Typhenn A. Brichieri-Colombi, Natasha A. Lloyd, Jana M. McPherson, Axel Moehrenschlager

“ We used these data to examine what proportion of North American animal conservation translocations involve captive-bred source populations, and of these, what percentage come from zoos. Moreover, we asked to what extent zoo professionals actively contribute to the science of conservation translocations by reporting their insights and experiences in peer-reviewed journals. ”

“ Captive breeding by zoos was more likely to contribute to North American releases for amphibians (42%) , terrestrial invertebrates (29%) , mammals (19%) , and birds (17%) than reptiles (15%) , fish (2%) , or marine invertebrates (0) . Of the 54 zoos involved, 50 were in North America and 4 in Europe. Of the North American Zoos, 42 were AZA accredited, representing only 18% of 230 AZA institutions. ”

“ Similarly, parallel analyses examining involvement of botanical gardens in plant conservation translocations could yield insight on patterns and approaches with potential for mutual learning opportunities.
Although zoo contributions to captive source populations used for release have grown over time (Fig. 1b) , the observed trend seems too gradual to establish zoos as significant players in release-targeted breeding any time soon. ”

“ The obvious alternative to wild source populations is captive breeding. Captive breeding can be difficult due to taxon-specific genetic, behavioral, or health challenges and postrelease success is often limited unless animals are specifically selected or adequately prepared for release (Todd & Lintermans 2015) . ”

“ We selected all articles that contained the terms in the author affiliation, abstract, main text, or acknowledgements sections and then recorded the species involved, type of conservation translocation, zoo name or names, type of zoo involvement (e.g., captive breeding, authorship, funding, veterinary care, etc.) , source population (captive or wild) , and release location. ”

“ Building on an inherent strength to make meaningful contributions to nature conservation should help zoos convincingly navigate their continued transition from (educational) entertainment parks to a genuine force for conservation. ”

“ The characteristics and success of vertebrate translocations within Australia: a progress report to Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Wildlife Research and Management, Kalamunda WA, Australia. ”

“ Publications were compiled using the ISI Web of Science and Academic Search Complete search engines, which primarily identified journal publications but also some grey literature, such as agency reports and newspaper and magazine articles. We searched all publications in the data set for the words “zoo∗,” “aquarium,” “safari,” and “society.” ”

“ Zoo staff coauthored 5% of all papers in the NACT data set and 39% (94) of articles with zoo involvement. The proportion of publications with zoo staff as coauthors increased over time (r = 0.480, p < 0. 01) (Figs. 1c & d) from 0% in 1974 to 42% in 2013. ”

“ The public face of zoos: images of entertainment, education and conservation. Anthrozoos 24:175–189.
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Cromarty PL, Alderson SL. 2013. Translocation statistics (2002-2010) , and the revised Department of Conservation translocation process. ”

“ Sustaining the Ark: the challenges faced by zoos inmaintaining viable populations. International Zoo Yearbook 43:6–18.
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