Breeding Programmes
Breeding Programmes:
Our Role in Global Wildlife Conservation
Our vital Breeding Programmes are at the heart of Dublin Zoo’s mission to save wildlife. We actively participate in global conservation efforts, responsibly managing and matching over 35 species with suitable partners from other zoos to ensure the next generation of animals is as healthy as possible.
This work gives hope to species facing extinction, as we use and record crucial genetic, dietary, and behavioural data to protect their future survival – both in zoos and in the wild.
EAZA
Breeding Programmes
As part of Dublin Zoo’s membership of EAZA (European Association of Zoos and Aquaria), we participate in over 35 breeding programmes. By running these breeding programmes, EAZA can monitor the age structure and genetics of animal populations in over 300 zoos in almost 50 countries.
The success of a number of these programmes has meant that zoo-bred animals have been reintroduced into the wild, such as the scimitar-horned oryx and golden lion tamarin.
These zoo populations have also yielded a lot of valuable information on diet, reproduction and behaviour through zoo-based research. This zoo-based research has helped inform researchers working with these species in the wild.
Dublin Zoo Partners, Memberships & Certifications
What is EAZA?
Studbook
Keeping
A studbook keeper is the name given to the person that manages the information on a particular species in a breeding programme and ultimately decides with the help of genetic data, which animals they think would make a good pair.
For example, if they were the citron-crested cockatoo studbook keeper for Europe, they would analyse the data collected from each cockatoo across all European zoos and then make an informed decision as to which cockatoos would make a good breeding pair.
Dublin Zoo currently co-ordinates three European breeding programmes:
- Citron-crested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea citroncristata)
- Goeldi’s monkey (Callimico goeldii)
- Grey wolf (Canis Lupus)
How breeding programmes work
Conservation Projects
Learn more about the incredible conservation projects Dublin Zoo are part of
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