Dr. Ulyesses
Seal is Chairman of the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG), one of
more than 100 specialist groups of the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the
World Conservation Union (IUCN), a position he has held since 1979. A biochemist
by training, Dr. Seal spent the majority of his professional career as a scientist
carrying out research in endocrinology at the Veteran's Administration Center
at the University of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has published more than 260 peer-reviewed
articles in scientific journals and about 70 book chapters and reviews. In 1974,
he founded ISIS, the International Species Information System, that provides a
computerized database for the management of animal collections presently used
by more that 450 cooperating zoological institutions worldwide. In 1983, he initiated
the first coordinated breeding program, the Tiger SSP, in North America, which
soon became the model for coordinated breeding programs now in existence in practically
all zoo-regions of the world. Under his leadership, CBSG has become one of the
largest and most active specialist groups of IUCN. Over the past ten years, CBSG
has developed a number of efficient tools to support and to improve small population
management, such as Conservation Assessment Management Plans (CAMPs), Population
and Habitat Viability Analyses (PHVAs), Global Captive Breeding Recommendations
(GCARs), and Global Animal Survival Plans (GASPs).