Terra Natura is a zoological park that emerged as an innovative answer to the new demands of a modern society increasingly committed to respect for nature and awareness regarding the conservation of natural resources. In this context, zoological institutions must not only modernize their spaces and facilities intended to host wild animals, but actively promote the quality of animal care, the ongoing formation of animal caregivers, and the educational activities for visitors. They must especially promote and develop conservation and research actions that enhance the chances of ex situ survival in order to export these species back to their conditions in situ.
Ex situ means that wild animals are outside their natural habitat. They are born, they grow and they breed within the zoo's specially designed facilities. The aim is to keep populations stable and to increase the genetic pool in order to conserve the species and enable reintroductions in natural areas where the animals have disappeared or are close to disappearing. Terra Natura actively assists in conservation programmes for species threatened by extinction that are conducted by the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA) through different EEPs (European Endangered Species Programmes). Terra Natura places its modern and naturalized animal facilities at the disposal of the ecological needs of the species in these EEPs. An EEP icon next to each animal tells you that it is part of these important programs of conservation for endangered and threatened species.
In Terra Natura we understand that conservation is a combination of thought and action aimed at safeguarding and increasing the survival of endangered animal species (IUCN), through actions directed towards populations held in captivity ex situ as well as towards those living in situ within their own natural habitats.
If current trends of deforestation, destruction and transformation of natural areas on our planet continue – especially in certain already protected areas - there will not be sufficient space or resources (plant cover, shelter, food resources, access to water) to guarantee the medium or long-term survival of wild animals. Terra Natura is aware of this future, and works with specific animal species such as the leopard, the jaguar, the Sumatran tiger, the Asian lion, the Asiatic elephant, the Indian rhinoceros, the Indian Gaur bison, the Indian Barasingha deer, and the Asiatic wild dog, to name just a few of the most important animals in our institutional plan.
