IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Tilson, R.; Christie, S. | |
| Effective tiger conservation requires cooperation: zoos as a support for wild tigers | |
| 1999 Book Chapter | |
Today there is an unsettling polarisation between international conservation organisations and their programmes for wild tigers and the international zoo community and their programmes for zoo tigers. This is ironic because both share an identical mission - continued viability of wild tigers in their natural habitat. This polarisation is expressed as a communication failure with significant repercussions. We attempt to articulate the prevailing philosophy of our respective zoo tiger programmes in North America and Europe in order to dispel the clich‚s that have been historically used and are currently invoked to characterise and dismiss contributions from the zoo community. We also report on how similar programmes in tiger range countries are developing and how they might contribute to _in situ_ conservation efforts. The world's zoos are learning the value of co-operation in the management of zoo programmes, and to a lesser extent in the generation of support for _in situ_ tiger conservation, and with this background we hope to illustrate how the traditionally isolated fields of _in situ_ conservation (wildlife agencies and field programmes) and _ex situ_ conservation (zoos and zoo programmes) can also work together in the species' best interests. In today's world, close co-operation among individuals in these two fields will lead to more effective conservation action for tigers. If we can learn to work together, perhaps we can learn how to help save the tiger together. |
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