Rare animals at risk in UK from foot-and-mouth
Copyright © 2001 Reuters
March 15, 2001
LONDON, March 15 (Reuters) - The deer at Woburn Safari Park are running scared because they are lunch and the big cats are hungry.
Fearful of infecting rare animals with the foot-and-mouth epidemic sweeping Britain, the park is culling its own deer to feed its lions and tigers rather than importing meat.
``We are not bringing any meat supplies in for our big cats, we are not willing to take the risk of bringing meat in from outside. Luckily we have a healthy deer population here that we can cull,'' Jake Veasey the animal manager at Woburn said.
``We are effectively battening down the hatches and hoping for the best,'' he said.
Woburn, like many other zoos in Britain, is involved in captive breeding programmes that are in danger of being affected by the epidemic with potentially devastating effects for animals already on the brink of extinction.
``British zoos have a vital role to play in saving endangered species. As wild population numbers fall, zoos can ensure back-up populations by breeding these species in captivity,'' the Zoological Society of London said.
Woburn Safari Park, about 40 miles (65kms) from London, is the largest area in Western Europe devoted to conservation of protected species.
On its 3000-acre estate it houses rare species such as the Pere David's deer of which only 1,200 survive worldwide.
``We have half the world's population of Pere David's deer. All the world's Pere David's deer are descended from animals bred at Woburn,'' Veasey said.
Other high profile endangered species like Rotschilds giraffes, and Asian elephants are part of the programme.
Foot-and-mouth causes blisters on the hooves and in the mouths of cloven-hoofed animals, followed by severe weight loss but rarely death. To avoid contamination, infected animals must be slaughtered and burnt - approximately 120,000 animals have been destroyed in Britain so far.
If there was an outbreak at Woburn, it would mean the slaughter of all 1500 susceptible animals at the zoo.
``If foot-and-mouth was found at the estate, the law as it stands, would mean all the animals would have to be slaughtered,'' Veasey told Reuters.
He believes army marksmen would need to be called in to ensure a total slaughter because they would be dealing with wild animals roaming free rather than domestic animals used to man.
Howletts Zoo Park, in Kent, houses more than 500 animals susceptible to the disease and many of these animals have been described as endangered or vulnerable on the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red Lists of threatened and endangered species.
The zoo has been closed since February 23.
``Over half of the susceptible animals (at Howletts) are very rare and part of international breeding programmes both here in Europe and around the world,'' Chris Furley, the zoo's veterinary director said. ``These programmes have been disrupted.''
``Because of the restrictions on animal movement we can no longer exchange animals with zoos outside the country or within the country,'' Furley said.
Several animal moves lined up by British zoos have been postponed following the total animal movement ban. These include a male tiger from London to Antwerp Zoo, and a pregnant cheetah returning from a breeding facility in Holland to Colchester zoo.
British and other zoos rely on exchanges to maintain the genetic diversity and health of their stocks.