State of the Planet
December 2000
Issued by Woburn Safari Park

In the past few months much attention has been drawn to the current state of the planet. The floods in here in the UK, melting ice lakes in the Himalayas, the risks to primates from the bush meat trade ….. unfortunately the list goes on. And it is because we are now faced with these ever increasing problems that the role of modern day zoos is becoming ever more important.

The role of zoos is an issue that we will be exploring in increasing depth over the coming months and a debate that I would like our users to become involved with. But until that time we shall be posting various articles on the site concerning the main issues surrounding the debate. At the end of 2000 Woburn Safari Park posted this press release as a response to Sir David Attenborough's latest television series State of the Planet. It provides some very worthy justifications for the need we now have for forward thinking zoos and safari parks such as Woburn.

In recent years, Woburn Safari Park has developed a 15 year conservation strategy so that the Park can play its role in safeguarding the future of some of the endangered species.

Woburn is famous for its reintroduction of the Pere David deer into their native China where they had become extinct some 50 years previously. This was the first ever successful reintroduction of an animal previously extinct in its native land.The deer is now well established and breeding well . Such a project is the Holy Grail of all animal collections. However, reintroduction will only work where there is still a habitat for the animal to be reintroduced to . Man is constantly encroaching into the animal's environment which can cause conflict. In Asia, elephants are causing problems raiding crops and consequently an estimated 70-80% of wild elephants in southern India are carrying bullet wounds. In Africa, increased logging activity into the forests has created easy access for hunters who are slaughtering gorillas and chimpanzees amongst a number of other endangered species for the bushmeat trade at an unsustainable rate.

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Another important role for all the zoos is to educate people, to inform them about the problems facing many species and inspire them to help. Woburn supports charities and projects out in the field who are fighting the frontline battle. These include Fauna and Flora International's Asian elephant appeal, the Ngare Segoi Rhino sanctuary, the World Parrot Trust and the first project in Chile to provide nesting boxes for the Humboldt Penguin. Zoos can also provide knowledge and expertise to support conservation efforts: earlier this year Senior Keeper Sarah Forsyth joined the international rescue mission to save the oil stricken Penguins on Robben Island in South Africa. Another Woburn Keeper, Rob Muir is to work on the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project in Thailand.

It is vital to raise awareness in all of us of these issues, whilst action can still have an effect and before it is simply too late for many species. One day the only place in the world that people will be able to experience the beauty and strength of the Siberian Tiger or the grace of the Rothschild giraffe may be at Park's like Woburn. It is not yet too late. The last 11 Pere David deer in the world were at Woburn in 1911. From these 11 individuals, the world population was rebuilt and returned to the wild. There is still hope.

Contact Details

If you would like to know more about how you can support the conservation work at Woburn Safari Park or more details about projects and charities in the field that you can support, please contact:

Cheryl Williams
Woburn Safari Park
Woburn
Bedfordshire MK179QN
Telephone 01525 290407
Fax: 01525 290489
E mail : Website: wwww.woburnsafari.co.uk