CONSERVATON BIOLOGY Lecture14 – Spring 2014 Althoff Reference Chapter 14

1. CONSERVATON BIOLOGYLecture14 – Spring 2014 Althoff Reference Chapter 14 Zoos and Gardens

2. Zoos and Gardens • Typically, they house considerable biodiversity • Require considerable skilled husbandry to maintain healthy, viable individuals • Always have served 3 major functions: 1) ______________ 2) ______________ 3) ______________ • More recently, become important centers for a specialized form of biodiversity conservation: 4) _______ conservation

3. Ex situ conservation • …is conservation that takes place ________ of a species’ natural habitat • Contrasts ______ conservation (conservation within a species’ natural habitat)

4. Changing Roles • Wealthy (King Solomon, Louis XIV, Michael Jackson, etc.) have collected exotic creatures for millenia…driven by same basic motivation as stamp collectors: it is entertaining diversion from day-to-day life. • Annually, about ___ million visitors come to zoos and aquariums (~ 10% of earth’s population) • Annually, about ___ million visitors come to botanical gardens. • Collectively, more combined attendance than all professional baseball, basketball, hockey, and football games

5. Changing Roles…con’t • Early on, zoo put on “shows” to entertain the visitors. • Recently, “shows” are uncommon and more emphasis is put on __________________ a) display more “natural” in appearance/ design b) exhibits have more signage with species info including distribution maps/info c) more focus “conserving” these species

6. Changing Roles…con’t • Many biologists work at zoos • Biologists are typically a _______ lot….. • Result: our understanding of physiology, diseases, reproductive biology, nutrition, and genetic disorders have been garnered from captive populations • We’ve learned how to ______ these animals better: use of tranquilizers, testing and refinement of radio telemetry collars, implants, etc. • We’ve learned about the problems associated with _________ with records keep and evaluated

7. Noah’s Ark • Conveys a simple justification: many species would not exist today if they had not been taken from the wild and kept in captivity: examples include California condor Black-footed ferret • Others we’ve “banked” some genetic stock: ex. black, white, and Indian rhinos

8. Noah’s Ark…not so lucky • Several species’ last know individuals ____ in zoos/captivity…. quagga dusky seaside sparrow passenger pigeon po’ouli pink-headed duck thylacine

9. Studbooks and Pedigrees • Provide starting point for developing/increasing captive populations….in some cases with intent of providing stock to be released back into the wild when ______________ is available • Challenge here is maintain genetic diversity but minimize the “____________” selection • Attempt to avoid sibling matings • Currently, 1190 studbooks in use, covering 836 species…with another 300 species in the process of having studbooks available • Some development, too, of similar databases for plants

10. Breeding… • Typically, has been accomplished by physically pairing up animals • Advances in extraction of sperm have in some instances eliminated the need for transport of individuals cross-country….thus, artificial insemination techniques have become valuable by saving stress on individuals and transportation costs • Embryo transfer techniques are being developed to also cut costs and maximize breeding opportunities

11. Genetic Material • Storing genetic material possible by freezing tissue at -70oC and extracting DNA at a later date… • or extract and purify now, then storing it a room temperature in vials of inert gases • Can we get to the Jurassic Park situation….??? a) not likely for extinct species with small fragments of DNA b) more likely for extinct species for which have/find frozen tissue (like the woolly mammoth) or recent extinct species (like the thylacine)

12. Augmenting wild gene pools… • This approach has lots of merit with existing wild populations are down to few individuals. • Example to consider might be the cheetah • Could release _____________…. • …or could transfer ______________________ • This requires close monitoring of both the number of individuals in the wild and their gene pools… and it is likely to be, on occasion, controversial to supplement a “wild” gene pool as others could argue it was “_________________.”

13. In summary.. • It is important that _______ and _______ conservation programs be carefully integrated with one another so that ex situ populations can: 1) be _________ against loss of natural populations 2) direct _____________ to conservation of wild populations through education, research, and funding 3) be a source for _______________ projects