CBSG Brasil Activities September 2013 - September 2014 CBSG-Brasil was founded in 2004. CBSG-Brasil is not based in any institution and is run voluntarily by four members with the support of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. Members are a wildlife biologists, a veterinarian, a GIS expert and a Zoo professional. Each member works for a different institution. The convenor - Arnaud Desbiez - is the Conservation Manager for Latin America at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) based in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil. Fabiana Lopes Rocha has a post-doctoral position at FioCruz, Rio de Janeiro City, Rio de Janeiro State. Katia Ferraz is a professor at ESALQ, Piracicaba, São Paulo. Our newest member Yara Barros is the technical director of the Parque das Aves in Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná. During the Regional Network meeting of February 2013, it was decided that CBSG Brasil would work hard to get involved with the Brazilian ex situ community. Yara Barros has now joined our small team as representative of the ex situ community. Yara is well positioned for this endeavor, as she is also the president of the Brazilian Zoo and Aquarium Association. Thanks to Yara we hope to be able share CBSG tools, contacts and ideas with the Brazilian Zoo and Aquarium community. Welcome Yara! Since the last CBSG Annual Meeting we have successfully run several workshops and attended various meetings as well as engaged with numerous partners regarding potential workshops. Action Plan for the Brazilian Society of Zoos and Aquaria (SZB) Brazil has 121 zoological institutions (109 zoos and 12 aquaria), which hold approximately 50,000 animals. The Brazilian Society of Zoos and Aquaria (SZB) was created 35 years ago to represent Brazilian zoos. The SZB has faced many challenges, such as lack of participation from zoos and aquariums, inefficient organization and structure, and lack of clear purpose and objectives. As a result it has lost many of its members and its credibility. Brazil needs a strong zoo association to help improve its zoos, create captive breeding initiatives, and coordinate the captive breeding programs for threatened species as recommended by the Brazilian government. Furthermore, Brazil’s efforts need to be integrated with those of the international zoological community. Currently there are two zoo associations in the country: SZB on a national level and São Paulo Zoo Association (SPZ) at the regional level. This has created a situation where zoos and aquaria have to choose which association they will be affiliated with, as most of the zoos do not have the budget to be part of both. The existence of two associations weakens both. The SZB elected a new board in March 2013, which is working tirelessly to reverse this situation. Almost exactly one year after its election, the SZB organized a planning workshop with the help of CBSG. Twenty-five participants, including representatives of Brazilian zoos and the government, gathered at the São Paulo Zoo to create a strategic plan for the association. Three CBSG networks (Brasil, North America, and Europe) worked together to design, facilitate, and provide technical support for this workshop. A member from Wild Welfare also contributed expertise. The structure and function of AZA, EAZA, and PAAZAB, as well as the tools used in captive breeding programs, were presented and discussed. The participants described their overall vision for the SZB: To bring together and actively represent Brazilian zoos and aquariums; to highlight their importance in research, conservation, education and recreation; to provide tools, training, political and institutional support to approved members of the organization. Through working group sessions and plenary presentations, a detailed list of actions was assembled. The main actions are to: unite the two zoo associations to create one strong zoo association, hire a full-time executive director, start cooperative breeding programs, and create an accreditation program for the SZB. The Action Plan was presented publicly at the SZB conference at the end of May. Monitoring and evaluation of the plan will occur in March 2015, during the SZB Annual Congress. The three CBSG networks involved will continue supporting this long term initiative. This workshop would not have been possible without support from: Copenhagen Zoo, Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, Fundação Zoológico de São Paulo, International Species Information System (ISIS), Parque das Aves, and Wild Welfare. Zoos and Aquariums for 350 Through SZB, the campaign Zoos and Aquariums for 350 was divulgated to all the Brazilian institutions. All the content about the campaign from CBSG web page was translated to Portuguese and is now available on the website of SZB: www.szb.org.br. The campaign was also presented on the Facebook page of SZB, and all the zoos and aquariums were invited to take part on the Day of Action on May 21st. We believe it was a success, as according to the CBSG headquarters, Brazilian institutions were responsible for 1/3 of all the pictures sent to CBSG on this day. Additionally, the SZB congress in May used climate change as the main theme, and Yara officially launched the campaign, distributing T-shirts with the campaign's logo to people that committed to take action to fight climate change. ALPZA Strategic Planning Workshop for Integrated Conservation, Buenos Aires 29-31 MAY 2015 CBSG Europe and CBSG Brasil are preparing for another strategic planning workshop in 2015 this time for the Latin American Zoo association. CBSG Brasil Partnership with the Brazilian Center for the study of Road Ecology (CBEE – Centro Brasilieiro de Estudo em Ecologia de Estrada) CBSG Brasil will be providing population viability analysis expertise to the CBEE. The center specializes in analysis of road kill and will be adding VORTEX as an analysis tool. Over the years CBSG Brasil has created and put together baseline models for over 10 native species that are impacted by road kill. We are currently discussing a way to make VPJ files for these species available. A list of priority species in need of a population viability analysis baseline model has been drafted. Species Conservation Planning Since the beginning of the year CBSG Brasil has been contacted for Species Conservation Plans for over 10 species. Several initiatives have not progressed beyond a few Skype discussions, others have been passed along to other networks or colleagues. Three workshops are being planned for the near future and surprisingly all involve canids. They include: Darwin´s fox (Chiloe, Chile) – Still under discussion. The group now has an organizing committee and is looking for funding. Hoary Fox (Goiás, Brasil) – CBSG Brasil Fabiana Rocha is responsible for following up with this group. Bush dog Metamodelling workshop (Atibaia, Sao Paulo, Brasil) – This workshop was supposed to take place at the end of August 2014, but due to funding issues has been delayed to the end of the year. This workshop will include both Vortex and Outbreak modeling and Phil Miller will be helping us. Publications: Agostini I.; Holzmann I.; Di Bitetti M.; Kowalewski M.; Beldoménico P.; Goenaga S.; Martínez M.; Moreno E.; Lestani E.; Desbiez A.; Miller P. Resultados del primer taller de conservación del mono aullador marrón (Alouatta guariba clamitans) en Argentina. II Congresso Latino Americano XV Congresso Brasileiro de Primatologia 6-7 Agosto 2013. Recife Brazil Agostini, I., Holzmann,I., Di Bitetti, M.S., Oklander, L.I., Kowalewski, M.M., Beldomnico, P.M., Goenaga, S., Martinez, M., Moreno, E.S., Lestani, E., Desbiez, A.L.J. and Miller, P. 2014. Building a Species Conservation Strategy for the brown howler monkey (Alouatta guariba clamitans) in Argentina in the context of yellow fever outbreaks. Tropical Conservation Science. Vol. 7 (1): 26- 34. Bernardo S.C. Desbiez, A.L.J., Olmos, F. and Collar N.J. (2014) Reintroducing the red-billed curassow in Brazil: Population viability analysis points to potential success. Natureza & Conservação. 12 (1): 53-58 Cunha de Paula, R. and Desbiez A.L..J (2014) Maned Wolf Population Viability In: Ecology and Conservation of the Maned Wolf: Multidisciplinary perspectives. Edited by Consorte-McCrea, A.G and Ferraz Santos, E. CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group. Pp: 15-34 Rodrigues, F.H.G., Desbiez, A.L.J., Grando, R.L.S.C, Lacerda, A.C.R., Hass A. and Silva, W.R. (2014) Conservation of a population of Maned Wolves, Chrysoscyon brachyurus, on a small reserve in the Cerrado, In: Ecology and Conservation of the Maned Wolf: Multidisciplinary perspectives. Edited by Consorte-McCrea, A.G and Ferraz Santos, E. CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group. Pp: 131-152 .