We are very proud of the fact that a zoo so small can have an impact on overseas conservation.

Owston's Palm Civet Conservation Programme

We have been supporting and advising the Owston's Civet Conservation Programme for several years now and assisted in raising significant funding. The centre now houses and breeds about 26 civets, we have built veterinary, quarantine and staff facilities and raised awareness throughout Vietnam. Building on this success the project is about to expand to include all of the small carnivores of Vietnam based on what we've learnt using the Owston's civet as a model. The Trust working in collaboration with Scott Roberton, the Project Advisor, has now begun an international breeding programme with the arrival of 6 civets into the UK, proving that small zoos can make a difference to overseas conservation.

Yellow-breasted capuchin (Cebus apella xanthosternos)

Yellow-breasted capuchins are now only found in a very restricted area of the Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil, one of the richest and most rapidly disappearing ecosystems in the world. Their population is declining drastically not only because of forest destruction, but also because of hunting. Only 2% of their original tropical rainforest habitat remains and they are one of the top 25 most endangered primates in the world.

Shaldon Wildlife Trust is helping to fund research which aims to understand the ecology and behaviour of Yellow-breasted capuchins in the wild through radio-telemetry, gathering information necessary for this species's conservation. Other ongoing projects, to try and prevent its extinction, include working together with the Brazilian Government and farmers to increase the number of protected areas for the species; helping to organise the captive breeding program in Brazil to set up a colony of pure yellow-breasted capuchin which can produce animals which could one day be released into protected forests in the wild; and producing educational material for the local population.

Pied tamarin (Saguinus bicolour)

The pied tamarin is critically endangered and considered the most threatened of all the Amazonian primates. It lives in a very restricted area in the heart of the Amazon and is subject to many threats, particularly the rapid growth of the city of Manaus, which results in the fragmentation of its habitat in urban areas. It also faces competition for its small range from other tamarins.
Shaldon Wildlife Trust has agreed to help fund projects which are being proposed to save the pied tamarin from extinction which include assessing this competition, developing a rescue and reintroduction programme and collecting hair samples for DNA analysis.