Master Planning of Zoos - Central Zoo Authority

Project panda
Proceedings of
Training Programme
Master Planning
of Zoos
• Project started in 1990 as part of Global Red Panda Management Program
• 6 pandas received from foreign zoo and five existing wild Red Panda in zoos.
• Project was conceived by MOEF/CZA/Intl. Stud Book Keeper-Dr.Angela Glaston.
• Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Darjeeling (West Bengal)- focussing on
high altitude fauna.
• The Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park is ideally situated within the natural
distribution zone of the Red Panda.
• The Zoological Park had the proper housing facility and earlier records of successful
breeding of Red Panda in captivity even at the time of beginning of the Project
• During and after political disturbance in Darjeeling Hills in eighties the Red Panda
population in Darjeeling was on verge of extinction.
Ultimate goal of ex-situ Conservation: Support of survival in the wild
• The IUCN Council adopted the position statement Translocation of Living Organism in
1987, in which the release of animals from ex-situ populations into natural environments
was included.
• Translocation are powerful tools for the management of the natural and man-made
environments which, properly used, can bring great benefits to natural systems and to
man”.
• The IUCN statement defines, three types of translocation involving transfer of individuals
from a captive situation to a wild habitat, or from one natural habitat to another:
Breeding
in
captivity
• A total of 37 Red Pandas were born in zoo.
• Two females (Mini and Sweety) selected for release
into the Singhalila National Park-high density of
Red Pandas has been recorded from the area.
Re-introduction - Aims and objectives
• Definition: An attempt to establish a species in an
area which was once part of its historical range,
but from which it has been extirpated or become
extinct.
• The principal aim: To establish a viable, free
ranging population in the wild, of a species, subspecies
or race which has become globally or
locally extinct in the wild. It should be reintroduced
within the formal natural habitat and
range and should require minimal long-term
management.
• A multi-disciplinary approach: Involves a team of
persons from Central Government/State Forest
Department, NGOs, Research Institutes/
Universities, Veterinary institutions.
27