International Zoo Yearbook

The International Zoo Yearbook is an international forum for the exchange of information on the role of zoos in the conservation of biodiversity, species and habitats.

Investigative and data-collection work into the biology and behaviour of wild animals is increasingly dependent on co-ordinated effort and shared results between all institutions engaged in the study and preservation of wildlife.

Latest Volume information: IZY 47: Freshwater Fishes and Their Conservation

Guest Editor: Gordon McGregor Reid, Director Emeritus, North of England Zoological Society (Chester Zoo); Professor of Conservation Science, National Zoonoses Research Centre, University of Liverpool

Freshwater fishes are globally valuable, and now threatened and in dire need of effective conservation action, including through zoo and aquarium programmes in the wild and off-site, at home and abroad. ‘Fishes’, a polyphyletic taxon, are a major component of global biodiversity, some 50% of all chordates; and ‘freshwater’ fishes are those living all or a critical part of their life in fresh, inland or brackish waters, including estuaries. This encompasses all ‘primary’ (salt intolerant or stenohaline) fishes, such as carps, catfishes and characins, and all ‘secondary’ (salt tolerant or euryhaline and sometimes migratory) fishes, such as salmon, many eels, some sharks, sawfish and rays. While fresh waters in lakes, ponds, rivers and wetlands are <0.017% of available global water, they support >12,000 (43%) of all described fish species, with about 300 new species scientifically recognized each year. This is an extraordinary diversity in relation to extent of habitat; and the levels of endemism per river basin are often high, especially in the tropics. Freshwater fishes are of social and cultural significance, of scientific and biomedical importance, and of major nutritional, subsistence and economic value — directly employing more than 20.7 million people worldwide, many in developing countries. The harvest is >38 million tonnes each year via aquaculture and wild capture. Aquarium keeping alone is a US$15–30 billion international industry; with live freshwater fishes representing about 315 from 350 million fishes traded annually (80–90%). The contemporary ‘ecosystem services’ value of fresh waters, including the fishes, can be measured in trillions of dollars, with a disproportionate yield per unit area — 10–20 times higher than terrestrial ecosystems. On IUCN Red-Listing exercises conducted so far, freshwater fishes may now be the most threatened group of chordates (29% of 5593 species), and the causes for this include habitat modification, overfishing, pollution, the introduction of alien species and climate change. The Global Aquarium Strategy for Conservation and Sustainability of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums advocates an integrated ‘meta-population’ approach to fish conservation programmes, taking account of the situation in situ and ex situ. This volume fully expresses this integrated, holistic approach through contributions from leading experts on freshwater fishes, fisheries and wetlands conservation, aquarium management, breeding, gene-banking and reintroduction.

Related information

•  International Zoo Yearbook call for papers (25.62 KB)
• Please download International Zoo Yearbook - Price list and order form for available volumes (53.49 KB)

For other enquiries and to purchase volumes please contact yearbook@zsl.org .

The data for the list of Zoos and Aquariums of the World for Volumes 42-47 were collected and collated using The Publishing Mill .

Free Online Access in the Developing World

Free online access to the Journal of Zoology, Animal Conservation and the International Zoo Yearbook is available within institutions in the developing world through OARE (Online Access to Research in the Environment) in conjunction with UNEP, the United Nations Environment Programme. Access is also available through INTAS, INASP and AGORA.