the role of conservation in zoos.pdf

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1、TheRoleofZoosinConservationTheLossofBiodiversityScientistshaveabetterunderstandingofhowmanystarsthereareinthegalaxythanhowmanyspeciesthereareonEarth.Estimatesofglobalspeciesdiversityvarybetween2millionand100million.Ofthesespecies,onlyaround1.4millionhaveactuallybe

2、endiscoveredandnamed.Extinctionisanaturalprocessandresearchshowsthathundredsofthousandsofplantandanimalspecieshavedisappearedovertime.However,theextinctionratetodaymaybemorethan1000timesthenormalbiologicalrateof1-10speciesextinctionsperyear.Speciesarebecomingextin

3、ctevenbeforeanyonehasachancetodiscoverthem.Thisrapidextinctionrateisduetoarangeoffactors,causedbyahumanpopulationofover6billion,including:over-exploitationofnaturalresources,hunting,introductionofexoticanddomesticspecies,pollution,habitatlossandfragmentation,andgl

4、obalclimatechange.Manyscientistsbelievetheplanetisinthemidstofamassextinctioneventnotseensincethedinosaurswerewipedout65millionyearsago.IUCN(referredtoastheWorldConservationUnion)monitorstheconservationstatusofspeciesonaglobalscale.ThroughitsSpeciesSurvivalCommiss

5、ion(SSC)theIUCNpublishesRedDataBookswhichprovideup-to-dateandscientifically-basedinformationongloballythreatenedbiodiversity.AccordingtotheIUCNRedListofThreatenedSpecies2004,atotalof7,180animaland8,321plantspeciesarelistedasthreatenedwithextinction.Thisincludes23%

6、ofallmammalspeciesand11%ofallbirds.Oneinthreeamphibiansandalmosthalfofallfreshwaterturtlesarethreatened.(MoredetailedinformationcanbefoundontheIUCNredlistwebsite:www.redlist.org)TheRoleofModernZoosTheneedtoprotectandconserveglobalbiodiversityandwildlifeisnowatthef

7、orefrontofththeaimsofmodernzoos.Zooshaveevolvedfrombasicmenageriesinthe19Centurysttowardsbeingenvironmentalresourcecentresinthe21Century.TheWorldAssociationofZoosandAquariums(WAZA)andtheWorldConservationUnion(IUCN)worktogethertopromoteconservation.In1993WAZApublis

8、heditsfirstconservationstrategy.Thisdocumentwasgroundbreakingatthetimeasitarticulatedavisionoftheroleofzoosandaquariumsinconservationforthenext10years.I