Several European zoos and other breeding centres have sent 115 ground squirrels for release into the wild in Bohemia and Moravia in the Czech Republic, as part of a project led by the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic.

 

The wild populations of this threatened species have suffered steep declines mainly due to habitat loss. The release of captive-bred animals aims to both reinforce existing wild populations and establish new ones, and is part of wider conservation efforts for the species.

In a world's first, Parque das Aves successfully bred the blue-eyed ground dove, a Critically Endangered species only found in Brazil that was once thought to be extinct, but was rediscovered in 2015.

 

🕊️ Parque das Aves currently houses six blue-eyed ground doves, including two breeding pairs. Only 20 individuals have been confirmed to remain in the wild, and therefore the ex-situ population is key for future interventions to reintroduce and/or reinforce populations of this species in the wild.

In June last year, Prague Zoo sent six Przewalski's horses that had been bred in European zoos and breeding facilities to central Kazakhstan. The stallion and five mares spent the last year in an acclimatisation enclosure in the Alibi reintroduction center, getting accostumed to the new environment and learning the necessary behaviours to live in the wild. 

They have now been released in the wild - the first release of this species in central Kazakhstan! While they continue to be monitored by scientists and rangers,  Zoo Praha sent seven more horses from Europe to the acclimatisation enclosures in the reintroduction center, where they will be for up to a year before they are released.

Great news from Czechia as five Critically Endangered Brazilian Merganser ducklings hatched at Prague Zoo!

 

This is the first time this species is bred in Europe, as Prague Zoo is the only breeding facility for this species outside Brazil. Since 2020, the zoo has been supporting local organisations with both in-situ research and ex-situ conservation efforts for the species.

 

With fewer than 250 individuals estimated to remain in the wild, the conservation breeding programme is an important part of the integrated conservation plan for the species.

Zoos Victoria's successful conservation breeding programme for the Baw Baw frog has resulted in the release of over 3,000 frogs and froglets into the forests of the Baw Baw plateau, in Victoria, Australia.
 

This species is Critically Endangered, with fewer than 500 individuals remaining in the wild, due to habitat loss and the deadly chytridiomycosis disease, caused by the chytrid fungus. The release of zoo-bred animals aims to boost the wild population and is a key part of the collaborative conservation plan for the species.