Native Species Breeding Program - Perth Zoo

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Home . Conservation and Research . Native Species Breeding Program

Native Species Breeding Program

Numbat Located behind-the-scenes at Perth Zoo, the Native Species Breeding Program (NSBP) is the central focus for many of the captive breeding and research projects concerned with the conservation of Western Australian fauna.

The primary goal of the NSBP is to support Threatened Species Recovery Plans by providing animals for release under DEC's Western Shield program and by conducting scientific research into the reproduction and other aspects of the biology of threatened fauna.

Some of the very successful programs have been:

Mammals
Perth Zoo has successfully bred many native fauna for release into the wild. These include Chuditch, Shark Bay Mouse, Numbat, Dibbler and Central Rock Rat.

Reptiles
Since 1989, 500 Western Swamp Tortoises have been successfully reared at Perth Zoo with more than 390 returned to the wild.

Frogs
About one-third of the world’s 6, 000 amphibian species are facing extinction and over half of Australia’s frog species are threatened by a disease called Chytrid fungus.