The 17 ^th Symposium of the Support for African/Asian Great Apes (SAGA)

SAGA17 was held on November 15-16, 2014 at Kamine Zoo in Ibaraki prefecture. Thank you for coming. SAGA18 will be held at Kyoto City Zoo in 2015.

The oral and poster presentations will be given in Japanese or English.
Dr. Tara Stoinski, Zoo Atlanta, United States, will talk on the first day of the symposium (Nov. 15 ^th). The special lecture begins at 11:20 A.M. and ends at 12:00 A.M. Please join us!

Latest announcements are available HERE (in Japanese. http://www.saga-jp.org/sympo/saga17/). We look forward to welcoming you!

The Cooperative Management of Gorillas in North American and Europe

Photo: Dr. Tara Stoinski (center), Dr. Juichi YAMAGIWA (left) and Dr. Tetsuro MATSUZAWA (right)

Tara Stoinski, PhD.
Chair, AZA Ape Taxon Advisory Group
Advisor, AZA Species Survival Plan
President and CEO, The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund
Senior Research Associate, Zoo Atlanta

This talk will present an overview of the current North American and European populations of zoo gorillas with a primary focus on the North American population. I will discuss how the management of gorillas within the Gorilla Species Survival Plan has focused on promoting high levels of cooperation between the 50 institutions housing gorillas to successfully deal with the challenges of maintaining an equal sex ratio in a harem species. In particular, the SSP is focused on forming breeding groups of one male and three females and bachelor groups of two to four males; delaying male group leadership until late teens; delaying first female reproduction until ~10 years of age; and minimizing hand rearing through an active birth management program that begins when an institution receives a recommendation to breed. I will also highlight other initiatives within the Gorilla SSP, including assessing and treating heart disease, training and enrichment, and supporting in situ conservation and research. Hitachi Civic Center on November 15-16 ^th, 2014. (Map)
Kamine Zoo on afternoon of November 16 ^th, 2014 (Map)

No participation fee is necessary for everyone.
No registration is required.

For further information, please e-mail: