Zookeepers play an instrumental and often underestimated role in the conservation success of many species, e.g., by maintaining and caring for endangered species in conservation breeding programs, assisting field projects or overseeing studbooks. As part of the Species360 Conservation Science Alliance’s strategic goal to ”educate the next generation of conservation leaders” CSA member Dr. Johanna Staerk presented the lecture ”Zoos and Aquariums supporting CITES in regulating wildlife trade” to a class of future zookeepers who are taking their education at the Roskilde Technical College, Denmark.

Students were eager to learn about the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the role that zoos can play to support CITES work, e.g., through providing high quality data via ZIMS. You can read more about how ZIMS data can support CITES and the CSA’s recent work on songbird trade here.