World Association of Zoos and Aquariums

At the most recent Annual Conference of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) participants adopted guidelines on the acceptance of seized and confiscated animals. These Guidelines have now been promulgated to the entire constituency of the association.

Authorities seizing wild animals must ensure that the animals are temporarily placed at a facility where they are housed, fed and cared for according to animal welfare requirements. After final confiscation they must decide on how to dispose of the animals in a responsible, timely and efficient manner, taking into account practical, legal, animal welfare and conservation aspects and following guidelines issued by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and by IUCN � The World Conservation Union. CITES and IUCN refer to zoos and aquariums as suitable recipients of confiscated animals. They recognise, however, that zoos and aquariums generally cannot accommodate large numbers of animals that become available through confiscations and that, in particular for species with lower conservation value, the authorities may also have to explore other options, such as rescue centres, life-time care facilities, specialist societies, humane societies, commercial captive breeders, or research institutions.
The new Guidelines promulgated by WAZA deal with the issue from the receiving institution�s perspective. They encourage zoos and aquariums to continue to support the efforts of their authorities by accepting to temporarily house, feed and care for seized animals. Confiscated animals may be accepted under a permanent loan agreement or as donations but only if the receiving institution has the necessary expertise and can ensure appropriate care and accommodation of the animals in the long term. A permanent loan agreement should also define the ownership of the offspring.
Zoos and aquariums accepting animals will do so only if the transaction will not result in any benefits to the person or institution from which the animals were confiscated. If the animals belong to a species for which a coordinated regional conservation breeding programme exists, they should be integrated, if appropriate, into that programme.
If zoos or aquariums are requested by the confiscating authority to accept animals for returning them to the wild, they will accept only if the requirements of the IUCN Guidelines for Re-introductions are met. They will make sure that, during the whole process, these guidelines will be fully respected. Zoos and aquariums having confiscated animals on display should take the opportunity to inform the public about the reason which led to the confiscation. In particular, they should make the public aware of the threats unsustainable and illegal trade poses to wild species and of the role CITES plays in combating such trade.
Efforts should be made to raise funds for supporting in situ projects for the species concerned, especially in the case of high profile species, such as primates, large carnivores, elephants, rhinos, parrots, or marine turtles.

The Organisation

The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums is the “umbrella” organisation for the world zoo and aquarium community. Its members include leading zoos and aquariums, and regional and national Associations of Zoos and Aquariums, from all around the world.
Together they are ‘United for Conservation’.
Der ‘Zoologische Garten’ is the official Journal of IUDZG and WAZA.

History

WAZA was originally founded in Rotterdam in 1946 as the International Union of Directors of Zoological Gardens (IUDZG). In 2000 it was renamed as WAZA to reflect a more modern institution working together at a global level to build cooperative approaches to common needs, to tackle common issues, to share information and knowledge, and represent this community in other international bodies such as the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

Since the beginning, International Studbooks for rare and endangered species were kept under the auspices of WAZA.
Since 1950 WAZA has been an international organisation member of IUCN - The World Conservation Union.
In 1993, the “World Conservation Strategy” was published.
In 1999, a Code of Ethics was adopted.
A permanent Executive Office with a fulltime director was established in 2001.
In 2002, a Code of Animal Welfare was adopted.