EEP & ESB CONSERVATION PROGRAMS.

EEP is an intensive breeding program managed by a coordinator who works in an EAZA facility and is assisted in his work by a committee.

The coordinator is responsible for collecting information on the status of all individuals of the species in his care housed in EAZA zoos and aquariums.

He also compiles a studbook, conducts genetic and demographic analyses, and proposes a program for optimal population management.

The coordinator and committee give guidance to the various zoological facilities on which individuals are suitable for breeding and manage their transfer between facilities.

ESB is a less intensive breeding program.

The studbook keeper collects information on births, deaths, and transfers between EAZA facilities.

This data is fed into software that allows analyses to be conducted on the population of the species in question.

The studbook keeper can then understand what the status of the captive population is and whether it requires increased efforts to be successfully managed in the long term and whether it is therefore necessary to propose an EEP.