Species extinctions, endangerment and captive breeding

Magin, Chris; Johnson, T. H.; Groombridge, Brian; Jenkins, Martin; Smith, H. Grose

doi:10.1007/978-94-011-0721-1_1

Cited by 36 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The evidence above suggests that conservation status itself might predict success in captivity, with common species thriving but at-risk species being inherently prone to poor welfare. Consistent with this, two 20-year-old studies revealed that endangered species are numerically underrepresented in zoos [49] and that among captive canids, endangered and vulnerable species have poorer pup survival than common species [50]. Furthermore, a review from that time also argues that endangered bird species are harder to breed in captivity than their non-endangered close relatives [51].…”

Section: Behavioral Flexibilitymentioning

confidence: 83%

Species differences in responses to captivity: stress, welfare and the comparative method

Mason¹

2010

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

361

278

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Section: Behavioral Flexibilitymentioning

confidence: 83%

Species differences in responses to captivity: stress, welfare and the comparative method

Mason¹

2010

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

361

278

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“…Species with larger home range size are also more vulnerable to extinction [Woodroffe and Ginsberg, 2000], which may mean that many species that are endangered are also more vulnerable to stereotypy development. Nonetheless, because the majority (85%) of animals in zoos are not endangered [Magin et al, 1994], this suggests that managers and researchers are targeting endangered species with enrichment programs to improve wellbeing. Endangered species get more than their fair share of attention in many regards, but the link between enrichment, wellbeing, and reproduction [Carlstead and Shepherdson, 1994] and behavioral competence for reintroduction to the wild [Shepherdson, 1994] must play an important role in these efforts.…”

Section: Species Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Scientific approaches to enrichment and stereotypies in zoo animals: what's been done and where should we go next?

2005

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The zoo scientific community was among the first to focus attention on captivityinduced stereotypic behaviors, their causes, and methods of eradication. Environmental enrichment has emerged recently as the main husbandry tool for tackling this problem. An increasing number of research publications have attempted to evaluate the effectiveness of enrichment in reducing stereotypic behavior and to develop further concepts to explain how effective enrichment works. A review and meta-analysis of this literature indicates that enrichment is a successful technique for reducing stereotypic behavior in zoo animals. Enrichment was associated with significant reduction in stereotypy performance about 53% of the time. Published enrichment and stereotypy research is lacking for most zoo species, with most studies on large, charismatic, and often endangered species, but it is unclear whether stereotypies are more prevalent in these species. In addition, problems with scientific methods and data presentation, quantitatively detailed in this work, severely limit the conclusions drawn from zoo research. Further understanding of what kinds of enrichment works and what doesn't will require greater attention to experimental design, sample size, statistical analysis, and better descriptions of enrichment properties and the form of stereotypy. We recommend that future studies focus on increasing sample size (e.g., through multi-institutional studies), appropriate repeated measures design (e.g., with multiple baseline and experimental phases), providing full statistical information about the behavioral changes observed (including standard error), and ultimately the development of a predictive science for enrichment, stereotypies, and wellbeing.

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“…Many endangered species require captive breeding to save them from extinction, since they are incapable of surviving in hostile natural environments generally resulting from to habitat loss, pollution, or introduced predators, competitors or diseases (Magin et al, 1994;IUCN, 1996). Many more species are destined to require such programmes in the future.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does equalization of family sizes reduce genetic adaptation to captivity?

Frankham

Manning

Margan

et al. 2000

Animal Conservation

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Genetic adaptation to captive environments is likely to reduce the reproductive fitness of endangered species when they are reintroduced into natural environments. Equalization of family sizes is predicted to halve genetic adaptation to captivity as it removes selection among families and is recommended in captive management of threatened species. This prediction was evaluated by comparing the reproductive fitnesses of replicate populations of Drosophila maintained using either equal (EFS) or variable family sizes (VFS) for 25 generations in captivity under uncrowded conditions on a medium containing CuSO 4 . After 25 generations, EFS populations produced 8.8% more offspring per pair than their outbred base population on CuSO 4 medium, while VFS produced 17.5% more. Consequently, the rate of genetic adaptation to captivity in EFS was about half that in VFS, as predicted. In simulated 'wild' conditions (crowded, competitive conditions on medium lacking CuSO 4 ), both treatments showed much lower reproductive fitness than their outbred base population, the reductions being 38% in EFS populations and 43% in VFS populations. Surprisingly, reproductive fitness of the two treatments did not differ significantly under these conditions. These results raise doubts about the ability of equalization of family sizes to reduce genetic deterioration that adversely affects reintroduction success for captive populations of endangered species. †

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Species extinctions, endangerment and captive breeding

Cited by 36 publications

References 10 publications

Species differences in responses to captivity: stress, welfare and the comparative method

Species differences in responses to captivity: stress, welfare and the comparative method

Scientific approaches to enrichment and stereotypies in zoo animals: what's been done and where should we go next?

Does equalization of family sizes reduce genetic adaptation to captivity?

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