27A • Technologies To Maintain Biological Diversity 



Concern over loss of genetic diversity in agri- 

 cultural animals has been much less pronounced 

 than that for agricultural plants. Consequently, 

 no analog to IBPGR currently exists. Growing 

 concern over the loss of potentially valuable 

 genetic diversity for livestock, however, has 

 prompted limited efforts in this area. 



FAO and UNEP launched a pilot project in 

 1973 to conserve animal genetic resources. Ini- 

 tial efforts focused on developing a preliminary 

 list of endangered breeds and of those with 

 economic potential, especially for developing 

 countries. A 1980 FAO/UNEP Technical Con- 

 sultation extended this work by defining re- 

 quirements for creating "supranational infra- 

 structure resources for animal breeding and 

 genetics" (37). These covered a range of efforts 

 to develop animal genetic resources. Of par- 

 ticular significance were guidelines in the fol- 

 lowing areas (37): 



• databanks for animal genetic resources, 

 which would also identify endangered 

 breeds; 



• genebanks to store semen and embryos of 

 endangered breeds; and 



• training of scientists and administrators in 

 genetic resources conservation and use. 



Endangered livestock breeds can be main- 

 tained either in living collections or through 

 cryogenic storage of semen or embryos (see ch. 

 6). Although the former option has proved via- 

 ble in certain European countries (34), wide- 

 spread success is unlikely. Thus, cryogenic stor- 

 age will become increasingly important as 

 threats to livestock increase. Concern over loss 

 of livestock diversity is greatest for developing 

 countries, but creating cryogenic genebanks in 

 many countries would be very difficult. Thus, 

 the value of establishing supranational storage 

 facilities becomes apparent. 



International networking for conservation of 

 living collections of wild animals is largely re- 

 stricted to the zoological community, although 

 lUCN's Species Survival Commission has been 

 involved in formulating conservation plans that 

 include captive breeding (51). Zoos have tradi- 

 tionally been established for public education 

 and entertainment. But in recent years, a num- 



ber of larger zoos have concentrated on breed- 

 ing rare or endangered species, usually birds 

 and mammals. These efforts have also extended 

 to the creation of regional and international net- 

 works to enhance the effectiveness and collec- 

 tive conservation potential of the zoological 

 community. 



An International Species Inventory System 

 (ISIS) was created in 1974 in response to ma- 

 jor problems of inbreeding in zoo populations 

 and in recognition of the fact that, for an in- 

 creasing number of wild animals, captive pop- 

 ulations held the best hope for survival of the 

 species. Coverage has grown from 55 facilities 

 to 211 as of 1985. About 65,000 living speci- 

 mens of 2,300 species are included. Informa- 

 tion currently comes from facilities in 14 coun- 

 tries, but coverage is best for U.S. and Canadian 

 institutions (see ch. 9). The system is not re- 

 stricted to endangered species (25). 



ISIS publishes biannual survey reports. These 

 include information on the sex ratio and age 

 distribution; the proportion of captive-bred; and 

 the birth, death, and import trends for all mam- 

 mals and birds held in captivity by the mem- 

 bers. The system has also recently begun to in- 

 corporate information on holdings of reptiles 

 and amphibians (25). 



The American Association of Zoological 

 Parks and Aquariums (AAZPA) set up the Spe- 

 cies Survival Plan (29) in September 1980. 

 AAZPA has identified certain species in need 

 of immediate attention and has established a 

 committee for each, consisting of a species 

 coordinator and propagation group. A major 

 committee function is to provide direction for 

 maintenance of studbooks. 



A studbook is an international register that 

 lists and records all captive individuals of spe- 

 cies that are rare or endangered in the wild. 

 The concept, initially developed for the selec- 

 tive breeding of domesticated animals, was first 

 used on a wild species (the European bison) in 

 1932. Studbooks are now kept for about 40 en- 

 dangered species and are a valuable tool in in- 

 ternational cooperation in captive breeding, 

 permitting intelligent recommendations to zoos 

 around the world concerning such things as 



