Beanie Babies for Guatemala

Reintroduction programs are some of the most exciting and inspiring of stories coming out of zoos.  There is something magical about the idea of turning the tide of extinction and helping to restore and recreate a little piece of the natural world that we've been at risk of losing.  At the same time, there are times that I worry that by sharing those stories so much, we create an unrealistic expectation that reintroduction is the *only* real form of conservation work that zoos do.  I've seen a few exchanges where anti-zoo folks online have asked if a newborn baby animal in a zoo is going to be released, and act like they just pulled some unquestionable trump card on us and we're hopeless to answer.  There is an answer, and that answer is no... and no one ever said that was the plan.

 

 Still, when reintroduction projects are starting up, it's hard not to be excited about them.  The vast majority involve herps, fish, and inverts, species which are much easier to breed in large numbers and then reintroduce.  Recently, Zoo Atlanta announced that nearly a dozen beaded lizards (southern cousins to the Gila monsters we have in the US) are going to Guatemala as part of a reintroduction program.  It's a great success for the zoo, and one which I'm sure that their staff are very proud of, as they should be.