Abstract
With the widespread loss of biodiversity, zoos and aquariums are striving to become leaders in biodiversity conservation and research. Canada’s Accredited Zoos and Aquariums (CAZA) is a nonprofit organization created to represent its members, including as agencies of conservation and science. However, the contribution of CAZA members to conservation and science has not been quantified. We used research productivity in the form of peer-reviewed publications to systematically quantify biodiversity conservation engagement by CAZA institutions. We extracted publications from the ISI Web of Science database and found that the annual number of publications increased over time. CAZA members published most in the area of veterinary science, with few publications in biodiversity conservation. Organization age, research-orientated mission statements, and financial assets were significant predictors of research productivity. CAZA institutions also published significantly less ([Formula: see text] = 12.5 ± 5.52 SE) than members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums ([Formula: see text] = 24.27 ± 5.08 SE), based in the United States. Zoos and aquariums are important resources in mitigating biodiversity loss, and are increasing their research output in this area. Nonetheless, only a small proportion of publications were in biodiversity conservation, and the majority of all publications occurred in zoo-centric journals.
Highlights
CAZA believes strongly that there are many benefits to be derived from research and scientific study based on animals in captive collections and that these benefits are often critical to the long-term survival of many species
Member institutions must participate in these types of programmes, either by initiation of them, or participation in existing ones
As CAZA believes that an essential element in the conservation of wild animals includes research and study, CAZA member institutions are expected to participate in research programmes wherever practicable, and to publish their findings or have them included, if it is a joint study
Summary
CAZA believes strongly that there are many benefits to be derived from research and scientific study based on animals in captive collections and that these benefits are often critical to the long-term survival of many species. The zoo community has advanced substantially to the point where it is no longer acceptable to keep animals in captivity for the sake of doing so, but to contribute to the standards and levels of husbandry for the benefit of the species as a whole, both in captivity and in their natural habitat.
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