| |
|
|
|
The
South Asian Zoo Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAZARC)
|
 The
South Asian Zoo Association for Regional Cooperation
(SAZARC) was formed on 4 August 2000 at the First
Meeting of south Asian Zoos, held at Central Zoo,
Kathmandu, Nepal, initiated by the Zoo Outreach
Organization / CPSG, South Asia and Central Zoo.
Directors, Veterinarians and other senior technical
staff attended the meeting and, after giving "state
of the zoos" reports for their country and
individual zoo reports, agreed that there was a
crying need for a zoo association for the region. It
was given a name at this meeting: South Asian Zoo
Association for Regional Association or SAZARC. The
Zoo Outreach Organization, an NGO started in 1985 to
assist zoos, organized this meeting, and become the
Administrative Office for the new association for
5-10 years, or until the association could find its
feet. South Asia, with its often unstable climatic,
geological, economic, bureaucratic and political
scenario, is not an easy region in which to run
zoos, which are sensitive institutions. At the same
time, the potential for zoos is enormous South Asian
countries are high in biodiversity and in human
population, thus the potential for education is
vast. Zoos can also play a role in conservation of
biodiversity in South Asia, but there is much work
to be done for all the countries' zoos before this
can come about. Therefore, involvement of CPSG,
South Asia (IUCN SSC Conservation Breeding
Specialist Group's representative in South Asia) is
proving very useful.
Objectives
A major objectives of SAZARC was to become a member
of the World Association of Zoos and Aquaria and
take its place in the world zoo community. This
objective was realized last year (2004) when SAZARC
was granted membership in WAZA, elected by a
majority of the WAZA Council.
The purpose of the regional and national
associations is noble it is to improve communication
and cooperation between zoos within the country,
between zoos of the region and internationally as
well as to set up standards for animal care,
organize training in zoo management, etc.
SAZARC has conducted a meeting every year since its
inception ... in 2000 we met at Central Zoo, Nepal;
in 2001 we could not meet in South Asia but met
along with the South East Asian Zoo Association in
Malaysia; in 2002 we met at Dhaka Zoo, Bangladesh;
in 2003 it was National Zoo, Sri Lanka; in 2004 at
Lahore, Pakistan; in 2005 at Coimbatore, India; in
2006 at Vitenam along with SEAZA; in 2008 at
Gujarat, India; in 2009 at Sri Lanka and in 2010 at
Nepal.
Every year SAZARC conducts training in some aspect
of zoo management -- zoo education, zoo
conservation, zoo population management, ... this
year we are having training in zoo data management
and primate taxonomy.
SAZARC also conducts training during the year at
time. In 2004 we conducted a training on zoo
management in Pakistan in Lahore, Karachi and
Islamabad.
SAZARC, Zoo Outreach Organization and CPSG, South
Asia work together with WAZA and the other zoos of
the world to raise awareness of good zoo management,
good zoo ethics and good animal welfare.
SAZARC collaborated with WAZA and other national and
regional associations in writing the World Zoo and
Aquarium Conservation Strategy, which was just
released in May 2005. Zoo Outreach Organization
raised funds and printed a South Asian edition of
the strategy, posters and stickers of the cover and
summaries in six languages.
SAZARC is still a baby zoo organisation and has much
to learn and a long way to develop. But every year
our members are more astute and dedicated and we are
building strong bonds between zoos of different
countries in this region.
To see the summary report of our meetings click on
the following links
Tenth Annual Conference of
"The South Asian Zoo Association for Regional
Cooperation" held in Nepal in 2010"
Ninth Annual Conference of
"The South Asian Zoo Association for Regional
Cooperation" held in Sri Lanka in 2009"
Eighth Annual Conference of "The
South Asian Zoo Association for Regional
Cooperation" held in Gujarat, India in 2008
Seventh Annual Conference of
"The South Asian Zoo Association for Regional
Cooperation" at SEAZA meeting in Vietnam
Sixth Annual Conference of "The
South Asian Zoo Association for Regional
Cooperation" held at India in 2005
Fifth Annual Conference of "The
South Asian Zoo Association for Regional
Cooperation" held at Pakistan in 2004
Fourth Annual Conference of "The
South Asian Zoo Association for Regional
Cooperation" held at Sri Lanka in 2003
Third Annual Conference of "The
South Asian Zoo Association for Regional
Cooperation" held at Bangladesh in 2002
Second Annual Conference of "The
South Asian Zoo Association for Regional
Cooperation" held at Malaysia in 2001
First Annual Conference of "The
South Asian Zoo Association for Regional
Cooperation" held at Nepal in 2000"
SAZARC is a wonderful fellowship of zoo folks ! |
| |
| ©2017 Zoo
Outreach Organization |
|
|
|
