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Map of cooperations of Moscow zoo...
ÅÀRAZÀ
 One of the most significant features of the modern zoo is interzoo cooperation.The possibilities of obtaining new animals from the wild are extremely limited and decrease every year. Besides, the conservational role of the zoos requires that they did not "consume", but "produce" animals. Thus the captive populations of rare species should obviously be selfsustainable.
The long-termed reproduction of the restricted number of animals inevitably results in the inbreeding effects, but there are hardly zoo that can afford keeping quite large groups of the animals of the same species. Therefor, the only way to provide of genetic health of zoo populations is a worldwide cooperation among zoos. Only such cooperation can allow zoo populations to exist for a long time, and in appropriate circumstance even enable to carry out reintroduction. The more animals kept in different conditions take part in breeding, the more are the chances for success. For a long time zoos all over the world are participating in regional (European Association of Zoos and Aquariums, American. Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Euro-Asian Regional Association of Zoos and Aquariums) and Global organizations. Within the framework of these organizations zoos carefully register every specimen of endangered species in their collections, develop and accomplish special projects of breeding of endangered species, using appropriate systems of animal exchanges between the zoos. These programs generally provide successful implementations of cooperation.
The zoos do not only exchange rare animal, but also control the conditions of their keeping. For example, the transfer of a pair of rare Asian lions to our zoo was held only on the basis of the conclusion of an International commission.
The other direction of cooperation is the zoo science, which is fast developing – the special journals and proceedings are issued, the meetings and conferences are carried out, the specialists of world zoos regularly shape experience in zoo sciences..
The Moscow zoo actively participates in this cooperation: we support constant contacts with the majority of North-American and European zoos, our contacts with the zoos of other parts of the world are ever expanding ( links of the Moscow zoo are presented on the map on this page). One of the largest zoos of the USA – San Diego zoo is a sister-zoo of the Moscow zoo.
In Europe we closely cooperate with zoos in Germany, Holland and Great Britain as well as with the Tallinn zoo.
The director of the Moscow zoo Vladimir Spitsin is a member of International Zoo Organization (IZO) and the Chairman of The Euro-Asian Regional Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which includes the majority of zoos of the former USSR. The Moscow zoo is also a methodical center for the zoos of Russia and countries of CIS. During last years a number of international meetings of zoo directors and specialists from all over the world were held in the Moscow zoo, such as a workshop on the problem of Amur tiger conservation in 1994, and the conference "City and zoo" dedicated to 850 anniversary of Moscow and completion of the first stage of the Moscow zoo reconstruction in 1997.
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