Taxon Advisory Groups (TAGs)

For all the animal groups that are kept in EAZA member institutions, so-called Taxon Advisory Groups (TAGs) have been established. Each TAG focuses on a specific group of animals, such as penguins, bears, hornbills, cats, antelope, etc.

TAG members are professional zoo and aquarium people who work in EAZA member institutions and have specialist knowledge and a keen interest in the group of species covered by the specific TAG. People who work at universities or for international conservation organisations act as TAG advisors on issues such as nutrition, health and conservation.

TAG Tasks

Regional Collection Plans - a main task of each TAG is to develop a Regional Collection Plan (RCP) to decide which species of animals EAZA member institutions wish to keep in the future, the reason for this, and management of their captive populations.

Conservation Coordination - another increasingly important task of the EAZA TAGs is to stimulate and coordinate in situ conservation projects. More and more zoos and aquariums are actively involved in saving species in the wild, often using the animals in their collections as ambassadors for their wild congeners.

Husbandry Guidelines - TAGs are responsible for the exchange of information on how zoos and aquariums should best take care of the animals. Such information is collected by the TAG and put together in husbandry and management guidelines. These guidelines cover all kinds of topics, from housing and nutrition to behavioural enrichment. If certain areas of a species husbandry are not yet sufficiently known, the TAG will make sure that research on this is initiated.

Complete List of TAGs