Conservation and Breeding
With the advent of co-ordinated breeding programmes for numerous species held in captivity and standardised electronic animal record keeping systems (ARKS) it is now possible to track the different subspecies that are managed and ensure that these are managed as pure subspecies. Twycross Zoo is now recognised as having a database of the animals in its care, both current and historically, that is comparable to any major zoological garden worldwide. Additionally several breeding programmes are managed at Twycross Zoo, including Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persicus), Patagonian sealion (Otaria byronia), siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus) and saddle-billed stork (Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis).
A group of four female Asian elephants occupy an enclosure on the west side of the zoo. The females are all of breeding age, but the current facilities are not adequate for keeping a bull elephant for breeding purposes. Rather than extend the facilities or lose their elephants completely, Twycross decided to try artificial insemination. The project was successful and a baby elephant, Ganesh, was born on 6 August 2009.
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Famous quotes containing the words conservation and/or breeding:
“The putting into force of laws which shall secure the conservation of our resources, as far as they may be within the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, including the more important work of saving and restoring our forests and the great improvement of waterways, are all proper government functions which must involve large expenditure if properly performed.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“Civility, which is a disposition to accommodate and oblige others, is essentially the same in every country; but good breeding, as it is called, which is the manner of exerting that disposition, is different in almost every country, and merely local; and every man of sense imitates and conforms to that local good breeding of the place which he is at.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)