[Taxacom] Conservationist culling of zoo animals in the news again

[Kenneth Kinman]

Hi all,

      On CBS 60 minutes last night, at the end of interviews on the mating of zoo animals, the subject of came up about the culling of Marius the giraffe four years.  To avoid problems like inbreeding, the scientist at the Cincinnati Zoo says that rather than culling, they prefer birth control for female animals and neutering of males when deemed necessary.  The scientist at the Copenhagen Zoo says that he still believes culling is preferable in spite of the uproar over the killing of Marius there four years ago.  A younger brother of Marius has now been born, and the Copenhagen scientist said that the culling of the brother of Marius may also be necessary if a suitable home isn't found for him.

      I still believe that the dangers of inbreeding are spmewhat overblown as I stated in a posting back in 2014 (see weblink below).  Although deleterious effects of inbreeding may double (as from 2% to 4%), the "doubling" sounds ominous, but does a 4% risk justify culling a perfectly healthy animal?  But if geneticists are still all that concerned about a 4 or 5% risk, neutering would certainly be more acceptable to the general public, whose opinion also matters, since they ultimately (directly or indirectly) provide most of the funding for zoos and conservation programs.

                              ----------------Ken


<https://www.cbsnews.com/news/matchmaking-for-zoo-animals/>http://mailman.nhm.ku.edu/pipermail/taxacom/2014-February/126781.html


https://www.cbsnews.com/news/matchmaking-for-zoo-animals/


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