“The future of large carnivores: will they still have space on Earth?” is the theme of the ninth appointment of the HAPPY HOURS cycle – eleven appointments dedicated to the perspectives of Biodiversity 'Together on the Ark' – promoted by Rome Capital, Department of Culture, Creativity and Artistic Promotion – Capitoline Superintendency for Cultural Heritage, with the museum services of Zètema Culture Project.
The meeting will take place on Thursday 8 May, at 18.00, in the Sala degli Skeletri of the Civic Museum of Zoology, which is part of the Museums system in the Municipality of Rome Capital, and will be held by Gloria Svampa, curator in charge of the Mammal Collection at the museum and creator of the Happy Hours exhibition.
During the conference, Svampa will explain how the survival of large carnivorous mammals in our age, marked by the intrusiveness and arrogance of mankind, will depend on the ability to adapt in environments so different from those in which they were born and evolved in millions of years.
The degradation, fragmentation and destruction of habitats – the primary cause of all recent extinctions – are, in fact, putting fauna in every part of the planet at risk. Over time and through natural selection, some species can develop adaptations that will allow them to coexist with man: one can imagine that the most favored, in this struggle for survival, will be microorganisms and other small, adaptable and rapid life forms. in developmental responses. Different conditions and perspectives for large Carnivorous Mammals. These animals are characterized by a low reproductive rate; they are very sensitive to disturbing actions and to the transformation of natural environments; they need large spaces to live and their predatory nature often puts them in direct conflict with human populations – between the 19th and 20th centuries there was in fact an impressive decline in Carnivore populations and a dramatic contraction of their areals.
Will they be able to adapt so quickly as to avoid extinction?
Today man, the main cause of this negative trend, has finally acquired awareness of the key role that these mammals play in maintaining the structure and function of ecosystems.
Recent scientific investigations confirm how large Carnivores are essential for maintaining the balance of nature as a whole: through the control of herbivores, they give plants the possibility to grow and, therefore, to temper the effects of global warming. Furthermore, they contribute to the spread of parasites and diseases of domestic livestock and to the elimination of organic waste.
Without them, the planet would really be poorer, perhaps unlivable! Fortunately, some of these wonderful creatures, the result of such refined adaptations, are revealing unsuspected ability to change their habits and characteristics, adapting to the environment transformed by Man. Thanks to the change in their diet, use of space and rhythm of activity there is hope that in the future they will be able to continue to live next to us.
A concrete possibility, which it is up to us to guarantee, for the survival and well-being of all.
FLAVOR GLORY
Zoologist, she is the curator in charge of the Mammal Collection of the Civic Museum of Zoology in Rome. Graduated in Natural Sciences at the University of Rome "La Sapienza", she started working at a very young age at the Zoological Garden and Civic Zoology Museum of the Capital, first as an educator and then as curator of the Carnivorous Mammals and Primates sector of the Zoological Garden. At the end of the 80s, having assumed the task of general curator of the collections, she followed the creation of the first European Programs for the Conservation of Endangered Species (European Breeding Programs), coordinated by the then newborn European Association of Zoos and Aquariums, under whose he represented the Italian zoological institutions for many years. She has been a member of the commissions of experts of various European programmes, such as the one for the ex situ conservation of the wild dog, the orang utan and the pygmy hippopotamus.
For many years she presided over the Italian Union of Zoos and Aquariums, of which she is now an honorary member, and from 1984 to 1996 she was a member of the CITES Scientific Authority, both as an expert on Zoological Gardens and as a representative of the National Association of Scientific Museums.
Since 1998, having transferred his activity to the Civic Museum of Zoology in Rome, alongside his curatorial activity, he has maintained a constant commitment to conservation, both through dissemination activities and by creating the conditions for a constant relationship of collaboration between the Museum and the authorities responsible for safeguarding nature, in particular the CITES Authorities.
She is a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) Group of Specialists on Ex situ Reproduction and Conservation of Threatened Species (CBSG), of which she was called to be a member of the Strategic Commission.
Interested in aspects related to biological ethics and conservation, she has taken an active part in various working groups in the sector and coordinated the Working Group on Ethics and Animal Welfare of the World Organization of Zoos and Aquariums. She is the author of scientific publications on the behavior of different animal species. You have participated in the drafting of the European Directive on Zoological Gardens and of the “Global Strategy for Conservation of Zoos” (1993) and have produced numerous popular articles on the conservation of endangered species.
