Animals in Captivity

ANIMALS IN CAPTIVITY

A country 's wealth is not determined by the economical development but also the natural resources available in the same . The natural resources include numerous species of Flora which includes one cellular plant to giant trees and Fauna which includes variety of animal species . IUCN (1990 ) lists approximately 25 vertebrate species and 2000 invertebrate species of fauna are threatened or possibly threatened . During the last 400 hundred years 491 described species of animals are known to have become extinct . This is undoubtedly an underestimate of actual extinctions for several

reasons . First , the majority of animal species have not yet been described by science . Many species particularly invertebrates , will therefore have disappeared undocumented before being collected and described . Second , extinction is registered only when a species has not been recorded despite significant efforts , for a considerable length of time - arbitrarily taken to be 50 years by both the World Conservation Union and the Conservation on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES . Accurate information on current status and abundance is available for only a tiny fraction of the world 's described species , so many are certain to have become extinct with out our knowledge . The cause of extinction includes hunting (10 , habitat destruction (16 , Introduced animals (17 other causes (2 , and no cause assigned (55 . Human activity has contributed to the overwhelming majority for the extinction of animal species (WCMC , 1992

With the alarming increase in endangered species zoos will be probably needed in the future to preserve and protect many of our finest creatures . Primary aim for keeping the animals in captivity is to conserve the animal species . The visit of the captivity institutions by the people develops appreciation of wild life and interest in its protection of its habitat . These captive breeding institutions can play an important role in mobilizing public awareness of conservation issues Captive population of animals can play a significant conservation role as demographic and genetic reservoirs from which infusions of `new blood ' may be obtained from wild populations , as sources from which new populations can be founded , and as last redoubts for species which have no immediate chance of survival in the wild . There are approximately 1150 zoos , aquaria and affiliated captive facilities world wide , of which 878 reported their addresses to the International Zoo Year book (IZY (Olney and Ellis , 1991 . Captive breeding is widely regarded as less cost -effective than in situ preservation . In the public imagination zoos and aquaria are still all too often identified as animal prison camps . One way for zoos to counter these criticisms is to expand their contribution to conservation . Captive breeding of animals so far saved only a handful of species form potentially save may others for which in situ efforts alone may prove to be inadequate . They need not only publicize their conservation-oriented activities , but to increase the allocation of resources to their breeding programs for threatened taxa . Ideal zoos of the future should concentrate on species of their...