International conference focused on conservation success stories was organised at CZU Prague from 19 to 25 February.
Five years have passed since the pioneering meeting Antelope conservation in the 21st century: from diagnosis to action –which took place in London and was organised by Zoological Society of London. Since then the situation of most African ungulates has deteriorated and in some cases has become more critical, as shown in the new IUCN Red List assessments. However, there are also certainly some success stories, thanks to the passion and commitment of organisations and individuals. Therefore, we decided to organize the conference Antelope, Giraffe, Hippo in the 21stCentury: Conservation Action in Africa in order to update and review the situation of these charismatic animals.
The main aims of the conference, organised at CZU Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences, were:
- to highlight positive results of conservation efforts in African countries;
- to motivate and engage young people in the process of African biodiversity conservation;
- to promote future conservation activities in Africa;
- to present current research activities related to antelopes, giraffes, and hippos;
- to connect in situ and ex situ research and conservation of antelopes, giraffes and hippos following the OnePlan approach;
- to identify new possibilities of in situ projects’ support for zoos.