Benefits of Membership
When you join Species360, you become part of a thriving, important global community of more than 1,100 member zoos, aquariums, sanctuaries, rescue and rehab centers, teaching institutions and regional associations. Some additional benefits of membership include:
- Using a world-class software application to manage your animal inventory
- Access to decades of global animal information and best practices in ZIMS
- Improved institutional planning and animal inventory management
- Increased productivity and lower operating costs
Membership can save your institution resources and time by:
- Using a world-class software application to manage your animal inventory
- Simplifying communication within your institution through shared data access
- Running extensive reports with the click of a button to answer questions like:
- How many animals do I currently have in the collection?
- How many animals were born between certain dates?
- How is the population of this species doing within my institution/our association/in this country/on this continent/globally?
- How does this animal’s weight compare to that of animals in global data?
- What kind of work has my staff been recording in ZIMS?
- Are my current animals in this enclosure closely related?
- Controlling the genetic and demographic makeup of your animal collection
- Identifying institutions seeking animals
- Finding appropriate, unrelated new animals for breeding purposes
- Identifying facilities with experience in breeding and raising certain offspring
- Creating reports for governments and other official accrediting bodies
- Using software accepted and preferred by international regulatory bodies such as CITES
- Accessing medical and husbandry best practices identified by other members
- Capturing important animal medical information
- What is “normal” in this species?
- What are the most common diseases in this species?
- What is the best anesthetic drug combination?
- What drugs are safe to use with this species?
- Accessing a knowledge base that has been the primary source of biological insights on living collections of wildlife in human care since 1974. Facts on the ZIMS database can be found here.
And there are other important benefits:
- For over 44 years, Species360 records have been accepted as the “gold standard” by government agencies worldwide, for example: Species360 membership is strongly recommended by the World Zoo and Aquarium Association (WAZA) in the World Zoo and Aquarium Conservation Strategy
- Species360 membership is required by the European Association of Zoos & Aquaria (EAZA)
- Several other regional zoo and aquarium associations refer Species360 membership to their members
- In North America, the majority of Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) zoo institutions are Species360 members
- The Japanese ministry responsible for wildlife conservation facilities uses Species360 pedigree registry management information to manage these facilities
- The Colombian Environmental Ministry requires Species360 specimen reports for CITES exportation permits.
- Over 40 formal association agreements have been executed, such as with SZB (Brazil), ACOPOZOA (Colombia), ALPZA (Latin America), AZCARM (Mexico), EAZA (Europe), BIAZA (UK), AFdPZ (France), UIZA (Italy), EARAZA (Eurasia), PAAZA (Africa), JAZA (Japan), AZA (USA), CAZA (Canada), ZAA (Australasia), SEAZA (South East Asia), MAZPA (Malaysia), PKBSI (Indonesia).
