Zoos work closely together across country borders to ensure the continued existence of rare animal species. International and regional stud books record the relevant data for over 1,000 animal species worldwide, from tropical snail species to Asian elephants.
Cooperation with zoos around the globe
As part of this collaboration, zoos coordinate which of their animals will be mated and interchanged with other zoos for this purpose. This helps zoos to preserve genetic variability as much as possible to cut the risk of reduced viability of the animals that could threaten the species' survival. Participating institutions are responsible for keeping the stud books.
Zoo Leipzig is responsible for:
- the international stud books for Amur tigers and all other tiger subspecies (since 1973), maned wolves (since 2010) and Sumatran rhinoceroses (since 2012)
- the EAZA ex-situ programmes for African dwarf crocodiles (since 2008, formerly as ESB), owl-faced monkeys (since 2013), maned wolves (since 2010), musk deer (since 2020), fossas (since 2021), natal red duikers (2016, formerly as ESB) and Eastern quolls (since 2023)
- and actively participates in conservation breeding programmes for over 100 species.
Support of species conservation projects based on the recommendation of the stud book
In addition to our main projects, we also support a number of projects based on the recommendation of the respective stud book. These include projects to help
- the Komodo dragon,
- the Chacoan peccary,
- the Indian sloth bear,
- the red panda
- and the okapi.