Lecture 6b: Captive Breeding Programs and Species Recovery Flashcards
Extinction Crisis
There is a major extinction crisis
+150,300 species on the Red List
What role do zoos have in saving species?
- animal husbandry and welfare expertise
- research and conservation science
- education and advocacy
- species recovery and stewardship
Species Recovery - partnership
University researcher
Zoo Professional
Government, NGOs Biologists
- takes a city to recover a species
- require efforts at both the academic and applied field
Partnership - resource sharing
- animals
- technical expertise
- facilities/experiment
- project funds
Endangered Species Breeding Program
- Vancouver Island Marmot: one of the most endangered mammals in North America with about 200 remaining
- Black-footed ferret was once thought to be extinct, captive breeding has ensured its survival
How do we achieve recovery?
- collaborating with Recovery Programs/SSP’s, multiple institutions, and organizations involved
- maintain as much genetic diversity as possible
- produce surplus offspring for reintroduction
Why Captive Breeding?
- becomes the only viable option
- habitat loss, climate change, lack of food source issues
Black-footed ferrets extinct?
- thought to be extinct
- put up posters to search if any remain
reason for the decline in black-footed ferrets
- poisoning of prarie dogs
- loss of their primary food source and grassland habitats
- farmers were paid to kill them because they would create these burrows
Black-footed ferret History
- population crash due to destruction of prarie dog habitat and disease
- 1981 - rediscovered thanks to a Farmer’s dog finding a dead one
- went to go look for them and found them
- last remaining 18 animals brought into captivity in 1987
- 7 of them actually reproduced
- the whole population’s genetics is based on those 7 individuals
- 6 institutions are participating in the managing the captive population (the only Canadian one)
- Development of successful breeding and release protocol
- protection of habitat, plague, distemper vaccines developed
Black-footed ferret recovery - organization team
- zoological organizations
- government agencies
- private agencies
- state wildlife agencies
- numerous private stakeholders
takes a lot of organizations to recovery this species
Studbook data
- each individual animal is put into the studbook
- given a studbook number
- keeps record of their genetics
- used to manage genetics and optimize the genetics of this population
Breeding Matrix
- matrix to decide which is the best match
- 1 is the best
- dashes would never pair as it can have detrimental impact on the genetics of the captive population
- season and induced breeders : need the best match or lost that female for that whole year
Breeding Techniques
- hands on breeding protocol developed
- Estrus cycle manipulated through diet and photoperiod
- animals restrained regularly to determine fertility
- females in estrus paired and behaviour videotaped
Cytology
- checked regularly during the breeding session to determine reproductive readiness
- the study of cells using a microscope
What indicates estrus from cytology
Vuval size and cornification of epithelial cells flushed from the vulval wall
Electroejaculation
- procedure used to obtain semen samples from sexually mature male mammals
- characterize semen traits
- sperm cryopreservation
- fertility potential in males
Sperm Morphology
- related to sperm function
- compromised by inbreeding
- bad structure: bent tail, coiled tail, and bent midpiece
- bad ones are taken out of the breeding program for that reason
Assisted Reproduction
- artificial insemination used to improve founder representation and enhance reproductive efficiency in non-breeders
- when you bring old frozen sperms, you are boosting the genetic pool
- improve founder representation
- non-breeders
- boost genetic pool
Shipping Restrictions
- USFWS Endangered Species Act
- CITIES Permits and Enhancement
Paperwork to send the ferrets to the states since we are Canadian institution
Preconditioning Bootcamp
- once they reach 3 months of age in our facility to go to USFWS Carr, Colorado
- prepare them for release
- they have these huge habitats where they would release them - have to be able to survive these natural burrows
Why do we monitor BFF?
- Determine success of reintroduction
- make reintroduction more successful
- learn about wild populations
How are they monitored?
- spotlighting
- live-trapping
Spotlighting
- primary method
- they are nocturnal -> only come out of burrows until night time
- given PIT tags - to ID them
- when spotlighting at night, give off green light eyes
- once you find them, go to the burrows, place the chip reader
- they would pop their head up (they are curious) and then we can monitor them