Lecture 14 Flashcards
Define ex situ species conservation
Is the process of protecting an endangered species, variety or breed, of plant or animal outside of its natural habitat. Might take place inside or outside ta indigenous range either way it is implemented in an environment that is modified and controlled for that species
OR:
individuals are maintained in artificial conditions under different selection pressures than those in natural conditions
Give two examples of ex situ conservation
. Kew’s Millenium Seed Bank- holds seeds in a dormant, not breeding (no reproduction), stores seed at a sub-zero temperature and this is a reserve should anything happen in the wild
. Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in Malaysian Sabah- aim to creat a more nature environment so they develop natural behaviours. Was set up in 1964 for orphan orangutans
Explain how captive breeding programs work and what you need to know for them to work
Breeding is carefully managed to control numbers and to prevent inbreeding and is often carried out in zoos and wildlife reserves. Ensure as much genetic variation as possible is maintained within the captive population. Ex situ conservation aims to go in hand with in situ conservation. Need a lot of information for this pairing to work so, need to know the suitability of the likely source for captive breeding and for translocation and reintroduction, need to know the related individuals, family relationships so you can maintain genetic diversity
Give examples of captive breeding programs
. ZSL Amur Leopard European Breeding Program
. ZSL support for Gazelle Conservation Breeding in Saudi Arabia
Captive breeding programmes are useful but very expensive so deciding when to implement it need to be taken into care. Give examples of when it is useful to implement an active breeding program
When:
. When in situ approaches in the wild are not enough, or feasible
. A captive aspect could increase effectiveness (money spent vs impact)
. Increase effectiveness of the survival of the species
. If not I’m protected areas may have legal issues
Why might in situ approaches are not always enough, or feasible? Give an example
Might be because we don’t understand the drivers of the species decline in the wild and we don’t have time to understand them because the species is likely to go extinct or might be that we know the threats as to why the species is declining, but we are failing/ don’t have the strategies in place to deal with them
E.g. climate change and fungal problems in amphibians- lots of frogs are at risk- there is no point trying to reintroduce them into an area where we haven’t decreased the threats
Give examples of species that are extinct in the wild but are currently being kept in captivity
. Père David’s deer in China (hunted to extinction in 1930s. Breeds successfully in captivity)
. Przewalski’s horse in Mongolia
. Arabian Oryx
. The Eastern Sumatra Rhinoceros (subspecies of the Sumatran Rhino): common in 1990s, now only 2 individuals lift in captivity
. The Guam kingfisher (extirpated in 1986 after introduction of brown tree snakes + loss of forest habitats from the Pacific Islands of Guam
What are the decision criteria for captive breeding programs?
. In situ population is near minimum viable population
. In situ population decline continuing despite action
. In situ population is only living outside PAs because if they are outside the PAs you don’t necessarily have the legal framework to protect it and it may be that it is in areas where direct conservation strategies are not possible because the landscape is under such intense pressure from humans
. Saving extinct in the wild
What would you ideally think to determine what population you need to achieve an MVP?
Ideally would carry out a population viability analysis but this is very data heavy and if you are talking about rare and endangered species then you’ve not necessarily got that detailed data to actually vary out a proper PVA for that species
How do you determine what population you would need to achieve a MVP?
Either use a PVA (if you have the data) or use a rule of thumb
What is the median MVP? What is wrong with this median?
1377 individuals
. But the distribution was positively skewed (so possibly an underestimate)
. MVP estimates primarily related to environmental variation
(. PVA simulations using long-term data for 1198 species: If N (t + 100 years)= 0 in 10 of 100 of simulated projections: population has 90% change of persisting for 100 years and they determined what population you would need to achieve that)
What are the roles of zoos?
(Depends who you ask). Range of species that are critically endangered can be bred and these potential rescues populations and then could possibly be reintroduced into the wild when we have achieved better conservation in the wild
How do zoos see themselves?
- They keep Species that are at risk from extinction alive (e.g. all critically endangered: western gorilla, Sumatran tiger, European mink)
- They do and fund research and have extensive veterinary knowledge:
- anatomy, physiology, diet
- captive breeding e.g. to restock wild populations
- reproductive management - They secure through visitor engagement- give people the change to see animals they would never be able to see and provide them with a lot of conservations information trying to infuse them about the natural environment/ conservation
Zoos are selective on what they keep. What do they keep, why? What is the issue with this?
. Difficult decisions about what species to concentrate on: tends to be large, charismatic mammal species (megafauna), which generates most income- what most people want to see
. Argue that we should be selecting species that would benefit most from captive breeding (most likely to be successful- reproduce well in captivity)
. Argue against captive breeding where it is unnecessary is that it can give us a false sense of security under ex situ management and can draw attention away from the threat to wild populations and reducing the threat to species in situ which if we don’t tackle the threat can never be reintroduced. Argue that it detracts funding which could potentially be used in situ
Zoos are selective on what they keep. What do they keep, why? What is the issue with this?
. Difficult decisions about what species to concentrate on: tends to be large, charismatic mammal species (megafauna), which generates most income- most people want to see