Captive breeding
Captive breeding is the process of breeding animals in human controlled environments with restricted settings, such as wildlife reserves, zoos and other conservation facilities; sometimes the process is construed to include release of individual organisms to the wild, when there is sufficient natural habitat to support new individuals or when the threat to the species in the wild is lessened.
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[edit] History
Captive breeding has been used with success for some species for some time, with probably the oldest known instances of captive breeding being attributed to menageries of European and Asian rulers, a case in point being the Pere David's Deer. The idea was popularized among modern conservationists independently by Peter Scott and Gerald Durrell in the 1950s and 1960s, founders of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and Jersey Zoo - who demonstrated success with a wide variety of life forms in the 1970s ranging from birds (e.g. Pink Pigeon), mammals (e.g. Pygmy Hog), reptiles (e.g. Round Island Boa) and amphibians (e.g. Poison arrow frogs). Their ideas were independently validated by the success of Operation Oryx (under the auspices of the Fauna and Flora Preservation Society), which captive bred the Arabian Oryx starting in 1963 for eventual reintroduction to the wild. The Przewalski's horse has recently been re-introduced to the wild in Mongolia, its native habitat.
[edit] Captive breeding coordination
The breeding of endangered species is coordinated by cooperative breeding programmes containing international studbooks and coordinators, who evaluate the roles of individual animals and institutions from a global or regional perspective. There are regional programmes for the conservation of endangered species:
- Americas: Species Survival Plan SSP (Association of Zoos and Aquariums AZA, Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums CAZA)
- Europe: European Endangered Species Programme EEP (European Association of Zoos and Aquaria EAZA)
- Australasia: Australasian Species Management Program ASMP (Australasian Regional Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria ARAZPA)
- Africa: African Preservation Program APP (African Association of Zoological Gardens and Aquaria PAAZAB)
- Japan: Conservation activities of Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums JAZA
- South Asia: Conservation activities of South Asian Zoo Association for Regional Cooperation SAZARC
- South East Asia: Conservation activities of South East Asian Zoos Association SEAZA
[edit] Challenges
Such techniques are usually difficult to implement for highly mobile species like some migratory birds (e.g. cranes) and fishes (e.g. Hilsa).
If the captive breeding population is too small, inbreeding may occur due to reduced gene pool, which may lead to the population lacking immunity to diseases and other problems. Over sufficient number of generations, inbred populations can regain "normal" genetic diversity.[1]
Impacts of captive breeding include behavioral problems in released animals and lack of conservation of habitats being destroyed while a species is being bred. Behavioral problems include not being able to hunt or forage for food leading to starvation. Released animals often do not avoid predators and are not able to find ample shelter for themselves and may die as a result. Golden Lion Tamarin mothers often die in the wild before having offspring because they do not have the climbing and foraging skills they need to survive. This results in populations continuing to decline despite reintroduction because the species does not produce viable offspring. Training can improve antipredator skills, but the effectiveness of such interventions is influenced by a number of constraints.[2][3]
Another challenge with captive breeding is the habitat loss that occurs while they are in captivity (though it is occurring even before they are captured). This may make release of the species unviable if there is no habitat left to support larger populations. The Sumatran Rhino will not survive purely in captivity and loss of habitat is a major factor in their extinction. If their habitat disappears, captive populations as well as wild ones will disappear along with it.[4]
[edit] See also
- Breeding in the wild
- Ex-situ conservation
- Species Survival Plan or SSP
- European Endangered Species Programme or EEP
- World Conference on Breeding Endangered Species in Captivity as an Aid to their Survival or WCBESCAS
- Panda pornography
- Zooborns
[edit] Notes
- ^ Mace, Georginam M., "Genetic management of small populations", International Zoo Yearbook, Vol.24-25, No.1, 1986, pp.167-174.
- ^ Beck, Benjamin B., Kleiman, Devra G., Dietz, James M., Castro, Ines, Carvalho, Cibele, Martins, Andreia & Rettberg-Beck, Beate, "Losses and Reproduction in Reintroduced Golden Lion Tamarins Leontopithecus rosalia", Dodo, Journal of the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust, No.27, 1991, pp.50-61.
- ^ Griffin, Andrea S., Daniel T. Blumstein, and Christopher S. Evans. "Training Captive Bred or Translocated animals to avoid predators." Conservation Biology 14.5 (2000): 1317-326.
- ^ Collinge, Sharon. "Captive Breeding" Conservation Biology Class. University of Colorado, Boulder. 19 Oct. 2009. Lecture.
