21st Parrot Conference of the Fund for Endangered Parrots
Chemnitz Zoo is a conference partner for the first time
On Saturday, 30 September 2017, the 21st Parrot Conference of the "Fund for Endangered Parrots" (FbP), a working group of the Zoological Society for Species and Population Conservation (ZGAP), will take place at the Pentahotel, Salzstraße 56, 09113 Chemnitz. The symposium is organised in a different city every year, this year for the first time together with Chemnitz Zoo. Around 110 participants are expected to attend.
Mayor Miko Runkel and the director of Chemnitz Zoo, Dr Anja Dube, will each give a short welcome address at the opening. The head zookeeper at Chemnitz Zoo, Kevin Rüffer, will speak as an expert on the subject of keeping and breeding birds at Chemnitz Zoo.
The traditional conference will feature reports on parrot conservation projects, parrot keeping, breeding, observations from the field, veterinary issues and conservation breeding programmes as well as the latest developments in taxonomy.
Background
The aim of the Zoological Society for Species and Population Conservation (ZGAP) is to preserve little-known, endangered species and protect their habitats. Well-known species such as the giant panda, mountain gorilla and polar bear have long been the focus of attention, but there are thousands of species on the brink of extinction whose names are often barely known even to experts. In the recent past, numerous species, some of them large, have gone extinct unnoticed by the public - simply because not enough was known about them or because they did not receive enough attention in the media.
The ZGAP was founded in 1982. On its initiative, exemplary conservation projects with international participation were developed, e.g. the programme for the conservation of the Philippine Prince Alfred deer. (This species is also kept at Chemnitz Zoo).
One of the basic principles of the organisation is that local biologists and biology students are involved and prepared to manage the projects independently. This results in the cost-effective realisation of species conservation projects and gives motivated young people the opportunity to make a concrete contribution to species conservation in their home country. In this way, expert local partners will continue to guarantee sustainable project management in the future. The supervision and monitoring of these activities continues to be carried out on a highly voluntary basis.
Fund for endangered parrots
In 1989, the "Parrot Conservation" working group was set up within ZGAP, from which the "Fund for Endangered Parrots" (FbP) was formed shortly afterwards. The constantly growing threat to wild parrot populations and the associated dramatic decline of many species requires intensive and targeted conservation measures now more than ever. Field studies have shown that a quarter of all parrot species are threatened, and a quarter of these are even critically endangered.
The main reasons for this are the ongoing destruction of habitats, for example through slash-and-burn agriculture or colonisation, on the one hand, but also the international bird trade, which continues to offer "wild-caught" birds, on the other.
The fund aims to encourage and financially support field studies and the resulting conservation measures. Particular emphasis is placed on cooperation with other species conservation groups and the population of the respective countries of origin in order to create effective long-term measures for the protection of endangered species through co-operation and education.