Not as Dead as a Dodo – Durrell demonstrates how it is saving species from extinction

If only conservation organisations and zoos had existed in the time of the dodo, it may not be extinct today.

Good zoos are powerful forces for conservation and some of the world’s most extraordinary and most threatened species would not be surviving without them.

The British and Irish Association for Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA), which promotes the values of good zoos and aquariums, has compiled a list of the top ten species most reliant on zoos in the UK and Ireland.

Animals on the very brink of extinction including an oddly named frog, a leopard, a lemur and even a tree have all made it into the top ten, highlighting some of the best examples of how zoos are safeguarding the future of our planet’s wildlife and their habitats.

Dr Andrew Marshall, a member of BIAZA’s Field Programmes Committee, who co-ordinated the compilation of the list with input from conservation experts based at BIAZA zoos, said: “This list highlights ten prevailing examples of how zoos are working to save these and many other species from extinction. Without the valuable conservation and breeding work of many of our member zoos and aquariums, many ‘at risk’ species such as these may be lost to extinction forever.”

See http://www.durrell.org/Latest/News/Not-as-Dead-as-a-Dodo--Durrell-demonstrates-how-it-is-saving-species-from-extinction-/