Subcommittee Conservation: Dr. Stan Gehrt (SENR/Chair), Dr. Jeremy Bruskotter (SENR), Dan Beetem (the Wilds), and Adam Felts (Columbus Zoo and Aquarium)
- Almost all of our major conservation concerns are the result of human action. Solutions (or at least remediation) will also come from human action.
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Almost all wildlife is under some level of human management, whether it is a single breeding pair in a zoo or a population in a national park or reserve.
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Zoo-based conservation breeding programs can maintain populations as insurance against extinction.
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Zoo-based education programs have the potential to reach millions of people to inform them about conservation issues.
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Research with animals in professional care can provide insight into managing wild populations (testing vaccines, anesthesia protocols, disease surveillance, etc.).
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Understanding the causes of human-wildlife conflict is critical to removing threats to wild populations.