! In-house scepticists of zoo involvement in conservation often argued (and still are doing so) that zoo visitors will only want to pay their entrance fees for the recreation they expect in the zoo.

They would not want to come to be educated or to learn about conservation. Especially zoo boards, city authorities and zoo marketers frequently adhere this standpoint.

Recreation can be commercially marketed. Conservation is idealism that does not bring in visitors, nor money. It even looks as if such sounds in recent years – once again – are more loudly heard. I strongly want to warn against this trend! As already many zoos have demonstrated: recreation, education and conservation can perfectly go hand in hand, and can mutually reinforce each other. Let us be very happy that visitors are coming to the zoos in masses, simply to enjoy wild animals. Their joy is the best possible basis for conservation-mindedness. All the rest is a matter of creative and innovative education, PR and marketing.

The second category of partners for sustainable collections – zoo network partners – comprises particularly the regional associations and WAZA. The regional associations are very able to run and manage their breeding program, and are increasingly also involved in in situ conservation activities.

Together with WAZA the regions constitute a unique network of professionals. Hardly any other type of

Figure 1. Regional sub-populations, global coordination.

The third category of partners for sustainable zoo collections includes a whole range of external (= non-zoo/aquarium) bodies. CBSG of course, IUCN/SSC, international conservation bodies (WCS, CI, WWF, etc.), all kinds of “trusts” specialised in or focussing on breeding and conservation of specific animal groups (cranes, pheasants, waterfowl, etc.), private breeders with great expertise in the propagation of certain species (take care, however, not to get mixed up with the animal trade!), local, regional and national conservation authorities, and – last but not least – wildlife parks in all countries and corners of the world.

Partnering up with the latter will have to be at a species to species basis (at least one partner for every species we want to maintain in the zoo/aquarium community).

Consequently, this will require building up a very extensive, global, “parallel” network, connected to, and interwoven with the network of the zoo regions and WAZA. In regard to “partnering up with wildlife parks” I would like to remind you of the “meta population concept”. This concept was already introduced in the zoo species conservation discussion in the 1980s. Have a look at Figure 2. Natural (=wild) populations originally often consisted of two or more geographical subpopulations. Along the borderlines of their distribution areas some level of genetic

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exchange took place. Due to human activity, wild subpopulations often became fragmented and isolated from one another. Exchange of genetic material between wild remnant subpopulations therefore nowadays often can only be effectuated by population management in wildlife parks. An increasing number of wild animal populations will require such management. The captive populations of endangered species consist of (regional) subpopulations as well, with some exchange between them (as explained above).

Metapopulation management implies that the in situ components (Figure 2 left), as well as the ex situ components (Figure 2 right) of a given species are considered as part of one entity. In and ex situ components should be managed interactively, including – when necessary – occasional exchange between wild and captive. Such exchanges (please note that the exchange of one or two individuals per generation is enough to maintain acceptable levels of genetic variability on either side!) would logistically be easier, financially cheaper, and medically safer if there would be something in between of in and ex situ: e.g. breeding/rescue centres for the species under concern in their country of origin (see Figure 3), such as they exist already for several species.

Zoos and aquariums in fact should once and forever abandon the traditional “Zoo Ark” concept (Figure 4), and stop promoting the idea that they might be able to save substantial numbers of endangered species by

Figure 2. Ex situ and in situ sub-populations as parts of interactively managed meta-populations.

Figure 3. In-country breeding/rescue centres facilitate interactive management of in and ex situ populations.

maintaining self-sustaining populations for any length of time in captivity. This concept is unrealistic. The “Zoo Ark” is much too small and much too

expensive to safeguard more than a maximum of 1,000 species, while we all know that tens of thousands of species are at risk now, and many more will require assistance for their survival very soon. And even now already, with less than one third of the maximum number of species on board (in the form of studbook/breeding program populations), the Zoo Ark seems to be sinking….. (Figure 5).

Instead of sticking to the traditional “Zoo Ark” concept, zoos and aquariums should understand that they never can accomplish anything in isolation.

Instead of the “Zoo Ark”, an “Ar(k) mada” is needed to save as many as possible species from extinction. A fleet in which the zoos’ ship sails together with those of its partners in conservation: IUCN/SSC, CBSG, CI, WCS, WWF, Trusts, Parks, etc., etc.

(Figure 6). Only as part of such a fleet the zoo and aquarium ship makes sense, and can play a role in building the required “time bridge” for the survival of wildlife. Only as part of a large fleet, zoos and aquariums with 500 or even 1,000 ecological key

Figure 4. The traditional Zoo Ark concept.

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Note on the Author: Bert de Boer began his zoo career as a researcher in the Foundation for Research in Zoological Gardens based at the well-known Appenheul Primate Park.

From the first Bert had a “wider view” of the profession than most. He attended the seminal Zoo Association Conference at Front Royal/Smithsonian in 1992 and delivered a powerful keynote presentation in support of zoo associations’ need to become coordinated and more active globally.

In 1993 Bert, authored ‘The World Zoo Conservation Strategy’ (WZCS) launched in 1993 and the precursor of the current strategy to which he also strongly contributed.

Figure 5. The Zoo Ark is sinking. and ambassador species on board, can effectively help saving an equal number of habitats, and a multitude of endangered species world-wide.

I would like to conclude this paper with four statements: Zoo populations serve many conservation purposes. None of these conservation tasks can be performed without sustainable zoo animal collections.

Zoo populations do not necessarily need to be sustained 100% in-house.

If zoo populations are considered as parts of meta-populations (interactively managed), partnering up with a wide variety of conservation partners is of utmost and urgent importance.

Zoos in the 21st Century; Catalysts for Conservation? Cambridge University Press. Pp. 139-154.

Conway, W.G., 2010. Buying Time for Wild Animals with Aoos. Zoo Biology Vol. 29: pp. 1-8.

IUDZG (WAZA) & IUCN/SSC (CBSG), 1993. The World Zoo Conservation Strategy; The Role of Zoos and Aquaria of the World in Global Conservation.

(First edition).

Lees, C.M. & J. Wilcken, 2009.

Sustaining the Ark: the challenges faced by zoos in maintaining viable populations. International Zoo Yearbook vol. 43: pp. 6-18.

In 2003 Bert became Chair of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria a post he held until 2009. Bert strongly supported the EAZA Research Strategy 2008 emphasizing the need for zoos to engage in field research for conservation.

During this period he became Director of Appenheul Primate Park and retired after years of service. Afterwards he also was a force for the dramatically innovative Gaia Park.

Bert de Boer's extraordinary vision, intellect, industry and management capability was acknowledged through a lifetime achievement award from WAZA at the 65th Annual Conference in Cologne, October 2010.

Returning to the title of this presentation – “Time is running out!” – my conclusion is that “buying time for wild animals” as William Conway called it, is becoming exponentially more expensive by the day.

Any further delay should be avoided, and I therefore sincerely hope that the WAZA Prague Conference 2011 will see a major step forward in “the great mustering of all available forces” (as the World Zoo Conservation Strategy of 1993 called it) to man the Ar(k)mada References Baker, A., 2007. Animal ambassadors: an analysis of the effectiveness and conservation impact of ex situ breeding efforts. In: A. Zimmermann, M. Hatchwell, L. Dickie & C. West (eds.), Figure 6. What we need is an Ar(k)mada.

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Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) & its Elegant Strategy Sanjay Molur* The Alliance for Zero Extinction is a Ploughshare Tortoise Astrochelys yniphora relatively new organisation, set up in / Baly Bay National Park (MDG8) Madagascar Photo by Peter Paul van Dijk / Conservation International 2000 and by 2005 was launched internationally. The organisation is composed of 75 NGOs whose goal is to avert extinctions of species. Many organisations claim the same goal but AZE has a unique and elegant system or formula for targeting priority cases.

AZE works to ensure the conservation of species with the highest risk of extinction found in a single location.

This is achieved by identifying and monitoring of the site that hosts certain IUCN Red List generated EN and CR species. These species have been prioritized by using the IUCN criteria of irreplaceability (options in ARM1 space for conservation) and vulnerability (options in time). Priority species have both high irreplaceability and high vulnerability along with the aforementioned single site and therefore take precedence for conservation. The IUCN Red List is used to assist in these assessments.

Wollemi Pine Wollemia nobilis Australia / Wollemi National Park (AUS13) Photo by Aljos Farjon

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A range map of a species that is very geographically restricted and so this site is highlyAFG1 irreplaceabe as it is the only place where the species is found.

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More about these selection criteria for the site. Note, all three criteria have to be met.

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Endangerment. An AZE site must contain at least one Endangered (EN) or Critically Endangered (CR) species, as listed on the IUCN Red List.

Irreplaceability. An AZE site should only be designated if it is the sole area where an EN or CR species occurs, contains the overwhelmingly significant known resident population (>95%) of the EN or CR species, or contains the ETH5 overwhelmingly significant known ETH3 population (>95%) for one life history segment (e.g. breeding or wintering) ETH4of the EN or CR species.

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Species and sites identified by the Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) in India (2010 update)'.

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so that the best judgments can be made in cases of uncertainty.

There are great advantages in investing in AZE species. We are most IDN7 likely to lose these species next. We IDN12 can prevent the extinction crises most effectively. It is the most cost effective IDN26 way to proceed.

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conifers. The sites must also be homogenous and manageable for conservation. AZE has a "Candidate List" for any areas that are narrowly disqualified or unclear for inclusion.

Examples include sites that do not quite meet the irreplaceability KEN1 criteria, that are not quite threatened Five-hundred-and-eighty-seven AZE KEN4 enough (VU and DD species) but which sites have been identified of which only SYC1 are restricted to one or a few sites, KEN3 TZA8 250 qualify as protected areas: in SYC2 unevaluated species, and species with TZA1 these TZA3 sites 920 species have been TZA6 taxonomic uncertainties (including unTZA2 identified comprising mammals, birds, described and newly described TZA4 TZA7 amphibians, some reptiles and species). This list will be periodically TZA5

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* Executive Director, Zoo Outreach Organization, Coimbatore. herpinvert@gmail.com

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Himalayan Grey Langur Semnopithecus ajax

Membership in the Alliance is open to any nongovernmental environmental organization that has as a primary purpose the conservation of biological diversity.

Zoos should consider taking membership in AZE – it is a “win-win” for zoos. The AZE method is a natural for selection of conservation projects undertaken by zoos, which are changing the image and meaning of zoos.

Moreover the data collected through supporting project will add to the global database.

Indian case study Zoo Outreach Organization (ZOO) has set up an Indian AZE and is encouraging NGOs in India to take up some of the AZE identified species of fish and aquatic plants which were recently assessed under IUCN criteria.

Zoo Outreach Organization hosts the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group in South Asia, e.g., South Asian Primate Network. There are 43 taxa of Primates in the region of South Asia. Of these, the Himalayan Grey Langur, Semnopithecus ajax Pocock, 1928 has a narrow distribution and restricted to a single location, e.g. Chamba Valley of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir in the northwestern Himalaya in India. Semnopithecus ajax occurs in pine and alpine cedar forest from 2,200 to 4,000 m. It is folivorous, diurnal, and mainly arboreal (Molur et al. 2003).

Himalayan Grey Langur has been assessed as Endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species based on its highly restricted distribution (single location), its population size is less than 250 mature individuals due to threats from human activities in the area (Groves & Molur 2008). The Grey langur is reported to be hunted by local communities and hunting parties from neighbouring areas. The species is very shy unlike other langurs, due to its avoidance behaviour in human presence, perpetuated by hunting with guns. The species is listed on CITES Appendix I, and Schedule II Part I, of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 amended up to 2002. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species recommends that urgent action be taken for conserving this species and paying particular attention to the following areas: survey and establish distribution range, population monitoring and public education. Other priorities include community participation in protecting the species and working with the state forest department to implement holistic conservation management plans for the species and the site.

The Himalayan Grey Langur is one of the 19 species identified by the Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) in India.

AZE’s primary objective is to ensure conservation of species with the highest risk of extinction found in a single location.

The IUCN Red List categories of Critically Endangered and Endangered provide important information on the risk of extinction a species faces in the wild. AZE species are those prioritized from within the CR and EN species that are restricted to a single location. These species exhibit the classical combination of characteristics, e.g., irreplaceability and vulnerability, which determine high priority among threatened species that require urgent conservation actions.

Semnopithecus ajax fits this requirement and due to its dwindling numbers and highly restricted distribution, is a species that requires immediate attention for conservation action.

Of ZOO’s several taxon based South Asia Networks the Amphibian Network and the Bat/Rodent Network have selected one amphibian species and one small mammal species that need urgent conservation action, e.g., Indirana gundia and Millardia kondana. Indirana gundia is a small rock frog that occurs only in the Gundia/Kempholey forest of Karnataka State. Millardia kondana is a rat with soft fur restricted to Sinhagad Plateau/Fort in Maharashtra state.

Both of these species have a very restricted distribution and are not recorded from any other location. Both are CR according to IUCN Red List criteria. These two lesser-loved species are excellent AZE examples that require urgent conservation efforts that include stakeholders such as locals, forest staff, temple authorities, and many others.

Lesser-known small fauna face higher threats due to neglect, which occurs due to their non-charismatic qualities and human ignorance. There are hundreds of such neglected species and projects out there. As zoos have so dramatically improved their image with the enormously successful in situ conservation projects, perhaps species such as these have a much better chance of survival.

The Conservation Reserach Group of Kochi, an Indian AZE member has initiated action on three AZE freshwater fishes (Crossocheilus periyarensis, Lepidopygopsis typus and Hypselobarbus periyarensis) occurring in an AZE site, the Periyar Lake -Stream System, and two AZE fishes (Horalabiosa arunachalami and Homaloptera santhamparaiensis) in Santhampara, in Kerala. The endemic fishes are threatened from various factors including the most deadly of them all, the alien exotic fishes. CRG along with the support of the Indian AZE and ZOO, and funding from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, is working with all stakeholders to ensure zero extinction in the AZE site.

Organisations in India who are interested in becoming members may visit the Indian AZE website for more details.

Organisations and individuals wishing to join in the conservation efforts of any of the above species, or wishing to start action on other AZE species may write to <herpinvert@gmail.com> or <zooreach@zooreach.org> AZE also runs national alliances in Colombia, Mexico, Brazil as well as India.

The Alliance for Zero Extinction <www.zeroextinction.org> The Indian Alliance for Zero Extinction <www.zooreach.org/ indianaze/indianaze.html>

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Wildlife Conservation & Animal Welfare need one another ….

“Conservation Welfare” Sally Walker* Conservation biology & animal welfare were once considered two separate disciplines, but in the last few years several symposia and publications have suggested more integration of these two topics. Some examples are: Symposia / Publications Organisation

Event

Publication(s)

Peter Wall Institute & Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

Interdisciplinary Workshop; Vancouver, 16-18, Nov. 07 http:// www.interaction. pwias.ubc.ca/

Sp. Issue Animal Welfare Journal, May 2010, UFAW, UK,

Chicago Zoological Society, Institute of Animal Welfare

2008, International Workshop zoo and animal welfare scientists

Sp. Issue Zoo Biology Journal, 28:501-506

WildCru, Oxford / Born Free Foundation, UK

Animal Welfare in Conservation Practice , 1-3 Sept 2010 Oxford, UK

“e-proceedings” on website all PPts in PDF, http:// compassionateconserva tion.org

AZA Welfare Committee Zoo Outreach Organisation

White paper approved Multiple education workshops over two decades in thousands of schools, zoos, ngo’s, etc.

AZA, 2010 Educational packets, posters, booklets, Power-point presentations on the topic since about 1989. www.zooreach.org

Several papers delivered at the workshop held in Vancouver, Canada in 2007 were published by UFAW in the Animal Welfare Journal, May 2008. It was a special issue entitled “Conservation and Welfare” comparing and synthesizing the two fields. Fraser, in an overview article, commented that the output of the UFAW workshop “…showed that many research problems and practical interventions (of wildlife conservation) would benefit from involving animal welfare and recognizing animal welfare concerns.” He also said “… for animal welfare scientists and advocates, the papers call for an expansion of concern to include the vast number of free-living animals whose welfare is adversely affected by human action. He stated that until relatively recently, animal welfare scientists had paid little attention to the welfare of free living wildlife”… yet routine forestry, agricultural, pest control measures gravely impact the welfare of wild animals.1 Also in 2008, the Chicago Zoological Society Center for the Science of Animal Welfare conducted an international workshop intended to bring zoo and animal welfare scientists together and to promote investigation and assessment of current zoo welfare research. The focus was how the understanding of wild animals could improve zoo animal welfare.2 The papers from the workshop were published in Zoo Biology.

From 1-3 Sept 2010 WildCru, University of Oxford and Born Free Foundation organized a 2-day International Symposium entitled “Animal Welfare in Conservation Practice” to debate

animal welfare issues in conservation, examine potential synergies, look for practical outcomes and promote dialogue in Oxford, UK. http://www.compassionateconservation.org More recently, July 2011, the American Zoo Association’s Welfare Committee brought out an excellent White Paper entitled “White tigers, lions, and king cheetahs: welfare and conservation implications of intentional breeding for the expression of rare recessive alleles.”4 The paper is striking because it unapologetically combines welfare and conservation in its title and throughout the document. This paper makes such a good case against intentional breeding for rare recessive alleles that it has been possible to use it to break through the mind-set of some Asian zoo personnel where the white tiger has been deified both for its godlike whiteness, its uniqueness and (perhaps more than anything) the “heavenly” price it brings on the market.

So there have been enough gatherings and publications about animal welfare and conservation to create a dialogue and extension of the utility of this concept. In October 2010 the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group entertained two sessions of a working group on the need for the welfare group in CBSG, and this will be followed by the creation of a Task Force on animal welfare under its auspices.

Education & training material There is plenty of education and training material on conservation for youngsters as well as adults but much less welfare literature and precious little on this relatively new concept of “conservation welfare”. Youngsters need to learn to be kind to animals from toddler to teen and beyond.

They need to learn from actual reasons and facts and not just because “it’s a nice thing to do.” If they learn when they are young and if the reasons for protecting and not persecuting free ranging animals, as well as pets, it has a good chance of sticking to them as they grow into adulthood. One often hears that serial killers tortured animals when they were kids. That alone should justify a mighty effort to instill adequate respect for Life of any and all creatures.

At present the writer could turn up NO educational literature at all on conservation welfare except what has been brought out by Zoo Outreach Organization (Z.O.O). Z.O.O has been bringing out educational literature using the synthesis of conservation and animal welfare as a teaching and training tool to stimulates new thinking about both animal welfare and conservation, as well having the capacity to bring about changes human attitudes and behaviour.

Zoo Outreach Organization (ZOO) based in India was founded to help Indian and later South Asian zoos improve, including zoo staff and visitor attitudes and behaviour towards the captive wild animals. ZOO grew out of Friends of Mysore Zoo (FOZ) founded 1981. Some of the first teacher training, educational literature and educational signage the FOZ developed carried the seeds of conservation welfare. ZOO was the first to use the terms * Founder/Director, Zoo Outreach Organization, Coimbatore.

Email: sallyrwalker@zooreach.org

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“wildlife welfare” and “conservation welfare” and to use them in a series of educational booklets, toys, packets and handouts. These have been supplied to hundreds of zoos and NGO’s who wanted to educate their visitors and improve animals’ conditions. Similar educational materials continue to be evolved, produced and distributed widely in South Asia. Some examples will be discussed further on in this paper.

Intersection of conservation and (animal) welfare What are the ways that conservation and animal welfare intersect? Some quotes from the symposia, publications and education/training materials are helpful in establishing this.

From the UFAW Symposium published in Animal Welfare 2010, 19, ISSN 0962-7286.

In preparing captive living animals for life in the wild, concerns for welfare and conservation may collide. (B.Beck, 1995).

Since reintroduction programs involve moving animals from captive or wild environments and releasing them into novel environments, there are sure to be challenges to the welfare of the individuals involved.

RR Swaisgood, The Conservation-welfare nexus in reintroduction programs, 2010 Conservation biology and animal welfare science ... many areas of existing or potential overlap. Policies and practices targeting either conservation or animal welfare may not work unless they take account of both areas of concern.

D. Fraser, Toward a synthesis of conservation and animal welfare science, 2010 From the symposium of WildCru and Born Free, Compassionate Conservation Symposium 1-3 September 2010, Oxford Animal welfare in conservation: working towards a common goal Macdonald, et. al. makes a case for animal welfare in conservation in discussing ethics in conservation and describing “the great divide” as Welfare including the welfare of the individual and its right to live and Conservation as conservation of the population (many individuals) and their right to be left alone. Finding common ground will lead to a common goal. David Macdonald, Sandra Baker, Merryl Gelling & Lauren Harrington, September 2010.

Do the means justify the end? Welfare and the kangaroo harvest The mission is to foster understanding amongst Australians about kangaroos in a sustainable landscape, through critically reviewing current kangaroo management practices and exploring non-lethal management methods that are consistent with ecology, animal welfare, human health and ethics. Dror Ben-Ami , 2010.

Dealing with interspecies conflicts in wildlife conservation, “What measures can be taken to minimize risks to welfare (in conservation)? The author refers the “Three Rs” or principles of humane use of animals in scientific procedures and suggests two of them for conservation interventions,

e.g., Refinement – of protocols and methods in order to minimize adverse welfare consequences and Reduction – involving no more (nor fewer) animals than required in order to achieve the conservation objective James Kirkwood, 2010.

Animal Welfare in Zoo Education Zoo education seems to have steered clear of animal welfare except in very uncreative, repetitious, brief and subtle ways. This is hard to understand because there are so many opportunities at the zoo for a child or adult to have fun messing with the animals and harming them, intentionally and/or unintentionally. Teasing animals, feeding, pretending to attack, shouting, throwing harmful items inside the enclosure or cage is rampant in many zoos.

Signage alone is not sufficient to insure these practices stop; youngsters need to be guided before they will willingly give up such a treat as tormenting animals. Combining welfare and conservation can often create a rationale that reaches older youngsters. Even human–animal conflict can be very effectively addressed with conservation and welfare for both human and animal. Some examples follow. The Appendices contain the text of three documents and one document containing a list of topics covered.

“Daily Life Wildlife” is a concept meant to inspire kids to adopt kindness to the animals which hang around their home, school, roadside, ponds, etc., instead of tormenting them for entertainment. We don’t think of what killing flies, torturing frogs, and lighting fires on cat’s tails might be doing to kids in the long term. In some countries, even adults don’t take it seriously, and the result is kids who grow up thinking that is “right behaviour”. “Daily Life Wildlife” addresses all minor and some major cruelties perpetrated by so called innocent youngsters on animals we encounter on a daily basis. “Daily Life Wildlife” has been the most popular packet for the longest duration of any ZOO has developed in the last two decades. See Appendix I. “Monkey Manners” confronts the issue of invasion of monkeys from destroyed forests and barren lands into villages, towns and cities, schools, hospitals, etc. … where human beings eat and or throw leftovers away. Monkeys quickly become accustomed to this life and morph into very bold and pugnacious creatures that cause enormous angst, as well as a range of injuries, etc. Human beings cause this monkey mischief … in countries where locking up garbage and trash is not practiced and rotting food and leftovers are left outside houses for dogs or flies to eat, and they attract monkeys. The Monkey Manners literature explains the mistakes made by human beings and also warns children not to fight the monkeys if they snatch food, or to run from the animals as that will incite the monkeys, and to take responsibility for the problem since the monkeys cannot be expected to do so. Learning how NOT to be attacked by a monkey, how NOT to attract them with food, etc. creates a vacuum in which monkeys hopefully find other forests where they may feed on wild fruits, bark, etc. Consult Appendix II in this paper.

“Human Elephant Conflict HEC  Human Elephant Coexistence HECx”. Much like the Monkey Menace, human beings cause much of the injury and death from elephants themselves. The elephants have been squeezed out of their large range and also done out of their watering and grazing areas. People become enraged at the behaviour of the

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elephant and forget the strength and fury of the elephant.

Ultimately human beings, aided by forestry officials, prevail with the elephants getting the worst of it. Many elephants are maimed or killed! Many are killed trying to find water or food. Over all, it is both a conservation and animal welfare issue, despite the fact that human beings are also harmed.

Elephant Etiquette explains what human beings should do and not do in cases of marauding elephants. See Appendix III. Conservation Conscious v.s. Conservation Careless – This packet is a complicated one about zoos, differentiating between “conservation conscious” and “conservation careless” zoos. The packet is designed with the idea of teaching people in a wide range of ages to appreciate a zoo, what to do if the zoo is not good. A collection of a dozen large “cards” explains almost everything one should know about a zoo, in order to behave well in it, or to help it as a volunteer, to respect a good zoo, etc. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about different aspects of zoos are frank and to the point and a card on how to really help a zoo that wants to improve. Only the FAQs are included in the Appendix due to the size of the packet. See Appendix IV. ZOO also has brought out a wide range educational material on sloth bears who are used as entertainers by their owners and live horrible lives tramping the hot roads and streets of city and country in India including a teaching manual.

Welfare is no less than the ”well-being” of wild animals.

The welfare/well-being of wild animals either captive or wild is essential to conservation of wildlife. This is so simple and obvious that it literally goes without saying. Wildlife conservation, however, requires a different kind of welfare than domestic animals – it requires “conservation welfare” which involves a heavy measure of “leave them alone”, as well as certain necessary welfare actions. Good zoos and conservation biologists or field practitioners routinely use welfare practices in their keeping, breeding (or not breeding), catching, handling, etc. Ironically “welfare” is still not wholly welcome by all people in the context of conservation, and “conservation” is not welcome to all in the context of animal welfare. This anomaly can be mitigated if a clear distinction between Conservation Welfare and Animal Welfare is established.

Good practice • Good practice of welfare both in the field and captivity is desirable for ethical and humane reasons.

• Good practice is necessary for wildlife conservation which requires physically and psychologically fit animals.

• In the final analysis, what’s good for the health and wellbeing of either captive or wild animals seems good also for their conservation.

Conservation … saving species, populations, and individuals … is welfare plus benefits!

Appendix I Wildlife Welfare in Daily Life (illustrations removed) Produced and published by Zoo Outreach Organization (ZOO) Sponsored by Chester Zoo and UFAW, Text by Sally Walker, Education booklet No#14/2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------What is “Wildlife” ?

Definition : “Wildlife” refers to (wild) animals which are not domesticated (in case of plants, not cultivated) • When we think of “wildlife”, we think of animals that live in the wild or away from human habitation.

• But any free-ranging non-domesticated animal is wildlife (except feral formerly domestic animals).

• Examples are tigers, lions, eagles, butterflies, fish, rodents, bats, lizards, snakes, etc., that one sees in the forest.

What is Captive Wildlife ?

• Animals kept in zoos are wildlife, even though they live in captivity.

• Temple animals, although domesticated perhaps, are still wildlife -- elephants, monkeys, bats!

• What about frogs, insects, house geckos, lizards, spiders, snakes, crows, etc. that we see around our house and compound. There are also wildlife. We call it “daily life wildlife”.

What is “Daily life wildlife”?

• “Daily life wildlife” is a term created by Zoo Outreach Organisation to draw attention to the animals that live close to us that we all take for granted.

• We consider these animals so common that we treat them like objects, as if they didn’t have feelings.

• Youngsters may get a habit of mistreating animals by being careless with the feelings and lives of these animals they encounter on a daily basis.

What is “animal welfare”? …. Welfare means “wellbeing”.

Wildlife welfare therefore means the well-being of wild animals both in wild and in zoo.

Well-being means • to be free from neglect, abuse, stress, distress and deprivation.

• to have basic needs satisfied, & even to have comfort, happiness, contentment, and general good . . .

Human Welfare • Humans give a lot of importance to their own welfare.

• For our own welfare, we often harm other life forms unknowingly and unnecessarily.

• Captive wild animals i.e., animals in the laboratory, zoos, pets often have a hard time when human beings are insensitive.

• Free-living animals also deserve kind treatment to the extent possible.

Why learn about wildlife welfare?

• Wildlife is important to our survival, even daily life wildlife.

• You kids are tomorrow’s adults.

• Good values will not let you down. Practicing good values makes us feel good.

• Learning to be kind to all animals builds good values and prevents other bad habits.

Human activities affect welfare of wild animals in forests: • Destruction of habitat

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• • • • •

Introduction of diseases through domestic animals Hunting / trapping / poisoning Disturbance caused by tourism (firing crackers in forest) Introduction of inappropriate animals Release of chemical pollutants

Cruelty in Daily life • Killing household insects that could be scooped up and set free.

• Killing or injuring animals that come in or near the house but are harmless (such as frogs, garden lizards, insects, birds, bats, shrews, etc.).

• Torturing animals just for entertainment • Such animals are not just harmless … most of them are helpful to us !

• Some animals like mosquitos are pests due to their impact on human health, but they are few compared to the number of useful animals.

Daily life mistakes!

• Many of the animals people kill or shoo away play a beneficial role in our lives ...

• Frogs, snakes, bats control insect and rodent populations.

• Many insects and some bats are pollinators. They are responsible for one-third of the food we eat and also for flowers and some trees.

• Shrews and other small rodents spread seeds and also eat up grasses that clog waterways.

• Worms break down living material for enriching the soil.

Check your Habits!

• These are bad habits. We just don’t think !

• Common sense applies. No need to be fanatical ! (You can swat mosquitos).

• Sometimes we just don’t know what animals are harmless.

• Cultivate investigation, rather than careless habits.

Daily life wildlife as pets?

• Wild animals — even daily life wildlife should not be kept as pets.

• Not every animal can adapt itself to humans’ conditions.

• All animals have some basic requirement that a captive situation can’t provide.

• Many wildlife pets become upset and even die of stress and trauma.

• Keeping wild animals can sometimes be dangerous to humans because of their unpredictable nature or disease.

Watching daily life wildlife • Daily-life wildlife doesn’t have to be kept. You can watch them from a distance like a naturalist studying wildlife in the wild.

• Keep a record of the behaviour of a familiar gecko. Does it come in the same room daily ? Does it like the wall or ceiling better ?

• See how many frogs come into your bathroom in a month.

• Watch ants troop up the wall to get a dab of jelly or other sweet stuff.

• Count the kinds of birds in your compound.

Since we are talking about wildlife…when you go to the zoo • Don’t tease animals in the zoo; they also have feelings.

• Don’t throw stones, or paper, or sticks or stones.

• Don’t feed zoo animals your food. It is not good for them and could make them sick.

• Watch wild animals at the zoo like you watch daily life wildlife

Appendix II MONKEY MANNERS !

Misplaced Monkey Mischief - How to Handle Concept and text by S. Walker with help from J. Lenin, S. Paul, S. Molur Sponsored by Awley Wildlife and People (www.awley.com) and Apenheul Primate Park (www.apenheul.nl) Published by Zoo Outreach Organization/South Asian Primate Network Education booklet number 18/December 2007 Hello ! Will you answer some questions? just answer “yes” or “no” • Do you have wild monkeys roving your neighborhood doing bad things?

• Have you ever had wild monkeys come home, steal food & make a big mess?

• Have you ever been bitten by a wild monkey in a public locality?

• Have you ever met a wild monkey in a park and felt scared?

If you have replied YES to even one question, you need to learn some “Monkey Manners!”

But what ARE Monkey Manners?

Monkey Manners are NOT the bad manners of monkeys, described before.

Monkey Manners are a set of behaviors or actions to be learned by YOU and your friends and family, so that you will be safe from these mischievous relatives of mankind. That’s what this booklet, and this whole packet is about.

“Mind your monkey manners” means you will NOT act in ways that make monkeys mean.

The monkey problem is NOT because monkeys are mean. It is because human beings are short-sighted. Human beings have not managed other humans, forests and wildlife in such a way that there is enough space for all.

It is now high time we human beings learned our “Monkey Manners!”

What are Monkey Problems and their cause?

1. Today - modern times - there is less space between wild animals like monkeys and where people live. Monkeys find it easier to raid crops and eat garbage around homes and other human habitations, in villages, towns and cities, than to forage in a shrinking or crowded forest. Therefore there are a growing number of monkeys coming into human localities.

2. Some places like temples and tourism sites encourage the feeding of monkeys for sake of pilgrims obtaining blessing and for entertaining tourists. Today there are just too many monkeys, and they have learned bad habits.

3. These monkey groups thrive on the easily accessible, rich food and their numbers increase, thus increasing the problem. So Monkey Manners Rule # 1 is Don’t feed monkeys or leave food where monkeys can get it easily.

4. Mischievous monkeys are not popular. Sometimes people try and solve the problem themselves by killing them regardless of their unique type. It is not good for the maintenance of biodiversity as some of the rare unique ones are being killed and shifted in addition to the numerous common ones.

5. Mischievous monkeys destroy crops, creating hardships for farmers and their families. Government panics and uses

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wrong method to control them, which makes the problem worse.

6. The longer the problem persists, the bolder the animals become through familiarity.

7. Disease can be passed from people to monkeys to people. Such diseases are called “zoonoses”. This is very bad for both people and monkeys.

Things to do as a student, as a family member, & as a concerned citizen At home, offer to be “garbage monitor”, insuring that garbage cannot be accessed by monkeys or other animals.

At school make signboards telling how destructive it is to feed monkeys and places around areas where this happens.

Encourage your parents, teachers, & their clubs to support the city government purchasing incinerators so that they get rid of garbage entirely instead of simply moving it from one area to another. Also good for controlling rats and other pests.

Things that your government authorities should be doing: Legislators should pass a legal ban on public feeding of monkeys.

Municipal authorities should create an action plan for combating monkey menace without harming the animals.

Forest authorities should provide training to wildlife staff to handle monkey menace.

Sanitation authorities should check that the garbage is being removed every day.

Temple authorities should find other ways for devotees to satifsy the need to feed monkeys without creating problem monkeys.

Monkey Drama You can get your neighborhood together on what to do about the monkey problem by conducting a drama or a series of dramas with other kids. Get together as many of the kids in the neighborhood as you can. Divide them into two groups: householders and monkeys. Conduct a drama a day for several days. Use this method to teach the adults what they can do about the monkey problem. Here are some samples...make your own dramas from what you learn in this book.

Day 1: Demonstrate what happens when house-holders are careless with garbage or put out food for stray animals to eat. Show the monkeys demanding more and more food and becoming more and more aggressive. Show them entering houses where the shutters have been carelessly left open.

Day 2: Demonstrate how to wean the monkeys away from living off human houses. You can show monkeys hanging around the trash bins piteously begging and householders acting strong and refusing to give food.

Day 3: Demonstrate how kids should behave around monkeys. Show what happens when you ignore them and what happens when you tease them and give them treats.

Day 4: Conduct a debate between householders and monkeys. Let each give their point of view and figure out what to do.

Day 5: Bring government officials, animals welfare enthusiasts and forester and wildlife officers into the debate.

3. If a wild monkey troop habitually visits your neighborhood, make your house secure.

4. Avoid being close to any wild monkey or monkey troop.

5. Avoid confrontation for both your safety and that of the monkey.

MONKEY- DONT’s 1. Don’t feed wild monkeys or eat in front of them … in parks, road, at home…anywhere.

2. Don’t smile or show your teeth to monkeys – it means “danger” to them.

3. Don’t taunt or tease wild monkeys anywhere (ex.

Offering food then pulling it away).

4. Don’t run from wild monkeys … if it threatens, stand your ground with a threat pose.

5. Don’t ever try and fight if a monkey grabs something out of your hand.

6. Don’t look monkeys directly in the eyes; that can be interpreted as a threat by them.

7. Don’t snarl or even smile at monkeys - showing teeth means“hostile” to monkeys.

8. Don’t act afraid... that is interpreted as weakness, meaning you are safe to attack.

9. Don’t go close to them; don’t run up to them or run from them.

10. Don’t tease them ...for any reason anywhere.

Appendix III Elephant Etiquette Compiled and designed by Sally Walker Sponsored by US Fish and Wildlife Service, Elephant Family, Twycross Zoo, Columbus Zoo, and Schonbrunn Zoo. Typesetting, proofreading and other assistance -- ZOO staff Produced and published by ZOO March 2010 -- Education Booklet Number 43 Lets Look at our Elephant Etiquette for the well- being of elephant and man Who has not heard of “man-animal conflict” these days?

The newspapers are full of reports of domestic cattle lifting by big cats, depredation of crops by wildpig, monkeys invading orchards, etc. The conflict between human beings and elephants has become so pervasive that it has its own acronym, HEC - Human Elephant Conflict.

More attention is given to HEC in rural areas because elephants having been deprived of habitat and food by developmental works, are entering villages and agricultural fields to find eatables in kitchen gardens and fields.

In some countries, however, captive elephants even in cities and towns have their own problems with human beings -- in zoos, temples, public roads, etc. Some people don’t know how to behave around them, sometimes resulting in injuries or fatalities though no fault of the elephant. The elephant may be punished however.

Monkey see ... monkey do...monkey do’s ... monkey don’ts

So, in this booklet, when we talk about Elephant Etiquette, we include all instances of human elephant contact: rural, city, captive and wild. Elephants are big and powerful.

Don’t risk either injury to yourself or putting the elephant into trouble.

MONKEY-DO’s 1. Make a system for holding garbage away from home, so it doesn’t attract monkeys.

2. Report destructive monkey individuals and troops to your wildlife department and animal welfare society.

Learn some rules and principles of Elephant Etiquette.

Elephant etiquette means appropriate behaviour with elephants ... avoiding confrontations, refraining from annoying them, from exciting them, from goading or tempting them ... to put you and others in danger.

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Elephants, as such, once lived in completely different parts of the world and in a very different form. They were from Primelephas that will include Loxodonta, mammuthus and Elephas. Instead of warm tropical forests their habitat was cold tundra such as in northern North America and northern Eurasia. These elephants have been extinct since 2000 BC and are called Wooly Mammoths. They existed as long as 20,000 years ago.

Elephants today are the subject of much scientific research.

Like monkeys, our closest relatives, elephants have very interesting and intelligent minds, with thought and behavior processes which defy explanation.

Today’s elephants have many problems.

Human Elephant Coexistence HECx Many rural people that we met while assembling this booklet seemed to be more “successful” in dealing with HEC. These were people who had adjusted to the elephant presence, who willingly coexisted with the animals and accepted them as part of life. These people seemed to have no more and possibly many less irrevocable tragedies, such as loss of life or limb, than people whose way of behavior was fighting the elephants.

We sympathise with both people and animals in nature, so we adopted human elephant coexistence as our direction in education and philosophy. We have titled our programme “Getting Along with Elephants” meaning Human Elephant Coexistence, HECx. This booklet is about HECx and the well-being of both human beings and elephants. We do not mean to belittle or dismiss the suffering or seriousness associated with crop and home loss or of the inconvenience and aggravation that adjustment often carries. We simply want to focus on minimising the loss of life and limb. That is why we include people living in cities where they come across captive elephants at zoos, temples, circuses, etc. Injury and loss of life happens to them also when they behave foolishly around elephants.

Etiquette means manners or people’s customs of being polite, or what we call civilised. We don’t break the queue; we don’t push and shove; we try to be on time for engagements; we don’t break our word; we try to speak nicely, etc.

When we speak of elephant etiquette, we don’t mean good manners for elephants!. We mean good manners, eg. correct behaviour of humans toward elephants. And we define “correct” here as whatever will help you stay alive and in one piece and also keep elephants out of trouble.

Elephant etiquette helps both man and animal to survive.

Elephant etiquette is when you agree NOT to act in ways that frightens or angers elephants, tempting them to misbehave.

This is for your well-being and for the well-being of elephants.

Etiquette for Elephants?

Elephants, as are all wild animals, are very unpredictable.

Wild animals believed to be tame sometimes injure or even kill their trainers or owners, who trusted them. This is always because, although we know we mean the animal no harm, and the animal may return our love and trust, we can never know what in the immediate environment frightens or threatens the animal. As wild animals, they have a

strong survival instinct which kicks in quickly, as if the animal were living in the wild.

Reports of elephants killing people for seemingly small offences don’t give the whole picture ... the whole picture includes what the elephant sees and does... For example, the elephant may be warning his wayward mahout with a ‘slap on the wrist’ but - because they don’t realise their strength, a slap could hurt or maim.

Fast movements are believed to frighten elephants ... it may be the reason behind the belief that elephants are afraid of mice. Rats and mice move extraordinarily quickly and this is probably the reason for the stories of elephants seeing a mouse and running amok.

This information should be useful to us ... we should be careful not to make fast or suspicious movements, or sharp loud noises when around elephants, even when they are securely tethered.

Elephant Quiz for people living in elephant areas.

Just answer “yes” or “no” 1. Do you like elephants? Can you imagine what it would be like to be an elephant?

2. Do you ever get hungry?

3. Can you imagine what it would be like NOT to have anything to eat in your area?

4. Would you go to nearby areas and try to find food?

5. If people tried to keep you away from food when you were very hungry, would you be angry? Would you fight with them?

Thanks for taking this quiz. Now, if you replied “yes” to any questions 2-5, how do you think an elephant feels?

Elephant Quiz for people living in cities. Just answer “yes” or “no” 1. Would you like to be an exhibit in a zoo, or circus, or temple, to be restrained by a chain or cage and dependent on others for food?

2. Would you like to have people throwing peanuts at you? or to have people pointing and laughing at you? or offering food to you then pulling it back when your reach for it?

3. Do you like it when people deliberately try and upset you to see your reaction?

4. When your schoolmates tease you, or throw things at you, do you simply stand down?

Thanks for taking this quiz. If you replied “no” to these questions, how do you think an elephant feels?

Well, we don’t know but it is likely that an elephant may not be able to empathize with a human being or to follow the Golden Rule of “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” You, as a human being, have an advantage … you can empathize with humans or animals ... if you want to.

Even the most uneducated villagers in some villages we surveyed, empathized with elephants. Several villagers said: “the elephant has a very big stomach but we people with our small stomach get so hungry ... they (the elephants) need more food than us. They have to eat.”

The villagers thus “forgive” the elephants for trying to raid their crops. This is how they adjust.

What causes elephant problems anyway ?

1. In contemporary South Asia, there is less space for animals, particularly in rural areas near to forests, where people live. Elephants have been displaced by development ... clearing forests by humans. There is less forage and fruit for elephants because human beings are

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gathering for themselves and their livestock. Elephants maintain their family ties, living in large herds. It takes a big area of forest to provide them with sufficient food and “breathing room” to survive.

2. People have infiltrated forests and collect forest delicacies for sale, reducing the variety and nutritional content of available foods for elephants.

3. The lure of “easy food” from crops, domestic stores, rural markets, etc. is overpowering to the hungry and frustrated elephants.

4. Elephants sheer size and the complexity of their social behaviour cause tremendous difficulties in finding a place to settle. In any case elephants move around a lot but now there is scant space to do so. In zoos and other captive situations, elephants really suffer.

5. Elephants are much more sensitive than people think, in captivity as well as in the wild. Many a visitor to a zoo or other captive elephant site has unwittingly provoked an elephant with some silly behaviour resulting in injury, death or a very bad scare. In the process sometimes the elephant, who just behaved like an elephant, is punished.

also have challenges such as finding food, dealing with carnivores and man. They spend a lot of time moving around, gathering a variety of foods, bathing, taking care of young, etc.

Who causes elephant problems ?

Some of you might be thinking: “it’s not fair ! its not fair for us to have to adjust to elephants. They should adjust to us.

They come in our living and work areas and take what they want. It is their fault ...” Well let’s look at that.

Visiting a zoo or circus • don’t go close to the elephant.

• don’t try to give food to moving elephants .

• don’t give them food directly; give to their mahout.

• don’t touch elephants unless their mahout or keeper is there.

• don’t make threatening gestures near elephants.

• don’t ridicule or laugh at elephants in their presence.

• don’t make loud noises or fast movements in presence of elephants.

• don’t run in front of elephants.

The problem of HEC is not because elephants are greedy, or stupid or mean. It is because human beings have been shortsighted. We have developed most of the world with houses, industry, public services, etc. so that it is not habitable by large animals. Forests have shrunk because of human beings, not because of tigers or monkeys or elephants. Their number is growing smaller while our numbers are increasing.

We, who as a species had the intelligence to take over the Earth, do not have the intelligence or farsightedness to see that it was wrong. We went on breeding and building. Now we are in trouble. So how is it “not fair” really? If elephants could talk they would say we were at fault ... aren’t they right, in a way? If elephants could read history and talk, they could say a lot about that.

Elephant gods and work horses -- Temple, camp and farm elephants Throughout Asia elephants are utilised for temple duty and also heavy duty forest and farm work. Temple elephants are often taken to beg for alms by temple mahouts. Often they are out in hot part of the day without access to sufficient water. As one can imagine, elephants need a lot of water!

Elephants in forest department-owned elephant camps seem to get a better deal than privately owned work elephants. For one thing they live in camps or near the forest and are generally better treated than privately owned elephants. Privately owned work elephants may be used like a tractor without much concern for their welfare. Some of these may be owned by large farms, timber companies, and other commercial entities.

You may come into contact with temple or forest camp elephants. Although chained, they are still big and powerful. Be careful around any elephant.

Entertainment elephants -- Zoos and circuses There are thousands of elephants owned by zoos and circuses. Many of these elephants have very hard lives.

Elephants are social, smart and energetic. In nature, they move with a herd and interact with other elephants. They

In a zoo or circus they are normally chained, and in many cases, they are all alone. So from a very rich life of interpersonal relationships and activity, they are lonely, bored and lethargic. Sometimes their mahouts mistreat them, as if standing chained in one place was not enough punishment. Elephants normally live a very long time and it is not unusual to hear of an elephant having spent half a century chained in a small stall or behind a building. Some zoos have seen the light about elephants and as a policy will not even keep them. Other have improved their standards of care quite a lot. Still, elephants on display for our pleasure have had to give up a lot. We owe it to them to behave in their presence and avoid irritating them.

Some Elephant Etiquette (rules) for being “near captive” elephants

Visiting a temple • don’t harass chained elephants; it is a cruel.

• don’t try to feed the elephant by offerings. Let the keeper do it.

• don’t go too close or stay too long.

• don’t do any of the “visiting a zoo” “don’ts”.

• don’t burst crackers at a temple or anywhere near elephants.

Encountering elephants in city traffic (Sometimes we see elephants on city roads. Their Mahout or “driver” has to obey traffic rules. If you are also in traffic, think!)

• don’t put your hand outside car/bus window to wave to the elephant.

• don’t try to attract the attention of the elephant from a two-wheeler.

• don’t offer the elephant food in traffic even if the Mahout say you can.

• don’t do anything that might frighten or anger the elephant.

• don’t rev up your engine loud close to the elephant.

• don’t blow your horn loudly around the elephant.

• don’t cut in front of the elephant.

• don’t go close, either back or sides.

Suggestions for people in elephant areas from people living in elephant areas If you are habituated to doing some activity, and elephants start coming there at the same time, stand down! Do it some other time.

• Don’t keep water, smelly food or garbage or fermenting liquours out in the open.

• Villagers of Anaikati village in India say “Don’t talk ill of elephants, at least within their hearing. They can feel your bad words.”

• Don’t leave high smelling garbage around your home.

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• Some villagers in Nepal, India and Banglaesh recommended fire to discourage elephants, particularly fire that produces much smoke.

• Other villagers at West Bengal (India), Nepal, Bangladesh said they had various ways of making noise at elephants, such as shouting, whistling, clapping, etc.

• Some Nepalese sing hymns, conduct worship, etc which makes then calm in their mind which also affects the sensitive elephant.

• Villagers in West Bengal, India changed all their habits ... they planted paddy during the night, harvested paddy very quickly, and stopped planting corn.

• If you find elephants trashing your house or garden, think before you act. They are bigger and stronger. You can’t win a fight. Stand down.

• If elephants are taking something from you, think of its value!. Is it worthwhile to risk your life or your wellbeing for a basket of coconuts?

• There are many, many suggestions and rules for avoiding or minimising conflict with elephants in villages. The main one is to try and stay out of the way, no matter what.

Give up your rights!

All human beings are very attached to what they perceive as their “rights”. Sometimes if we are very stubborn about our “rights”. It leads us to do foolish things.

Appendix 4 Conservation Conscious / Conservation Careless Zoos – Contents only I. Why We have Zoos?

II. Conservation-Conscious Zoos v.s. Conservation-Careless Zoos.

III. Zoo Inspection: Improve Your observational Skills.

IV. Improvement, not Closure of Zoos.

V. Reasons NOT to close a Zoo. VI. How to Help? What YOU can do.

VII. Pro’s and Con’s of Zoo Volunteers.

VIII. Principles for Positive Action – How to be a GOOD Zoo Volunteer.

IX. Drama at the Zoo including Sample dramas.

X. Frequently Asked Questions and Honest Answers!

References 1

Demanding our rights when dealing with elephants is like shaking our fist at a tsunami or tornado, or terrorist attack.

In some situations you have to do what is wise and what will help you survive, not what you think you are entitled to!

Imagine a man holding a coconut nearby an elephant. The elephant reaches for the coconut and the man hits out at the elephant, and the elephant hits back. Now, see the man in hospital, bandaged from head to toe still holding his coconut saying “I won!”.

Giving an elephant the right of way is usually wise.

Demanding your rights in some situations may cost you your life, or your backbone, or your leg.

What good are your rights then ?

Fraser, D. Toward a synthesis of conservation and animal welfare science. Animal Welfare 2010,19:121-124.

2 Watters, Jason V. & Nadja Wielebnowski, Eds., Introduction to the Special Issue on Zoo Animal Welfare.

Zoo Biology 28:501-506, 2009.

3 From the symposium of WildCru and Born Free, Compassionate Conservation Symposium 1-3 September 2010, Oxford 4 (2010) AZA White Paper – Welfare Implications of intentional Inbreeding. http://www.google.co.in/url? sa=t&rct=j&q=aza%20white%20paper%20animal %20welfare %20committee&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CEgQFjAB&url=h ttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.aza.org%2FuploadedFiles %2FAbout_Us%2FWhitePaperInbreeding_BoardApproved_ %252028July11.pdf&ei=dzXLTqrhOY6urAetzaXgDA&usg=AF QjCNG7navbnfcwH93nfwZMVpAeSW-lwQ] CBSG, News

Announcement New IUCN vacancy: Programme Officer, Aichi Biodiversity Targets and Key Biodiversity Areas, Biodiversity Conservation Group The Programme Officer will report to and work closely with the Global Director, Biodiversity Conservation Group, given that this work spans the work of all constituent Programmes of the Group, and indeed will involve working with IUCN globally. The incumbent will also work extremely closely with the Programme Officer, Conservation Planning, based in the Global Species Programme, Cambridge, UK and also with the joint IUCN SSC (Species Survival Commission) - WCPA (World Commission on Protected Areas) Protected Areas and Biodiversity task force to support the technical deliverables of the position on sites of global biodiversity conservation significance.

To see the vacancy announcement, please use this link: https://hrms.iucn.org/iresy/index.cfm?event=vac.show&vacId=325

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Opinion : Elephants in Zoos, Elephant Camps, Rescue Centers in India Sally Walker*

In 2009, a dictat came down from above, that all zoos in India should send their elephants to elephant camps. For those new to the subject, most elephant camps (and surely the ones intended by government) belong to the Department of Forestry in all the states that have them.

Today only a few elephants have been transferred to the camps, which can be a more positive and healthy lifestyle compared to a bad zoo. Elephant Camp elephants are put to work and often spend the whole day tramping around, assisting the forest department in moving things, pulling over trees, etc. or bearing burdens of logs, sticks, bags, human beings, etc. Its not as good a life as that of a wild elephant but certainly better than of a zoo or circus elephant (in most cases, although some zoos have large areas and other amenities for their elephants and the animals get some freedom and other perks). In any case wild elephants don’t have it so good themselves these days.

Their habitat has been and is being usurped by development, and it is shrinking fast. Elephants trying to find food and water in this restricted habitat often conflict with human beings, some of whom have unpleasant ways to shooing away elephants, even fatal ways.

Two years after a few elephants have been “settled” in camps, there is a general knowledge that they do not work out so well there. Foresters in charge of camps do not want these elephants as they are accustomed to one kind of life in the zoo which doesn’t fit so well in the camps. They have to re-trained and acclimatized to the camps which takes time and patience while the work of the camp has to go on.

Many camp bosses have refused to take the zoo elephants.

Now, there is another alternative for these zoo elephants which is called “Indian Elephant Rehab”. This method has been described and promoted by no less than Scientific America’s Extinction Countdown where they feature a blog entitled Unchained: Indian Elephant Rehab Center to Be a Model for Rescued Zoo Animals by John Platt, January 25, 2012.

Frankly, although I became somewhat involved in the galata over the government’s decision to remove all elephants from all zoos in 2009, I became convinced into complacency and hadn’t thought much about this since the issue was hot.

This was after naively thinking that, in the final analysis, this decision was intended to catch up the elephants in the worst zoo circumstances and place them in camps but in case of the better zoos with better facilities for their elephants, they would just let the matter fade away. I had very good reason to believe that, but it would not serve any purpose to elaborate now, because apparently it didn’t happen.

The above mentioned blog woke me up. The elephant dilemma is more convoluted than we thought. According to the blog in Scientific American, last November the government approved a request from an American lady, Carol Buckley, who proposes to set up a model facility which can be emulated by government. According to the blog Buckley was about to leave for Bangalore where her nonprofit (Elephant Aid International) will construct the first Elephant Care and Rehabilitation Center. It is still in planning but when it materializes is supposed to house 7 former zoo elephants and serve as a model for other elephant centres. According to Buckley, “Once everything is working smoothly, the government will jump on and replicate this effort throughout India.” (Wow! Really?)

Also the article says that Ms. Buckley “expects the

government to take in hundreds of other privately owned elephant such as those living in temples.” I just love this!

Can you imagine the Government of India taking all the elephants from all the temples? Or even “jumping on” to replicate the effort at $200,000 per centre. I appreciate Ms. Buckley’s positive attitude but this is dreaming.

I would not blame the Government of India also. There is not enough tact and diplomacy in the universe to convince the temples to hand over their elephants, or enough police force to calm the religious riots, or enough political courage in the ruling party to push this effort. That would be a guarantee of that party not getting elected next time, or maybe ever! I jest, but not entirely. This whole problem has come about because of the Ministry of Environment’s inability to stand up to one little feisty woman who loves to give commands such as “move all captive elephants to elephant camps!” Less said the better, but surely the senior forest officer who obeyed this dictum knew that it would not go 100% smoothly, but at least it got the lady to shut up for awhile (I think).

What I can’t understand is why some of these zoos which have literally hundreds of acres of land at their disposal can’t be inducted into keeping significant numbers of elephants. Buckley rightly said that “Life in the worst Indian Zoos can be quite horrible.” Indeed that is the sad truth.

But there are also good zoos in states that have the ability to take in some of these animals. There is a powerful Central Zoo Authority that has to turn in money almost every year and is supposed to be a sort of “Authority” over all the zoos. They can’t dictate to the states but they can manipulate them. CZA has money and expertise. They created rescue centres for lions and monkeys and other animals in some of the zoos. Ironically these centres didn’t allow visitors. I think the idea was that rescued animals needed privacy!

Just imagine a few well run zoos with space to spare took in “bad zoo” elephants and put up facilities for visitors to see the elephants from a large platform for the purpose high above the ground. The elephants could be seen behaving pretty much like elephants even though they would have to have mahouts and keepers to keep order between them.

Visitors could be charged and extra fee for the privilege of seeing the elephants in this atmosphere and relaxing at picnic tables on the platform, spending enough time perhaps even to start appreciating the various behaviours of elephants. Foreign zoos or safari parks have such facilities for a number of their large animals and it is a very popular feature. It is not impossible that the facility could pay for itself over time.

I kind of like the idea of Carole Buckley training mahouts in her compassionate elephant management technique. It could be tried and if it works well it could be adopted...BUT, Buckley’s plans to replace the ankus with apples, using food and “positive reinforcement” and “building a relationship” between the Mahouts and elephants sounds like pie in the sky in one way and kind of dangerous on the other.

Mahouts already have relationships with their elephants in their own way ... it will be a big jump for both. It also might backfire. Depending on the severity of that, the hue and cry that would follow would be catastrophic. Elephant management the western way of positive reinforcement is not guaranteed to be safe. Mahouts who have been * Founder/Director, Zoo Outreach Organization, Coimbatore.

Email: sallyrwalker@zooreach.org

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controlling elephants for centuries may find it difficult and insulting to be made to take up new methods that cannot be guaranteed any safer than what they know. Buckley describes her plan in the blog: “I have a very clear vision about fencing, what elephants should be allowed to do, and how much freedom they need to thrive.” She will “walk the land” meant for the new facility and decide where to construct fences, etc. An Indian NGO “Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation”, a partner organization will work with her so that she learns to work with Indian contractors. Buckley wants shade structures, corrals for doctoring and resting or sleeping, a vet lab and administrative office and housing for staff. She plans to recruit the Mahouts herself but the vets will be assigned by government. Buckley admits that when she started and ran her facility in USA (Tennessee) she didn’t have to consider human welfare ... it was only the animals. But in India she has developed programs which have a strong education component ...”addressing the public welfare of the mahouts and their families” !!! This will, according to her, “ensure that they will be there to take care

of the elephants’ needs” True enough...except when the mahouts are drunk or stoned which is part of their culture. Actually there are instances of elephants taking care of the mahouts when they imbibed too much! Higher salaries will provide much comfort to the canny mahouts.

Buckley just might be in over her head!

Buckley’s NGO Elephant Aid International is raising the $200,000 estimated to raise this first “model” centre.

Where is the Government of India going to get the crores of rupees to duplicate it dozens or maybe hundreds of times.

Interestingly, at the Tennessee elephant facility in USA, Buckley is said to have annoyed her own Board so much that they threw her out of her own organisation. She has a reputation for being hard to get along with.

It will be interesting to watch her interact with the Indian bureaucracy! God bless both Buckley and the MoEF so that at least the mahouts and elephants will benefit.

Opinion: Zoos vs Rescue Centres Heidi Riddle* Managing captive elephants whatever the country and culture is too often guided by emotion rather than realistic and practical decisions. For captive elephant management in any given environment to be truly successful there needs to be a clear strategy, long term goals, and a plan that realistically addresses operational protocols, animal care standards, and staff policies.

Overall, discussions and controversy have led to increased efforts to address captive elephant concerns by improving care, husbandry, handling, and training techniques through the development of professional guidelines and standards, and by identifying welfare parameters important for captive elephant management.

Practical standards need to be developed to address the physical and social environment of these animals, as well as individual situations such as the need and use of the elephants, number of animals, type of environment (physical, work, social), personnel support and training, and animal welfare. Monitoring and enforcement mechanisms need to be considered to ensure successful implementation of standards. Written protocols are important to enable successful and consistent elephant management programs. Reviewing these protocols periodically ensures that standards are met and even improved where needed.

In the case of a country like India, elephants are managed in a wide variety of environments (i.e. forest camps, zoos, circus, temples, private owners); this variety offers a unique opportunity to set high standards of captive elephant management across all of these different types of environments, rather than being selective and only attempting to address the welfare of elephants in one type of environment, i.e. zoos.

Regarding the 2009 CZA directive to move zoo elephants to forest camps, it would be important to identify the biggest concerns about zoo elephant management - is it only the space in zoos? the elephant housing in zoos? the handling in zoos? the staff experience in zoos? all of these topics should be discussed, as all can be improved. Unless and until there have been attempts to rectify specific management problems in the zoo environment, moving elephants from that environment to another may only be moving the problems and not rectifying them.

There has also been discussion about establishing facilities called “elephant rescue centers”.

Creating a center for “rescued” elephants without first identifying and addressing captive elephant management problems in all facilities is short sighted. Any new facility will also have the same operational, animal, and staff issues as zoos, so efforts and resources should focus on helping all captive elephants in the country, not just a select few that may be housed in these centers.

If indeed enhanced captive elephant welfare is the objective, there needs to be a better assessment of captive elephant management from all sides, an identification and discussion about specific concerns, and a holistic strategy to best direct efforts and resources to reach this common goal. *

Riddle’s Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary, USA. Email: Gajah26@gmail.com

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Zoo and Wildlife News Nepal's first female mahout leads elephant safaris (AFP) Kathmandu

Tripoli Zoo Animals Recovering After War, Kristina Chew, January 4, 2012

Nepal's first female mahout, one of only a handful of women across Asia to be selected to drive elephants, spoke Tuesday of her pride at breaking into the all-male profession. Meena Chaudhary, 33, was selected for the highly-specialised role after being picked from a female-only shortlist of 15 candidates as part of a government scheme to get more women working in the public sector.

The Tripoli Zoo in Libya had already been closed for some time for renovations when the Libya uprising that would lead to the overthrow of Muammar el-Gaddafi broke out at the start of 2011. The animals in the zoo, which was located near the late Libyan dictator’s Bab al-Aziziya compound — and therefore near some of the heaviest fighting — were simply left where they were as Gaddafi supporters and the rebels who have now become part of the interim government, the National Transitional Council (NTC), clashed in the streets. Missiles were fired over the zoo grounds and Kalashnikovs strafed the mammal house; the hippos’ enclosure was hit by a NATO rocket which, fortunately, did not explode. Fifteen zoo staff managed to feed and water the animals, who otherwise might have died after three or four days.

"Women are flying aircraft. So, driving an elephant is peanuts," she said. "I wanted to prove that we're equal to men. I showed it by being an elephant driver." Mahouts take tourists on elephant-back safaris in southern Nepal's Chitwan National Park, home to the endangered Royal Bengal tiger, the rare one-horned rhino and other exotic animals and birds.The job has traditionally been a men-only preserve because women are often considered weak in the conservative, Hindumajority Himalayan nation. Chaudhary, who has led up to half a dozen drives a day since taking on the role two months ago, said she was proud to be breaking that stereotype. "We were trained for three days on how to treat elephants and how to drive them towards the jungle," she told AFP. "We were also asked to climb trees and swim," she said, adding that another woman had now been selected to join her. But she told AFP she was full of anxiety on her first day in the job.

"I was not used to dealing with so many people. I was also afraid that something might go wrong. But everything was all right," said Chaudhary, who receives a monthly pay of 10,000 Rupees ($120). Mahouts are often introduced to their elephants as children and stay with one animal for decades. They drive their mounts using oral commands and pressure from their feet on the elephant's ears.

There are around 100 mahouts in Nepal, with a handful paid by the government and the rest employed by the hotel industry in Chitwan.

Every year thousands of people visit the park, a haven for wildlife and one of Nepal's biggest tourist attractions. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ afp/article/ALeqM5ggCyOwBIOiJp8hY _Z3pKSdLl_KDQdocId=CNG.eff73da2b 45bbfc2b8da6637d1800503.a1

After Tripoli came under the NTC’s control, a team of animal-welfare experts from Austria’s Four Paws International arrived. At least one animal, a Siberian tiger, Osama, did not survive. Osama was 21 years old and his age and stress contributed to his death, according to Dr. Amir Khalil, a doctor from Vienna. Hippos, traumatized by the near-destroyal of their enclosure and constant gunfire, initially hid when people approached and refused food; they are reportedly recovering from the stress. A Bengal tiger bit its own tail so hard during the unrest that zoo staff had to amputate.

In September, the NTC had pledged that it would support the zoo and a BBC report from last week says that the zoo will open in a few months.

The Tripoli Zoo opened in 1986 and is the largest in North Africa; at its height, it housed 1,000 animals including 22 lions, nine of which belonged to Gaddafi’s son, Saadi (who is currently a guest of the country of Niger, after a plot to smuggle him and his family to Mexico was discovered).

The zoo houses a liger (a hybrid of a lion and a tiger); 33 baboons; pelicans; a chimpanzee named Bosco who the late Congolese president Mobutu Sese Seko once gave to Gaddafi.

A Tripoli brigade has assumed control of the zoo and still patrols it for security purposes. A national security force will eventually be responsible for these duties.

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The funding that has been provided to the zoo by charities will end at the start of 2012; the IFAW says that it costs about $2,000 a day to feed the animals. But Tripoli Zoo Director Anas Ali al-Aghab is hopeful. As he told The Toronto Star in November: “… when we open our doors again, they will be open as never before. After so many years of isolation, now we hope to share and to learn the best care and technical standards possible.

Things may still be unsettled. But we see a very bright future ahead.”

Indeed, on the last day of October, one of the African lions that belonged to Saadi Gaddafi gave birth to two cubs.

A pair of white lions — 300 of whom are known to exist — will reach breeding age by 2012; they were owned by Saif al-Islam, Gaddafi’s second and more prominent son who is being held in the city of Zintan after his capture last month. http:// www.care2.com/causes/tripoli-zooanimals-recovering-after-warvideo.html#ixzz1ibwsrrmu

IZE Conference 2012.

Changing Hearts, Minds and Ultimately Behaviours, 28 Aug1 Sept.

Registration is now open for the 21st biennial conference of the International Zoo Educators Association hosted by Chester Zoo. This is the first time IZE has been in the UK since 1984. The links below should provide you with everything you need to know and more information will be added at regular intervals between now and the start of the conference.

Holiday Inn Express Racecourse hotel is reserved 80 twin/double rooms at a special delegate rate of £65 per room per night which is great value for money, especially if you’re sharing!

The hotel is taking reservations now by phone or email and we would advise booking rooms as soon as possible.

Payment will, of course, only be taken when you arrive in Chester. The conference fee is £265 for IZE Members and £310 for others. This includes a welcome reception and buffet, lunch, coffee and refreshments on each day of the conference, the farewell dinner and a complimentary ticket to the famous County Stand.

Please note abstracts are due on 27th January 2012. http://www.chesterzoo.org/education/ ize-conference-2012

20

Guidelines for the Acquisition and Management of Felids (Cat Species) in Captivity adopted by Ministry of Environment in Pakistan : Short Review - Reviewed by Editor Background The Ministry of Environment's CITES management authority in Pakistan is referred as the National Council for Conservation of Wildlife (NCCW).

NCCW banned trade of felids since October 2008, considering the increasing number of CITES import permit requests from zoos and individuals. NCCW decided to first develop guidelines for the acquisition and captive management of felids before issuing any future CITES permits.

NCCW developed this keeping in view CITES itself; as per article III (3-b) of the CITES â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;the Scientific authority is satisfied that the proposed recipient of a living specimen is suitably equipped to house and care for considering 3-b management standards these guidelines have been developed. This is a critical step because Pakistan does not have any specific zoo standards and husbandry guidelines. WWFPakistan was asked to develop the guidelines in the NCCW meeting in Feb 2009. NCCW shared the draft with the provincial wildlife authorities, after the thorough consultations and review.

The guidelines were presented to the Federal Minister of Environment, Secretary Environment and NCCW council members 18 May and was approved on 30th June 2010.

Authors of the Guidelines: Uzma Khan, WWF, Pakistan, Dr. Abdul Aleem Chaudhry, Aleem Conservation Consultants, Munaf Qaimkhani and Baloch Khan, National Council for Conservation of Wildlife (NCCW).

Summary of the Guidelines NCCW being CITES management and scientific authority in Pakistan carries the duty to issue permits for import or export of CITES listed species and strengthen legal framework for its implementation. The Scientific Authority should be satisfied that the proposed receipient of a living individual (felid) is suitably equipped to house and care for it. Also that the individual is not to be used for primarily commercial purposes.

The guidelines were developed to control illegal trade of big cats and unjustified acquisition of animals for zoo exhibits, in aid of the higher objectives of conservation and education.

These guidelines of NCCW prioritize cat species because they are listed under CITES I, II and are threatened globally.

The guidelines cover registration of all zoos, private zoos (breeding farms

inclusive)/circuses/privately owned single species. The NCCW will cover details of the master plan, owner/ administration, exhibits and facilities. If a facility already exists and does not have these pre-requisites then it must develop in a timely manner, as agreed.

Zoos are encouraged to exchange or loan felids and should demonstrate that they have tried before any sale or purchase is allowed and any time of sale or purchase will be carried out after the approval of NCCW and will be handled on a case by case basis.

Felids can only be acquired through animal exchange with registered only with zoos that are members of a regional zoo association. Request for CITES permits must be made through the head of the relevant provincial wildlife department facilities (if within Pakistan). If outside of Pakistan then they can be acquired. Each zoo will develop their animal collection plan

ZOOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s PRINT, Volume XXVII, Number 1, January 2012

and will take into account the level of expertise, space and resources required for the long term maintenance of a species. They will explore how a species has fared in other zoos both nationally and internationally. Also they should find out what conservation education message that a species will give visitors before deciding to take it into their collection.

The guidelines also cover protocols for wild caught felids, performing felids, disposal, management, breeding and maintaining studbooks. Minimum enclosure sizes for housing felids have been included suggesting minimum standard. Also zoos must have a full time education office, veterinary officer and animal keepers. These guidelines also stress that zoos should become active members of a regional zoo association that would help in coordinator and sharing of knowledge.

21

Veer dam as important winter migratory ground for Bar-headed Geese Anser indicus (Latham, 1790) Family: Anatidae, with special reference to observations of tagged Bar-headed Geese.

Ruta Bandivadekar1, Rohan Pandit2, Aditya Ponkshe3 & Pranav Pandit*4 Veer dam (18007’39 N 74001’09 E) in the Satara District, Maharashtra, India is wintering ground for many migratory bird species. Even being well known water body for migratory birds, no literature is available regarding avian community at this important water body. Bar-headed Goose is one of the regular winter visitors to this wetland.

Here we present our observations of Bar-headed Geese for constitutive three years.

Multiple visits were made to the wetland from November to March to count the largest congregation of barheaded Geese during the period of study. Visits were made in early morning as well as in late evening. All the possible locations around the dam were visited during every visit. During the day time Bar-headed Geese were observed scattered all around the dam in smaller flocks of 50-100 birds.

During the evening all the bar-headed geese congregated at one place and this behavior gave us chance to estimate approximate total number of Bar-headed Geese visiting the water body. During last three years there are few records of collared Bar-headed Geese at the same water body. Here we represent the approximate maximum numbers of bar-headed Geese observed during one wintering season along with observations of collared and ringed Bar-headed Geese in the year 2010-2011. Also we have compiled the ring recoveries of Barheaded Geese at Veer dam for last three years.

On 9th January 2011 two Bar-headed Geese were found tagged in an isolated flock of around 36 birds. One with green neck collar and the other with green ring in the left tarsus. X37 (Green Collar) is male bird ringed at province Arkhangai, sumon Tariat, lake Kholboo nuur (47° 59'14,59"N, 99° 52'54,24"E) in Mongolia on 16 July 2010 (Figure 1).This bird was first noted on 5th of January 2011 by Rohan Pandit. S12 (Green ring) is female bird ringed at Centralen Mongolian in province Arkhangai, sumonUnderUlaan, lake Olon nuur (48°03'1,04"N, 100° 22'33,19"E) Mongolia on 9th July 2010 (Figure 2). Under the project conducted by Laboratory of Ornithology Institute of Biology MAS, Wildlife Science and Conservation Center Ulaanbaatar 51 Mongolia and Wetlands International 115 Bar-headed Geese were fitted with Neck Collars and 101

Figure 1. X37 tagged Bar-headed Geese with Green Collar on its neck. were fitted with leg rings. They all were sampled for HPAI H5N1 before releasing. The revisiting of C6 birds for two years and the sightings of new tagged Bar-headed Geese again at the same location from nearer breeding grounds in Mongolia is one of the most important findings in relation to the breeding and wintering grounds of these birds. Herb on which birds were grazing was also collected, and was identified as Brassica spp.

The details of maximum number of birds in one congregation and the summary of collared or ringed birds observed are given in Table 1.

The estimated world population of Barheaded Geese is 52-60 thousand (Bird Life International, 2009). Therefore the flock of observed on 19th January 2009 approximately represents about 0.81 to 0.93% of the World population of the Bar-headed Geese. The population size of this bird is declining. It has

1

Bhageshree, Rambaug Colony, Paud Road, Pune. Email: rutz.vet@gmail.com, B3, Sterling Homes, near Chaitanya Nagari, Waraje Naka, Pune. Email: rohanpandit87@gmail.com, 318 Raghav Raghuraj Housing Soc. opposite Big Bajar, Sinhagad Road Pune. Email: ponkshe.aditya@gmail.com and 4 A/15, Prathamesh Nagari, Anand Nagar, Sinhagad Road, Pune. Email: pranav.vet@gmail.com (Corresponding Author) 2

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References

Figure 2. S12 tagged Bar-headed Geese with green ring on its left tarsus Table 1: Largest Congregation of Bar-headed Geese observed in a migratory season along with the details of ringed birds observed Year

2007-2008

2008-2009

Largest Congregation

NA

487 (19 January 2009)

Collared Bird Number

C-6 (Kasambe et al. 2008)

None

suffered a severe reduction in numbers owing to over-hunting, unsustainable levels of egg collecting and habitat destruction (del Hoyo et al. 1992), and if the water body attracts same number of Bar-headed Geese every year then it might cross the 1% mark soon, which might categorize this water body as ‘Important Bird Area’ (IBA) by Criteria A4i (Bird Life International, 2009). There are around thirteen IBA sites based on Criteria A4i applied to Bar-headed Geese in India (Bird Life International, 2009). Out of which Nagi Dam and Nakti Dam Bird Sanctuary is categorized as IBA based only upon Criteria A4i for Bar-headed Goose (Bird Life International, 2009).

Such large congregations of these migratory birds also have a great significance livestock health; especially for poultry, which may contract some diseases from these wild birds or vice versa. This mainly includes Avian Influenza. Critical community size for avian influenza is considered to be 1200-1500 which can sustain the avian influenza virus in a community of birds (Guberti & Newman, 2007). Barheaded Geese and Ruddy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea which also is seen there is significant (Approximately 400) are previously known to be

th

2009-2010 225 (14 January 2010) C-6

th

2010-2011 445 (8th February 2011) X-37 and S-7

positive for recently emerged H5N1 virus in China (Chen et al, 2005).

Recent studies correlating migration and HPAI H5N1 outbreaks suggest that there could be sporadic transmission of H5N1during migration (Iverson et al, 2011). Hence such places should be constantly monitored for avian disease like Avian Influenza. Survey of wild migratory birds at same water body for highly pathogenic Avian Influenza in 2006-2007 showed absence of Influenza virus in migratory birds including Bar-headed Geese (Pawar et al, 2009).

A road connecting Shirwal and Baramati towns adjoins this water body. This road is now under construction for widening to four lanes.

Also there is a Special Economic Zone planned nearby this water body. These might be upcoming threats to the water body which then might fail to attract migratory species in later years.

Hence this observation of congregations and migratory movements would be significant contribution on the background of recent outbreaks of Avian Influenza, and conservation strategies of this winter migratory ground.

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BirdLife International (2009a).

Species factsheet: Anser indicus.

Downloaded from <http:// www.birdlife.org> on 27/8/2009 Birdlife International (2009b). Global IBA Criteria < http://www.birdlife.org/ datazone/sites/global_criteria.html>.

Online version dated on 29th August, 2009.

BirdLife International (2009c).

Important Bird Area factsheet: Nagi Dam and Nakti Dam Bird Sanctuary, India.

Downloaded from the Data Zone at <http://www.birdlife.org> on 29/8/2009.

Chen H., Smith G. J. D., Zhang S. Y., Qin K., Wang J., LiR. K. S., Webster G., Peiris J. S. M. & Guan Y. (2005).

Avian Flu: H5N1 virus outbreak in migratory waterfowl. Nature 436, 191-192 pp.

Del Hoyo J., Elliot A., Sargatal J. (1992). Handbook of Birds of the World, Vol. 1, Barcelona Lynx Edicions. 528-628 pp.

Guberti V. & Newman S.H. (2007).

Guideline on Wild Bird Surveillance for Highly pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 Virus. Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 43(3) Supplement 2007, S29–S34 pp.

Kasambe R., Joshi A., Shivkar A., Niranjan M. & Bhusari S. (2008). Resighting of Mongolian tagged bar-headed Geese Anser indicus in India. Newsletter for Birdwatchers 48 (2):24-25 pp.

Pawar S., Pande S., Jamgaonkar A. , Koratkar S, Pal B., Raut S., Nanaware M., Ray K., Chakrabarti A., Kode S., Thite V, Khude M., Randive S., Basu A., Pawashe A., Ponkshe A., Pandit P. and Deshpande P. (2009). Avian influenza surveillance in wild migratory, resident, domestic birds and in poultry in Maharashtra and Manipur, India, during avian migratory season 2006–07. Current Science. Vol.97. No.4. 25 August 2009.

550-554 pp.

Iverson S.A., Gavrilov A., Katzner T.E. , Takekawa J.Y., Miller T.A. , Hagemeijer W., Mundkur W., Sivabaubthaperumal B., Demattos C.C., Ahmed L.S. & Newman S,H. Migratory movements of waterfowl in Central Asia and avian influenza emergence: sporadic transmission of H5N1 from east to west. Ibis (2011), doi: 10.1111/j.1474-919X.2010.01095.x.

Acknowledgments: We are very thankful to Tseveenmyadag N., Head, Laboratory of Ornithology Institute of Biology MAS, Wildlife Science and Conservation Center, Ulaanbaatar 51 Mongolia and Taej Mundkur, Programme Manager - Flyways, Wetlands International Headquarters for providing details of the tagged birds and permitting authors to use the data.

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Dismantling and shifting of nest, a rare behaviour of Ashy prinia (Prinia socialis skyes) Gajendrasingh S. Pachlore1 & Sarika P. Pachlore2 Ashy prinia (Priniya socialis skyes) is small sparrow size bird. Distributed throughout the Indian union Pakistan; Bangladesh; Sri lanka; Up to 1500m in the Himalayas and 2000m in South India (Ali 2002). The nesting season ranges from March to September but more commonly starts immediately after the onset of the monsoon. It is known to build two types of nest (Ali 2002, George 1962) Type 1 – Tailor bird like Nest (Orthotomus sutorius) A soft cup like structure lined with spongy materials and is placed in thick foliage and the leaves used to hold the nest have the upper surfaces outwards so that the nest is difficult to spot.

Type 2— Nest woven around the twigs: An oblong purse of woven fibers, Tacked and bound with cobweb to the supporting leaves of low bush (Ali 2002; George 1962, Dharmakumarsinhji, 1955) We found a nest of Ashy prinia in Amravati woven in between the twigs of Tulsi, Holy basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum) plant approximately of height 3 feet tall. However here a third type of nest was observed (George 1962) , which is less common. Here the bag of fiber was attached to slender twigs of Holy basil plant (Ocimum tenuiflorum), instead of leaves. We sited 3 eggs inside the nest on 8th of August.

The eggs were orange red in colour and of small clutch type.

The incubation period was about 12 days (Ali 2002) and on 20th August three juvenile were sited in the nest. The developmental progression after hatching took place normally. On 30th of August in the morning hours, nest was found empty. We went on for finding the young ones in the nearby bushes of our garden, but failed to find any traces of the young ones. Soon after a while the bird visited the nest carrying food in the beak, after finding the nest empty the alarming behaviour was well noted. The pair kept on visiting the place for few hours and than a distinctive and very rare behaviour was noted. The pair of Ashy prinia started dismantling the nest. The earlier note of such behaviour is also known (George 1962), though in the earlier observation, the nest was shifted when the eggs were not laid. Such behaviour of shifting the nest could be observed when the bird is discovered during the process of nest making, consequently the bird might move the building block to another site (Birdwatcher’s Bane Zafar Futehally Indian Express, April 5 1987)

India, by Simi t Bhagat , TNN Mar 13, 2011, 12.39am IST).

This behaviour might have been developed to avoid and reduce predation on the nest by domestic cats, which are not uncommon for any locality. Cats are known to be a major cause of bird mortality. Domestic cats are agile and can easily attack nests that are not so high (Excerpt from Times Of India, by Simi t Bhagat , TNN Mar 13, 2011, 12.39 am IST). Nests of Common Tailorbird and Ashy Prinia have been spotted in the large leaves of money plant, a climber, nearly 30 feet above the ground (Excerpt from Times Of India, by Simit Bhagat , TNN Mar 13, 2011, 12.39am IST).

In our observation, though the nest was rebuilt on vinca plant, but the nests remain empty and no eggs were laid.

The reason behind the shifting of nest and selection of sight can be anticipated as an act of mitigating the predatory threats. Such a behaviour could be an indication of increased in the number of predatory species.

References: Ali, S. (2002): The Book of Indian Birds. 13th Revised Edition. Oxford University Press, New Delhi. Pp.255 George, J. C. (1962): Nest-shifting behavior of the Ashy Wren-Warbler. 435–6.

Dharmakumarsinghji, R. S. (1955): Birds of Saurashtra (India) Dil Bahar, Bhavanagar. 362 pp Bhagat, S (2011): Times Of India, TNN Mar 13, 2011.

Futehally, Z (1987): Indian Express, April 5 1987

We kept the track of the birds while they were dismantling the nest. The cobweb and some fibers were removed bit by bit and the complete nest was rebuilt at a nearby plant of Vinca (Catharanthus roseus). The vinca plants are sufficiently taller and provide more crown of leaves that proves to be an excellent shelter.

In the recent years Ornithologists in the city of Mumbai have observed an unusual change in the nesting habits of a few bird species. Ashy Prinia, Common Tailorbird, Redvented Bulbul, Red-whiskered Bulbul and Purple-rumped Sunbird are usually known to nest at lower heights.

However, these have been found to be nesting in the upper branches of trees in some localities (Excerpt from Times Of

1“Vandematram” Sitaram Baba Colony Ekvira Nagar, Amravati. Email: gpachlore@yahoo.com 2Flat no. 201, Pearl house, Erra Manzil, Banjara Hills. Hyderabad. Email: sarika.pachlore@gmail.com

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Sighting of Green Avadavat Amandava formosa in Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary, Odisha, India Himanshu S. Palei The Green avadavat Amandava formosa Latham, a Vulnerable bird, is endemic to central India (BirdLife International 2010). It is sparsely distributed from Rajasthan to Bihar and southern Uttar Pradesh to northern Andhra (Jathar and Rahmani 2006). This has also been listed in Appendix II of CITES. In Odisha, this species has been reported in Koraput district (Majumdar 1988).

This note confirms the presence of the species from Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary, Odisha. While carrying out an ornithological survey of the Sanctuary, on 15 April 2009, a flock of birds consisting of 10 individuals was observed by the edge of a stream (190 41′ 54.9″N and 0830 06′ 30.3″). The flock was observed for eight minutes.

The weather was warm and clear with a light wind. I took photographs (Fig. 1) along with notes on special features of the birds for confirming the bird later on.

The birds appeared to be same size as of White rumped munia Lonchura striata. They had distinctive dark flank bars, red bill with green-and-yellow body. The bird was identified as Green Avadavat Amandava formosa using Grimmett et al. (2001). The field notes and the photographs were checked with Grimmet et al. (2001), Grewal (2000) and Ali and Ripley (1987) and confirmed the identification as Green avadavat. The same area was surveyed from 16-20 April 2009 and made further observations of at least 25 individuals. These birds were common in the Eastern part of the Sanctuary.

The popularity of the species as a charismatic cage-bird is one of the

Announcement

Figure 1. Green Avadavat Amandava formosa prime reasons for its decline (Ahmed 1998). In Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary, Odisha, India, habitat loss along with lack of awareness about this species among stakeholders (local and forest officials ) is a major threat.

References Ahmed, A. (1998). Some observation of the Green Avadavat in the Indian bird trade. Oriental Bird Club Bull. 27: 21-25.

Ali, S. & S. D. Ripley (1987). The Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. 2nd Compact Edition. Oxford University Press, Delhi.

BirdLife International (2010).

Species factsheet: Amandava formosa.

Retrived from http://www.birdlife.org. on 12/10/2010

Grewal, B. (2000). Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. The Local Colour Limited, Hong Kong.

Grimmett, R., C. Inskipp & T. Inskipp (2001). Birds of the Indian Subcontinent.Christopher Helm, London.

Jathar, G.A. & A.R. Rahmani (2006). Endemic Birds of India.

Buceros, , 11(2&3): 1-53.

Majumdar, N. (1988). On a collection of birds from Koraput district, Orissa, India.— Records of the Zoological Survey of India, Miscellaneous Publications, Occasional Paper 108: 53.

Department of Wildlife & Conservation Biology, North Orissa University, Takatpur, Baripada, Mayurbhanja, Orissa.

E-mail:himanshu.palei@gmail.com

Third Seminar on Small Mammals Conservation Issues “SMALL MAMMALS VULNERABLE TO CLIMATE CHANGE” May 15, 2012; Kathmandu, Nepal

Small Mammals Conservation and Research Foundation (SMCRF), New Baneshwor, Kathmandu, Nepal celebrates United Nations Decade on Biodiversity through Seminar on Small Mammals Conservation Issues as an annual event in collaboration and support from different NGOs and INGOs. SMCRF announces the Call for papers and posters for the “Third Seminar on Small Mammals Conservation Issues, May 15, 2012”. We consider Bats, Rodents, Lagomorphs, Small Cats and Carnivores under Small Mammals. We request for papers and posters from interested national, regional and international researchers, conservationists, freelancers and university students in this field.

Please contact: Seminar Organizing Committee: Hem Bahadur Katuwal, Sunil Thapa, Rama Karki Email: smcrfseminar@gmail.com; website: www.smcrf.org

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Crotalaria clarkei Gamble (Fabaceae), a new record for the State of Maharashtra Vijay A.Paithane1, S.B. Sonje2 & A .S. Bhuktar3 Crotalaria clarkei Gamble hitherto an endemic taxon known only from a handful collection from south India is reported first time for the Flora of Maharashtra.

The genus Crotalaria L. is an economically important genus of family Fabaceae, which is represented by ca. 700 species distributed chiefly in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world (Polhill, 1982; Mabberly, 2008; Abdull Jabbar et al. 2010). In India, Crotalaria is the largest genus of legumes and account for 93 species, 1 subspecies 17 varieties and two formas (Ansari, 2008). Sibichen and Nampy (2007) have reported 67 species and 4 infra-specific taxa for south India.

Theodore Cooke (1967) in his monumental work has reported occurrence of 32 species and 3 infra specific taxa for the Presidency of Bombay. Almeida (1998) reported 43 species and 5 infra-specific taxa for the state of Maharashtra. Afterwards Kothari (2000) recorded 42 species and 3 infra-specific taxa as account on flowering plants of Maharashtra. Later on Lakshminarasimhan (2002) added 7 species and 2 infra-specific taxa to the Kothari’s contribution. Thus in the flowering plants of Maharashtra, the genus Crotalaria accounts for 49 species and 5 infra-specific taxa.

During our field survey, many taxa of Crotalaria were collected from the various localities in Maharashtra.

Specimens were brought to laboratory and processed for herbarium specimens with standard procedures.

Majority of the specimens were satisfactorily identified by using pertinent literature and confirmed in various herbaria such as Herbarium of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad (BAMU), Botanical Survey of India, Western Circle, Pune (BSI) and Botanical Survey of India, Southern Circle, Coimbtore (MH).

After critical investigations, authors found that one of the taxon belongs to Crotalaria clarkei Gamble. So far this taxon is known to be endemic to Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Therefore, in the present paper, correct and updated citation, a short description and note on its phenology is depicted for taxon followed by a note on ecology and taxonomic identity.

The voucher specimens are deposited in the Botanical Survey of India,

Hawrah, Kolkata CAL, Herbarium of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad (BAMU) and Botanical Survey of India, Southern Circle, Coimbtore (MH). Crotalaria clarkei Gamble, in Kew Bull. 1917 (1): 27-28. 1917 et Fl. Pres. Madras 1: 296. 1918 (1: 209. 1957 repr. ed.); Sanjappa, Leg. India. 118. 1991; Matthew, Ill. Fl. Palni hills, t. 160. 1996 et Fl. Palni hills. 1: 299. 1999; A.A. Ansari in Crotalaria in India 88. 2008.

Distribution: India- Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu states.

Specimens examined: Maharashtra state, Satara District, Kas Plateau, V.A. Paithane & S.B. Sonje 7819 14th November 2010; Pune District, Sinhgad Fort, V.A. Paithane, 5730 26th January 2011.

Lectotype: India, Tamilnadu, Deolas, Nilgiri, 3000’f, Nov.1884, J.S.Gamble 15622 (CAL-363654)

References Almeida, M.R. (1998). Flora of Maharashtra II Fabaceae to Apiaceae.

Orient Press, Mumbai, 457 pp.

Abdull Jabbar, V. M.V. Krishnaraj and N. Mohana. (2010). Crotalaria incana subsp. purpurascens (Fabaceae)- a new record for India.

Rheedea. 20 (2): 131–132.

Ansari, A.A. (2008). Crotalaria L. in India. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehra Dun. xii + 378 pp.

Cooke, T. (1967). (repr. ed.). Flora of the Presidency of Bombay. Vol.-I Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta. xiv + 632 pp.

Kothari, M.J. (2000). Family Fabaceae in Flora of Maharashtra State Dicotyledones Vol.-I in N.P. Singh and S. Karthikeyan (eds.). Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta. 898 pp.

Lakshminarasimhan, P. (2002).

Addenda & Corrigenda in Flora of Maharashtra State Dicotyledones Vol. II in N.P. Singh, P. Lakshminarasimhan, S. Karthikeyan and P.V. Prasanna.

Erect undershrubs with quadrangular stems and branches. Leaves simple, strigosely hairy on both the surfaces with bulbous based hairs; stipules present. Flowers 2–8 on elongated terminal racemes. Pods pubescent, more than 6 mm long, much exserted.

Seeds 6 (15–20) hairy.

Flowering and Fruiting: December February.

Illus: Mathew.Illus.Fl.Palani Hills,t, 160,1996.

Ecological Note: The taxon occurs on lateritic plateaus and slopes amidst grasses at higher altitudes.

Note: So far this taxon is known only from few collections and seems to be rare and hence it needs immediate steps towards conservations.

1,2&3 Department of Botany, Vivekanand Arts, Sardar Dalipsingh Commerce and Science College, Samarthnagar, Aurangabad, Maharashtra 431002, India.

Email:1tiliaceae20384@gmail.com *(Corresponding author), 2sbsonje@gmail.com 3 asbhuktar@gmail.com.

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Image 1. Crotalaria clarkei Gamble (eds.). Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta. 1080 pp.

Mabberley, D.J. (2008). Mabberley’s Plant Book, a portable dictionary of plants, their classification and uses.

3rd ed. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Polhill, R.M. (1982). Crotalaria in Africa and Madagascar.

A.A. Blakema Rotterdam.

Sibichen, M.T. and S. Nampy. (2007). Crotalaria kurisumalayana Sibichen & Nampy (Fabaceae), a new species from India. Candolleana. 62 (1): 105–108.

Acknowledgements Authors are thankful to authorities of BAMU, BSI, CAL and MH for consultation of Herbaria. Authors are very much thankful to P. Venu, Scientist ‘F’, HOO, CNH, Howrah for confirmation of specimen and perusal images of lectotype.

Authors are thankful to Dr. Milind Sardesai, Department of Botany, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University Aurangabad for constant encouragement and help rendered during preparation of manuscript.

Announcement "After nearly 31 years, Susan Chan has retired as Managing Editor for Animal Keepers' Forum, the monthly professional journal of the American Association of Zoo Keepers, Inc. Colleagues and friends may reach Susan at chanx2@cox.net. Replacing her as Media Production Editor is Shane Good of Cleveland, OH. His contact information is as follows: email – shane.good@aazk.org; phone - 330–483-1104; Fax - 330–483-1444; mailing address – P.O. Box 535, Valley City, OH 44280. All further submissions to and inquiries about Animal Keepers' Forum should be directed to Shane Good."

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Wildlife Week 2011-Education Reports University of Lucknow Celebrated Wildlife Week The Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow organized Wildlife Week from 1-7 October in Collaboration with "Z.O.O.'s Educator Network" ZEN and Regional Science City, Lucknow. The programme was conducted at RSC, involving high school students, graduates, postgraduates, N.S.S, N.C.C. and Bharat Scouts’ & Guides, Lucknow University and other 9 colleges and 18 schools. Resource persons were academics from RSC, University of Lucknow and the Department of Forest. Zoo Outreach Organisation provided Lion-tailed Macaque colour posters, amphibian, bats and bear education packet to the students attending. They were divided into three groups and competitions organized: short essay on wildlife crime, debate on “Keeping animals as pet ethical or non ethical!”, Poems on wildlife themes, art, greeting cards and slogan writing on wildlife themes, face painting, fancy dress and Rangoli with the theme animals in Indian culture. Lectures on wildlife and biodiversity Conservation, vulture Conservation and wildlife crime were delivered. Submitted by: Dr. Amita Kanaujia, Email: kanaujia.amita@gmail.com

Participants posing with ZOO’s education kits at the Lucknow University programme

Wildlife Week Celebration 2011 at Tata Steel Zoological Park, Jamshedpur Every year, Tata, Jamshedpur celebrates Wildlife Week and this year did with the same enthusiasm from 2-9 October with different theme based programmes. It was inaugurated on 2 October by Mr. K. K. Chatterjee IFS, Rg CCF, Jharkhand. Nearly 500 students from 40-50 schools participated.

Prizes for winners of competitions included cash prize, trophy or mementos and given certificate. The programmes were based on three major campaigns as suggested by WAZA and ZOO: International Year of Forests (2011), Year of the Bat (2011-2012), and the UN Decade on Biodiversity (2011-2020). Tata Zoo designed all the activities accordingly.

The theme of the Essay Writing competition was “Forest a necessity for survival of humankind”. Similarly debate and Quiz competitions were

Students making colourful bear posters at the TATA zoo programme theme based :“Bats- nuisance species or service provider in ecosystem”. Quiz topic was “Biodiversity and Indian Wildlife”. Standard VI- VII was allotted the topic Sloth bear in the Forest. The children enjoyed the informative educational materials provided by the Zoo Outreach Organization. Sponsors were SMV Beverages PEPSI, Chhaganlal Dayaljee, Lions Club of Jamshedpur Steel City, Rotary Club of Jamshedpur Steel City, Inner Wheel

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Club of Jamshedpur, private citizens and others. Submitted by. S. K. Mahato, Curator. Email: skmahato196@rediffmail.com

RMNH, Bhopal, MP – Amphibian, Bat, Bear and Elephant Awareness programmes Regional Museum of Natural History, Bhopal organized two awareness

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control. Similarly, Frogs are part of Biodiversity" and appealed to students to protect their habitat and avoid using pollutants. He related much information about bear conservation and the specific use of their claws and nose. Students were encouraged to refuse to support bear dancing and also purchase materials made of bear products. Elephants were also covered and student warned never to go close to elephant. Study materials received from Zoo Outreach Organisation, e.g., mask, posters and booklets were used.

Submitted by Dr. S. Sethuramalingam, Scientist- E, RMNH, Bhopal. Email: rmnhsethu@bsnl.in

Students encouraged to support refuse bear dancing by committing themselves at the RMNH, Bhopal programmes on "Bats & Biodiversity and Frogs are part of Biodiversity" at "Pragya School, Rajharsh Colony'' on 18 October 2011. Eighty enthusiastic students from class 9-12 participated in this programme and expressed their solidarity towards animal welfare.

Biological control was the buzzword.

Besides, programme on '"Bears, Forests & Biodiversity and Elephant

Ettiquette'' was organized in the same school on 20 October 2011. Sixty enthusiastic students from class 5-8 participated in this programme and expressed their solidarity towards animal welfare. Shri. Manik Lal Gupta, Museum Assistant gave a detailed lecture on bats, their characteristics, and their ecological role in regeneration of forests and biological

Wildlife Week 2011 with the support of ZOO - Activity Report WWF-India, Kerala State Office observed Wildlife Week 2011 with the support of Zoo Outreach Organization (ZOO) at KPSMMV HSS, Palakkad on 7 October with the participation of around 150 students from nearby five schools. The event included awareness sessions, wildlife quiz, painting, and essay writing competitions for all students. The event was inaugurated

The role of bats in ecological restoration and other facts elucidated in a dedicated bat awareness programme

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by Mr. S. Guruvayurappan, South India Coordinator, Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI). He also led the technical session on Wildlife of Kerala.

All the participants were provided with the education materials on bats, bears, and amphibians etc. from the Zoo Outreach Organization (ZOO), Coimbatore. Posters also were exhibited at the venue and distributed to participated schools for their notice board. Submitted by: A.K. Sivakumar, Email: sivanpalode@gmail.com

Wildlife Celebration in Goa by the Wildlife and Eco-Tourism Division Wildlife Week was celebrated by Wildlife and Eco-Tourism (South) Division with a variety of programmes.

The two hundred packets supplied by ZOO along with our own material was very much useful in organizing the celebration. The Division, which has jurisdiction of two Wildlife Sanctuaries i.e., Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary and Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary conducted various programmes during the week including nature camps for students in these sanctuaries. On 04 October a nature camp for students of Government High School Netravali Sanguem was arranged. A total of 51 School Children and 3 teachers from 5-9 standard attended the camp.

During a daylong programme, slide show and on the spot drawing competition based on forestry and wildlife and snakes awareness programme were arranged and the prizes were awarded. The different educational material supplied by Zoo Outreach Organisation was distributed to the students and they were very much useful for the students to know more about wildlife and forest. On 05 October a Nature Camp for students of Shri Shradanand High School Poiguinim was conducted for 53 students. A daylong programme raising awareness regarding forestry and wildlife as well as quiz programmes and identification of birds were conducted among the students and prizes were awarded.

Submitted by: Ramesh N Desai, Asst. Conservator of Forests, Wildlife & Eco-Tourism (South), Margao, Goa.

WWF-India, Kerala observed WLW at KPSMMV HSS in Palakkad.

Amphibian conservation was one of the theme of the programme

Amphibian posters presented to the participants at the Goa programme

Wildlife Awareness Programme during Wildlife Week by WWFIndia, M.P & Chhattisgarh The primary focus of the wildlife week celebration was to enhance the knowledge of wildlife among students with competitions. On 3 October 2011 a workshop was organized on amphibians in Govt. Middle School, Tatri for children of 8-12 yrs were sensitized about amphibians. The packet of kit on Amphibian, i.e. Frogs are part of Biodiversity obtained from Zoo Outreach Organization was distributed to all the participants. The children were thrilled to get the frog stickers and mask of the frog. A second programme was organized in Govt.

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Middle School, Indri, Mandla District, M.P, on 4 October where students were appraised about the importance of bears in the ecosystem and how to work out on human animal conflict.

The kit on Bats & Biodiversity and Bears, Forest & Biodiversity of Zoo Outreach Organization along with education kit of WWF-I was distributed to all the participants. On 5 Oct 2011 a workshop was organized on nature conservation in Govt. Hr. Sec. School, Chilpi of C.G. Children of 13-18 yrs were taught about wildlife and its importance in ecosystem. A quiz competition was kept to judge the knowledge of the children. The children were told about the role of

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bats, frogs and bears in ecosystem and motivated to help in conserving wildlife. The packet on amphibian, i.e.

Frogs are part of Biodiversity was distributed to all the participants. The children were thrilled to get the frog stickers and mask of the frog.

Submitted by: Ms. Sangita Saxena, WWF India, Bhopal, MP. Email: sdwwfmpcg@gmail.com

Wildlife awareness programmes by PUPA, West Bengal Paribesh Unnayan Parishad conducted wildlife awareness programme with education material support from Zoo Outreach Organisation and the materials sponsored by Chester Zoo, CBSG and UFAW. During the celebration, wildlife awareness amongst the urban & rural school students was created. The programme was held at Jadavpur Sammilita Balika Vidyalaya in Kolkata on 11 November.

Twenty students participated.

Headmistress inaugurated the programme and Mr. Arjun Manna, WWF-Sundarban and Dr. A. Misra were the resource persons who gave lectures on wildlife conservation. On 16 November another awareness programme was held at Phulbari Sitala High School in Sagar Island with 35 students. At the end the students played a mini skit. In both the

Students motivated to help conserving frogs at Bhopal WWF programme programmes different activities like group discussion, frog race, a skit, quiz competition shows that this will help in conservation efforts and reduce adverse impacts on wildlife.

Submitted by: Dr. A. Misra, PUPA, Kolkata, WB. Email: amargram.pupa@gmail.com.

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C.C.M. Hr. Sec. School, Idaiyangudi, TN-Yearlong Environmental Education activities National Green Corps of CCM Hr. Sec. School arranges various environmental awareness programmes throughout the year but special programmes were A skit implying to save bats enacted by the students at the PUPA programme

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organized during Wildlife Week and all appropriate and special “days”. Zoo Outreach Organisation various education materials used in our programmes. They are: Elephants, bats, hoolock gibbon and amphibians.

The students made aware of protecting our nature through these activities.

Other than this, our students were involved with biodiversity register, setting up bird nest and feeders, cycle users count, weeding, tree planting, medicinal garden, eco library, kitchen garden, plastic eradication programme and wildlife rallies and conducted a seminar to village panchayat workers under Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Scheme. In which students used the LMS kits provided

by Zoo Outreach Organisation and taught them through a mini drama about global warming and how our lifestyle could be modified in order to live more simply like Mahatma Gandhi.

Submitted by: Mr. W. Joel Revingston, HM, & Mrs. Rani Kiubairaj, NCG Coordinator. Email: thompson_d70@yahoo.com

Village Panchayat staff were taught “Live More Simply” through mini drama & using Zoo’s kit

Tree planting drive initiated with the help of the students at the school and surrounding areas

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Magazine of Zoo Outreach Organisation ZOO’s PRINT Publication Guidelines

Publication Information

We welcome articles from the conservation community of all SAARC countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and other tropical countries if relevant to SAARC countries’ problems and potential.

ZOO’s PRINT, ISSN 0973-2543 Published at: Coimbatore Owner: Zoo Outreach Organisation, 9A Lal Bahadur Colony, Peelamedu, CBE 4

Type — Articles of semi-scientific or technical nature.

News, notes, announcements of interest to conservation community and personal opinion pieces.

Editor: Sally R. Walker Associate Editors: R.V. Sanjay Molur and Daniel B. Ayyachamy Managing Editor: Latha G. Ravikumar Editorial Assistant: R. Marimuthu

Feature articles — articles of a conjectural nature — opinions, theoretical, subjective.

Case reports: case studies or notes, short factual reports and descriptions.

News and announcements — short items of news or announcements of interest to zoo and wildlife community Cartoons, puzzles, crossword and stories Subject matter: Captive breeding, (wild) animal husbandry and management, wildlife management, field notes, conservation biology, population dynamics, population genetics, conservation education and interpretation, wild animal welfare, conservation of flora, natural history and history of zoos. Articles on rare breeds of domestic animals are also considered.

Source: Zoos, breeding facilities, holding facilities, rescue centres, research institutes, wildlife departments, wildlife protected areas, bioparks, conservation centres, botanic gardens, museums, universities, etc. Individuals interested in conservation with information and opinions to share can submit articles ZOOS’ PRINT magazine.

Manuscript requirements: Articles should by typed into a Word format and emailed to zooreach@zooreach.org. Avoid indents, all caps or any other fancy typesetting. You may send photos, illustrations, tables.

Articles which should contain citations should follow this guideline: a bibliography organized alphabetically and containing all details referred in the following style: surname, initial(s), year, title of the article, name of journal, volume, number, pages.

Editorial details: Articles will be edited without consultation unless previously requested by the authors in writing. Authors should inform editors if the article has been published or submitted elsewhere for publication.

Zoo Outreach Organisation Trust Committee and Sr. Staff Managing Trustee: Sally R. Walker Chairman Trustee: R. Nandini Executive Director Trustee: R.V. Sanjay Molur Finance Director Trustee: Latha G. Ravikumar Scientist: B.A. Daniel Researcher: R. Marimuthu Other staff: B. Ravichandran, R. Pravin Kumar, K. Geetha, S. Radhika, Arul Jagadish, K. Raveendran, S. Sarojamma ZOOs’ PRINT magazine is informal and newsy as opposed to a scientific publication. ZOOS’ PRINT magazine sometimes includes semi-scientific and technical articles which are reviewed only for factual errors, not peer-reviewed.

Address: Zoo Outreach Organisation Post Box 1683, Peelamedu Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641 004, India Phone: +91 422 2561087 Fax: +91 422 2563269 E-mail: zooreach@zooreach.org Website: www.zooreach.org, www.zoosprint.org

ANNOUNCEMENT: UFAW Animal Welfare Conference “Recent advances in animal welfare science III” 21st June 2012 Animal welfare is a cross-disciplinary area of science that is attracting increasing interest and funding and is being widely employed to guide and inform legislation and practice relating to the use of animals. Much, however, still remains to be understood. As part of its commitment to improving the way we understand and care for animals, the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare is holding the third of a series of one-day conferences on ‘Recent advances in animal welfare science’ on 21st June 2012.

Programme details: The following speakers will be contributing talks to the conference: • Lambton SL, CJ Nicol, JL McKinstry, M Friel, J Walton and CA Weeks (University of Bristol, UK) -- Testing a • •

• • •

• • • • •

• •

management package designed to reduce injurious pecking in loose-housed commercial laying hen flocks Baker SE and DW Macdonald (University of Oxford, UK) -- Assessing the relative humaneness of vertebrate pest control methods in the UK Smulders TV, BA Robertson, O Rhys, L Holmes, MS Turner, RB D’Eath, PW Wilson, IC Dunn and T Boswell (University of Newcastle, Scottish Agricultural College and University of Edinburgh, UK) -- Food-restricted broiler breeders: Does chronic hunger lead to chronic stress?

Rowan AN and M Jones (Humane Society International, USA and UK) -- Developing benchmarks for assessing the success of dog management approaches around the world Ellwood SA, RPD Atkinson, DW Macdonald and SE Baker (University of Oxford, UK and The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, USA) -- The mechanical performance of currently unregulated spring-traps for use with rats, mice and moles Part C, J Kiddie, W Hayes, D Mills, DB Morton and LM Collins (Queen’s University Belfast, Royal Veterinary College, University of Lincoln and University of Birmingham, UK) -- Dogs at home: A comparison of welfare physiology and behaviour at home and in a boarding kennel environment de Haas EN, TB Rodenburg, J ten Napel and B Kemp (Wageningen University, The Netherlands) -- Behavioural development of feather pecking in commercial laying hens – the past or the present?

Bateson M, G Feenders and K Klaus (University of Newcastle, UK) -- Effects of hand-rearing on the cognition and behaviour of caged European starlings Leach MC, K Klaus, AL Miller, M Scotto di Perrotolo, SG Sotocinal and PA Flecknell (University of Newcastle, UK and McGill University, Canada) -- The assessment of post-vasectomy pain in mice using behaviour and the Mouse Grimace Scale Viitasaari E, L Hänninen, M Heinonen, M Raekallio and A Valros (University of Helsinki, Finland) -- The benefits of ketoprofen administered intramuscularly 3 days post partum in sows Packer RMA, A Hendricks and CC Burn (The Royal Veterinary College, UK) -- How long and low can you go? A preliminary investigation of exaggeration of back length and reduction in leg length as a risk factor for intervertebral disc herniation (IVDH) Nasr MAF, J Murrell, LJ Wilkins and CJ Nicol (University of Bristol, UK and Zagazig University, Egypt) -- The effect of two classes of opioid drug on the landing ability of laying hens with and without keel fractures Hothersall B, G Caplen, CJ Nicol, AE Waterman-Pearson, CA Weeks and JC Murrell (University of Bristol, UK) -Challenges of determining links between pain and lameness in broiler chickens

There will be a poster session during the lunch break which will feature over 50 presentations. Further details, including the full programme of speakers and a registration form, can be found on the UFAW website http://www.ufaw.org.uk/ conference2012.php. Registration is from 8.30, with talks starting at 9.30 and ending at 17.10.

Other details: UFAW intends these regular conferences provides a forum at which the broad community of scientists, veterinarians and others concerned with animal welfare can come together to share knowledge and practice, discuss advances and exchange ideas and views. As part of this commitment, and to ensure that the meeting is accessible to widest range of those with an interest in animal welfare, UFAW aims to keep the registration fee to attend the conferences low, this year it is just £25.

Note: This price includes refreshments but delegates will need to make their own arrangements for lunch.

Venue: The conference is being held in York, in the medieval Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, Fossgate YO1 9XD. Located next to the pedestrianised centre of York and built in 1357, the timbered Hall and Undercroft make up one of the best preserved medieval guild halls in the world.

Background to UFAW: UFAW, the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, is an internationally-recognised, independent, scientific and educational animal welfare charity. The organization promotes high standards of welfare for farm, companion, laboratory and captive wild animals and those with which we interact in the wild.

Contact Details: Stephen Wickens, Development Officer, UFAW, The Old School, Brewhouse Hill, Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, AL4 8AN, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 1582 831818; Fax: +44 (0) 1582 831414; Website: www.ufaw.org.uk; Email: wickens@ufaw.org.uk