Amphibian Ark and the <i>2008 Year of the Frog</i> Campaign

Pavajeau, Lissette; Zippel, Kevin C.; Gibson, Richard; Johnson, Kevin A.

doi:10.1111/j.1748-1090.2007.00038.x

Cited by 15 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Amphibians are the class with the most diverse array of questions asked-covering breeding, husbandry, nutrition, physiology, behaviour, and veterinary medicine and animal health. This suggests that the conservation relevance of amphibians in zoos (Zippel et al, 2011) and the urgency by which captive-naïve populations have had to be created suddenly ex situ (Pavajeau et al, 2008) has created niches for variation in research questions more quickly than in mammal populations, for example, that have not been exposed to sudden changes in the novelty of species held.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What’s new from the zoo? An analysis of ten years of zoo-themed research output

et al. 2019

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The modern zoo's roles command empirical enquiry to determine the effectiveness of zoos locally and globally. Ten years ago, published work identified the need for empirical research on a diverse range of species beyond charismatic zoo megafauna. We review zoo-based research published in the decade since this original recommendation. We collectively evaluate zoo-themed research papers from those working in zoos and those external to zoos but studying zoo-housed animals. By systematically searching Web of Science © for zoo-based research and performing inductive content analysis to code year, journal, study animal's taxonomic classification, and research aims and outputs we evaluate trends in zoo-themed research, contrasted with trends in species holding. Significantly more birds and fish are kept compared to mammals, reptiles and amphibians, but mammals are consistently the primary research focus. Whilst output generally rises, only for birds is a steady increase in publications apparent. Husbandry evaluation is a major aim/output, but papers on pure biology, cognition and health also feature. Most publications lead to "specific advancement of knowledge" including validation of methodologies. We show that: (1) trends in species holdings are unrelated to trends in publication; (2) zoo-themed research makes meaningful contributions to science; (3) zoo researchers should diversify their aim/output categories and chosen study species to close the persisting research gaps that we have identified. Finally, we discuss our findings in the context of evident species biases within research outputs across the broader fields of zoology, conservation and ecology.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What’s new from the zoo? An analysis of ten years of zoo-themed research output

et al. 2019

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“…In 2006, the Amphibian Ark (AArk) was established to unite the ex situ conservation community in order to effectively address this component of the ACAP (Pavajeau et al. ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The current lack of in situ management options for chytridiomycosis (Scheele et al 2014) means ex situ management of at-risk species remains the only option for ensuring their survival whilst in situ research continues. In 2006, the Amphibian Ark (AArk) was established to unite the ex situ conservation community in order to effectively address this component of the ACAP (Pavajeau et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the global zoo response to the amphibian crisis through 20‐year trends in captive collections

Dawson

Patel

Griffiths

et al. 2015

Conservation Biology

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Global amphibian declines are one of the biggest challenges currently facing the conservation community, and captive breeding is one way to address this crisis. Using information from the International Species Information System zoo network, we examined trends in global zoo amphibian holdings across species, zoo region, and species geographical region of origin from 1994 to 2014. These trends were compared before and after the 2004 Global Amphibian Assessment to assess whether any changes occurred and whether zoo amphibian conservation effort had increased. The numbers of globally threatened species (GTS) and their proportional representation in global zoo holdings increased and this rate of increase was significantly greater after 2004. North American, European, and Oceanian GTS were best represented in zoos globally, and proportions of Oceanian GTS held increased the most since 2004. South American and Asian GTS had the lowest proportional representation in zoos. At a regional zoo level, European zoos held the lowest proportions of GTS, and this proportion did not increase after 2004. Since 1994, the number of species held in viable populations has increased, and these species are distributed among more institutions. However, as of 2014, zoos held 6.2% of globally threatened amphibians, a much smaller figure than for other vertebrate groups and one that falls considerably short of the number of species for which ex situ management may be desirable. Although the increased effort zoos have put into amphibian conservation over the past 20 years is encouraging, more focus is needed on ex situ conservation priority species. This includes building expertise and capacity in countries that hold them and tracking existing conservation efforts if the evidence-based approach to amphibian conservation planning at a global level is to be further developed.

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“…As global initiatives have been introduced to combat amphibian declines (e.g., Barber & Poole, 2014;Bishop et al, 2012;Pavajeau, Zippel, Gibson, & Johnson, 2008), many conservationists might feel that the issue has been well-publicized. However, our results show that an understanding of amphibians and the extinction crisis can be improved.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparison of understanding of the amphibian crisis by zoo visitors across three countries

et al. 2019

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Despite the global declines in the rate of amphibians, evaluation of public understanding of the crisis has not yet been carried out. We surveyed visitors (n = 1,293) at 15 zoos in Brazil, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, using a certainty‐based assessment method to compare visitor knowledge of the global amphibian crisis. We further analyzed zoo educational material about amphibians to explore its potential to raise awareness through amphibian‐focused environmental education. Visitors in the three countries had relatively little understanding of amphibians and the global amphibian crisis. When the degree of confidence in answering the questions (high, medium, and low) is accounted for, correct answers varied between 28% and 39%. This compared to scores of between 58% and 73% when the degree of confidence in responding was not accounted for. However, specific areas of knowledge (e.g., biology, conservation, biogeography, and conceptual ideas) varied significantly across the countries. Visitors had a weaker grasp of biogeographical and conservation issues than general amphibian biology. Zoo visitors in Brazil knew less about amphibian conservation than those in New Zealand or the United Kingdom. There was less amphibian‐focused content in educational materials in zoos in Brazil than there was in the United Kingdom. Improving information about the global amphibian crisis may increase support for future conservation actions. Outreach education is one of the most important approaches in any strategic planning for conservation of species. Amphibian‐focused environmental education at institutions such as zoos and aquaria can be a crucial intervention to support amphibian conservation worldwide.

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Amphibian Ark and the 2008 Year of the Frog Campaign

Cited by 15 publications

References 18 publications

What’s new from the zoo? An analysis of ten years of zoo-themed research output

What’s new from the zoo? An analysis of ten years of zoo-themed research output

Assessing the global zoo response to the amphibian crisis through 20‐year trends in captive collections

A comparison of understanding of the amphibian crisis by zoo visitors across three countries

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