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Twenty Zoo-bred Vietnam Pheasants Return Home to Boost In-country Breeding and Reintroduction Efforts

June 1, 2026

Twenty Vietnam pheasants bred under the European Ex Situ Programme (EEP) for the species were relocated to in-country breeding centre.
 

The species is potentially extinct in the wild as none has been seen since 2000, and therefore conservation breeding for future reintroductions are key to restore its populations in the wild.

 

This milestone is the result of collaborative efforts by multiple organisations, including several European zoos. 

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European Zoos Return Four Mountain Bongos to Kenya to Support In-country Conservation Breeding Efforts

May 8, 2026

Four male mountain bongos from the European Ex situ Programme (EEP) were returned to Kenya, to support conservation breeding efforts and future translocations within their native range.
 

The four bongos were carefully selected to improve genetic diversity and reproductive capacity of the population at Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy.

These collaborative efforts of European and Kenyan organisations aim to safeguard this Critically Endangered antelope.

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Zoo Conservationists Support Recovery of  ‘Extinct’ Bermuda Snail

March 3, 2026

🎉Over 100,000 captive-bred Bermuda snails were released into the wild, bringing the once-thought-extinct species back from the brink!
🐌The species is now considered safe and secure, a "once in a career" moment as described by the team behind it.
🤝This achievement is the result of collaborative efforts between the Bermuda government, organisation Biolinx Environmental Research and Chester Zoo. 

*Post drafted by guest content creators Eleanor Albrow, Patrick Jessop and Ella Noel.

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Zoo-bred European Bison Released Into the Wild, in the Greater Caucasus

February 8, 2026

Another milestone in the conservation of the European bison, with the release of 18 individuals in the Shadagh National Park, Greater Caucasus. This reintroduction project is jointly led by WWF Germany and Zoo Berlin, and 12 of the released bison (3 males, 9 females) were born in European zoos. The other six joined from the bison project in the Rothaar Mountains. 

 

​This species went extinct in the wild in the 1920s, and it was only thanks to the animals that remained in zoos, and collaborative conservation projects, including reintroductions, that the species bounced back and can again be seen across Europe and Central Asia.

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World’s First: Western Ground Parrot Chick Hatches AND Leaves the Nest at Perth Zoo

January 8, 2026

🎉Great news to start off 2026... Perth Zoo announced that a Western Ground Parrot chick has successfully hatched and left the nest - a first for this species in human care!


📈Behind this achievement are intensive monitoring and research efforts into the species' breeding biology, which the zoo team has carried out since they received their first Western Ground Parrots in 2014.


🦜With only 100-150 estimated to remain in the wild, successful breeding in human care is an important step towards the conservation of this Critically Endangered species.

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