A zebra has died at a zoo following an incident involving a rhino, a spokesperson said.
Colchester Zoo said the incident took place at about 14:00 GMT at the mixed species African habitat between the rhino and a male zebra.
The zoo said it was “directing our resources” to make sure the rest of the animals in the habitat were settled.
One person writing on Facebook said they were at the zoo at the time and saw “the rhinos and zebras chasing as we headed inside”.
They said they were asked to make their way to the exit “not having a clue what had happened”.
The African habitat – which was built in 2001 – is home to reticulated giraffes, maneless zebra, white rhino, ostrich, crowned crane and a greater kudu.
Colchester is home to the near-threatened southern white rhinos and the attraction says seven calves have been born since the first of the species arrived in 1972.
In March 2024, Otto the white rhino died at the zoo.
Otto sired six calves, including Dara – its most recent offspring – who was born in January 2023.
Last year, the zoo revealed multi-million pound plans to build a new African lion habitat.
Colchester Zoo opened in 1963 and celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2023.
According to Humane Society International, the US killed 1.76 million farmed mink and 2,360 farmed foxes in fur farms in 2018.
(Humane Society International)
“We analyzed data from over 4500 elephants to show that animals in European zoos have about half the median life span of conspecifics in protected populations in range countries.”
(Science)
“There are at present roughly 305 elephants at 62 A.Z.A.-accredited zoos in the United States. How many are in nonaccredited facilities, circuses and roadside zoos is less clear; PETA has estimated the number at around 70. What is clear is that the captive elephant population in the United States is dwindling at a rate in many ways eerily commensurate with that of their wild counterparts, like shadows fading with the dimming of their source.”
(The New York Times)
“The Times did a first-of-its-kind analysis of 390 elephant fatalities at accredited U.S. zoos for the past 50 years. It found that most of the elephants died from injury or disease linked to conditions of their captivity, from chronic foot problems caused by standing on hard surfaces to musculoskeletal disorders from inactivity caused by being penned or chained for days and weeks at a time.”
(The Seattle Times)
According to Daniella Chusyd, M.A., a doctoral student in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Nutrition Sciences, “Obesity affects about 40 percent of African elephants in captivity… Much as we see in humans, excess fat in elephants contributes to the development of heart disease, arthritis, a shorter lifespan and infertility.”
(One Green Planet)
“Cramped conditions and hard floors cause arthritis and issues with their feet and joints. Psychological distress from by the absence of exercise and companionship leads captive elephants to exhibit abnormal, repetitive behaviors like head bobbing. Some zoos still use negative reinforcement training, like prodding animals with painful bullhooks. This practice aggravates elephants and led to 31 zookeeper injuries and deaths since 1990.”
(One Green Planet)
“There are currently at least 2,360 cetaceans in captivity worldwide – ~2,000 dolphins, 227 beluga and 53 orca (killer whales). However, more than 5,000 cetaceans have died in captivity since the 1950s.”
(Change For Animals Foundation)
“But even if born in captivity, the main concern for many marine mammals is the artificial and barren nature of the captive environment, particularly the amount of space provided. In the wild, cetaceans can travel from 60 to 225km a day, at speeds from 30 to 50km per hour, and they can dive hundreds of meters deep. No facility can simulate the vast reaches of the ocean that these animals traverse. Even in the largest facilities cetaceans are only allowed access to less than 0.0001 percent (one millionth) of their normal habitat.”
(World Animal Protection)
“The deepest orca dive on record is over 3500 feet. The deepest orca tank in the world is about 35 feet.”
(Animal Welfare Institute)
“In the 30 years between 1975-2005, 1.3 million African grey parrots were removed from the continent for the international pet trade and the species is now threatened. Central and West African forests likely lost double that number due to unreported illegal trade and high mortality in capture and transport.”
(National Geographic)
Efficacy of Captivity
A 2005 survey found that 86% of zoo visitor groups visited for social or recreational purposes, while 6% attended to learn about animals and 8% attended to see a particular animal.
(College of Agriculture & Life Sciences – Visitor Studies Association)
A 2017 survey of 1110 Americans found that 73% of adults strongly or somewhat support the existence of zoos and aquariums. However, more participants reported being more opposed to zoos and aquariums (25%) at the time of the survey compared to a decade ago than those who reported being more in favor (17%).
(YouGov NY)
This survey found that individuals that are over 55, not from the Northeast, and white were more likely to strongly or somewhat support zoos and aquariums. However, they found that males and females equally supported zoos and aquariums (73%).
(YouGov NY)
According to a 2015 study of a critically endangered bird species, Ardeotis nigriceps, “Implementing effective in situ conservation measures within the next decade plus not removing wild eggs will recruit more adult females to the wild within 30 years than a captive‐breeding and release programme, even with the ‘best possible’ standards of captive breeding and assuming that released birds breed as well as wild birds.”
(British Ecological Society)
“The commitment to and standard of public education in the majority of the dolphinaria analysed for this investigation was poor. At the 13 dolphinaria where such information was collected, only four displayed species information signs about the cetaceans displayed.”
(ENDCAP)
“Of the 18 shows analysed at 17 dolphinaria in 10 EU Member States, information on the biology and behaviour of the animals shown was only included in an average 12% of show commentary. Two shows provided no such information. Of the 18 shows, 17 failed to inform the public about where the species are found in the wild, eight failed to identify the dolphins as mammals and none of the 18 shows mentioned the conservation status of the species.”
(ENDCAP)
A 2020 study found that conservation action prevented 21-32 bird and 7-16 mammal extinctions between 1993 and 2020. Taking into consideration the 10 bird and 5 mammal extinctions in the same period, extinction rates would have been 2.9-4.2 times greater without action. Actions were implemented in collaboration between governments, NGOs, zoos, scientists, volunteers, and others.
To measure the degree to which this was achieved, we used expert elicitation to estimate the number of bird and mammal species whose extinctions were prevented by conservation action in 1993–2020 (the lifetime of the CBD) and 2010–2020 (the timing of Aichi Target 12). We found that conservation action prevented 21–32 bird and 7–16 mammal extinctions since 1993, and 9–18 bird and two to seven mammal extinctions since 2010. Many remain highly threatened and may still become extinct. Considering that 10 bird and five mammal species did go extinct (or are strongly suspected to) since 1993, extinction rates would have been 2.9–4.2 times greater without conservation action.”
(The Society for Conservation Biology)
“In 2011, Conde et al. conducted a study aimed at estimating the total number of species in the world held in captivity and in order to do that they used the database from the International Species Information System (ISIS) (now called Species360) – the most comprehensive database on zoos and aquariums in the world. They obtained the threat category of each species from the database and it turns out that ISIS zoos hold nearly 15 per cent of the total IUCN threatened species in the world. However, the drawback here is that most ISIS zoos are concentrated in the temperate regions whereas most threatened species are tropical. Clearly there is a mismatch between the areas where the captive populations are held and their native ranges/habitats. Unfortunately, there are still large parts of the world with high biodiversity value whose zoos are not represented in the global zoo network.”
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