Business details of Preservation and Research Center, City of Yokohama

In March 2003, the city of Yokohama signed an agreement to cooperate with the Republic of Indonesia and conservation in Bali Myna, and in April 2004, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) grassroots technical cooperation project. Since then, every year until FY2014, we have been accepting trainees from the Republic of Indonesia and dispatching experts from Japan to provide technical cooperation on conservation activities, breeding and breeding, and environmental conservation in Indonesia.
To date, 160 Bali Mynas have been sent to the breeding facilities in Bali Balato National Park and the zoo Taman Safari Indonesia in Java, which manages the species's lineage.

The 29th Koga Prize was awarded by the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums in May 2015 for recognition of the achievements of successive breeding in Preservation and Research Center based on Bali Myna's pedigree management and restoration activities with the Republic of Indonesia. Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums, who contributed greatly to the protection and propagation of rare animals, was established in 1986 to commemorate the achievements of Dr. Tadamichi Koga, the first director of Ueno Zoo, and is awarded to zoos and aquariums that have been particularly successful in breeding rare animals.

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Yokohama municipal administration, a pair of Kagu was donated to Yokohama in May 1989 by the Northern Territory Government of New Caledonia. In fiscal 1995, Yokohama City and the Southern Territory Government of New Caledonia concluded an agreement on wildlife exchange between Yokohama City and the Southern Territory Government of New Caledonia to engage in academic exchange and animal exchange on the Kagu endemic species of New Caledonia and the conservation of other rare animals.

If it is difficult to determine a subspecies or species based on the appearance of a breeding animal, DNA analysis may determine the sub-common name of the tested individual.
Since DNA databases such as DDBJ (National Institute of Genetics) have a large number of DNA sequences of mt (mitochondria) DNA of flora and fauna are registered, the base sequence of genes on mtDNA of the laboratory individual is analyzed and the subspecies of the laboratory individual are determined by comparing them with DNA sequences on the database.

Animals bred in groups of multiple males may have obscure father-child relationships. Therefore, we are trying to identify fathers and sons using microsatellite DNA polymorphisms.
Microsatellite DNA is a DNA in which a combination sequence of two bases, such as AG and CT, are arranged several to several dozens of times, and the number of repeats is extremely mutant. Therefore, it is often used for personal identification and parent-child judgment.

Since some birds are difficult to distinguish male and female from their appearance, birds raised at zoos in the city are subject to sexual discrimination using the PCR method.
Sexual discrimination by the PCR method is easy to judge sex and is reliable, and only a small amount of body tissue (such as wings and blood) is used, so it has the advantage of not damaging birds.

With the cooperation of the Animal Breeding Laboratory, Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Gifu University, we measure sex hormones in animal feces. If you know the breeding physiology of breeding animals, you can plan breeding, determine pregnancy early and prepare for childbirth.
Generally, hormones in the blood are measured, but in the case of animals, only the animals that can be collected are limited. Stinging an injection needle is a great stress for animals. It is also dangerous for humans when collecting blood from large animals. Therefore, we measure sexual hormones using animal droppings that can be easily obtained.

Since its opening, Preservation and Research Center has frozen and stored wild animals such as gamete in liquid nitrogen at -196°C. This technology allows cells to be kept semi-permanently alive, making it a means of preserving species of endangered wildlife. Another great advantage is that large animals can be crossed without moving, or that sperm and ovum can be collected and stored from dead animals.