The purpose: The purpose of the zoo is to design a place where animals are to live without being endangered. Many animals are put in harms way everyday by humans, that are not able to distinguish animals as being equal to any other living thing on thing planet. The grant money that has been given to this zoo will be used to to its best ability in maintaining a proper environment for the animals that are listed.
Proboscidea
Elephas maximus Asian Elephant Endangered
Conservation: Very long history of being hunted by people for food, domestic stock, and ivory. The Asian elephants also suffer from habitat loss caused by agriculture and deforestation. There are only an estimation of 28,000 to 42, 000. These animals can be successfully bed in captivity. They are located in parts of India and Southeast Asia. The head and Body length of the elephants are as big as 550 to 640 cm. Their skin is thick and dry. Skin colors varies from grey to brown. Unlike African elephant females, Asian females do not bear tusks. Asian elephants are very social. The elephants use their tusks for a variety of purposes: to dig for water, remove bark from trees, mark trees, and they are also used to fight. The Asian elephants are able to be trained to perform a wide variety of tasks. Many elephants enjoy bananas and sugar cane so they become crop pests for some local growers.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) invites submission of grant
proposals for the conservation of the Asian elephant throughout its range. This
program will support projects which develop local ability to manage, conserve,
research, or protect the Asian elephant through provision of funding, training
and equipment.
With recent awareness of the increasing threat to the welfare of the Asian
elephant, already an endangered species, a bill entitled "Asian Elephant
Conservation Act of 1997" was introduced into the House of Representatives June
4, 1997. It was passed by the House on October 21 and by the Senate on November
8, it was signed into law by the President on November 19, 1997. The Act is
designed to assist in the conservation of Asian elephants by supporting and
providing financial resources for the conservation programs of nations within
the range of Asian elephants and projects of persons with demonstrated expertise
in the conservation of Asian elephants. A grants program was established for
awarding proposals that fulfill the purpose described by the Act.
The purpose of the grant program is to assist in the conservation of Asian
elephants by enhancing the following: protection of at-risk elephant
populations; cross-border elephant issues; habitat/ecosystem conservation and
management; applied research on elephant populations and habitat including
surveys and monitoring; conservation education; protected area/reserve
management in important elephant range; development and execution of elephant
conservation action plans; and efforts to decrease human-elephant conflict.
With the use of the money that is given there would be a foundation that will be
designed to stop all poaching for ivory. Also the money would be used to
form an area which could be used as a semi permanent habitat until the elephants
are no longer endangered.
Carnivores
Ursus (Selenarctos) thibetanus Asiatic Black Bear Vulnerable
The Asiatic black bear is found mostly in the wet forests of southern Asia, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and China. The Asiatic black bear has short claws, and a thick mane of fur. The Asiatic black bear is mainly a carnivore, but it also eats termites, beetles, honey, fruits, nuts, berries, and grasses. The bear lives in moist deciduous and tropical forests. Most Asiatic black bears are hunted for sport and for their gall bladders. They are also known as a nuisance to farmers because they eat livestock and crops. There are not many rules and regulations set up for the protection of the Asiatic black bear and where there are rules the rules do not seem to be enforced regularly. The black bear have several predators and they are known as tigers, brown bears, and wolves. The bears spend most of the day sleeping and eating in trees.
All bear species have declined in numbers and distribution due to the impacts of human activities. Major human activities that impact bears are habitat alteration and destruction resulting from forest conversion to agriculture, human settlement in bear habitat, and excessive forest harvest. Unregulated killing of bears for sport, sale of their parts in medicinal products, protection of crops or livestock, and fear of these powerful animals has led to their decline.
Asian bears face a particularly destructive combination of all these threats as well as a critical lack of knowledge about their status, distribution, and requirements for survival. Many bear populations in these areas will disappear before they are ever documented.
Bear populations at greatest risk include Asiatic black bear populations in Baluchistan, Taiwan, and many areas of Southeast Asia; many small isolated sloth bear populations throughout their range; sun bear populations throughout their range; brown bear populations in Mongolia Tibet, France, Spain, and Italy; all giant panda populations; and the spectacled bear populations in Venezuela, Columbia, and the desert populations in Peru.
Things that we are determined to do:
1.Support research projects to develop basic knowledge of habitat requirements, population status and survey methods.
2. Document the impacts of illegal trade in bears in Asian countries and select study areas to document these impacts on representative populations of Asiatic black bears in China and in places in Southeast Asia such as in Laos or Vietnam.
3. Work with local wildlife managers to develop sound research programs, population survey techniques, and sustainable harvest plans in eastern European countries such as Romania and Bulgaria.
Giraffa camelopardalis Giraffe Lower risk: Conservation dependent
Most of the Giraffe species are located in the south of the Sahara in Africa. Giraffes have blotches of color on their skin; this technique helps them blend in with the trees. Giraffes are the tallest among any animals. Giraffes' long neck and muscular upper lips are used for ripping leaves off of trees to receive the certain amount of nutrients that they need. Giraffes can go over a month without drinking. Giraffe males fight for females during mating season by butting heads. Many giraffe herds are lead by an adult male. The habitat for most of the giraffes are dry, hard land.
Giraffes are use as the main attractions in many zoos and wildlife parks. Many Giraffes are hunted for their meat and hides. They also have a keen sense of smell and perfect vision. Giraffes' necks are so long, their vascular systems are equipped with valves to prevent blood from draining from their brains.
The giraffe's life span is up to 26 years in the wild, and 36 years in captivity.
The giraffes gallop with the hind feet reaching in front of the fore feet with the neck swinging widely making them look slow. When walking they pace. Moving the 2 feet of 1 side forward simultaneously. Giraffes can reach the speed of 35mph (56km/h).
They sleep in standing positions usually. Giraffes protect themselves by kicking with their large heavy hooves.
Panthera tigris Tiger Endangered
These mammals are found in India, Manchuria, China, and Indonesia. Because of the differences between the eight different species many of the tigers have different weights. Most tigers that live in India weigh 180-260 kg, tigers that live in Indonesia weigh around 100-150kg because of their limited resources in Indonesia. The tiger's body is built for war. Their long hind limbs are an adaptation for jumping. While their strong and powerful forelimbs and shoulders aid in dragging down large prey. The stripes on tigers are very unique to that particular individual. The main source of food for tigers are hooved mammals. Tigers are stalk and ambush predators, and they use dense covering to conceal themselves and sneak up on their prey.
Tigers usually hunt alone. Tigers only use their two main senses and they are smell and sight. Urine and anal gland secretions are sprayed on trees, bushes, and rocks in various places to find their way around their home range. Male tigers may kill a mothers cubs if the cubs are the offspring of previous male.
Their are different habitats for all eight different species. The habitats consist of: tropical rainforests, snow-covered coniferous and deciduous forests, mangrove swamps and drier forest types.
Having tigers in zoos
is a good idea. Tigers are animals that should be learned about in zoos
and other places. Tigers have been known to become man-eaters. Normally,
however, contact with humans is avoided. In the rare occasion that a tiger kills
a human it is usually because the tiger is old or disabled, and it is unable to
hunt successfully. Healthy, young adult tigers have also been reported to kill
humans, perhaps because of an accidental close encounter.
Every species of Panthera tigris is endangered. The wide geographical range
could mislead people into thinking that tigers are highly adaptable, but in fact
this species is very specialized and requires a particular type of habitat. This
type of land is a habitat for many large-hooved mammals, which are the bulk of
the tiger's diet. Also, most existing tiger reserves are small in size and
isolated, and it is rare that interbreeding occurs between different
populations. This results in inbreeding, which may cause a problem in the future
of genetic variability.
Works Cited:
Endangered Wildlife of the World, published by Marshall Cavendish, New York, London, Sydney, Toronto, 1993 (information on pages 1194-1196)
www.nature-net.com/bears/bears