Research institutes and zoos have to work together to deploy modern biology tools to study diseases in wildlife and preserve their genetic material, M. Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President, said.
He spoke during a visit to the Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) at CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad.
'They should also be a partner in research to understand reproductive anatomy and physiology in wildlife, " he added.
Referring to zoonotic diseases like Covid19, the Vice President advised the researchers and zoos to optimally utilise their resources and expertise to predict emerging infectious diseases from animals to humans.
Karthikeyan Vasudevan, Scientist-in-charge at LaCONES-CCMB, said the Central Zoo Authority brought zoos together with a research institute like LaCONES.
Recently Central Zoo Authority has formed a consortium of six zoos from different parts of India and LaCONES-CCMB.
"We want this consortium to set an example of how zoos and a wildlife research institute like LaCONES can work cohesively towards shared goals," he added.
The National Wildlife Genetic Resource Bank at LaCONES and the samples can then be used for artificial insemination, creating sperms and oocytes through modern biotechnological tools, and help revive the endangered animals, he added.
According to a release, Vinay Nandicoori, Director, CSIR-CCMB, said active collaboration between molecular biologists, ecologists, and zoos was need of the hour.