Conservation breeding and reintroduction programme
Conservation breeding and reintroduction is recognised as an important and effective tool in wildlife conservation. ZSL has considerable experience in this complex process having managed a number of such projects in the UK and overseas.
There are many terms used in conservation that relate to conservation breeding and reintroduction.
To help our understanding of this work here are some definitions which may be useful. These are from the IUCN Species Survival Commission Reintroduction Specialist Group guidelines and are applicable to ZSL’s work in this field.
Definitions
a) "Re-introduction": an attempt to establish a species in an area which was once part of its historical range, but from which it has been extirpated or become extinct. ("Re-establishment" is a synonym, but implies that the re-introduction has been successful).
b) "Translocation": deliberate and mediated movement of wild individuals to an existing population of conspecifics.
c) "Re-enforcement/Supplementation": addition of individuals to an existing population of conspecifics.
d) "Conservation/Benign Introductions": an attempt to establish a species, for the purpose of conservation, outside its recorded distribution but within an appropriate habitat and eco-geographical area. This is a feasible conservation tool only when there is no remaining area left within a species' historic range.
Aims and Objective of re-introduction
a) Aims: The principal aim of any re-introduction should be to establish a viable, free-ranging population in the wild, of a species, subspecies or race, which has become globally or locally extinct, or extirpated, in the wild. It should be re-introduced within the species' former natural habitat and range and should require minimal long-term management.
b) Objectives: The objectives of a re-introduction may include: to enhance the long-term survival of a species; to re-establish a keystone species (in the ecological or cultural sense) in an ecosystem; to maintain and/or restore natural biodiversity; to provide long-term economic benefits to the local and/or national economy; to promote conservation awareness, or a combination of these.
Multidisciplinary approach
A re-introduction requires a multidisciplinary approach involving a team of persons drawn from a variety of backgrounds. As well as government personnel, they may include persons from governmental natural resource management agencies, non-governmental organizations, funding bodies, universities, veterinary institutions, zoos (and private animal breeders) and/or botanic gardens, with a full range of suitable expertise.
Team leaders should be responsible for coordination between the various bodies and provision should be made for publicity and public education about the project.
ZSL Projects
Currently ZSL staff are working on a number of conservation breeding and reintroduction projects involving a variety of species and skills both in the UK and overseas.
These include species such as the field cricket, red-barbed ant, pool frog, sand lizard, corncrake and red kite, amongst others, in the UK and the mountain chicken in Dominica, the New Zealand Hihi, sand and mountain gazelles of the Middle East, and the Amur leopard of the Russian Far East.
Some of the projects include conservation breeding in our zoos at Regent’s Park and Whipsnade but others involve undertaking health checks on animals, field research, or the actual release of animals into the wild.
This range of activities requires the skills of zoo keepers, vets, field ecologists, epidemiologists, etc with most projects having several partners to ensure they are successful.