- The 15th Annual Conference of SEAZA was hosted by Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Vietnam. The theme was “Zoos on the Fringe”. It was attended by 230 delegates from 27 countries and territories: Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, United States and Vietnam. The opening ceremony was held at the Rex Hotel, Ho Chi Minh City on 11th September at 8am.
- The Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. Nguyen Van Dua, said that the conference theme was one which was of common interest to peoples in the region, as well as zoo managers and experts. He pointed out that Vietnam was a country with abundant fauna and flora and had taken many strict measures to protect those natural resources in a sustainable way, including setting up national parks and nature reserves, as well as protected historical and cultural areas with a total area of more than two million hectares. He made particular mention of the coastal mangrove area of Can Gio. To meet the demands of some 10 million inhabitants, the people’s committee was in the advanced stages of planning a new zoo on 485 hectares in Cu Chi province about 60 kilometres from the city centre. Extending good wishes to all delegates, he said that he believed all issues discussed and solved during conference would bring benefit to every zoological institution in the region.
- SEAZA President, Jansen Manansang, welcomed all delegates to Conference and thanked the organizing committee – including Saigon Zoo Director Nguyen Thi Hien Luong and SEAZA Executive Board member Phan Viet Lam – for their months of hard work in preparing for the event. He made particular mention of the presence of WAZA President-elect Gordon Reid, Dr Peter Dollinger (Executive Officer WAZA), Dr Jorg Junhold (Chair, WAZA Marketing Committee) and Dr Jorg Adler (Chair, EAZA Marketing Committee) and also a delegation from the South Asian Zoo Association, led by Sally Walker, who also represented CBSG, while CBSG Japan was represented by Dr Hiroshi Hori. He said that the conference theme was a good indication of where SEAZA was heading, as the Executive Board had encouraged the larger, more affluent zoos in the region to reach out to those that were under-resourced and in less-developed countries. While WAZA had recently passed a motion to the effect that every well-resourced zoo had a responsibility to “engage with needy institutions”, Mr. Manansang said he was pleased that SEAZA was already doing just that. He also advised that three major issues were referred by CBSG to the recent WAZA conference, and that all had direct relevance to the South-East Asian region: Climate change, the world’s amphibian crisis and sub-standard zoos.
- Saigon Zoo Director and head of the conference organizing committee, Ms Nguyen Thi Hien Luong, welcomed delegates to Vietnam and to Ho Chi Minh City and said she looked forward to a successful conference. She noted that the increase in participants at the second conference hosted by Saigon Zoo was a reflection of the growth of SEAZA and the friendly environment of the host country. She thanked everyone for their participation, wishing them an interesting and memorable stay in Vietnam.
- WAZA president-elect, Gordon McGregor Reid gave a keynote address: “Improving the Global Zoo and Aquarium Brand”. In it, he said that – ultimately – a zoo’s brand lay in the mind of the mind of the consumer, rather than in the possession of the zoo, so it is the visitors who would determine the global future of zoos. He suggested that only through market research could zoo managers find out what visitors think and, from the results, make plans to improve the way zoos were perceived. He outlined the results of one market research experience, in which only 2% of respondents cited conservation as the reason for their zoo visit, while 40% said they wanted a “fun day out”.
- During the scientific sessions, 51 papers were presented. These were grouped under four major themes: Biodiversity and Conservation (Chaired by Dr Le Xuan Canh), Health and Exhibits (Chaired by DrS Jansen Manansang), Marketing and Education (Chaired by Gordon McGregor Reid) and Husbandry and Welfare (Chaired by Professor G. Agoramoorthy).
- There were two workshop sessions. The first session had four workshops:
- SEAZA training, facilitated by Dr Kevin Lazarus assisted by Tan Kit Sun. Priority would be given as a follow-up to the recent first veterinary course, with a course on enrichment and conditioning husbandry for captive animals, and a course aimed at upper and middle zoo management. Sources of funding were also explored, such as the WAZA training fund and Ocean Park Hong Kong.
- WAZA’s sub-standard zoo initiative, chaired by Sally Walker. This group agreed that there should be a better term than “sub-standard”, as there were good and bad practices in all zoos. Perhaps zoos that “wanted to improve” was more descriptive of the overall aim. These zoos needed to support and benefit their animals, visitors and staff, and well-resourced zoos are needed to assist them in their aims. The chair undertook to bring up the participants’ points to the WAZA working group developing guidelines.
- Golden Cat Action Plan, chaired by Ratna Kumar Duraisingam and Pham Anh Dung. This group will build on the previous ex situ workshop and PHVA held in Thailand in 2005 and further valuable contacts were made and data identified.
- Education, chaired by Suzanne Gendron, assisted by Joyce Kwok and Joann Chang. The workshop set the objective of making the WAZA Conservation Strategy South East Asian relevant and considered how people could work together to ensure this happened.
- The second workshop session included two groups:
- The Reintroduction Specialist Group IUCN reintroduction guidelines development, chaired by Mike Jordon and SEAZA focal person G. Agoramoorthy. This workshop looked at several topics such as social grouping, disease, human habitation, migration – timing, early assessment of release potential, religion/cultural issues, forced translocation, identification – post release monitoring - and transport/general welfare issues.
- Marketing: Chaired by Gordon Reid. This continued the theme begun during the chair’s keynote address and the papers presented by WAZA officials and the EAZA marketing chair. Participants shared their zoo marketing experiences. Common ground was found in several key areas, including appeal to family groups, and the need to work harder at appealing to the 17-25 year old age group who says zoos as “un-cool” places. Much discussion centred around the need for exhibits to be “mother-and-child friendly".
- The Reintroduction Specialist Group IUCN reintroduction guidelines development, chaired by Mike Jordon and SEAZA focal person G. Agoramoorthy. This workshop looked at several topics such as social grouping, disease, human habitation, migration – timing, early assessment of release potential, religion/cultural issues, forced translocation, identification – post release monitoring - and transport/general welfare issues.
- The Conference program included a visit to the Saigon Opera House, where participants were entertained by the Saigon Concert Group, who presented a variety of traditional Vietnamese song, music and dance. There was also a tour to Can Gio mangrove forest – a 75,740-hectare area encompassing three zones that has been recognized by MAB/UNESCO as a Mangrove Biosphere Reserve – and a visit to Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens.
- The Ice Breaker was held at the Rex Hotel – the venue for the conference proceedings, while the welcome dinner was held at the Continental Hotel,
- The General Assembly was held at the Rex Hotel on the last day of the conference. There were reports from the SEAZA President and the secretary, and also summaries of conference workshops .New members to SEAZA were invited to make presentations about their organisations. They were Hong Kong Wetland Park, Kadoorie Farm & Botanical Gardens and Siam Ocean World. There was also a presentation from Zoo Negara, Malaysia, the host for SEAZA Conference 2007. The 2008 Conference would be held in Laos. WAZA’s Gordon Reid presented the challenges facing the WAZA Aquarium Committee and said he was pleased that the SEAZA Executive Board had formed a similar group led by Immediate Past President Pisit Na Patalung.
- During the farewell dinner, at a riverside restaurant, each country delegation performed an entertaining skit – including some inspiring cross-cultural performances – and other entertainment provided a dramatic grand finale to a hugely successful conference.
- Two optional post-conference tours were available: One to Cat Tien National Park and another to Hoi An and Hue.