Biodiversity, invasive species, zoos

It occurs to me that with the alarm about invasive species, we seem to be coping with it in some situations. We all adapt to them and I wonder about the long-term effects. We see the odd purple loosestrife plant in our remote wetland.
We have weird Alewives in my hand-dug pond that have inbred with the goldfish.

I heard a TVO podcast, Zoo History. Zoos are having issues with breeding in captivity, as funding dries up, and they begin to fill up their so-called Utopian Zoos. Zoos with extended acreages, to keep animals in suitable habitat.


Toronto's zoo, for example, is 700 acres. But how much walking do you do, in order to see the critters? This is the newish zoo, but they are expensive.

Zoo began in the 1800s, as people sought to show us foreign species. Unfortunately, many zoos are unable to keep animals in the manner to which they should be accustomed. There is talk that with video and images readily available on the WWW, that zoos are becoming redundant.

I don't know. There comes a point at which, when natural habitat is gone, that spending the time and energy on a species seems futile.

Alewives with goldfish colouring

Inbreeding is a difficult issue, as normally a juvenile male leaves a habitat, while the females remain. In a zoo they realized they had to control breeding. This is true of our Mama Bear in our forest. She had twins a couple of years ago, last we heard, and the males would be kicked out of the nest, so to speak!

What do you think?

ZOOS

Jeffrey Hyson: Zoo History Wed, 27 Jun 2012 21:00:00 EST

Raffi said we're all going there. And many of us still visit the zoo. But our view of animals and how they should be treated has changed considerably in the past several decades. Modern zoos, in turn, are changing to reflect that. The Agenda examines our relationship with zoos, and the animals in them.

THE ANIMAL LIFEBOAT

When Babies Don't Fit Plan, Question for Zoos Is, Now What?

By LESLIE KAUFMAN

When endangered species breed in captivity, it does not always help the larger mission of saving them, and zoos have to decide how to handle it.

To Save Some Species, Zoos Must Let Others Die

By LESLIE KAUFMAN

As the number of species at risk of extinction soars, zoos are being called upon to rescue and sustain some animals in favor of others.

May 28, 2012

Date Night at the Zoo, if Rare Species Play Along

By LESLIE KAUFMAN

Zoos are trying to mate captive cheetahs and many other animals as so-called insurance populations before their situation in the wild becomes untenable.

July 5, 2012

Zoos’ Bitter Choice: To Save Some Species, Letting Others Die By LESLIE KAUFMAN

As the number of species at risk of extinction soars, zoos are being called upon to rescue and sustain some animals in favor of others.

May 28, 2012, 

Deciding Which Species to Keep

More than 200 American zoos and aquariums have joined an effort to prevent extinction. Zookeepers are now pressed to choose which animals to rescue.

Invasive Species


 New pathway for invasive species -- science teachers

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...

A survey of teachers from the United States and Canada found that one out of four educators who used live animals as part of their science curriculum released the organisms into the wild after they were done using them in the classroom.

Biological control with specialized plant-eating insects may provide a long-term sustainable control strategy for purple loosestrife. These folks were hired to count the nanophyes remaining from an experiment a couple of years ago.

Biological Control of Purple Loosestrife with Nanophyes mamoratus - Manitoba Purple Loosestrife Project