ABELLÓ, T., RIETKERK, F. & BEMMENT, N. (2017)
EAZA Best Practice Guidelines - Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla).
175 Seiten. Veröffentlicht duch Barcelona Zoo, Januar 2017.
Preamble:
Right from the very beginning it has been the concern of EAZA and the EEPs to encourage and promote the highest possible standards for husbandry of zoo and aquarium animals. For this reason, quite early on, EAZA developed the “Minimum Standards for the Accommodation and Care of Animals in Zoos and Aquaria”. These standards lay down general principles of animal keeping, to which the members of EAZA feel themselves committed. Above and beyond this, some countries have defined regulatory minimum standards for the keeping of individual species regarding the size and furnishings of enclosures etc., which, according to the opinion of authors, should definitely be fulfilled before allowing such animals to be kept within the area of the jurisdiction of those countries. These minimum standards are intended to determine the borderline of acceptable animal welfare. It is not permitted to fall short of these standards. How difficult it is to determine the standards, however, can be seen in the fact that minimum standards vary from country to country. Above and beyond this, specialists of the EEPs and TAGs have undertaken the considerable task of laying down guidelines for keeping individual animal species. Whilst some aspects of husbandry reported in the guidelines will define minimum standards, in general, these guidelines are not to be understood as minimum requirements; they represent best practice. As such the EAZA Best Practice Guidelines for keeping animals intend rather to describe the desirable design of enclosures and prerequisites for animal keeping that are, according to the present state of knowledge, considered as being optimal for each species. They intend above all to indicate how enclosures should be designed and what conditions should be fulfilled for the optimal care of individual species.
Summary:
This document reflects our current knowledge about general biology and keeping requirements to provide adequate levels of wellbeing for Gorillas, the biggest size great ape species, in captive environments. While providing information about
different aspects that should be taken into account when managing gorillas in captivity to ensure a healthy and selfsustainig population, helping to de development of a global “ex situ conservation” program, also provides information about the situation of the species in the wild and “in situ conservation” projects supporting field conservation work in host countries to which all the zoo institutions keeping gorillas are encouraged to support following the IUCN strategy of One Plan Approach.
Section 1., Biology and Field Data, reflects our current knowledge of species in the natural environment using the most recent taxonomic information. The philosophy behind this is that ex situ conservation can be used more effectively as a conservation tool if it is part of an integrated approach to species conservation (IUCN, 2014). The potential need for a conservation role of an EAZA ex situ population has therefore been decided in consultation with in situ specialists.
This section provides wide and actual information about the species in its natural habitat.
Section 2., Management in Zoos, covers housing and exhibition, nutrition, food presentation and enrichment, social structure and behaviour. There is also useful information on the formation of breeding groups and bachelor groups. Control of breeding is an essential component of successful managed programmes and comprehensive information to assist zoo veterinarians to decide on the most appropriate contraception method for their animals is provided. Managed programmes also rely on the movement of animals between zoos and advice on handling and transport is provided. It is essential that gorillas are provided with complex environments and there is detailed practical information on environmental enrichment. One indispensable method of feeding enrichment is the use of browse and information on suitable plants species is provided. A comprehensive veterinary section provides information on current knowledge on all aspects of medical care. Our knowledge can only increase through appropriate research and the final section covers ongoing and recommended research topics.
Voller Text: https://www.eaza.net/assets/Uploads/CCC/2017-BPG-Gorilla-approved.pdf
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