ATEC2013 BALI - CALL FOR PAPERS

FIRST Call for Papers & Poster Abstracts.

HI everyone in our Zoo community worldwide,

we are thrilled to announce that our ATEC2013 website is now 'live' and wish

to warmly invite you to visit

the link below to see the exciting program we have here in Bali, Indonesia.

What a great way to end a busy ZOO year with a trip to paradise!

If you want to take your animal care skills to the next level, come along

and join this exciting workshop with the 'best of the best'  in Animal

training - Steve Martin Natural Encounters Inc  and Environment Enrichment ,

Valerie Hare, SHAPE.

Hope you can join us for this very exciting event in Bali, Indonesia -

REGISTRATIONS NOW OPEN! - http://www.atecbali.com/

DON'T MISS THE 'EARLY BIRD' RATE

Please follow us on Facebook -

https://www.facebook.com/pages/ATEC-Bali/336973899768053

PLEASE SHARE TO ALL YOU ZOO FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES

Animal Training and Enrichment Conference

For more information regarding this exciting event, please 

visit our website www.balisafarimarinepark.com and also 

our facebook http://www.facebook.com/BaliSafari

Bali Mynah - Cooperative Conservation

Bid to rescue Bali mynah

JURONG BirdPark has joined forces with conservation group Begawan Foundation and the Cologne Zoo in Germany to help rescue the Bali mynah from the jaws of extinction.

                                         Photo By : http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomsaint/



It will give three birds to the foundation to breed, and will receive three from the German zoo to incorporate into its breeding programme.



The organisations want to create as large a gene pool as they can, to ensure a sustainable flock for the future.



The Bali mynah is now found mainly on Nusa Penida, south of the main island of Bali in Indonesia.



Its population was once thought to have dwindled to just 16 in the wild.



Unlike Singapore's plain local mynah, the Bali mynah has a white body, brilliant blue-framed eyes, and a touch of black at its wingtips and tail feathers.

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_472605.html

Elephant Birth - The Dramatic Struggle for Life

Elephant Birth - The Dramatic Struggle for Life
Elephant Safari Park, Taro, Bali

9th September 2009

Komodo Dragon Update

Photo by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vmos/


I don't know how many of you have been following the Komodo Dragon story in Zoo News Digest.
I did do an update of the situation as I knew it and published this on HubPages on the 27th August. You can read that here:

Komodo Dragon Problems

Today I had an email from the CBSG (who I had referred to in the hub) and here is their statement:

CBSG would like to clarify our position with respect to the current proposed removal of komodo monitors from Flores . In 1995 CBSG facilitated a Population and Habitat Viability Assessment (PHVA) workshop in Bogor , Indonesia , attended by 44 biologists, managers and other stakeholders. The PHVA was designed to assess the status of both wild and captive komodo populations and, with the assistance of population modeling, to develop recommendations for management and conservation both in situ and ex situ. Recommendations for captive management included regional and global coordination and concerted efforts to breed unrepresented wild-caught individuals already in captivity, but did not recommend the capture of additional komodos for captive breeding at that time.

Modeling of the Wae Woul population on Flores indicated that the population could withstand the removal of 10 animals (5 males, 5 females) given the model assumptions. However, this workshop analysis was conducted almost 15 years ago and even at that time it was recognized that data for this population were highly unreliable (e.g., the model assumed 100 individuals with stable population growth) and that the model likely underestimated threats and extinction risk to the population. PHVA participants urgently recommended field studies to determine the size, status and threats of this population to allow for the development of better population models.

CBSG has offered our assistance to Indonesia to conduct an assessment of the current situation. We have offered to facilitate a workshop that incorporates all available new data to evaluate the current population status of the wild and captive populations of komodo monitors in Indonesia, to develop a more reliable population model given new data, and to determine the potential impacts of the proposed capture of komodos from Flores on both populations, as well as the impacts of other potential management actions.