When relevant for the taxon, rearing data should be collected for ail specimens in the studbook. Rearing data are often essential because whether a specimen was hand or parent reared may determine population and/or specimen management strategies. Life history characteristics, socialization, and reproduction are potentially influenced by the type of rearing. For example, a SPMAG advisor or species manager may want to correlate the effect of hand rearing on subsequent reproductive success. Also, in nonseasonal breeders, birth intervals can decrease for dams with hand reared offspring, so hend rearing information is a potentially important part of any evaluation of reproductive rate.
SPARKS offers five categories of hand rearing: hand, parent, foster, colony, and unknown. The default for wild-caught specimens is {PARENT} but for specimens that are captive-born or of unknown origin, the default rearing type is {UNKNOWN}. Rearing type for stillbirths and premature births should be listed as unknown. The <REARING> field can be used to set the View Criteria so it is potentially very useful. If additional rearing categories are needed, creating a rearing UDF is the best tactic (see page 80 on how to create and use UDFs). A UDF will also allow the species manager to set a View Criteria to select a specific rearing type for analysis and reports.
Many studbook keepers will want to develop species specific conventions for rearing types. There are no established standards for categories for parent reared, hand-reared, foster-reared, partial parent rearing, etc. Categories will vary from species to species. Rearing categories can be a combination or a continuum of options. For example, rearing may cover several years with a combination of parent and hand rearing (or hand reared infants can be reintroduced to parents at a later date). The Western Lowland Gorilla SSPc has created a category {PARTIAL} to describe this situation. Conventions should be based on the biology of the species with an eye toward how rearing might affect management practices. Conventions for rearing types should be described in Species Notes (see page 40 on species notes).
Rearing data may be difficult to collect. Rearing categories are not listed on ARKS taxon reports, so the studbook keeper may have to make a special request for this information. In addition, because some zoos do not routinely record rearing types in ARKS, this information may be difficult to obtain if it is only available from daily keeper records. Also, rearing categories are often open to interpretation; a studbook keeper may want to solicit exact dates of rearing and categorize the information to fit the husbandry and management plan. For many species, or even particular situations, it may be advisable to record rearing dates and information as text in Special Data. However, notes in Special Data should be in addition to the rearing or UDF field because it is not possible to analyze (i.e., sort on) text in Special Data.
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Rearing type is entered or edited by:
(1) selecting Data Entry from the Main Menu of SPARKS
(2) selecting Edit Animal Data from the Data Entry menu
(3) entering a new studbook number or number to be edited
(4) moving the cursor to the Master Record window (upper left) and pressing return
(5) entering sex of the specimen
(6) entering birth date (and date estimate if appropriate)
(7) entering each parent ID
(8) entering rearing as {PARENT}, {HAND} or {UNKNOWN}
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Events, or transactions, should provide a continuous record of a specimen's history in time and space. The terms "transaction" and "event" are often used interchangeably when dealing with SPARKS. There are five types of events available in SPARKS: birth, wild-caught (capture), transfer, death, and release (to the wild).
The first event for each specimen should be either a birth or capture (see pages 43, 47, 49 on entering wild-caught, captive-born, or unknown origin specimens); captures should be identified as nearly as possible to point of origin! This provides verification that the data have been entered correctly. For example, a gorilla listed as wild-caught at a North American zoo is probably incorrect (at the very least it is ambiguous); this could either mean that the specimen was imported from the wild or that an error was made during data entry (e.g., the specimen is captive-born at the zoo). In either case, this entry forces the reader to make an assumption about the data. The unambiguous first entry would be a capture in {AFRICA}; the second entry would be a transfer to a North American institution.
In the past, some studbooks have used a transfer as the first event (usually for specimens that were either wild-caught or of unknown origin). Transfers should not be used as the first event for any specimen. When the first event is a transfer, the specimen’s origin is unclear and must be inferred from data in other fields. A transfer as the first event is ambiguous and implies that the information for that specimen is incomplete (e.g., where was the transfer from? did the studbook keeper intentionally make the first event a transfer, or was capture or birth mistakenly omitted?).
The data for each specimen should include all known (and unknown) locations and events. When necessary, SPARKS and other analytical programs can exclude specific events and locations from reports and analyses. Thus, a studbook keeper should not exclude any data on location. The benefit of including all locations could be great. Analyses and reports could be run only on specimens that had passed through a specific, albeit obscure location: this might be required to assess a common factor such as disease or behavioral problems. Moreover, most View Criteria (see page 26 on views in SPARKS) include a geographic criterion (e.g., North America) and a date criterion, so it is important that the studbook record where each specimen was located at every point in its history (see page 65 on how to enter location).
Eggs collected from the wild should have {HATCH} as the first event, with both parents entered as {WILD} (or {WILD_}, when parents or siblings have been individually identified). The second event for these eggs would be a transfer to the collecting, or
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importing, institution.
The events entry process in SPARKS entails a series of variables. If the specimen is new to the studbook, upon completion of the information in the Master Record (upper left window on the Data Entry screen), an event is entered by:
(1) selecting Data Entry from the Main Menu of SPARKS
(2) selecting Edit Animal Data from the Data Entry menu
(3) selecting the Event Records window (upper right of Data Entry screen) and pressing enter
(4) selecting an event type (birth, wild-caught, transfer, death, release)
(5) entering the mnemonic for location where the event took place
(6) entering local identification number (local ID) at the event location
(7) entering loan as {NO} (unless ownership is being tracked)
(8) entering the date of the event (and estimate if appropriate)
(8) entering removal date and removal date estimate as blanks
(9) entering lost-to-follow-up (default is {NO})
SPARKS provides an option for recording whether a specimen is a part of either a global or regional management plan. For North American regional studbooks, the most common use for this option would be to record participation in an SSP© or PMP. Caution should be used when entering a specimen into a Management Plan because this requires an entry and an exit date. Entry dates have the potential to exclude information from demographic analyses so it is very important that entry dates be discussed with the species coordinator and/or the SPMAG advisor. Identification of specimens in SSP© or other management plans is often best accomplished using either a UDF (see page 80 on how to create and use UOFs) or a User Defined Flag.
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Management-plan, e.g., SSP©, is entered by:
(1) Management Plan In (date)
(2) Management Plan Out (date)
(3) Management Surplus
This can be used to supplement tracking of which specimens might be parents (e.g., when parents are {MULT__}. This option cannot currently be used to set views (i.e., select specimens in or out of analyses).
Thefts and escapes should be entered as lost-to-follow-up (see page 74 on how to "enter lost-to-follow-up), with an explanatory note entered in the Special Data or Data Note field. It is not appropriate to enter thefts or escapes as transfers to unknown or fictional locations. In particular, specimens should not be transferred to "creative" locations such as {STOLEN}, {THEFT}, or {ESCAPED}.
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Locations are entered in association with events and transactions. All locations should be identified by the official ISIS mnemonic: a nine letter code that designates either the institution or the city in which it is located (e.g., CHICAGOLP is Lincoln Park Zoo, AUDUBON is Audubon Park and Zoological Gardens). SPARKS does not use these mnemonics alone to track location: each mnemonic is associated with a nine digit institutional code that is the actual identifier of each location. This institution code conveys information about geographical location: continent or region, country, state, department, province, and city.
Confusion about locations within and between studbooks is common. When entering a location for the first time, it is essential that a thorough search be made of the existing institutions in the ISIS institution list. Searches can be done on possible mnemonics, city, state, owner, and country.
lf a location cannot be found in the ISIS institution list, a mnemonic and institution code should be requested from ISlS. ISIS will respond rapidly to a faxed request that contains the name of the institution, owner, address, phone, e-mail and numbers. New institutions are being added to the list every day so it is possible that ISIS will have already assigned a mnemonic and number.
IF AN INSTITUTION IS NOT PRESENT
IN THE INSTITUTION LIST, A NEW
MNEMONIC AND INSTITUTION CODE
SHOULD BE REQUESTED FROM ISIS
STUDBOOK KEEPERS SHOULD NOT
"MAKE UP" NEW MNEMONICS AND
INSTITUTION CODES
Studbook keepers should not create new mnemonics and/or institution codes as a stop-gap to receiving information from ISIS. There are several reasons for this. First, because ISIS is assigning mnemonics and codes on a daily basis, mnemonics and codes created by studbook keepers may be overwritten during the installation of updated institution lists (e.g., when updating the SPARKS software). Second, because institution codes contain subtle clues to geographical location (e.g., continent, country, state/province, city, institution), it is easy to create a unique institution code that contains misleading information about geographical location. Lastly, while SPARKS and ISIS can
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link synonyms for mnemonics in the institution list, printed reports (e.g., studbooks, masterplan reports) cannot identify synonymy. Thus, when two or more studbook keepers assign different mnemonics to the same location, it is at best confusing, and sometimes impossible, for readers to decide how many institutions are represented,
Location is entered or edited by:
(1) selecting Data Entry from the Main Menu of SPARKS
(2) selecting Edit Anima/ Data from the Data Entry menu
(3) selecting the Event Records window (upper right of Data Entry screen) and pressing enter
(4) selecting an event type (birth, wild-caught, transfer, death, release)
(5) entering the mnemonic for location where the event took place
(6) entering a Iocal indentification number (local ID) at the event location
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