The health of wildlife: the role and needs of zoological conservation organisations

摘要

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) manages five zoological parks in the City of New York, including the Central Park, Queens and Prospect Park Zoos, the New York Aquarium and the flagship Bronx Zoo. In total there are some 1,700 species of animals managed through the curatorial and health care programmes. In addition, WCS manages approximately 75 land and seascapes in 60-plus countries, many with field health programmes that provide veterinary services, capacity building, disease surveillance and health monitoring efforts for free-ranging wild populations. The Wildlife Conservation Society is part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, a regional professional organisation that inspects and accredits facilities, implements models for maintaining the genetic diversity of collection populations, nationally and internationally, and raises the level of health and husbandry care which often exceeds those required by government. There are similar regional groups in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Australasia, as well as the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, that strive for many of the same goals.The programmes of modern zoos and aquariums go well beyond the display of wildlife. Today, zoological organisations are increasingly involved with the conservation of free-ranging wildlife around the globe. The health-care programmes have also increasedin size and scope, and provide state-of-the-art veterinary and allied science services and research in a variety of areas. In order to maintain viable populations of genetically diverse species in zoos or in isolated-remnant, free-ranging wild populations, it is necessary to move animals regionally, nationally and internationally. Increasingly, the knowledge gained through the intensive management of zoological collections and animal movement is finding important applications in small populations of critically endangered free-ranging species, as well as providing valuable information that contributes to food security and protects the health of people and domestic animals.