Species Conservation

For endangered species, special breeding programs have been established in Europe, also called EEPs and ESBs. EEP here stands for European Endangered species Program. Within an EEP, animals are actively exchanged with other European zoos in order to preserve the species in zoos and ensure the species purity and genetic variety of the population.

Coordinators

Each breeding program has a coordinator who keeps all records and manages the collection of the specific species. Together with a specialized committee, the coordinator also advises on which animals may have offspring together, and whether animals should move to other zoos, and if so, to which ones.

Program

AquaZoo Leeuwarden participates in the EEPs for: yellow-breasted capuchin monkeys, polar bears, red pandas, African penguins, Humboldt penguins, giant otters, white-faced lemurs, frizzled lemurs, white-necked cranes, gibbons, ring-tailed lemurs, pinche monkeys, South American tapirs, vicuñas and Chinese cranes.

In addition to the EEP program, AquaZoo also participates in the ESB (European Stud Book) program for red giant kangaroos, South American sea bears, hammerheads, tammar wallabies, swamp wallabies, azara agoutis, white-winged wood ducks and sloths.

AquaZoo is coordinator of the swamp wallaby.