ZOO REPORT PROFI the Content

No. 1 / june 2012 special supplement ZOO REPORT PROFI The Content The Speech Lesley Dickie Zooreport the magazine for friends of the Brno Zoo june 2012; No. 1/12, volume XIV PAGE 3 Kamchatka Brown Bear Female Has Given Birth to Twins Editor: Miloslav Walter Zoologická zahrada města Brna U Zoo 46, 635 00 Brno, Czech Republic tel.: +420 546 432 311 fax: +420 546 210 000 PAGE 4 e-mail: [email protected] We Are Protecting Some Animals that Could Disappear from the Foothills Publisher: Blanka Mikátová Peleos, spol. s r.o. e-mail: [email protected] PAGE 5 Editor’s office address: The Little Bears Are Staying with Their Mother Zoologická zahrada města Brna Miloslav Walter Redakce Zooreport U Zoo 46, 635 00 Brno, Czech Republic tel.: +420 546 432 370 fax: +420 546 210 000 e-mail: [email protected] PAGES 6, 7 The Little Bears Were Named Kuba and Toby Eduard Stuchlík Editor manager: Bc. Eduard Stuchlík Specialist readers: PAGE 8 RNDr. Bohumil Král, CSc. Hot news Mgr. Lubomír Selinger (red) Emendation: Rosalind Miranda PAGE 9 Distribution: The Topics at the Meeting 500 pcs in the English version of Six Commissions Included Sand Cats 1,500 pcs in the Czech version Eduard Stuchlík Photos by: PAGE 10 Eduard Stuchlík Steller’s Sea Eagle Pair Have Raised Two Chicks Miloslav Walter First page: Kamchatka brown bears UNSALEABLE PAGE 11 2 The Speech Zoos and the UN Decade of Biodiversity 2011–2020 Good zoos and aquaria have changed substantially in the past 50 years: They have pledged their efforts to ensuring that not only do they provide a great day out for their visitors, but that they also contribute in a significant manner to conservation either ex situ or in situ or both. In addition, they also provide conservation education and conservation research opportunities on their premises. We know we do this – but do our public and our local, regional, and national politicians? What about our media and non-zoo conservation organisations? Good zoos contribute in a significant manner to conservation. On the photo: a Sri Lankan leopard at the Brno Zoo Are we underselling our activities and, therefore, the role of good zoos and aquaria in the modern world? What other non-governmental network in Europe conservation, which can provide a safety net or rescue Each EAZA member institution does try and get does more to promote the value of biodiversity to function. The valuable work being undertaken by some the word out about its fantastic work, but perhaps ordinary citizens, in such huge numbers, than the col- zoos in securing threatened amphibian populations we can all do this a little better by signing up to be lective membership of EAZA? In the past decade, more in captivity, along with efforts to counter the deadly partners in the UN Decade of Biodiversity 2011–2020 than 1 billion visits have been made to EAZA zoos and chytrid fungus in the wild, is an example of such (http://www.cbd.int/2011–2020/). EAZA signed aquaria. In the coming UN Decade of Biodiversity, an work. Target 12 also means that zoos must continue, up to be a partner in 2011 and, despite highlighting estimated 1.4 billion visits will be made to those same and indeed increase, their work in supporting field this opportunity to its membership, so far only three zoos and aquaria. In the new 2013–2016 EAZA strategy conservation – either through funding of other bodies EAZA members are additionally listed as partners. being developed this summer, educational aims are very or by taking part as partners in the field. Why so few, I wonder? Signing up is straightforward; much taking their cue from Target 1 above, bringing There are many other goals in the full list of 20 and becoming a partner means that you can freely in us as a community to help to meet that target. Aichi targets for 2020 to which zoos and aquaria publicise your conservation events on the Decade of Target 12 states the following: By 2020, the ex- already contribute; and I would urge all directors Biodiversity webpages. This, of course, means that tinction of known threatened species should have been and their staff to acquaint themselves with these. other people and organisations worldwide know what prevented; and their conservation status, particularly We contribute to biodiversity conservation in a vast you are doing to help to achieve the global so-called of those most in decline, should have been improved number of ways. I urge you to sign up as partners ‘Aichi’ targets. and sustained. to the UN Decade of Biodiversity, and to let even So much of what zoos and aquaria are doing on It is important to note from this target that it more potential collaborators know about your work. a daily basis is helping to reach the targets, so why does not define the prevention of extinction as be- not shout about this a bit more? Let’s take the first ing in the wild per se. While it is absolutely true target: By 2020, at the latest, people should be aware that real conservation success can only be assumed Dr. Lesley Dickie, of the values of biodiversity and of the steps they can when a species is safe in nature, an important step Executive Director of the European Association take to conserve it and use it sustainably. towards that status is sometimes found through ex situ of Zoos and Aquaria Dr Lesley Dickie was educated at the universities of Glasgow (BSc Zoology), Cambridge (MPhil Biological Anthropology), and London (PhD). At Queen Mary, University of London, she undertook her PhD work entitled, ‘The Behaviour and Reproductive Physiology of the Fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox) in Captivity’. She began her career in zoos at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland as a records- and zoo-keeper at Edinburgh Zoo. After completing field work in Madagascar and finishing her doctorate, she began working at the Zoological Society of London, latterly as the Zoo Conservation Programme Manager. Lesley is an editor of the book ‘Zoos in the 21st Century: Catalysts for Conservation?’ (published August 2007), co-chaired the 2006/07 European Association of Zoos and Aquaria Conservation Campaign and the Madagascar Campaign, Arovako i Madagasikara, and was, until August 2008, the Year of the Frog Global Campaign Manager, working 50% of the time for Amphibian Ark in this capacity, while continuing to develop conservation projects for the Zoological Society of London. As of 1st August 2008 Lesley, took on her current role as Executive Director of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, based in Amsterdam. EAZA is the world’s largest zoo and aquarium association, with 345 members in 41 coun- tries. More than 140 million visits are made to EAZA member institutions each year. 3 The Caution An image from the web camera as it relayed images from the Kamchatka brown bear birthing box, taken two days after the birth. The young animals still cannot be seen, as the female was holding them against her body. On the right is an image taken approximately one month later Kamchatka Brown range – as it is mainly influenced by the climate and and herring). The quantity was increased significantly Bear Female Has Given the accessibility of food. The mother’s body adapts before the winter. Acorns which fell from oak trees grow- Birth to Twins to these sorts of problems in such a way that the ing in the enclosure were an ample food supplement; On 30th January 2012, the Kamchatka brown fertilized embryo might not develop for a certain the bears had eaten them all by the beginning of winter. bear female at Brno Zoo gave birth to twins. period. The difficulty of determining the expected As ascarids sometimes appear in the digestive tract of The Kamchatka brown bear pair have lived date of birth is also amplified by the fact that, with predatory mammals, the vet sprayed a preparation at Brno Zoo since October 2010, when they were regard to the long fur of these large animals and the effective against parasitic worms into Kamchatka’s and transported here from their home zoo in Rostov-on- relatively small size of the fetus, pregnancy cannot Jelizar’s mouthes, dehelminthizing them. Don in Russia; they had already raised young there be ascertained visually. At the end of the year, when Kamchatka had twice. After their arrival in Brno, we placed them in We inclined the most towards a birth date in Febru- consumed enough food, she stopped eating; and, the freshly completed breeding facility, a dominant ary, though we couldn’t rule out its taking place even as from the middle of January, she started to spend exhibit in the entry area of the Beringia complex early as the end of November. The entry to the birthing a lot of time in the birthing box. When this occurred, where animals from northern regions are housed. The box, cushioned with hay, was thus left continuously we separated the pair. We decided that Jelizar would breeding facility of the Kamchatka brown bear exhibit open for Kamchatka during the day as well as at night, spend the winter in a natural way in the enclosure contains a birthing box with a built-in camera which even when she was still spending time with Jelizar. It where he had already dug a small burrow, and that monitors what’s happening inside, as well as four in- was believed that when she was about to give birth she Kamchatka would remain in the den by herself: She terconnected sleeping quarters.

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