Partnership Details
Conservation Biobank
We are a national approved zoological garden supported by the state of Denmark, who in the last few years has been looking into various conservation efforts, such as cryopreservation as a means of furthering our extensive in- and ex situ conservation efforts. In our collection we have several rare species and local breeds. We are therefore interested in participating in cryopreservation as a support to our future research and breeding efforts.
Our interest in conservation of biodiversity and nature´s genetic heritage is holistic, and we are engaged in several conservation projects through Danish Association of Zoos and Aquaria, European Association of Zoos and Aquaria and World Association of Zoos and Aquariums – in situ as well as ex-situ.
In brief, our conservation efforts are focused both locally and globally. Concerning our local biodiversity we corporate with our local municipality and the Aage V. Jensen Nature foundation on the management of 150 Ha of meadows adjacent to the zoo. Some of the area is “semi-rewilded” by use of wisents, introduced in 2010. Other parts of the area are maintained by use of rare native farm-breeds.
Globally, we are engaged in in-situ conservation of rainforest in Ecuador, where we own 11 km2 of highly diverse tropical national park, which acts as a buffer-zone to Sumaco Galeras National park. Together with the regional government, local employers and the local University the aim is to conserve it and use it as a baseline for future reforestation projects, some of them using the local seed resources.
Overall our goal is to establish a national centre of biodiversity in Denmark as a supplement to our existing conservation efforts. The centre will include a biobank for both viable cell lines and tissue samples from our zoo animals as well as material from native farm-breeds. We have started up at a smaller scale and are preparing to work with living cell lines.
