Conservation zoos have powerful potential to reverse extinction, confirms new study

Conservation zoos have powerful potential to reverse extinction, confirms new study - ZSL

New ZSL-led study spotlights vital role of conservation zoos in saving ‘extinct in the wild’ species.
A ground-breaking study led by ZSL has confirmed the astonishing potential for conservation zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens, and seedbanks across the world to bring animals and plants back from extinction.
Published online on Thursday 23 February in Science, the research is the first to comprehensively evaluate the 95 ‘extinct in the wild’ animals and plants that, since 1950, have survived only in the care of zoological and botanical institutions - after being driven to extinction in the wild, largely as a result of human-driven activities such as habitat destruction.

long horned broewn and white antelope emerge from large crates as the front panel is lifted — Becoming extinct in the wild, Scimitar-horned oryx, the result of a global collaborative breeding programme, are released in Chad. (© ZSL)

The paper outlines how immense collaborative efforts by these conservation organisations - working alongside governments and partners responsible for wild habitats - have combined to prevent extinction and allow some species to successfully reclaim their wild status.

But, it warns, existing solely under human care is not a secure place for these species, revealing how close we are to forever losing many more.

Lead author Donal Smith at ZSL’s Institute of Zoology, said: “Without these dedicated organisations and their conservation efforts, we would have already lost species like scimitar-horned oryx, several Polynesian tree snails, and the yellow flowering toromiro. Thanks to decades of tireless work saving species, we have the opportunity to re-establish more populations in the wild; it’s imperative that conservation zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens and seedbanks are given the financial - and inter-governmental - support to do so.”

Experts at ZSL’s conservation Zoos, London and Whipsnade, work with 16 of the 38 currently extinct in the wild animal species - more than any other zoo in the UK - and have a long history of working with others. Through collaborative breeding programmes, fieldwork and research, ZSL has already worked alongside many partners to return a number of extinct species to their wild habitats, such as Partula tree snails to the islands of French Polynesia and the scimitar-horned oryx to Chad – and has plans to return the colourful sihek (Guam kingfisher) to the wild later this year.