Samgång av olika arter på svenska djurparker
Zoos currently aim at keeping animals in as natural habitats as possible, since they havegone from displaying exotic animals to working with conservation of endangered species.It is therefore more common that zoos keep groups composed of two or more species in thesame enclosure. The aim of this report is to study why and how different species are held atzoos. Species in the wild can interact in different degrees depending on season andresources. When species are held together at zoos the space can be more effectively used,the animals increase their activity and the visitors increase their learning. Mixed speciesenclosures involve more work and risks of injury. My recommendation for addition to theSwedish directions (L108) is that the animals should have opportunity to retreat when theyare held with one or more species, to imitate their natural life as much as possible anddecrease the stress it could mean for the animals. To get a view of how common mixedspecies enclosures are at Swedish zoos, I got in contact with the zoologist on each of thezoos that are members of The Swedish Association of Zoos and Aquaria, SAZA. Theyanswered which species were held together at each zoo and why. Almost all zoos havemixed species enclosures in different extensions and with the aim to give the animals andvisitor enrichment at the same time as the animals represent a biotope. More scientificstudies are desired, both at mixed species groups in the wild and at zoos.