Zoo Genetics

Zoo Genetics

Why properly managed breeding programmes in Good Zoos is Important

Zoo Genetics Section 1 Tamarins



Zoo Genetics Section 2 Chromosomes
 Zoo Genetics Section 3 Dolphins
Zoo Genetics Section 4 Possums
 Zoo Genetics Section 5 Lions
 Zoo Genetics Section 7 Penquins Zoo Genetics Section 8 Lemurs

Cloning Wild Life: Zoos, Captivity, and the Future of Endangered Animals

Cloning Wild Life: Zoos, Captivity, and the Future of Endangered Animals

“In this brilliant study of cloned wild life, Carrie Friese adds a whole new dimension to the study of reproduction, illustrating vividly and persuasively how social and biological reproduction are inextricably bound together, and why this matters.”—Sarah Franklin, author of Dolly Mixtures: the Remaking of Genealogy

The natural world is marked by an ever-increasing loss of varied habitats, a growing number of species extinctions, and a full range of new kinds of dilemmas posed by global warming. At the same time, humans are also working to actively shape this natural world through contemporary bioscience and biotechnology. In Cloning Wild Life, Carrie Friese posits that cloned endangered animals in zoos sit at the apex of these two trends, as humans seek a scientific solution to environmental crisis. Often fraught with controversy, cloning technologies, Friese argues, significantly affect our conceptualizations of and engagements with wildlife and nature.

By studying animals at different locations, Friese explores the human practices surrounding the cloning of endangered animals. She visits zoos—the San Diego Zoological Park, the Audubon Center in New Orleans, and the Zoological Society of London—to see cloning and related practices in action, as well as attending academic and medical conferences and interviewing scientists, conservationists, and zookeepers involved in cloning. Ultimately, she concludes that the act of recalibrating nature through science is what most disturbs us about cloning animals in captivity, revealing that debates over cloning become, in the end, a site of political struggle between different human groups.  Moreover, Friese explores the implications of the social role that animals at the zoo play in the first place—how they are viewed, consumed, and used by humans for our own needs. A unique study uniting sociology and the study of science and technology, Cloning Wild Life demonstrates just how much bioscience reproduces and changes our ideas about the meaning of life itself.

To learn more or purchase this book please visit

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Jumbo: The Unauthorised Biography of a Victorian Sensation

The first comprehensive 'biography' of one of the first celebrity animals who gave us one of our favourite words. Jumbo, Victorian England's favourite elephant, was born in 1861 in French Sudan, imported to a Parisian zoo and later sold on to London, where - for seventeen years - he dutifully gave children rides and ate buns from their hands, all the while being tortured at night to keep him docile. Worldwide fame came when he was bought by the American showman and scam artist P.T. Barnum in 1881, despite letters from 100,000 British schoolchildren who wrote to Queen Victoria begging her to prevent the sale. Barnum went on to transform Jumbo into a lucrative circus act and one of the most loved animals of all time, establishing elephants as a regular feature of funhouses and menageries the world over. Using the heartwrenching story of Jumbo's celebrity life, tragic death in Canada in 1885, and his enduring cultural legacy, Jumbo is personal and fascinating reflection on our cultural elephantiasis by one of our most distinguished literary-critical detectives, which is guaranteed to amuse, stimulate, provoke and delight in equal measure.

To purchase this book or learn more please go to

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Behemoth: The History of the Elephant in America

Behemoth: The History of the Elephant in America

In the two hundred years since their arrival in America, elephants have worked on farms, mills, mines, and railroads, in Hollywood, and in professional baseball. They've contributed to the national discourse on civil rights, immigration, politics, and capitalism. They became so deeply ingrained in the American way that they were once accorded the rights of American citizenship, including the right to vote and the right to provide testimony under oath—and they have incurred brutal punishments when convicted of human crimes. In Behemoth, Ronald B. Tobias has written the first comprehensive history of the elephant in America. As tragic as it is comic, this enthralling chronicle traces this animal's indelible footprint on American culture.

To order this book or learn more please visit

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Courses on General Primate Biology and Primate Husbandry, Nutrition and Handling

Course on General Primate Biology -

Behavior, Husbandry and Training of laboratory Primates

for Scientists, Veterinarians and Students, November 18.-21. 2013, at the German Primate Center -

For further information: http://www.euprim-net.eu/network/courses.htm

A Valuable Tool For Research in the Zoo

Research in the Zoo

Part of any professional Zookeeper's remit is research. Sadly so many of us have so much more to do in the working day it is difficult to find the time to write things down.
Students on research projects too will find time is not often a friend.

I have just come across a tremendous App, which, if I had had years ago would have greatly increased my own input to research. I am sharing this today because I know so many of you will find it useful.

Okay, it is not exactly designed for zoos but with only minor changes you will find it works for you.

 Timestamped Field Notes

Save yourself time and frustration, and  don’t miss out on observing the action as the notes take care of themselves.

LINK

Giant Panda Research Symposium

Photo credit

 Giant Panda Research Symposium

World’s Panda Experts Gather at Edinburgh Zoo

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) is proud to announce that they are bringing the foremost panda experts in the world to Scotland to develop a worldwide five year Giant Panda Research Project.

From the 10^th to 12^th September 2013, some of the world’s brightest lights will gather together in the same room for the very first time at Edinburgh Zoo for the Giant Panda Research Symposium. Spearheaded by RZSS, and the next important steps in the conservation charity’s Giant Panda Project, the event will see experts from around the world come together to help to develop a five year giant panda research plan which will have global ramifications on how giant pandas are cared for in zoos around the world and in Chinese reserves. The five year giant panda research plan will centre on five key areas: field ecology, genetic management, artificial breeding and infant panda care, veterinary management and research, then finally cognitive evolution and behavioural research.

Amongst many others, attending will be experts from RZSS, the CWCA (China Wildlife Conservation Association), CCRCGP (China Conservation and Research for Giant Pandas), the State Forestry Association for the People’s Republic of China (SFA), the Chinese Academy of Science and Peking University. Key individuals from panda zoos around the world will also be present, including experts from Smithsonian National Zoological Park, San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research and Memphis Zoo. Researchers and representatives from related UK and worldwide institutions who can bring their expertise to the key areas of panda research will also be in attendance, including key Scottish bodies like the Nutrition and Health at the University of Aberdeen, the Natural History for the University of Glasgow and the Psychology Department for the University of St Andrews.

The Symposium will be officially opened by the Chinese Consulate General Li Ruiyou.

Chris West, CEO of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, said:

“I am immensely excited that RZSS is spearheading a global research project into giant pandas. The outcome of the Giant Panda Research Symposium, a multi-disciplinary global gathering to come up with a five year programme of integrated research and applied science, should make a real difference to the conservation of pandas and their habitat in the wilds of China. This really is ground-breaking research science at which RZSS is at the heart. The symposium underlines the Society’s aims to continue to be a world leader in conservation, science and education.”

See more on  Zoo Conferences, Meetings, Courses and Symposia