Ex-situ Conservatikn Flashcards
What is ex-situ conservation
Protecting an endangered species, variety or breed of plant or animal outside its natural habitat. OR individuals are maintains in artificial conditions under different selection pressures than those in natural conditions
What are the 2 types of ex-situ conservation
Captive breeding
Genome resource bank
Why is breeding carefully managed?
- to control numbers
- to prevent inbreeding
When are captive breeding programs useful?
- when approaches in the wild are not enough or feasible
- a captive aspect could increase effectiveness (money spent vs impact)
Ex situ decision criteria 1? (DC1)
Population size near MVP,
Ex-situ decision criteria 2? (DC2)
Declining populations
Ex situ decision criteria 3? (DV3)
No population within protected area
Ex situ decision criteria 4? (DC4)
Saving ‘extinct in the wild’ species eg. Eastern Sumatra rhino, 3 left in captivity
How do zoos see themselves?
- They keep species that are at risk from extinction alive
- They do and fund research and have extensive Beto art knowledge
- They educate through visitor engagement
What’s the problem/truth with zoos though?
They are selective in what they keep, Jeep large charismatic mammal species which generate most income (but also cost more)
What other drawbacks of zoos are there?
- Limited resource availability: high costs
- problems of husbandry
- domestication: genetic drift to adapt to captivity
- disease: enhanced susceptibility to disease because of reduced genetic diversity
What should zoos do?
Focus on taxa not threatened by irreversible habitat loss (to allow for successful re-introduction) but they don’t (Noah’s ark)
What are the guidelines for captive breeding
- groups that breed rapidly at relatively low cost
- avoid large cetaceans
- criteria should include: body mass, social behaviour, diet, probability of success, species indigenous in region of captive program
What proportion of all species are in botanical gardens
30%
What are recalcitrant species
Seeds that have no dormancy (25% of all, mainly tropical)
What is the EAZA and what does it do
European Association of Zoos and Aquaria
They develop regional collection plans that describe which species to be kept, why and how these should be managed
What is the EEP
European endangered species programme
Most intensive type of management for a kept species
