The name 'Orang-utan' comes from the malay orang hutan meaning 'man of the forest'.
Zoos, Conservation and Education
Roles of Taronga Conservation Society Australia
The International Zoo conservation strategy
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Taronga Conservation Society Australia (TCSA) is a member of the world zoo association and the Australasian regional association of zoos.
In 1995 the association of world zoos produced a ‘World Zoo Conservation Strategy'. This was aimed at focusing and coordinating international conservation efforts undertaken by zoos. The Strategy identified roles for zoos to work both in situ (habitat-based) and ex situ (in zoos) to support conservation of the world's wildlife.
In Australia, the Australasian association of zoos[1] links Australian, New Zealand and the South Pacific zoos in a cooperative regional network for wildlife conservation. The Association (ARAZPA) coordinates joint programs of zoos and aquariums in contributing to wildlife conservation.
ARAZPA currently represents over 70 institutions that are visited by 14 million visitors and 1.6 million school visits annually.
All these zoos also undertake environmental education programs that aim to raise awareness and knowledge of animals and their habitats, and encouraging visitors to support conservation projects and take local action to protect wildlife.
Global wildlife under threat
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has forecast that by 2050, 30% of the world's wildlife will disappear. The role of zoos in addressing this decline is twofold - zoo-based ex situ programs that contribute to in situ conservation outcomes and direct support to in situ habitat-based programs.
Zoo Conservation Programs
In situ conservation endeavours
Zoos' involvement in in situ conservation is undertaken through global partnerships and by participation in a State or Federal Recovery Programs. These partnerships and programs involve habitat restoration, research and education, as well as more conventional Zoo roles such as captive breeding for threatened species and small population management.
The Taronga Conservation Society Australia (TCSA) supports 25 in situ conservation programs, including the provision of funds to CITES MIKE (Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants) in South East Asia for satellite tracking equipment and provision of rangers in remaining national parks. The TCSA also conducts 11 recovery programs, including the breed-for-release of Booroolong and Corroboree Frogs, Regent Honeyeaters and Little Penguins.
Ex situ conservation endeavours
Where such in situ conservation is no longer possible, when, for example, the threatening processes cannot be managed, the World Zoo Conservation Strategy underlines the importance of ex situ (within-zoo) species conservation.
Ex situ conservation efforts with an emphasis on breeding programs requires long-term genetic and behavioural management of threatened species. Typically, such programs aim to preserve 90 percent of the genetic diversity of an entire species over a 100 year period.
Such long-term breeding programs are resource-heavy and require collaboration both within the Australasian region, and globally between regions. The goal of managing all threatened species in zoos is the creation of genetically and behaviourally viable insurance populations against the future possible catastrophic decline of populations in the wild through poaching, habitat destruction or increasingly, disease.
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The role of Zoos in ex situ endeavours is also delivered through education , research and advocacy. More than 1.6 million people a year visit Taronga and Taronga Western Plains Zoos.
Awareness-raising via exhibit interpretive media, Keeper talks, presentations, formal education classes, workshops and seminars, enables the community to gain an appreciation of wildlife and an understanding of avenues for the recovery and conservation of species through changed behaviours and philanthropic support.
Research undertaken with visitors to the zoo show that they learned more about wildlife through their visit, had an increased understanding of the threats faced by many species and were willing to act in support of threatened wildlife.
Taronga Foundation Field Grants
The Taronga Foundation is the zoos' philanthropic arm and raises funds both to support the provision of advanced facilities to support the work of the zoos, as well as operating a grants program supporting conservation programs in the field. In 2008, the following grants were awarded:
Cheetah Conservation Botswana
Botswana has one of the last populations of cheetah and this program focuses on working with local farmers to reduce predator/livestock conflict.
Fijian Crested Iguana
Conservation action for critically endangered Fijian Crested Iguana to preserve four genetically different populations on small Fijian islands.
Flora and Fauna International in Aceh, Indonesia
Reducing human - elephant conflict over land use in Aceh using local staff to provide education to local communities.
Biodiversity and Elephant Conservation Trust
A program to generate support among young people in Sri Lanka to resolve human-elephant conflict which currently kills120 elephants and 65 humans each year.
Rainforest Rescue - Daintree
A ‘Plant a Rainforest Project' to revegetate cleared areas of the ancient Daintree rainforest, home to 122 threatened species.
Hatinh Langurs - Vietnam
Surveys wild and re-introduced endangered Hantinh Langurs from the Endangered Primate Rescue Centre in Central Vietnam.
Fauna Surveys in River Redgum Forests - NSW
Expert ecologists will survey threatened species and the impact of local logging in this habitat.
Southern Corroboree Frogs
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Working with Australia's most endangered frog to protect eggs and tadpoles from the deadly Chytrid Fungus using fungus-free artificial pools in their alpine habitat.
Asian Turtle Conservation Network - Community
A mobile wildlife awareness unit to raise community support for efforts to save critically endangered turtle species.
Scientific Research
The TCSA facilitates numerous scientific research endeavours. The TCSA's Reproductive Laboratory is located at Taronga Western Plains Zoo and undertakes specialised species research.
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Current projects include the adrenal status of Asian Elephants in captivity in Australasia, reproductive physiology of Julia Creek Dunnarts and male Ringtail Possums, and a captive management program aimed at saving the critically endangered Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat.
A further critical project currently being undertaken by Reproductive Laboratory staff is the study into assisted reproductive technology for the Tasmanian Devil. This research is intrinsically linked to the captive management of the remaining populations of Devil, which are being devastated by Facial Tumour Disease.
The TCSA has identified wildlife health and its growing significance in terms of its interface and implications for human health and agriculture as a key strategic focus. Accordingly, considerable energy and investment is being invested in activities and related skills in such areas.
Taronga Zoo's Australian Registry of Wildlife Health undertakes research into wildlife health surveillance. The Registry operates as a resource centre, maintaining information relating to healthy and diseased native fauna and zoo animals, and a diagnostic centre, investigating outbreaks of sudden death or disease on behalf of wildlife managers, state and federal conservation departments, threatened species programs, wildlife rehabilitation groups, the RSPCA and zoos. The registry conducts more wildlife pathology than the combined output of all other similar Australian Government institutions.
Working together with the Registry is the Taronga-based Australian Wildlife Health Network. The Network is co-hosted with the NSW Department of Primary Industries and coordinates National wildlife disease surveillance. The network better prepares Australia for serious disease outbreaks in its wild and feral animal populations by facilitating collaborative links in the investigation and management of wildlife health in support of human and animal health, biodiversity and trade.
The TCSA is also a principle partner in the Australian Marina Mammal Research Centre (AMMRC), which operates a number of research programs both in the wild and within the zoo. AMMRC works with captive populations of marine mammals to develop new technologies that can be applied to ecological issues in the field.
To do so, AMMRC collaborates with colleagues working in Australian, Antarctic and international waters towards the development of research programs. These programs are conservation-based and examine impacts of noise exposure, breeding dysfunction, stress and climatic warming.
Taronga's range of endeavours
The Taronga Conservation Society Australia operates the following wildlife specialty agencies:
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Marine Rescue Unit |
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Funding
The TCSA is a non-profit endeavour owned by the community of NSW. Recurrent funding from the NSW Government to assist the TCSA to conduct its education and research amounts to approximately 20% of total revenues per annum.
Staffing
Both Taronga and Taronga Western Plains Zoo have diverse and highly skilled staff ranging from animal keepers, scientists, pathologists, animal behavioural experts, small populations management experts, technicians, horticulturalists, teachers, educators and communications staff.
There is a total of 460 full time (or equivalent) staff employed at the zoos and supporting agencies.
Summary
The Taronga Conservation Society Australia cares for over 4,000 animals and more than 350 species. The Taronga Conservation Society Australia contributes to the conservation of biodiversity through a range of endeavours spanning various programs at Taronga and Taronga Western Plains Zoos. Principally, these are recognised as:
- Education activities with a conservation focus. TCSA's Education Centres host more than 100,000 school students per year undertaking curriculum-based education programs, and the Zoos' Roar and Snore programs attract a further 7,000 participants;
- The TCSA supports 25 in-situ conservation programs and 54 conservation breeding programs;
- Insurance breeding programs which are long-term breeding programs ofendangered species held in captivity;
- Recovery and protection of species in the wild, including 11 recovery programs and "release to the wild" programs; in-kind support and funding for wildlife conservation;
- Operation of two Wildlife Hospitals who treat over 1,500 sick or injured native animals per year;
- Conservation biology research projects;
- Outreach conservation education programs to rural, indigenous and disadvantaged communities. Taronga Zoo's two Zoomobiles visit over 32,000 people per year from remote schools, hospitals and preschools, remand centres, nursing homes and community fundraising events;
- The establishment in 2008 of the Taronga Training Institute, a Registered Training Organisation offering Certificate II and III in Animal and Captive Animal Studies;
- Infrastructure support for the above programs. The TCSA's $250M Master Plan redevelopment program supports both visitor education and the conservation programs of the Zoos
Endnote
[1] The Australasian Regional Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria (ARAZPA)
