Home >> World Zoos >> Asia
 World Zoos of Asia
Stay updated on what IZE members in Asia are doing to promote conservation efforts in their areas. Learn about education programs, browse the list of IZE members and their regions, and find contact information for the Regional Representative.
North and Southeast Asia
Regional Update
By Regional Representative
Isabel Li (September 2009)
The Second Asian Zoo Educators’ Conference (AZEC) 2009
The Second Asian Zoo Educators’ Conference (AZEC) 2009, which ran from October 11-15, 2009 at Ocean Park, Hong Kong was completed successfully! There were a total of 58 delegates representing 29 organizations from 11 regions.
The idea behind AZEC was to provide a platform where zoo educators in Asia could  meet every two years to share ideas and discuss topics of common interest. There might be variations in culture and languages among different delegates, but what stays the same is our ultimate goal of helping our mother Earth through education. Singapore Zoo was the first organization to host AZEC in 2007 and Ocean Park was honored to host the second conference with the theme “Saving the melting earth with limited resources but immense ideas”. We were also glad to have Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong Kong support six delegates from Bangladesh, China, India and Nepal to attend and share their ideas. IZE President, Mr. Stephen McKeown also took time out of his busy schedule to attend this conference and showed great support.
There were 25 paper presentations conducted at this conference. The presenters shared their experiences in education  program development, teaching skills, volunteer and staff management as well as ideas that assist local communities with limited resources. Participants also visited other conservation organizations in Hong Kong - the Mai Po Nature Reserve and Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden. Apart from presentations and outings, we had made special arrangements for a workshop conducted by Ms. Jane Ng, Education officer of Ocean Park and also a Certified Interpretive Trainer from National Association for Interpretation (NAI) to enhance delegates’ knowledge and skills on interpretation. We had a lot of fun and many gave positive comments on the useful skills gained through this workshop.
We exchanged many ideas at a variety of social events. The gala dinner was one of the highlights for this conference. Everyone enjoyed the feast and had a very memorable night. We danced and sang together, breaking all the language barriers among us.
Through this conference, we discovered that we are not alone in the field of conservation education and the protection of nature. Conservation education is never an easy task, but we believe it is an important yet fundamental step to change the world. When we join our hands together and support each other, we can definitely save our melting earth. We hope to meet again with new inspiration at the IZE conference in USA in 2010 and the next AZEC in 2011!
Return to Top
South Asia
Regional Update
By Regional Representative Sally Walker (November 2009 - June 2010)
1. Getting along with Elephants-Human Elephant Coexistence HECx workshop series in Indonesia and Bhutan
Zoo Outreach Organisation conducted “Getting along with Elephants-Human Elephant Coexistence HECx workshops series in Sumatra, Indonesia and Bhutan. These series was sponsored by US Fish Wildlife Service. The previous workshop series was held in West Bengal (India), Nepal and Bangladesh. The objectives of the workshop are: to empower teachers of all kinds (schools, ngos, forest and wildlife personnel, natural history staff, extension of officers of all kinds) to confront and teach about the vexed topic of HEC and a partial ‘solution” to HECx and to demonstrate innovative teaching and learning techniques designated to change human attitudes and behavior for the better.
a). Three HECx workshops were held in Sumatra, Indonesia from 1-12 December 2009. Ninety two participants attended these workshops in Tangakhan, Saree-Aceh and Bengkulu. This was coordinated by Fauna Flora International-Sumatran Elephant Conservation Programme (FFI-SECP).
Click the link to view the report:
http://www.zoosprint.org/viewPDFFile.asp?fname=17-21.pdf&typ=mag&Imonth=2&Iyear=2010
b). From 1-12 March 2010, two HECx workshops were organized in Bhutan. These workshops were held in Lobesa and Gedu and 59 participants took part in these two workshops. Nature Conservation Division, Department of Forests and Park Services was the coordinator for these workshops.
Click the link to view the report: http://www.zoosprint.org/viewPDFFile.asp?fname=13-20.pdf&typ=mag&Imonth=4&Iyear=2010
2. Refresher Courses for Getting along with Elephants workshop series participants
ZOO conducted refresher courses as follow-up to the series of HECx wherever it held previously. During this period we conducted 4 refresher courses in four countries and they were held in Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Bhutan. The objectives of the refresher courses are: to understand the utilization of teaching techniques which they learnt in the HECx workshops; to know their follow-up education activities on HECx; to understand the effectiveness of the HECx training programme towards changing their or audience behavior;
Nepal: It was held at Central Zoo/NTNC, Katmandu from 3-4 November 2009. Twenty one participants took part in this workshop.
Bangladesh: Held on from 22-23 April, 2010 in Dhaka and 23 persons participated.
Sumatra, Indonesia: Conducted at Tangakhan, North Sumatra from 7-8 June 2010. Twenty two participants attended.
Bhutan: Held at Jaigaon from 28-29 June, 2010. Eighteen persons attended.
Click the link to view Bangladesh and Sumatra reports: http://www.zoosprint.org/viewPDFFile.asp?fname=wtb.pdf&typ=mag&Imonth=
6&Iyear=2010
http://www.zoosprint.org/viewPDFFile.asp?fname=14-17.pdf&typ=mag&Imonth=8&Iyear=2010
3. Consultancy to Nilgiri Biosphere Conservation Park
SANIZE office is providing consultancy to Nilgiri Biosphere Conservation Park, Anaikatti, Coimbatore for design of signage, interpretation, and other educational products.
4. Kabul Zoo staff training visit to India
Three senior officers of Kabul Zoo, Afghanistan including the Education Officer underwent 10 day training on a wide range of topics in zoo management including zoo education from 20-30 December in some South Indian Zoos as well as ZOO Headquarters.
Click the link to view the report: http://www.zoosprint.org/viewPDFFile.asp?fname=11-16.pdf&typ=mag&Imonth=2&Iyear=2010
5. Conservation Education and Zoos workshop by Central Zoo Authority
ZOO’s Education Officer has been invited for this workshop as a resource person which was conducted at Patna, Bihar from 6-9 April 2010. Click the link to view the report: http://www.zoosprint.org/viewPDFFile.asp?fname=31-32.pdf&typ=mag&Imonth=5&Iyear=2010
6. Supply of education kits to SANIZE members
We are often providing education materials to our education partners (SANIZE) whenever there is a request from them or during special occasions. We provided education materials for Animal Welfare Fortnight 2010 such as Ele-kits, climate change, monkey manners, amphibian education packets & colouring books, South Asian Primate Pocket Guide, Bats, Daily life Wildlife kits and Bear education kits. After their programme, they sent us reports and we published this in our
magazine ZOOS PRINT. Click the link to view their reports with photographs.
http://www.zoosprint.org/viewPDFFile.asp?fname=28-35.pdf&typ=mag&Imonth=4&Iyear=2010
http://www.zoosprint.org/viewPDFFile.asp?fname=25-28.pdf&typ=mag&Imonth=3&Iyear=2010
http://www.zoosprint.org/viewPDFFile.asp?fname=22-24.pdf&typ=mag&Imonth=2&Iyear=2010
7. World Environment Day 2010-New Education Materials
This year for World Environment Day, Zoo Outreach Organization took up the WAZA challenge of convincing educators to combine WED with the International Year of Biodiversity. We quickly created a simple WED IYB on a very stringent budget and wrote to our educator friends. We could afford to make only 1500 packets. Sixteen people from various institutions ordered them and celebrated
WED IYB with ZOO and WAZA this year. Click the link to view the report:
http://www.zoosprint.org/viewPDFFile.asp?fname=12-17.pdf&typ=mag&Imonth=7&Iyear=2010
http://www.zoosprint.org/viewPDFFile.asp?fname=26-31.pdf&typ=mag&Imonth=8&Iyear=2010
8. SANIZE Directory
South Asian Network of International Zoo Educators network directory is
updated and uploaded in our website. Click the link to view the Directory: http://www.zooreach.org/Networks/Education/SANIZE_directory.pdf
Return to Top
Asia Membership List
The IZE Membership List is updated quarterly.
| Country |
First name |
Last name |
Organization |
| China |
Isabel |
Li |
Ocean Park Hong Kong |
| India |
Meena |
Nareshwar |
Center for Environment Education |
| India |
BA |
Daniel |
Zoo Outreach Organisation |
| India |
Sally |
Walker |
Zoo Outreach Organisation |
| Japan |
Hiroyuki |
Takahashi |
Chiba Zoological Park |
| Japan |
Yoriko |
Mochimaru |
Tokyo Zoo Park Soc. |
| Singapore |
May Kuen |
Lok |
Singapore Zoological Gardens |
Return to Top |
