Captive breeding and release programs Flashcards
What is ex situ conservation
Conservation away from where you would normally find that species
What is in situ conservation
Conservation that takes place within a species natural habitat
What is five questions need to be considered for ex situ conservation
1) Is the wild population threatened?
2) Is there a genetically diverse captive population?
3) Is in situ conservation successful?
4) Is keeping a captive population realistic?
5) Is released into the wild going to take place?
Why does habitat size affect keeping species in captivity
Some species require such a large habitats that they cannot be kept in captivity
What sort of species Can’t really be kept in captivity?
Whales 
How can food requirements effect if a species can be kept in captivity
Some species have feeding requirements that cannot be easily provided
What sort of animals have tricky food requirements
Insectivorous bats, fish that eat plankton
How much does species interrelationships affect captivity
Some species have complicated species interrelationships
What is an example of a species interrelationship
Mycorrhizal root fungi relationships with plants
How can financial restraints affect keeping species in captivity
Keeping animals in zoos or plants in botanic Gardens is expensive and there’s not enough money available to keep all endangered species in captivity
What are some examples of the conditions needed for breeding
Day length, light level, temperature, amount of food or the amount of stored body fat
What happens if the conditions for breeding are not met
Breeding will not occur
How can population interactions affect breeding success
In the wild breeding pairs of many birds made choose isolation while nonbreeding individuals live elsewhere
What can happen when breeding and nonbreeding individuals Are mixed
May cause conflict and reduce the survival of eggs and chicks
How can the availability of partners affect breeding
Some species breed most successfully breeding a single partner
while some breed more successfully if there is a choice of partners
How does breeding habitats affect captive breeding programs 
Some species can only breed if they have a suitable habitat
What Things might make a habitat suitable for a species
Suitable site for courtship display, social grouping, an area for hunting or a nestsite
How are flamingos made to breed in captivity
Mirror put up around the enclosure to get the effect of a large group that is required for flamingos to Breed
What Is the gene pool size of most captive breeding programmes
Have a small gene pool
What are the risks of having a small gene pool
Increases the risk of inbreeding
What is the problem with inbreeding
Harmful recessive genes become expressed If both parents are carrying the needed Gene This is most likely to happen with closely related individuals
How was the Hawaiian goose Affected by a small Gene Pool size
Program is started with only seven individuals this led to some Goessling having Thin feathers which meant they died in cold conditions
What can a studbook be used for
Used to keep records of family trees which house to ensure breeding takes place between individuals that are as unrelated as possible
How can hybridisation affect a captive breeding programs
 If too closely related species decide to breed it can often lead to infertile offspring being born this is the case for both animals and plants
Why is it hard to stop Hybridisation in plants
Oh as pollen can be car between plants by insects or the wind
What is cryopreservation
The storage of eggs, semen, and embryos by freezing for future use in breeding programs
What are the positives of cryopreservation 
Can be transported long distances much more easily than moving the parent animals
Means the parents never have to meet to produce offspring
 can be frozen stored for use in the future
What is artificial insemination
Involves a collection of semen from a male and its insertion into a female to produce offspring
What are the positives of artificial insemination
Semen can be stored for years a male father could produce offspring long after he died
Reduced injury from breeding
Easier to transport
What does artificial insemination avoid
Many of the problems that occur in breeding programs that involve natural mating
What sort of problems arise from natural mating
Animals may not live in the same zoo
Mating can be dangerous
Potential partners may not accept each other
What is embryo transfer
One embryo from desire species is put into that have a similar species and is used as a surrogate mother
What are the main steps of embryo transfer
Species given hormones so they ovulate multiple times
 eggs washed out of the uterus and fertilised with male semen
All the eggs are planted in surrogate mothers
Allows multiple Offspring to be produced at once
What is micropropagation
A form of tissue culture where many clusters of cells can be produced from a single plant or tissue sample
How does micropropagation work
Tissue sample is collected each cell cluster can be cultivated to produce an individual plant
What is a problem with micropropagation
All the plants produce a genetically identical
What is cloning
Production of embryos by transferring the nucleus from a standard sale of the endangered species into an empty cell of a closely related species
What happens during cloning
The egg is implanted into a female of a closely related species eventually producing a baby animal of the endangered species
What is the problem with cloning
The clone animal does not live very long
Success rate is low
What sort of species are being trialled for cloning
The northern white rhinoceros which currently can’t breed
What are the key features of a successful release program
Large enough suitable habitat
Reliable food supplies
Low predation risk
Suitable breeding sites
Water
Support of local human population
Official support, for example legal protection
What is hard release
This is when individuals are released with no post release support
What sort of species will be released by hard release
Species were behaviour is controlled by instincts So no survival skills need to be learnt
Name some species that will be hard released
Insects, fish, and Amphibians , reptiles
What is soft release
Post release supports such as gradual released into large areas and the provision of food as They learn to find food for themselves
What animals need soft release
Necessary for mammals and birds
What problems faced by released individuals
Finding and recognising food
Recognising poisonous food
Developing hunting skills
Recognising and avoiding predators
Being accepted into the social groups of the wild populations
What are seed banks
Store of wild plants species are not become globally stink extinct in the wild
What Plant seeds are kept in a seed bank
If they’re threatened the wild
Particular importance to humans
Crop wild relatives 
What is an example of a seed bank
The millennium seed bank at Wakehurst Place in Sussex
How are seeds kept to the millennium seed bank
Dry or refrigerated conditions
What is the target number of seeds for each species in a seed bank
10,000
Why are so many seeds kept of each plant species
To ensure a diverse gene pool
Where is seeds kept In a millennium seed bank
To event major accident seeds are stored underground in a reinforced Vault
