These are Boxer pupfish and while they might look like any ordinary, little fish they’re not. That’s because they have been considered Near Threatened for years, but recently they were found to be extinct in the wild. Veuer’s Tony Spitz has the details.
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00:00These are boxer pupfish, and while they might look like any ordinary little fish, they're not.
00:04That's because they have been considered near-threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature for years.
00:10However, after a recent survey of Lake Xichan Kanab in Mexico,
00:13researchers have concluded that their species has disappeared completely in their sole natural habitat.
00:19Meaning not only are these the last known boxer pupfish in the world, but the race is now on to save them.
00:24Experts say that the introduction of invasive species has decimated their numbers in the wild,
00:28which is why the UK's Bedfordshire Conservation Zoo has now stepped up with the help of the Whipsnade Zoo,
00:34the largest zoo in the UK, which just so happened to have the last population of the marine creatures left in the world.
00:40They begin the laborious process of transferring some 50 boxer pupfish eggs to the Bristol Zoo Project.
00:45Together, they will raise and maintain two separate groups of genetically viable fish populations, ensuring their enduring survival.
00:52Director of Conservation and Science at Bristol Zoological Society, Brian Zimmerman,
00:56outlines that freshwater fish are one of the most imperiled groups of animals on Earth.
01:00Adding, conservation zoos and aquariums have a key role on the front lines of saving species from that fate,
01:06and our collaboration with ZSL further demonstrates the role that conservation zoos can play to fight extinction.