A preliminary report on the breeding of the Volcano rabbit <i>Romerolagus diazi</i> at the Chapultepec Zoo, Mexico City

Hoth, Jürgen; Granados, Humberto

doi:10.1111/j.1748-1090.1987.tb03169.x

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Despite intensive veterinary care and monitoring, one-half of the known mortalities of juveniles and adults in our facility were caused by disease, especially coccidiosis and enteritis. Similar diseases also were the primary cause of high mortality in captive volcano rabbits (Hoth and Granados 1987), but disease was not a leading cause of death in captive-reared European rabbits (Arenas et al 2006). Adult pygmy rabbits in the captive breeding facility were unusually susceptible to avian tuberculosis (Harrenstein et al 2006), caused by a ubiquitous mycobacterium that typically only affects animals with compromised immune systems.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of genetic management on reproduction, growth, and survival in captive endangered pygmy rabbits (Brachylagus idahoensis)

et al. 2013

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A quarter of all lagomorph species worldwide are threatened with extinction. Captive breeding programs, such as that developed for the Columbia Basin (CB) pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis), sometimes are implemented as emergency conservation measures to restore small, genetically distinct populations. However, small source populations also may have low genetic diversity, which may influence attributes related to fitness, including growth, survival, and reproduction. We used mixed-effects regression models to explore the influence of genetic pedigree (% CB) on pairing success, growth, and survival during the 10-year captive breeding program at Washington State University, which included controlled pairings and outbreeding with pygmy rabbits from Idaho. Pairing success, juvenile growth, and juvenile survival declined with increasing CB pedigree of 1 or both parents, suggesting inbreeding depression among the small number of related founders. Demographic variables such as age, sex, and previous pregnancies, and environmental variables such as month and temperature at birth also were associated with production of pygmy rabbits. Our study illustrates the difficulty of retaining a unique genome of a small source population while simultaneously producing enough rabbits for restoration into natural habitat as part of endangered species recovery programs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%