tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/wildlife-reintroduction-12843/articlesWildlife reintroduction – The Conversation2023-09-22T14:58:11Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2139322023-09-22T14:58:11Z2023-09-22T14:58:11ZFarmed rhinos will soon ‘rewild’ the African savanna<p>With all the terrible news on climate change, it’s easy to lose track of what’s happening with particular species. So, in case you missed it, <a href="https://rhinos.org/about-rhinos/state-of-the-rhino/">a new report</a> has bad news for Earth’s five surviving species of rhino. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.savetherhino.org/rhino-info/threats/poaching-rhino-horn/">Poaching for rhino horn</a> continues to threaten populations of rhino in Africa, and the two smallest and most endangered species of rhino – the Sumatran rhino and the Javan rhino – tread ever closer to being unable to <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/amid-government-inaction-indonesias-rhinos-head-toward-extinction-analysis/">sustain themselves in the wild</a>, due to habitat loss and low population sizes.</p>
<p>While we should never become desensitised to wildlife crime, environmental destruction and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08qym98">species extinctions</a>, there is also some remarkable news. Conservation charity <a href="https://www.africanparks.org/">African Parks</a> recently bought the largest private collection of rhino in the world: the <a href="https://platinumrhino.co.za/">Platinum Rhino</a> farm at Klerksdorp, near Johannesburg in South Africa, previously owned by South African businessman John Hume.</p>
<p>African Parks plans to release the total Platinum Rhino ranch population, currently 2,000 rhino (amounting to roughly 15% of the global white rhino population), into the wild across Africa <a href="https://www.africanparks.org/campaign/rewilding-2000-rhino">over the next ten years</a>. That is good news. As an ecologist, I don’t see the point in conserving a wild species to keep in captivity. Wildlife belongs in the wild.</p>
<p>Hume’s plan to buy up and breed farmed rhino might have allowed him to sell horns for a profit once legal international trade was permitted. But that <a href="https://rhinos.org/blog/cites-and-the-rhino-horn-trade/">didn’t happen</a>.</p>
<p>The international ban on trading rhino horn, enacted by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), has held firm, despite <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDmTaKxAv6Y">lobbying by Hume</a> and others. These critics were joined by some conservationists who believe that the best or only way to save rhino is by legalising the trade in their horns. The logic here is that legalisation would flood the market with legal rhino horn, devaluing illegal horns and slashing the profits of poachers and wildlife traffickers. With that, the incentive to kill rhino would shrink.</p>
<p>Hume continued to expand his private rhino farm and used his increasing rhino population as leverage in his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0iTH9N12o0">calls for legalisation</a>. But with the ban on international trade <a href="https://cites.org/eng/prog/terrestrial_fauna/Rhinoceroces">intact</a>, Hume seems to have ran out of patience. The Platinum Rhino collection was put up for online auction in April 2023 at a starting price of <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-09-12-conserving-and-rewilding-john-humes-rhinos-may-cost-r1bn-or-more/">US$10 million</a> (£8.1 million). It <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-05-08-john-humes-platinum-rhino-project-has-no-viable-business-model-that-bodes-ill-for-big-critter-conservation">failed to attract bids</a>. </p>
<p>That may reflect the problem that rhino face: if people can’t make money out of rhino, nobody is going to want to pay to look after them. But it also highlights a problem driven by farming wildlife for profit, otherwise known as game ranching: if the profits fall, what happens to the animals?</p>
<h2>Into the wild</h2>
<p>After its failure to sell at auction, the largest private collection of rhino in the world was bought by <a href="https://www.africanparks.org/campaign/rewilding-2000-rhino">African Parks</a>. But the charity’s plan to rewild these rhino will not be easy.</p>
<p>A number of years ago I was involved in what was, at the time, the largest private <a href="https://www.jasongilchrist.co.uk/photo_galleries_538019.html">translocation of rhino</a>. The team I worked with moved tens of rhino; the African Parks mission is a lot bigger.</p>
<p>African Parks manages an area of 20 million hectares spread across 22 national parks and protected areas over 12 countries. They will contain suitable savanna grassland for releasing the rhino and the charity has already reintroduced rhino to parks in Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Malawi.</p>
<p>Conservation scientists recently said there is “a clear need to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1617138123000535?via%3Dihub">scale up rewilding initiatives</a>”. It doesn’t get much bigger than reintroducing thousands of rhino across Africa. Rhino can play a <a href="https://africageographic.com/stories/why-are-rhinos-important-for-ecosystems/">key role</a> in restoring the ecosystems into which they are placed, greatly influencing a network of species around them and healing ecological wounds incurred via people. </p>
<p>This is the nature of <a href="https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-brief/benefits-and-risks-rewilding">rewilding</a>: restoring the linkages that make up ecosystems. Restored megafauna (large herbivorous mammals, in this case) can also help address climate change by enhancing how much habitats <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-023-01631-6">naturally store carbon</a>, through dispersing seeds and enriching the soil.</p>
<p>Restoring megafauna is tricky, and in a recent scientific paper conservationists argued for changes in policy to support it. They suggest “a transition from farming to wildlife ranching, combined with ambitious <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1617138123000535?via%3Dihub">breeding programs for keystone megafauna</a>”. The Platinum Rhino population may well turn out to be a flagship in showing that such an approach is achievable.</p>
<p>Where will the rhino go? Will they be released into areas where rhino are locally extinct, or supplement existing populations? Can they be used to fulfil the role vacated by the functionally extinct <a href="https://rhinos.org/tough-issues/northern-white-rhino/">northern white rhino (subspecies)</a>?</p>
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<p>Time will tell. In the meantime, the farmed rhino need to be prepared to cope with the stress of translocation and release, and for a wild life. They need to be toughened, to find and process food from the natural environments in which they will be placed. They will need to tolerate the challenges of their new environments, such as disease, parasites and predators. </p>
<p>The most dangerous predator of rhino remains <a href="https://www.savetherhino.org/rhino-info/poaching-stats/">the human species</a>. The conundrum of how to stop or even simply reduce the loss of free-living rhino to poachers remains. The soon-to-be-released rhino will have to deal with this – with traditional anti-poaching conservation support. Alongside that, <a href="https://natureneedsmore.org/the-facts-about-rhino-horn-demand-reduction-campaigns/">demand reduction</a> efforts must continue in order to bring down the desire for rhino horn.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Gilchrist does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What would you do with 2,000 farmed rhinos? An African charity wants them to help their wild cousins.Jason Gilchrist, Lecturer in the School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2062802023-06-25T13:35:02Z2023-06-25T13:35:02ZZoos and universities must work together to safeguard wildlife and improve conservation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532140/original/file-20230615-29-koig6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=27%2C19%2C2363%2C1545&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A conservation researcher counts ringtailed lemurs for a zoo's annual stock take. Zoos have the capacity to do more for conservation science and practice.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Jon Super).</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The word “zoo” is complicated and can have different meanings to different people. For some, a zoo is an organization committed to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/18/zoos-play-a-vital-role-in-animal-conservation-across-the-world">animal well-being and wildlife conservation</a> that offers its visitors a fun and educational experience. To others, it is a place where people pay to see <a href="https://worldanimalfoundation.org/advocate/how-to-help-animals/params/post/1280916/whats-wrong-with-zoos">exotic animals in poor conditions</a>. </p>
<p>Zoos — a shortening of zoological gardens — can refer to both zoos and aquariums. Zoos accredited by bodies such as <a href="https://www.aza.org/">the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)</a> and <a href="https://www.eaza.net/">the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria</a> make <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-27806-2">important contributions</a> to conservation and the recovery of endangered species.</p>
<p>With more than 700 million visitors receiving conservation education globally and more than US$350 million spent on wildlife conservation, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/zoo.20369">zoos are the third largest contributors to conservation initiatives after The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund</a>. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, many zoos have the capacity to do more for conservation science and practice. We see this potential in the groundbreaking work of zoos with global reach including <a href="https://www.chesterzoo.org/what-we-do/">Chester Zoo</a>, <a href="https://www.zoo.org.au/fighting-extinction/">Zoos Victoria</a> and the <a href="https://sandiegozoowildlifealliance.org/">San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance</a>. </p>
<h2>The modern zoo</h2>
<p>Zoos continue to renegotiate their social contract with the public as societal values change. Today, the modern zoo must focus not only on the well-being of its animals, but also emphasize its impact on conservation. </p>
<p>In Canada, the Calgary Zoo has established the <a href="https://wilderinstitute.org/">Wilder Institute</a> with a vision to become “Canada’s leader in wildlife conservation.” The <a href="https://www.torontozoo.com/">Toronto Zoo</a> has a mission of “Connecting people, animals and conservation science to fight extinction.” </p>
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<p>These, and other <a href="https://espacepourlavie.ca/projets-de-conservation-du-biodome">examples, highlight the continued shift toward investing in conservation science</a> by zoos in Canada, with an increased focus on collaborative research.</p>
<h2>How do zoos produce research in conservation science?</h2>
<p>While many zoos have dedicated staff for conservation projects, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/zoo.20215">collaboration with universities</a> can help zoos increase their contribution to conservation science. </p>
<p>Historically, in Canada and other countries, most published research from zoos is related to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2019-0052">veterinary sciences</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2017-0083">not conservation</a>. Academic institutions can provide scientific and technical expertise in conservation science, as well as access to envelopes of funding that are not available to zoos alone. </p>
<p>University researchers have rigorous science communication requirements that include not only publication in <a href="https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/BES-Peer-Review-Guide-2017_web.pdf">peer-reviewed journals</a>, but conference presentations, lectures and more. When zoos collaborate with universities, they have greater access to funding for conservation research and produce accessible research for conservation practitioners, researchers and the public alike. </p>
<p>At universities, graduate students as well as post-doctoral researchers perform the majority of research, supervised by a professor in a mentor-mentee relationship. Collaborating with graduate students and their mentors can help zoos address any ongoing conservation challenges. </p>
<h2>ReNewZoo as a model</h2>
<p>In 2016, our team of ten academics and zoo practitioners received funding from the <a href="https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/index_eng.asp">Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)</a> to launch <a href="https://www.renewzoo.ca/">ReNewZoo</a>, a training program for graduate students in zoo conservation science. </p>
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<p>We involved six universities and five zoos from across Canada, providing training and internships for Master’s and PhD students as well as post-doctoral researchers. The goal of the program was to integrate graduate students and their research into Canadian and international zoos, bridging the gap with universities. </p>
<p>As part of this program, graduate students conducted their thesis projects in collaboration with zoos and had zoo staff on their advisory committees. </p>
<p>We integrated our annual symposium with the annual meeting of <a href="https://caza.ca/">Canada’s Accredited Zoos and Aquariums</a> where students presented their work to potential future employers and listened to experts speak about issues in zoo conservation science and the business of zoos. Our students then interned with zoos for a first-hand look at the daily operations of a zoo. </p>
<p>Finally, we had an online course where academics and practitioners met with our students to discuss the important issues facing zoo conservation. The students learned about the science of zoo conservation, as well as the history and ethics of zoos and their role in conservation.</p>
<h2>A success story</h2>
<p>But did it work? ReNewZoo supported 26 early career researchers working with zoos including the Toronto Zoo, Calgary Zoo, Vancouver Aquarium, the Insectarium de Montréal and the Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg. </p>
<p>And these student researchers have already made many discoveries that can inform conservation practice. </p>
<p>In one such project involving the breeding and reintroduction of the endangered redside dace — a small, colourful stream fish — within Ontario’s Great Lakes region, Andy Turko, a ReNewZoo postdoctoral fellow, found that the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2020-0377">thermal (temperature) tolerance of the fish’s source populations</a> is critical to the success of the reintroduction process.</p>
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<p>Another ReNewZoo student, Damien Mullin, in collaboration with the Toronto Zoo, proved that headstarting — a breeding-centric conservation strategy where hatchlings are kept in captivity for a period of time before reintroduction — <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.22390">improves survival in the endangered wood turtle</a>. </p>
<p>He, however, also found that keeping juvenile wood turtles in captivity for longer than a year did not improve survival much more. Zoos can now use this information to optimize their conservation strategies. </p>
<p>While Turko and Mullin made discoveries that can boost the success rate of reintroduced endangered species, ReNewZoo student Léa Fieschi-Méric found a way to successfully move endangered amphibians.</p>
<p>The skin of amphibians houses a community of bacteria that helps resist pathogens. Moving these species to support their recovery in the wild through the process of <a href="https://thewilderinstitute.org/conservation/conservation-translocations/#:%7E:text=">conservation translocation </a> can disrupt these communities of bacteria.</p>
<p>By successfully moving yellow-spotted salamander larvae from one lake to another in an experiment, Fieschi-Méric found that translocation <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.16914">does not disrupt the community of bacteria living on the skin</a>.</p>
<p>The resulting peer-reviewed publications from these and other students are now available for academics and, most importantly, conservation practitioners to use and learn from. </p>
<h2>Bringing zoos and universities together</h2>
<p>Bringing zoos and universities together takes time, energy and money. But the benefits for conservation are far-reaching. We suggest a three-pronged approach to bridge these two types of institutions.</p>
<p>The foundation of any relationship is trust. Fostering connections between the people working at zoos and universities by conducting joint events, with invited speakers from each institution is a good way to start building the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/icb/article-abstract/62/5/1174/6623667?login=true">level of trust that will lead to productive collaborations</a>. </p>
<p>Graduate students are the bridge between zoos and universities. Funding graduate students and their stipends to work with zoos serves two purposes. First, the graduate students perform the actual research. Second, they serve as a source for new staff at the zoo, particularly related to roles in conservation. </p>
<p>Finally, formalizing the connections between zoos and universities with collaborative agreements, joint research appointments and even shared facilities will promote the sustainability of these relationships. </p>
<p>Collectively, these measures will enhance the conservation impact of zoos and universities and improve the chances that endangered species will survive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206280/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Albrecht Schulte-Hostedde receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Lesbarrères receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). He works as a research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gabriela Mastromonaco receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Trevor Pitcher receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).</span></em></p>Zoos have the potential to do more for growing conservation science and practice.Albrecht Schulte-Hostedde, Professor, Applied Evolutionary Ecology, Laurentian UniversityDavid Lesbarrères, Adjunct Professor, Department of Biology, Laurentian UniversityGabriela Mastromonaco, Adjunct Professor, Biomedical Sciences, University of GuelphTrevor Pitcher, Professor, Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of WindsorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1998792023-02-20T02:25:42Z2023-02-20T02:25:42ZFrom the dingo to the Tasmanian devil - why we should be rewilding carnivores<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510763/original/file-20230217-2564-3bvtm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=31%2C15%2C5083%2C3150&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pack-dingoes-on-fraser-island-1403646581">Dominic Jeanmaire/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>No matter where you live, <a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-what-is-the-apex-predator-of-the-world-187616">apex predators</a> and large carnivores inspire awe as well as instil fear.</p>
<p>Large predators have been heavily persecuted and removed from areas where they once lived because of <a href="https://theconversation.com/killing-sharks-wolves-and-other-top-predators-wont-solve-conflicts-96626">conflict</a> with livestock graziers.</p>
<p>Beyond their large teeth, sharp claws and iconic status, <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1205106">research</a> is finding they are crucially important in ecosystems. So there is considerable interest in <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.172235">returning large carnivores</a> to areas where they once lived, as part of a shift towards <a href="https://theconversation.com/rewilding-four-tips-to-let-nature-thrive-157441">rewilding</a>. </p>
<p>Bringing back carnivores is <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/rewilding/2D3CFD33718F14F641AEF83FA1DB21AE">not without risk</a>, but it’s a potentially powerful conservation tool. </p>
<p>Rewilding dingoes and Tasmanian devils in Australia could benefit many of our troubled ecosystems, by keeping herbivore numbers down, keeping feral cats and foxes fearful, and triggering a rebound in vegetation and small animal populations.</p>
<h2>Predators vs prey</h2>
<p>Predators can affect their prey’s behaviour. When prey species know a predator is around and perceive risk to their survival, they change how they behave.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169534719300199?via%3Dihub">landscape of fear</a> predators create can make it harder for prey species to survive. </p>
<p>That’s often good for ecosystems. The effect of dingoes in reducing, say, kangaroo and wallaby populations and changing their behaviour, can actually help bring back plants and smaller animals through a “<a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/trophic-cascades-across-diverse-plant-ecosystems-80060347/">trophic cascade</a>”. For example, wolves chasing, eating and scaring deer can lead to an increase in the growth of plants, which can benefit other species.</p>
<p>Predators also affect <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01347.x">other predators</a>. If humans poison, shoot, trap and exclude top predators like dingoes, smaller predators can increase in number and get bolder, in a phenomenon called <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/23028">mesopredator release</a>. In California, when coyotes disappeared due to habitat destruction, populations of smaller predators such as cats grew and songbird numbers fell.</p>
<h2>How is it done?</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/we-can-rewild-swathes-of-australia-by-focusing-on-what-makes-it-unique-111749">Rewilding</a> can occur passively, by changing laws to stop the exclusion or killing of large carnivores and making areas more favourable for carnivores to live. When this happens, species often move back by themselves. Encouragingly, this is happening in <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1257553">many parts of the world</a>, including a recent sighting of a wolf in Brandenburg, Germany.</p>
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<p>In other cases, rewilding may need a more active approach, such as physically moving animals to an area. The return of wolves to Yellowstone National Park and the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q">ecological transformation</a> that followed is a famous example of this, although in recent times the details of this story have been <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ele.13915">questioned</a>.</p>
<p>When does rewilding work best? <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320723000095?via%3Dihub">Recent research</a> shows wild-born animals fare better than captive-born animals, though the results are far from conclusive. Wild-born animals may have an edge due to their skills in hunting and defending territories <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320707004417?via%3Dihub">critically important</a> for survival.</p>
<h2>Rewilding in Australia means bringing back dingoes</h2>
<p>Once carnivores are killed or fenced off from an area, the ecosystem changes. Will we restore nature by bringing them back? Potentially – but it’s not guaranteed.
Australia’s controversial canine, <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/nature/amoty/dingo-charismatic-controversial-canid/">the dingo</a>, is a perfect example. Aside from humans, dingoes are Australia’s only living land predator over 15 kilograms. </p>
<p>Dingoes have a vital role in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-185X.2011.00203.x">Australian ecosystems</a>, such as keeping populations of <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/wr/WR99030">kangaroos and emus</a> under control. They can also take down feral goats. Their natural control of herbivores means plants can bounce back, as well as making room for smaller animals. Their effect on plant life may even affect the height and shape of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-09/dingo-fence-map-ecology-farming-predator-sheep-extinction/101711608">sand dunes</a>. </p>
<p>In some parts of Australia, kangaroo populations <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14428903/2021/22/S1">have exploded</a>. Land clearing for pasture favours kangaroos, as do the dams and water troughs for livestock, the killing off of dingoes and the ending of First Nations Peoples’ cultural practices and hunting.</p>
<p>At times, these population booms have led to sudden crashes, with widespread starvation in droughts. Harvesting kangaroos is one response, but this is often controversial and unpopular. Bringing <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/rec.12186">dingoes back</a> would help reduce kangaroo numbers in a way more palatable to many people.</p>
<p>When present, dingoes also keep a lid on our worst introduced predators, feral cats and <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/am/AM21036">foxes</a>, either by eating them or forcing them to alter <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2012.02207.x">their behaviour</a>. If cats and foxes have to be more careful, it may benefit their smaller prey.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A portrait of a dingo looking into the distance" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510778/original/file-20230217-26-gpl5tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510778/original/file-20230217-26-gpl5tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510778/original/file-20230217-26-gpl5tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510778/original/file-20230217-26-gpl5tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510778/original/file-20230217-26-gpl5tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510778/original/file-20230217-26-gpl5tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510778/original/file-20230217-26-gpl5tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dingoes are a controversial carnivore in Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dingo-on-beach-great-sandy-national-791883502">Pawel Papis/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We could rewild dingoes very easily by removing large barriers like the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-09/dingo-fence-map-ecology-farming-predator-sheep-extinction/101711608">dingo fence</a>. This, of course, would trigger pushback from livestock graziers worried about attacks on their stock.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-dingo-fence-from-space-satellite-images-show-how-these-top-predators-alter-the-desert-155642">The dingo fence from space: satellite images show how these top predators alter the desert</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It doesn’t have to be this way though. We’ve learned a lot about ways to <a href="https://theconversation.com/guardian-dogs-fencing-and-fladry-protect-livestock-from-carnivores-103290">reduce conflict</a> between farmers and predators. It’s now entirely possible for livestock producers and top predators to coexist. Western Australian farmers are already using guardian animals such as <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-16/maremmas-protecting-pastoral-sheep-outback-wa/101320626">Maremma dogs</a> to protect livestock.</p>
<h2>So should we do it?</h2>
<p>Australia has been slow to support and attempt large carnivore rewilding. But we can learn valuable lessons from the relocation of Tasmanian devils to an offshore haven, Maria Island. </p>
<p>Devils were introduced to safeguard the species against the severe population decline from devil facial tumour disease. These predators were not native to Maria Island, but they’ve flourished. One unexpected side effect was the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/21/tasmanian-devils-wipe-out-thousands-of-penguins-maria-island-australia">devastating impact</a> on the island’s little penguin population.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A close up of a Tasmanian devil" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510779/original/file-20230217-18-cgja4w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510779/original/file-20230217-18-cgja4w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510779/original/file-20230217-18-cgja4w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510779/original/file-20230217-18-cgja4w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510779/original/file-20230217-18-cgja4w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510779/original/file-20230217-18-cgja4w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510779/original/file-20230217-18-cgja4w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An insurance population of Tasmanian devils has been established on Maria Island.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/XMnQnYND9JU">David Clode/unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rewilding comes with risks. But it also comes with major benefits, which may help our <a href="https://theconversation.com/existential-threat-to-our-survival-see-the-19-australian-ecosystems-already-collapsing-154077">collapsing ecosystems</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/gut-wrenching-and-infuriating-why-australia-is-the-world-leader-in-mammal-extinctions-and-what-to-do-about-it-192173">threatened species</a>. </p>
<p>Time is short. Conservation must take calculated and informed risks to achieve better outcomes. <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aav5570">Rewilding</a> attempts are valuable, even when things don’t go entirely as planned. </p>
<p>What else could we do? Discussions over the carefully planned <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-we-move-tasmanian-devils-back-to-the-mainland-16388">reintroduction of Tasmanian devils</a> to mainland Australia continue. If the devils come back to the mainland for the first time in thousands of years, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320715300379">they might</a> help to manage herbivore and feral cat populations.</p>
<p>Rewilding is not about recreating the <a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-knowledge-and-the-persistence-of-the-wilderness-myth-165164">mythical idea</a> of wilderness. Humans have <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-018-0576-5">shaped ecosystems</a> for millennia. </p>
<p>If rewilding and ecological restoration is to succeed, <a href="https://theconversation.com/academia-can-help-humans-and-large-carnivores-coexist-115467">communities and their values</a>, including First Nations groups, must be involved.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199879/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Euan G. Ritchie is a Councillor within the Biodiversity Council, and a member of the Ecological Society of Australia and the Australian Mammal Society.</span></em></p>Rewilding is risky but we can learn from past attempts to use it as an effective tool for conservationEuan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1994512023-02-17T12:09:58Z2023-02-17T12:09:58ZReintroducing top predators to the wild is risky but necessary – here’s how we can ensure they survive<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509239/original/file-20230209-20-7c87m0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C0%2C1272%2C848&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Collared leopard being released into North Ossetia, Russia in 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pavel Padalko</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Large carnivores are critical to the balance of an ecosystem. In Yellowstone National Park in the western US, <a href="https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Mammals/Gray-Wolf">grey wolves</a> keep elk populations at a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320711004046">healthy level</a>. This prevents vegetation from being overgrazed and leads to taller woody plants which allow other species, such as beavers, to flourish. </p>
<p>But habitat loss and persecution have <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.1241484">eliminated</a> many large carnivores from their historical environment. The Eurasian lynx could be found in the UK over a thousand years ago and wolves roamed the country until the mid-18th century.</p>
<p>However, our attitudes towards these animals are gradually changing and large carnivores are now viewed by many as the <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.1257553">victims of human expansion</a>. Many areas are seeing these animals return as a result. Yellowstone’s grey wolves were reintroduced in 1995 after 70 years, and in 2020, voters approved <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2022/09/09/where-colorado-will-reintroduce-wolves/">the species’ reintroduction</a> to the state of Colorado.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1561730584329732096"}"></div></p>
<p>Like these wolves, many other species require human intervention to reach their former habitats. But this is costly, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/rec.13243">controversial</a> and often ends in failure. The relocation of a single animal can <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0105042">cost thousands</a> and once released, these animals can <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/COBI.12959">prey on local livestock</a>.</p>
<p>But since 2007, we’ve seen <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1877343520300592">technological advances</a> in wildlife monitoring, <a href="https://portals.iucn.org/library/efiles/documents/2013-009.pdf">improved guidelines</a> for carrying out reintroductions and the global <a href="https://rewildingeurope.com/">rewilding movement</a> gathering pace.</p>
<p>These factors make now the perfect moment to determine whether carnivore reintroductions are becoming more effective. In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2023.109909">new study</a>, my colleagues and I studied the success of almost 300 carnivore reintroductions worldwide involving 18 different species between 2007 and 2021.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510538/original/file-20230216-24-2tr9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Four maps split by continent showing the locations of the reintroductions studied." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510538/original/file-20230216-24-2tr9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510538/original/file-20230216-24-2tr9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=622&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510538/original/file-20230216-24-2tr9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=622&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510538/original/file-20230216-24-2tr9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=622&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510538/original/file-20230216-24-2tr9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510538/original/file-20230216-24-2tr9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510538/original/file-20230216-24-2tr9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Global distribution of the large carnivore reintroductions studied.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Thomas et al (2023)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Indicators of success</h2>
<p>Between 2007 and 2021, 66% of all the reintroduced carnivores studied were still alive six months later. Survival at the six month mark was our measure of success.</p>
<p>Success rates for wild-born carnivores increased from 53% to 70%, while twice the number of captive-born animals (64%) now survive reintroduction than did so in 2007. </p>
<p>The most successful species in our study were <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/maned-wolf">maned wolves</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/puma-mammal-species">pumas</a> and <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/ocelot">ocelots</a>. In contrast, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/lion">lions</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/brown-hyena">brown hyenas</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/cheetah-mammal">cheetahs</a>, <a href="https://wildcatconservation.org/wild-cats/eurasia/iberian-lynx/">Iberian lynx</a> and grey wolves were least able to survive their new environment.</p>
<p>We tested various factors, all of which were under the project manager’s control, that influence the success of animal reintroductions – practical changes that could improve the outcome of future rewilding efforts.</p>
<p>So-called “soft releases”, where animals are allowed an acclimation period at the release site anywhere between <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0105042">10 days and 5 months</a> long, had a clear influence on survival. These releases had an 82% success rate compared to just 60% for releases with no period of adjustment.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A puma walking next to a chain fence in a forested area." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509635/original/file-20230213-14-2o3a7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509635/original/file-20230213-14-2o3a7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509635/original/file-20230213-14-2o3a7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509635/original/file-20230213-14-2o3a7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509635/original/file-20230213-14-2o3a7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509635/original/file-20230213-14-2o3a7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509635/original/file-20230213-14-2o3a7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A puma in a pre-release enclosure before being released into Serra do Japi, São Paulo, Brazil.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Associação Mata Ciliar</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Younger animals and those born in the wild were also more likely to survive reintroduction. Wild-born animals had a 72% survival rate compared to 64% for animals born in captivity. This is good news for rehabilitated and orphaned carnivores which are taken from the wild for their survival. These animals represent a sizeable proportion of all reintroduced carnivores and made up 22% of the animals in our study. </p>
<p>We found higher success rates when carnivores were released into unfenced areas. This is surprising as <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ele.12091">research</a> finds that fenced nature reserves tend to support higher densities of carnivores and reduce conflict with humans. </p>
<p>But greater competition for resources and direct conflict with other carnivores in these reserves may have a negative impact on the survival of reintroduced animals. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15627020.2003.11657196">Research</a> on the range and movement patterns of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_wild_dog">African wild dogs</a> in South Africa’s fenced Pilanesberg National Park found that the dogs actively avoid interaction with lions.</p>
<h2>Rewilding on the horizon – but there’s a catch</h2>
<p>Large carnivore reintroductions are becoming more effective, prompting countries to consider reintroducing large predators. In the UK, debates are ongoing surrounding the possible <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315175454-6/community-divided-steven-lipscombe-chris-white-adam-eagle-erwin-van-maanen">reintroduction of the Eurasian lynx</a>. Our findings could help inform their release. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/eurasian-lynx-how-our-computer-model-highlighted-the-best-site-for-restoring-this-wild-cat-to-scotland-113624">Eurasian lynx: how our computer model highlighted the best site for restoring this wild cat to Scotland</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But our research also highlights the alarming fact that one-third of all large carnivore reintroductions fail. And even when successful, the establishment of a population has proved a challenge. Just 37% of the animals that survived reintroduction successfully reproduced and the number of animals who will have raised young to adulthood is likely even lower. It seems that many rewilded animals take far longer than six months to establish themselves in an ecosystem and find a potential mate.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A lynx being released into the wild." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509639/original/file-20230213-27-ffpb1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509639/original/file-20230213-27-ffpb1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509639/original/file-20230213-27-ffpb1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509639/original/file-20230213-27-ffpb1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509639/original/file-20230213-27-ffpb1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509639/original/file-20230213-27-ffpb1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509639/original/file-20230213-27-ffpb1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A male lynx was released together with two female lynx in the Slovenian Alps in 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Polona Bartol</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Preventing species loss in their current ranges should thus always take priority. This will involve measures to tackle urbanisation and climate change, which are at present two leading causes of global habitat loss. </p>
<p>Despite their increasing success, the reintroduction of large carnivores still leads to the death of many of the animals involved and often fails to establish a population. The risky nature of these interventions makes it even more important that they have local support or they are likely doomed to fail from the start.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199451/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Seth Thomas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research studies the factors that determine whether large carnivore reintroductions will be a success.Seth Thomas, Research assistant, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1779902022-04-19T12:20:41Z2022-04-19T12:20:41ZJaguars could return to the US Southwest – but only if they have pathways to move north<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458210/original/file-20220414-20-zyhn8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C7%2C5068%2C3402&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A jaguar in Brazil's Patanal region.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jaguar-panthera-onca-drinking-pantanal-mato-grosso-brazil-news-photo/1371864203">Sergio Pitamitz /VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Jaguars are the only species of <a href="https://carnegiemnh.org/big-cats-big-personalities/">big cat</a> found on the American continent. They range as far south as Argentina, and once roamed <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15953/123791436#geographic-range">as far north as the Grand Canyon</a> in the U.S. Today the northernmost breeding population is in the northwest Mexican state of Sonora, just south of the border with Arizona.</p>
<p>In the Americas, the jaguar has long been an <a href="https://doi.org/10.7440/antipoda28.2017.06">icon and symbol</a> of power and connection to the spiritual world in mythology, philosophies, culture and art. Jaguars are <a href="http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=4532">apex predators</a> with diverse diets that include more than <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/3504096">85 different prey species</a>. This gives them a specific but prominent role in each ecosystem where they are found.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.iucn.org/">International Union for the Conservation of Nature</a> classifies jaguars as “near threatened,” with total population estimates <a href="https://www.iucncongress2020.org/motion/106">ranging between 64,000 and 173,000</a>. But evidence shows that local populations across the continent are <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0030605316001046">decreasing at alarming rates</a>. Jaguars’ total range has <a href="https://www.iucncongress2020.org/motion/106">shrunk by more than half in the past 70 years</a>, mainly because of hunting and habitat loss.</p>
<p>Could jaguars return to the Southwest U.S.? Some experts think it’s possible. Jaguars from southern populations in Mexico could recolonize their former territories in Arizona and New Mexico, or humans could <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.392">reintroduce them there</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458213/original/file-20220414-1583-8ybnh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map showing jaguar distribution in Mexico" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458213/original/file-20220414-1583-8ybnh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458213/original/file-20220414-1583-8ybnh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458213/original/file-20220414-1583-8ybnh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458213/original/file-20220414-1583-8ybnh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458213/original/file-20220414-1583-8ybnh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458213/original/file-20220414-1583-8ybnh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458213/original/file-20220414-1583-8ybnh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Current range of jaguars in Mexico (green zones). Dots represent sightings, and numbers denote jaguar conservation regions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255555">Ceballos et al., 2021</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>We study <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LunXQjoAAAAJ&hl=en">biodiversity</a> and <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/find-explorers/ganesh-marin">wildlife conservation</a> in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands and have documented jaguar movements close to the border. From our research we know there are only two main corridors in the western borderlands that jaguars could use to get into the U.S. </p>
<p>In our view, maintaining these corridors is crucial to connect fragmented habitats for jaguars and other mammals, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-020-01185-4">such as black bears, pumas, ocelots and Mexican wolves</a>. Increasing connectivity – linking small patches of habitat into larger networks – is a key strategy for conserving large animals that range over wide areas and for maintaining functional ecological communities.</p>
<h2>The northern jaguars</h2>
<p>The arid environment of the American Southwest has naturally limited jaguars’ distribution in North America. Once these cats were top predators in the forested ecosystems of the U.S. Southwest, but predator control programs and hunting decimated their populations in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The last female jaguar in the U.S. was <a href="https://doi.org/10.2181/036.049.0205">killed in Arizona in 1949</a>.</p>
<p>In 1996 an outdoor guide and a hunter <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/3672607">photographed a male jaguar</a> in the Peloncillo Mountains in southeastern Arizona. Since that date other jaguars have been identified, but no females or cubs have been reported.</p>
<p>In contrast, jaguars are known to be present in the northeast corner of Sonora state in Mexico. Here the <a href="http://wildsonora.com/gallery/cajon-bonito-creek-sierra-san-luis">Cajon Bonito stream</a>, which flows from the west slope of the San Luis mountain range in the Continental Divide, supports jaguars and other large animals, including black bears, American beavers and ocelots.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AH9Ih4ceAJE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">El Bonito, a jaguar that lives in the borderlands between Mexico and the United States, using the Cajon Bonito area in northeast Sonora.</span></figcaption>
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<p>For two decades lands surrounding the stream have been under a restoration program run by <a href="https://www.cuencalosojos.org/">Cuenca Los Ojos</a>, a nonprofit that works to protect and restore land on both sides of the border. They now are part of a voluntary protected area program under Mexico’s <a href="https://www.gob.mx/conanp">Natural Protected Areas system</a>. </p>
<p>To the east, the <a href="https://www.mexicanist.com/l/janos-biosphere-reserve-chihuahua/">Janos Biosphere Reserve</a> includes habitat for jaguars. North and south, a combination of ranches dedicated to conservation and natural protected areas provides the habitat connectivity that jaguars need to move between Mexico and the U.S.</p>
<h2>Ranging in the borderlands</h2>
<p>In 2021 we filmed <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/jaguar-near-arizona-border-wall-mexico">a young jaguar whom we called El Bonito</a> roaming in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Each individual jaguar has a unique pattern of spots on its skin; when we acquired videos of both of the cat’s flanks, we realized that we actually were seeing two jaguars in our study area.</p>
<p>We dubbed the second jaguar Valerio. Lately, he has been spotted more frequently than El Bonito in the Cajon Bonito stream area.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/r54In7hJcNA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">After El Bonito, a second male jaguar appeared in our camera traps in borderlands between Sonora and Arizona. We dubbed him Valerio.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Male jaguars have to disperse as they become adults to find available territories and potential mates. Females tend to occupy areas near where they were born, a pattern common among mammals. The size of a female jaguar’s territory depends on prey abundance and the availability of shelter. Jaguar males will travel across several female home ranges to increase their mating opportunities, so males’ home ranges can measure <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03463-4_13">from roughly 15 to 400 square miles (35 to 1,000 square kilometers)</a>.</p>
<p>El Bonito and Valerio were juveniles when we first recorded them. We first filmed Valerio at our study site in January 2021. Since then, both cats have been using the stream as a corridor. Recent videos show Valerio cheek-rubbing a fallen tree, which suggests he is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1644/07-MAMM-F-268.1">establishing a territory</a> in this borderlands area. </p>
<p>At our study site, we have recorded both jaguars just 2 miles (3 kilometers) south of the U.S.-Mexico border. North of this site is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadalupe_Canyon">Guadalupe Canyon</a>, a natural corridor in the Peloncillo Mountains that runs into the U.S. at the border between Arizona and New Mexico.</p>
<p>In 2021 the border wall <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/02/19/trump-biden-border-wall/">was constructed across Guadalupe Canyon</a>, stopping at the Arizona-New Mexico line. The New Mexico portion of the Peloncillo and San Luis mountain ranges remains open.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458215/original/file-20220414-18-a7v8xq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Workers adding slats to a barrier across shrub-covered land." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458215/original/file-20220414-18-a7v8xq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458215/original/file-20220414-18-a7v8xq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458215/original/file-20220414-18-a7v8xq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458215/original/file-20220414-18-a7v8xq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458215/original/file-20220414-18-a7v8xq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458215/original/file-20220414-18-a7v8xq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458215/original/file-20220414-18-a7v8xq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Construction on the border wall in Guadalupe Canyon, Arizona, looking south into Mexico, Dec. 9, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/BorderWallEnvironmentalDamage/608af71109bf424cb25e46d365497228/photo">AP Photo/Matt York</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>Keeping corridors open</h2>
<p>U.S. and Mexican government agencies and conservation organizations are working together to restore western species at the brink of extinction. Growing populations of <a href="https://www.azgfd.com/wildlife/speciesofgreatestconservneed/mexicanwolves/">Mexican wolves</a>, <a href="https://www.fws.gov/story/new-hope-ferrets">black-footed ferrets</a>, <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/california-condor-recovery.htm">California condors</a> and <a href="https://www.americanprairie.org/project/bison-restoration">bison</a> offer hope that recovery is also possible for jaguars.</p>
<p>According to a 2021 study, the population of jaguars in Mexico increased during the past decade and now is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-021-01264-0">estimated at 4,800</a>. As the number of jaguars in Sonora increases, so do the chances that females could reach the border and potentially mate with the male jaguars we have documented there.</p>
<p>Habitat loss and illegal killings are still the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255555">main threats to jaguars in northern Mexico</a>. Creating natural protected areas that could support breeding populations and offer routes for northward expansion would help accelerate natural recolonization of jaguars into the U.S. Multiple institutions and scientific research projects have highlighted the need to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biy063">keep natural corridors open</a> to maintain habitat for diverse communities of plants and animals.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458295/original/file-20220414-22-ov97b6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A windswept grassy hillside with mountains in the distance." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458295/original/file-20220414-22-ov97b6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458295/original/file-20220414-22-ov97b6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458295/original/file-20220414-22-ov97b6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458295/original/file-20220414-22-ov97b6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458295/original/file-20220414-22-ov97b6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458295/original/file-20220414-22-ov97b6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458295/original/file-20220414-22-ov97b6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">View of the Peloncillo Mountains, a corridor still open for wildlife movements between Mexico and the U.S. The photo was taken in the Mexican borderlands looking north into New Mexico.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ganesh Marin</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>In addition to jaguars, our camera traps have identified 28 other species of mammals, including ocelots, pumas and black bears. All of these animals have at least some need for connected landscapes if they are to survive for the long term.</p>
<p>In our view, making it possible for jaguars to naturally recolonize suitable habitat in the U.S. is a unique opportunity to foster animal movement in the borderlands. Keeping these landscapes connected will benefit all species in this ecologically unique region that serves as a wildlife source and pathway.</p>
<p>[<em>Get fascinating science, health and technology news.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=science&source=inline-science-fascinating">Sign up for The Conversation’s weekly science newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177990/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ganesh Marin receives funding from the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología. The research described in this article is funded by the University of Wyoming, the University of Arizona, the National Geographic Society, and T&E small grants. The project is in collaboration with Cuenca Los Ojos organization with partners from the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and Santa Lucia Conservancy.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Koprowski does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Keeping landscapes connected can help protect wild animals and plants. In the US Southwest, border wall construction is closing off corridors that jaguars and other at-risk species use.Ganesh Marin, Ph.D. Candidate in Wildlife Conservation and Management, University of ArizonaJohn Koprowski, Dean, Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of WyomingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1185212019-06-10T08:11:01Z2019-06-10T08:11:01ZSimply returning rescued wildlife back to the wild may not be in their best interest<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278617/original/file-20190610-52767-1b52dp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C787%2C5424%2C3686&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It can be tough in the wild, especially if you're a rescued animal or an orphan reared by human care.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Andrea Geiss</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are few checks done to see how well injured or orphaned Australian animals survive after they’ve been released into the wild, we found in our new <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/9/6/335" title="A Review of Australian Animal Welfare Legislation, Regulation, Codes of Practice, and Policy, and Their Influence on Stakeholders Caring for Wildlife and the Animals for Whom They Care">research published on Sunday</a>.</p>
<p>That’s a worry for the more than 50,000 native animals that are released in Australia each year. It’s especially worrying for any orphans who’ve never experienced life in the wild. </p>
<p>But we found the rules governing the return of wildlife are not always in the animal’s best interest.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/not-just-activists-9-out-of-10-people-are-concerned-about-animal-welfare-in-australian-farming-117077">Not just activists, 9 out of 10 people are concerned about animal welfare in Australian farming</a>
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<p>Our review of Australian animal welfare legislation, regulations, codes of practice and policies found a complex regulatory system that varies between states and territories. It’s a system that is fragmented, contradictory and inconsistent.</p>
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<p>This makes it difficult for the <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/WR/WR17099" title="A review of roadkill rescue: who cares for the mental, physical and financial welfare of Australian wildlife carers?">many thousands of volunteers</a> and others who try to rescue and rehabilitate native animals.</p>
<h2>Australia lags in animal welfare</h2>
<p>We believe Australia lags behind the developed world in animal welfare and animal law. This situation evolved haphazardly and is hampered by policies that rely on assumptions based largely on neither scientific nor factual evidence.</p>
<p>Current policy mandates that rehabilitated rescued animals must be placed into the wild. The survival of these animals after release depends on their behavioural and physical attributes, yet some could be ill-equipped to survive.</p>
<p>From our reading of current regulations, any such assessment of an animal’s suitability for release is either negligible or questionable.</p>
<p>There is also no reliable method of identifying animals after release. Indeed, most jurisdictions forbid it and, perhaps as a direct result, there is minimal monitoring to show what happens to released animals.</p>
<h2>Return to where?</h2>
<p>In general, all Australian jurisdictions require rehabilitated animals to be returned to the wild. But rather than using a more general definition of rehabilitation we should think of returning the animal to its natural habitat or state.</p>
<p>The distinction between these two possible destinations is far from semantic. It can be argued the natural habitat (or state) of a hand-reared orphan animal, is one of captivity.</p>
<p>Many wildlife carers releasing an animal and seeing it disappear into the wild may equate this with success, but this may be an unfortunate convenient illusion.</p>
<p>The released animal may not be the happy state that carers may prefer to assume. Vague assumptions that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5946137/" title="Naturalness and Animal Welfare">naturalness</a> in releasing animals to the wild is reliably associated with better well-being are largely unfounded.</p>
<p>But wildlife carers have no choice in the matter. They are required to consign the animals, to which they have devoted hours of care, to an uncertain fate for which they may be very poorly prepared.</p>
<p>And they must do so even if their knowledge, experience and pragmatism directs their thinking to more favourable alternative solutions. These include allowing some native animals to be kept in large-scale facilities such as <a href="https://wildoceantasmania.com.au/new-wildlife-enclosures-taking-shape/">private fenced enclosures</a>, <a href="https://site.emrprojectsummaries.org/2016/03/08/project-eden-fauna-reintroductions-francois-peron-national-park-western-australia/">national</a> <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-14/bilby-fence-at-currawinya-national-park/10809458">parks</a>, <a href="https://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/wildlife-management/save-the-tasmanian-devil-program/about-the-program/maria-island-translocation-project">islands</a> and other <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-future-is-fenced-for-australian-animals-97311">fenced options</a>.</p>
<h2>Concern for orphans in the wild</h2>
<p>The regulations make no distinction between animals that are injured, rehabilitated and released, and those that are rescued as orphans. These are often physically unharmed but require milk substitute feeding from a bottle and nurturing by – and possible inadvertently bonding with – humans prior to release to the wild.</p>
<p>Adult and juvenile native animals raised in the wild usually have all their innate and learned behaviour instincts intact when they are injured and rescued. </p>
<p>Unless they remain in captivity for a prolonged period, or are subjected to inappropriate housing and handling, their instincts generally persist and kick-in once they have been released. They have an opportunity to survive.</p>
<p>In contrast, the chances for orphans to survive after release seems remote.</p>
<p>Orphans that needed hand-rearing generally become habituated to the smells, sounds and sights of human presence and the captive environment. </p>
<p>The requirement to return orphans to the wild, with no account taken of their mental state, may be difficult to defend on conservation, ethical, moral and practical grounds.</p>
<h2>Think of the carers</h2>
<p>The physical and mental protection of Australian injured or orphaned native wildlife should be recognised as an important animal welfare issue. The physical and <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/wr/WR17099" title="A review of roadkill rescue: who cares for the mental, physical and financial welfare of Australian wildlife carers?">mental well-being of the wildlife carers</a> who rehabilitate them is just as important as a <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/animal-carers-say-they-are-developing-ptsd-from-the-volume-of-injured-wildlife">human</a> <a href="https://www.themercury.com.au/news/tassie-wildlife-carers-under-strain/news-story/db024e5a48b27722f433c6a5d49a2612">welfare</a> issue.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/mans-stressed-friend-how-your-mental-health-can-affect-your-dog-118271">Man's stressed friend: how your mental health can affect your dog</a>
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<p>In the absence of criteria that take into account the mental well-being of the animals and their carers, the current policy of releasing all hand-reared wildlife to the wild must be reviewed.</p>
<p>Using a <a href="https://www.onewelfareworld.org/">One Welfare</a> approach – that considers the the animals, the humans and the environment – would see a regulatory framework that balances the needs of rescued wildlife, wildlife carers and conservation.</p>
<p>The public and Australia’s extraordinary wildlife carers deserve to be confident that regulation is consistent among jurisdictions and reflective of best practice for the rescued wildlife and the environment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118521/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul McGreevy consults on a voluntary basis to the RSPCA Australia and is a lifetime member of the RSPCA NSW. He receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bruce Englefield does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We need a better system to care for the welfare of injured wildlife in Australia as the current one is too fragmented, contradictory and inconsistent.Bruce Englefield, PhD Student. Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of SydneyPaul McGreevy, Professor of Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare Science, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1081452019-01-25T11:54:13Z2019-01-25T11:54:13ZLive cargo: How scientists pack butterflies, frogs and sea turtles for safe travels<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255231/original/file-20190123-135154-10b5gwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Scientists are raising Miami blue butterflies in captivity and reintroducing them in south Florida. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/miami-blue/">Jeff Gage/Florida Museum of Natural History</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Scientists who work with live organisms often have to move them between locations. This requires knowing what conditions creatures can tolerate well, and also can involve some unusual packing challenges. Here three researchers explain how they transport butterflies, sea turtles and endangered frogs safely between labs and the outdoors.</em></p>
<h2>Jaret Daniels, Entomology, University of Florida</h2>
<p>My lab works to <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/daniels-lab/">conserve at-risk butterflies</a>, including the small, brightly colored Miami blue (<em>Cyclargus thomasi bethunebakeri</em>). It was once locally common across much of the South Florida mainland and adjacent coastal barrier islands south through the Florida Keys to the Dry Tortugas. </p>
<p>Over the past several decades, expanding coastal development has reduced and fragmented the Miami Blue’s habitat, leading to a catastrophic decline in its overall range. Today this endangered species is one of North America’s rarest insects, with only two or three small populations left on remote islands in south Florida.</p>
<p>As part of a <a href="https://www.fws.gov/news/blog/index.cfm/2018/8/1/Reintroduced-Last-Week-Miami-Blue-Butterflies-Are-Already-Mating">collaborative conservation effort</a>, we breed Miami Blues in captivity and translocate them to places in their historic range. The adult butterflies are only about the size of a thumbnail, and their slug-like larvae are even smaller. As they grow, however, the larvae tend to cannibalize each other. To minimize this risk, we rear larger larvae individually in small plastic shot cups. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255456/original/file-20190124-196241-ll3xo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255456/original/file-20190124-196241-ll3xo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255456/original/file-20190124-196241-ll3xo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255456/original/file-20190124-196241-ll3xo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255456/original/file-20190124-196241-ll3xo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255456/original/file-20190124-196241-ll3xo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255456/original/file-20190124-196241-ll3xo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255456/original/file-20190124-196241-ll3xo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Butterfly pupae on corrugated cardboard.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kristen Grace</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our facilities in Gainesville are more than 450 miles from the Lower Florida Keys, where we release the butterflies, so packaging them safely is critical. When larvae in the lab are nearing maturity, we put a square piece of corrugated paper in each shot cup because we’ve learned through trial and error that nearly all of them will helpfully transform themselves into a pupa, or chrysalis, within the tight grooves of the paper. This makes handling and moving them much easier. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255457/original/file-20190124-196235-jbgyhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255457/original/file-20190124-196235-jbgyhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255457/original/file-20190124-196235-jbgyhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255457/original/file-20190124-196235-jbgyhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255457/original/file-20190124-196235-jbgyhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255457/original/file-20190124-196235-jbgyhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255457/original/file-20190124-196235-jbgyhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255457/original/file-20190124-196235-jbgyhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Miami Blue butterfly pupae, padded and ready for the trip to south Florida.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kristen Grace</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To move the pupae, we layer the corrugated paper squares in a secure container, cushioned with sheets of soft, quilted toilet paper, which works well and is cheap! Then we can hand-carry or ship the fully packed containers via express carrier to south Florida. There we place the pupae outdoors in small plastic chambers that are specially designed to allow the butterflies to emerge naturally. Early results are encouraging: Butterflies have emerged and mated in the wild. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1029461573834874880"}"></div></p>
<h2>Charles Innis, Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University and New England Aquarium</h2>
<p>Sea turtles have existed for millions of years, but today they are threatened by interactions with the fishing industry, loss of nesting habitat, boat strikes, oil spills, pollution, poaching, climate change and disease. When injured or ill sea turtles are found on beaches or at sea, rescuers often transport them to veterinary hospitals for care. </p>
<p>In Massachusetts, for example, volunteers and staff at Mass Audubon’s <a href="https://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/wildlife-sanctuaries/wellfleet-bay">Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary</a> partner with the <a href="https://www.neaq.org/">New England Aquarium</a>, <a href="https://turtlesflytoo.org/">Turtles Fly Too</a>, <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/sea-turtles">NOAA Fisheries</a>, and sometimes the U.S. Coast Guard to transport turtles to and from the New England Aquarium’s veterinary hospital – sometimes by vehicle, sometimes by plane. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/beUqc5JQTvU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">An established network retrieves cold-stunned sea turtles from Cape Cod for treatment every year.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Turtles are ectothermic, or “cold-blooded,” animals whose body temperature changes with the environment around them. This means we need to avoid exposing them to temperatures that are too warm or too cold during transport, and sometimes we need to keep them at a specific temperature. </p>
<p>At the New England Aquarium, we frequently receive sea turtles that have stranded on beaches after exposure to cold water, which “<a href="https://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/protected/stranding/overview/cold.html">cold-stuns” them</a>, making them lethargic and slowing their heart rates. Warming them too quickly can be deadly, so we move them in vehicles kept at 55-60 degrees. Later, when they have been rehabilitated and are ready to be released, we transport them to warm-water release sites in cars, trucks or planes warmed to 75 to 80 degrees.</p>
<p>Turtles breathe air, so they can be out of water for many hours – up to 24 hours for some transports from Massachusetts to Florida. We move them in padded boxes, and try to minimize noise, vibration, and visual stimuli that can be stressful. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255227/original/file-20190123-135142-d84f02.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255227/original/file-20190123-135142-d84f02.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255227/original/file-20190123-135142-d84f02.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=719&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255227/original/file-20190123-135142-d84f02.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=719&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255227/original/file-20190123-135142-d84f02.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=719&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255227/original/file-20190123-135142-d84f02.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255227/original/file-20190123-135142-d84f02.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255227/original/file-20190123-135142-d84f02.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Three endangered juvenile Kemp’s ridley sea turtles and their medical records are prepared for transport from New England Aquarium to Florida to complete their rehabilitation prior to release to the wild.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">New England Aquarium</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For the past decade we have medically monitored turtles during and after transport events to better understand how the experience affects them. Our work during the <a href="https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00769">Deepwater Horizon oil spill</a> and after several cold-weather events has taught us that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/cov071">transport can be stressful for turtles</a>, so we are investigating methods to reduce the stress, such as allowing turtles to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coy065">rest for six to 24 hours in saltwater pools at the release site</a> before returning them to the ocean. </p>
<h2>Roland Knapp, Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara</h2>
<p>Mountain yellow-legged frogs (<em>Rana muscosa</em> and the closely related <em>Rana sierrae</em>) once were common in lakes, ponds, and streams in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. They were remarkably abundant for millennia, but declined steeply over the past 150 years, after humans <a href="https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1739.2000.99099.x">introduced nonnative and predatory trout into historically fishless habitats</a> and a virulent pathogen, the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0914111107">amphibian chytrid fungus</a>, spread through the region.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255451/original/file-20190124-196244-15dit5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255451/original/file-20190124-196244-15dit5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255451/original/file-20190124-196244-15dit5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255451/original/file-20190124-196244-15dit5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255451/original/file-20190124-196244-15dit5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255451/original/file-20190124-196244-15dit5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255451/original/file-20190124-196244-15dit5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255451/original/file-20190124-196244-15dit5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.news.ucsb.edu/2018/019256/location-location-location">Elliot Lowndes/UCSB</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By the early 2000s mountain yellow-legged frogs were gone from <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00258.x">more than 90 percent of their native range</a>. In 2014 populations in the Sierra Nevada were listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. </p>
<p>One way to help mountain yellow-legged frog populations recover is by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2499">reintroducing them</a>. Scientists collect frogs from populations that have developed increased resistance to chytrid fungus, and release them into habitats from which they were previously eliminated. </p>
<p>How do we keep endangered frogs alive as we carry them several miles through remote and rugged mountains, traveling on foot? The key tools are small plastic cups, bear-proof food canisters and snow. </p>
<p>To initiate a translocation, we capture adult mountain yellow-legged frogs from healthy populations using hand nets. After weighing and measuring them, we insert a tag the size of a grain of rice that carries a unique identification number, like those used for domestic pets, under each frog’s skin. Then we place the frogs individually into small cups with perforated lids for ventilation, and load the cups into larger canisters that we carry on backcountry trips to protect our food from bears and other creatures. Finally, each loaded canister goes into a backpack. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JblxFD6kxKM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Mountain yellow-legged frogs once were the most abundant vertebrate in Yosemite National Park, where scientists are working now to restore them.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Frogs that are adapted to mountainous areas can easily die if temperatures exceed their upper thermal limit – approximately 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees Celsius) for mountain yellow-legged frogs – so we pack nylon bags filled with snow around the canisters inside our backpacks. This keeps the frogs cool and reduces their activity and oxygen demand. Finally, we put a thermometer in each canister so we can monitor their temperatures during transport. </p>
<p>And then we walk. The terrain is usually a jumble of boulders, snow and trees, but we know the route and wend our way as quickly as possible to the reintroduction lake. When we arrive, we gently unpack the frogs and release them at the water’s edge. Surveys conducted during the past several years show that their numbers are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1600983113">increasing in Yosemite National Park</a> – a hopeful sign that recovery is underway.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108145/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jaret Daniels receives funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Disney Conservation Fund, and the National Park Service. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Innis is Director of Animal Health at the New England Aquarium. He has received funding to study the effects of transporting sea turtles from the Morris Animal Foundation and Industrial Economics, Inc., under contract from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roland Knapp receives funding from the National Science Foundation, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Yosemite Conservancy. </span></em></p>How do you pack butterflies for shipping, or frogs for an overland hike to a new habitat? Three scientists explain how they keep threatened species safe on the road and in the air.Jaret Daniels, Associate Professor of Entomology; Associate Curator and Program Director, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of FloridaCharles Innis, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts UniversityRoland Knapp, Research Biologist, Earth Research Institute, University of California, Santa BarbaraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1050222018-12-14T11:45:33Z2018-12-14T11:45:33ZWe train Colombian woolly monkeys to be wild again – and maybe save them from extinction<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250378/original/file-20181213-110249-jx43g2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Woolly monkeys are hard to miss in Colombia's jungles. Now, they face extinction. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mónica Ramírez</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Colombia’s Andes Mountains used to be loaded with wildlife, including South America’s sole bear species, the spectacle bear, and the mountain tapir, which lives only in the world’s highest altitudes. </p>
<p>You couldn’t walk a mile in the jungle without seeing a woolly monkey – big, agile and charismatic primates with powerful long tails. </p>
<p>Now the species is <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/39926/0">hard to spot</a>. Over the past 50 years, habitat loss, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1744-7429.2007.00272.x">poaching</a> and <a href="http://www.bdigital.unal.edu.co/27073/1/24790-86981-1-PB.pdf">smuggling for adoption as pets</a> have all decimated Colombia’s woolly monkey populations. Andean woolly monkeys are at risk of extinction in the next century, scientists say. They have already <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10764-007-9177-x">disappeared entirely in some parts of Colombia</a>.</p>
<h2>Restoring Colombia’s jungles</h2>
<p>To save the woolly monkey, Colombian <a href="http://www.cormacarena.gov.co/">wildlife</a> and <a href="https://www.cam.gov.co/">environmental agencies</a> teamed up with scientists like <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=NRb_QsIAAAAJ">us</a> from the <a href="https://ecologia.uniandes.edu.co/">Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology and Primatology</a> at Colombia’s University of the Andes.</p>
<p>In August 2017, we released six captive woolly monkeys into the forests of southern Huila, about a 12-hour drive south of Bogota, the capital. This jungle-covered region was once home to many troops of these lovely primates. Now they’re conspicuously absent. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250346/original/file-20181212-110240-gzects.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250346/original/file-20181212-110240-gzects.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250346/original/file-20181212-110240-gzects.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250346/original/file-20181212-110240-gzects.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250346/original/file-20181212-110240-gzects.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250346/original/file-20181212-110240-gzects.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250346/original/file-20181212-110240-gzects.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250346/original/file-20181212-110240-gzects.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Colombian woolly monkey in captivity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tatiana Novoa</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We wanted to see if animals born in the wild, captured by traffickers and confiscated by Colombian authorities could learn to live there again.</p>
<p>Releasing animals who’ve spent time in captivity is risky. Often, they lack the <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4939-0697-0_14">behaviors necessary to survive in the wild</a>, such as self-defense and bonding strategies.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320700000483">a comprehensive review of wildlife reintroduction programs worldwide</a>, only 26 percent are successful. Most either fail outright – the animals die – or do not last enough to evaluate the fate of the released animals.</p>
<p>To help us develop a training plan for <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17391180">promoting natural behaviors</a>, we first spent over a year observing dozens of captive woolly monkeys at zoos and sanctuaries across Colombia. </p>
<p>We saw that many woolly monkeys had become comparatively clumsy climbers, and rather than seek out food they tended to wait for their caretakers to feed them. They had also lost the ability to spot and flee predators. </p>
<h2>Hope for woolly monkeys</h2>
<p>After a year of assessing their behavior, we chose 11 candidates for possible reintegration into the wild based on their reproductive viability, strength, health and non-attachment to humans. </p>
<p>During the six-month rehabilitation process, we used what we call “environmental enrichment” to instill survival skills among these woolly monkeys.</p>
<p>To reduce time spent lolling on the ground and encourage climbing, we placed the monkeys’ food high up on platforms simulated trees. We also promoted bonding by putting pairs of woolly monkeys together in “socialization cages,” which encourages them to groom each other and interact one-on-one.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250483/original/file-20181213-178555-qyzo2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250483/original/file-20181213-178555-qyzo2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250483/original/file-20181213-178555-qyzo2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250483/original/file-20181213-178555-qyzo2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250483/original/file-20181213-178555-qyzo2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250483/original/file-20181213-178555-qyzo2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250483/original/file-20181213-178555-qyzo2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250483/original/file-20181213-178555-qyzo2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A scientist from the University of the Andes observing captive woolly monkeys as part of Colombia’s wildlife reintegration program.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Monica Ramirez</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To boost predator response, we played sounds made by predators like eagles and jaguars, followed by other monkeys’ alarm cries, so that the captive woolly monkeys would learn to recognize them as a threat.</p>
<p>After the training period, the six fittest monkeys were released into the Huila forest reserve, an area with ample food and protection from hunters. Two were juveniles. Four were adults.</p>
<p>All wore collars that tracked their location and recorded their behavior to evaluate the monkeys’ adaptation process. </p>
<p>At first, we provided some food for the newly reintroduced monkeys. After five months they were weaned off entirely.</p>
<h2>Cautious optimism</h2>
<p>A year after the six monkeys were released, two had been recaptured because they were struggling to adapt, spending too much time on the forest floor and unwilling to bond with their troopmates. </p>
<p>Two had gone missing. And two died within months – one after falling from a tree and another of mysterious causes. </p>
<p>Admittedly, those aren’t great results. </p>
<p>We think the problem may have been the location. The Huila nature reserve has enough fruit to feed the monkeys, but it gets quite cold there. In low temperatures, your body uses a lot of energy to heat itself. Perhaps their self-feeding skills weren’t sufficiently developed for them to consume enough calories. </p>
<p>Group cohesion was also low in this cohort, causing some individuals to break away from their group – a dangerous thing to do in the jungle. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250384/original/file-20181213-110243-3mumtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250384/original/file-20181213-110243-3mumtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250384/original/file-20181213-110243-3mumtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250384/original/file-20181213-110243-3mumtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250384/original/file-20181213-110243-3mumtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250384/original/file-20181213-110243-3mumtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250384/original/file-20181213-110243-3mumtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250384/original/file-20181213-110243-3mumtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The forests of Huila, Colombia, where the first cohort of rehabilitated woolly monkeys were released into the wild in 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jhduarte/5529720469">Jaime Hernando Duarte/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<h2>Worth the effort</h2>
<p>Our project shows how difficult it is to restore endangered primate populations.</p>
<p>But we need to keep trying. Over half of all Colombia’s <a href="https://tropicalconservationscience.mongabay.com/content/v3/10-03-29_45-62_stevenson_et_al.pdf">30 or so primates species</a> are in danger of going extinct, according to <a href="http://latinamericanpost.com/index.php/es/banking-3/125-global-issues/environment/8528-90-of-our-primates-are-threatened">Diana Guzman</a>, president of the Colombian Primatology Association.</p>
<p>Their demise would have severe environmental consequences. South American primates have been shown to eat, digest and disperse each day about <a href="https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/estimates-number-seeds-dispersed-population-primates-lowland-forest-western-amazonia/">2 million seeds per square mile of habitat</a> – an important <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1744-7429.2010.00708.x">ecological service</a> for Colombia’s tropical forests.</p>
<p>Colombia does not have enough animal sanctuaries and zoos to house <a href="https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1748-1090.2009.00106.x">the thousands of primates recaptured from smugglers</a> every year. Many are <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/what-happens-to-smuggled-animals-after-theyre-seized.aspx">euthanized, “reintroduced” into inappropriate habitats or even returned to the black market</a>. The lucky few that are taken into captivity often suffer from heart disease, obesity, behavioral disruptions and <a href="https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1748-1090.2009.00106.x">psychological damage</a> – disorders linked to a sedentary lifestyle and inadequate diet.</p>
<p>Comprehensive, long-term <a href="https://portals.iucn.org/library/efiles/documents/2013-009.pdf">primate rehabilitation and reintroduction programs</a> like ours – which is funded by the Colombian government and the nonprofit Primate Conservation, Inc. – are costly. We spend about $5,000 per monkey resettled. </p>
<p>But rehabilitating and releasing seized animals is far cheaper, and way more environmentally appropriate, than <a href="https://greengarageblog.org/list-of-11-biggest-pros-and-cons-of-zoos">keeping them behind bars for a lifetime</a>. And ours is one of the few primate reintegration programs of its kind in Latin America.</p>
<h2>The next generation of woolly monkeys</h2>
<p>In November 2018, we released our second cohort of six rehabilitated monkeys, including one female monkey recaptured last time. </p>
<p>This time, we chose the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/reyzamuromatarredonda.reservasnaturales">Rey Zamuro</a> nature reserve, in the Meta Colombia region. The jungle there has warmer weather and likely a greater food supply, and we are hopeful they can establish themselves there. </p>
<p>So far, the Meta Colombia troop seems to be doing well, particularly in group bonding.</p>
<p>We’ll keep checking in on them all year, learning from their experiences to help generations of rewilded woolly monkeys to come.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105022/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mónica Alejandra Ramírez receives funding for this study from Colciencias, a Colombian government agency that supports fundamental and applied research in Colombia, and from Primate Conservation, Inc.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Manuel Laquerica does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pablo Stevenson receives funding for this study from Colciencias, a Colombian government agency that supports fundamental and applied research in Colombia, and from Primate Conservation, Inc.</span></em></p>Colombian researchers hope to revive an endangered species by rehabilitating monkeys confiscated from smugglers. The captive animals’ struggles show that survival is not guaranteed.Mónica Alejandra Ramírez, PhD Candidate on Primate Ecology, Universidad de los Andes Manuel Lequerica Tamara, Doctoral candidate, University of SydneyPablo Stevenson, Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences, Universidad de los Andes Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1052092018-10-18T19:14:29Z2018-10-18T19:14:29ZWith the right help, bears can recover from the torture of bile farming<p>Bear bile farms, which exist in some Asian countries like <a href="https://www.animalsasia.org/intl/media/news/news-archive/five-things-you-need-to-know-about-bear-bile-farming.html">Vietnam</a> and <a href="https://www.animalsasia.org/intl/media/news/news-archive/five-things-you-need-to-know-about-bear-bile-farming.html">China</a>, are a terrible reality for Asiatic black bears (<em>Ursus thibetanus</em>). </p>
<p>The bears spend their lives confined in tiny steel or concrete cages. They are “<a href="https://www.animalsasia.org/au/our-work/end-bear-bile-farming/what-is-bear-bile-farming/overview.html">milked</a>” through permanent holes in their side that allow bile to be extracted from the gall bladder. </p>
<p>My research, published in the journal <a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/ufaw/aw/2018/00000027/00000004/art00001">Animal Welfare</a>, investigated the chronic stress created by these conditions. We found that with care and rehabilitation, rescued bears in animal sanctuaries can readjust to a normal lifestyle with a reduction in stress – a highly encouraging result.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hugs-drugs-and-choices-helping-traumatised-animals-80962">Hugs, drugs and choices: helping traumatised animals</a>
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<h2>What’s so precious about bile?</h2>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bile">Bile</a> is a greenish-brown fluid produced by the liver in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4091928/">humans</a> and <a href="https://medium.com/concepts-of-zoology-the-paradigm-shift-group/why-some-animals-dont-have-any-gallbladder-fe53cc44ee83">most vertebrates</a>. Bile acid aids digestion of fats – and one particular bile compound, called <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20609543">ursodeoxycholic acid</a>, could have potential <a href="https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/7253/smpc">pharmaceutical applications</a>. </p>
<p>Because of this, bear bile is highly sought in <a href="http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/animal-products-health-benefits-driving-species-to-extinction/">traditional Chinese medicine</a>. It is believed to reduce gall stones and improve indigestion, among other things. However, non-animal-derived and synthetic alternatives exist for <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20609543">urosodeoxycholic acid</a> and other bile components.</p>
<p>The use of Asiatic black bears as primary sources of bile is a significant animal welfare problem that needs global awareness. Most of the bears are introduced to the trade upon poaching from the wild, and cubs as young as a few months are caged and <a href="https://www.animalsasia.org/intl/media/news/news-archive/five-things-you-need-to-know-about-bear-bile-farming.html">held captive</a> for up to 30 years. </p>
<p>I worked with the international welfare organisation <a href="https://www.animalsasia.org/au/our-work/bear-sanctuaries/">AnimalsAsia</a>, which runs <a href="https://www.animalsasia.org/au/about-us/vision-and-values.html">rescue and rehabilitation programs</a> in Asia and has moved hundreds of bears into sanctuaries.</p>
<p>My research investigated how successful this rehabilitation is, and whether rescued bears can recover from their experiences. </p>
<h2>Animal cruelty causes chronic stress</h2>
<p>Stress is <a href="https://www.lifeline.org.au/static/uploads/files/what-is-stress-wfvgiurqqawx.pdf">defined</a> as any unpleasant physical or psychological change that creates an uncomfortable feeling and negative outcome.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, bears at bile farms in Vietnam have significantly higher levels of stress hormones than bears living in sanctuaries. This is the first scientific evidence of the chronic stress created by bear bile farming.</p>
<p>Stress in vertebrates (like humans and bears) is a physiological response in the endocrine system, also known as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothalamic%E2%80%93pituitary%E2%80%93adrenal_axis">hypothalamus-pituitary adrenal</a> axis. This is the body’s main control centre for all things related to stress.</p>
<p>Stress hormones like cortisol help regulate the metabolism, especially in times of short-term or acute stress such as “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight-or-flight_response">fight or flight</a>” situations. In normal situations, sharp stress causes an increase of cortisol that allows an animal to react quickly to a dangerous situation. Once the danger passes, a <a href="https://courses.washington.edu/conj/bess/feedback/newfeedback.html">negative feedback loop</a> reduces <a href="http://www.yourhormones.info/hormones/cortisol/">cortisol</a> production and keeps the body stable.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/stress-is-bad-for-your-body-but-how-studying-piglets-may-shed-light-97650">Stress is bad for your body, but how? Studying piglets may shed light</a>
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<p>But <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4263906/">chronic stress</a> can lead to harmful changes in the stress endocrine system. Long-term cortisol overproduction weakens the body’s ability to fend off daily challenges, and increases the risk of disease and death. In <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4263906/">humans</a>, chronic stress contributes to problems with the cardiovascular, immune and central nervous systems. </p>
<p>The presence of what we call “<a href="https://www.foodanimalbiosciences.org/uploads/2/4/2/6/24266896/non-domestic_felids.pdf">stress biomarkers</a>” in <a href="https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/bitstream/handle/10072/54397/89070_1.pdf;sequence=1">faeces</a> or <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3624789/">hair</a> can be a very useful tool for assessing animal welfare. </p>
<p>We measured cortisol levels in bear faeces to rapidly and reliably check their <a href="https://www.vin.com/apputil/content/defaultadv1.aspx?pId=11285&catId=33178&id=3976383&ind=14&objTypeID=17&print=1">stress levels</a>. </p>
<p>This was particularly useful because we did not have to restrain the rescued bears, a process that would understandably upset them more than their peers.</p>
<h2>Reversing chronic stress in bear sanctuaries</h2>
<p>Chronic stress is a massive challenge for the successful rehabilitation of animals into their new environment. Careful monitoring of stress is essential in animal rescue and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12462487">translocation programs</a> because it can provide information on the physiological resilience of each animal, and help rescuers understand how the animals might respond to humane interventions and veterinary checks. </p>
<p>Rescued bears are given special veterinary care and integrated into the bear sanctuary after several months of careful physiological and behavioural assessments. </p>
<p>Our <a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/ufaw/aw/2018/00000027/00000004/art00001">data</a> show that although not all bears fully recover from living on a bile farm, they generally manage to reduce their stress hormone levels under the <a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/ufaw/aw/2018/00000027/00000004/art00001">rehabilitation program</a>.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-dogs-life-studying-stressed-humans-can-help-us-keep-animals-happy-59486">A dog's life: studying stressed humans can help us keep animals happy</a>
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<p>Like humans, animals need <a href="https://www.everydayhealth.com/healthy-living/love-reduces-stress.aspx">love and care</a>. <a href="https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/newscentre/news_centre/more_news_stories/stress_test_how_scientists_can_measure_how_animals_are_feeling">Stress reseach</a> has shown humane treatment can <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4260341/">reverse chronic stress</a> – and our study has found that is true even for animals who have experienced intolerable treatment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105209/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edward Narayan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Bears in Asia are trapped in bile farms, where they are kept in small cages for decades.Edward Narayan, Senior Lecturer in Animal Science; Stress and Animal Welfare Biologist, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/785332017-06-14T20:08:00Z2017-06-14T20:08:00ZZoos aren’t Victorian-era throwbacks: they’re important in saving species<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173739/original/file-20170614-21315-17v6lu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A meerkat at the National Zoo and Aquarium in Canberra. The Zoo has recently announced an expansion that will double its size.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/Stefan Postles</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The National Zoo and Aquarium in Canberra recently announced a new expansion that will <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-24/canberra-zoo-doubles-in-size-shows-off-baby-giraffe/8555590">double its size</a>, with open range space for large animals like white rhinos and cheetahs. </p>
<p>As well as improving visitors’ experience, the expansion is touted as a way to improve the zoo’s breeding program for threatened animals. However, zoos have received plenty of criticism over their capacity to <a href="https://asu.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/do-zoos-and-aquariums-promote-attitude-change-in-visitors-a-criti">educate</a>, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265270905_Zoos_Failing_animals_conservation_and_education">conserve</a>, or even <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/09/marius-giraffe-killed-copenhagen-zoo-protests">keep animals alive</a>.</p>
<p>But while zoos began as 19th-century menageries, they’ve come a long way since then. They’re responsible for saving <a href="https://taronga.org.au/news/2017-05-22/10-endangered-species-saved-extinction-zoos">10 iconic species worldwide</a>. Without captive breeding and reintroduction efforts, there might be no <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22697636/0">Californian Condor</a> or <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/41763/0">Przewalski’s Horse</a> – the only truly wild horse – left in the wild. </p>
<p>Australian zoos form part of a vital global network that keeps our most vulnerable species alive.</p>
<h2>What is the role of zoos for conservation?</h2>
<p>Although Canberra Zoo is relatively new compared with others in Australia – Melbourne zoo, for example, was opened in 1862 – it adds to a collection of conservation-orientated establishments.</p>
<p>In Australia, Taronga Conservation Society Australia, the Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens, Adelaide Zoo and Perth Zoo are all members of the <a href="http://www.waza.org/en/site/about-waza">World Association of Zoos and Aquariums</a> (WAZA). WAZA is an international organisation <a href="http://www.waza.org/en/site/conservation/conservation-strategies">that aims to guide and support zoos in their conservation missions</a>, including captive breeding, reintroductions into the wild, habitat restoration, and genetic management.</p>
<p>From the perspective of nature conservation, zoos have two major roles: educating the public about the plight of our fauna, and contributing to species recovery in the wild. </p>
<p>Conservation education is deeply embedded in the values of many zoos, especially in <a href="http://www.zooaquarium.org.au/index.php/conservation/in-situ-campaigns/">Australia</a>. The evidence for the link between zoo education and conservation outcomes is <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.12263/full">mixed</a>, however zoos are, above anybody else, aimed at children. Evidence shows that after guided experiences in zoos children <a href="http://blogs.plos.org/scied/2013/03/11/zoo-education/">know more about nature</a> and are more likely to have a positive attitude towards it. Importantly, this attitude is <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/015016/meta">transferable to their parents</a>. </p>
<p>Zoos contribute unique knowledge and research to support field conservation programs, and thus species recovery. In Australia, zoos are directly involved in <a href="http://www.zooaquarium.org.au/index.php/tracking-estuarine-crocodiles-in-north-queensland/">monitoring of free-ranging native fauna</a> and <a href="http://dins.arwh.org/">investigations into emerging diseases</a>. Without zoos many fundamental questions about a species’ biology could not be answered, and we would lack essential knowledge on animal handling, husbandry and care.</p>
<p>Through captive breeding, zoos can secure healthy animals that can be introduced to old or new habitats, or bolster existing wild populations. For example, a conservation manager at Taronga Zoo told me they’ve released more than 50,000 animals that were either bred on-site or rehabilitated in their wildlife hospitals (another important function of zoos). </p>
<h2>Criticisms of captive breeding programs</h2>
<p>The critics of captive breeding as a conservation strategy raise several concerns. Captive bred population can <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-1795.2005.00004.x/full">lose essential behavioural and cultural adaptations, as well as genetic diversity</a>. Large predators – cats, bears and wolves – are more likely to be affected. </p>
<p>Some species, such as frogs, do well in captivity, breed fast, and are able to be released into nature with limited or no training. For others, there is usually a concerted effort to <a href="https://www.zoo.org.au/news/stranger-danger-training-for-helmeted-honeyeaters">maintain wild behaviour</a>. </p>
<p>There’s a higher chance of disease wiping out zoo populations due to animal proximity. In 2004 the largest tiger zoo in Thailand experienced an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu after <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3320363/">16 tigers were fed contaminated raw chicken</a>; ultimately 147 tigers died or were put down. </p>
<p>However, despite these risks, research shows that <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/330/6010/1503.full">reintroduction campaigns</a> improve the prospects of endangered species, and <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10871200390180163">zoos can play a crucial role in conservation</a>. Zoos are continually improving their management of the genetics, behaviour and epidemiology of captive populations. </p>
<p>They are the last resort for species on the brink of extinction, such as the <a href="http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/?base=959">Orange-bellied Parrot</a> or the <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/15568/0">Scimitar-horned Oryx</a>, and for those <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/331/6023/1390.full">facing a threat that we cannot stop yet</a>, such as amphibians threatened by the deadly <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3323396/">Chytrid fungus</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171975/original/file-20170602-8018-k2eiwy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171975/original/file-20170602-8018-k2eiwy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171975/original/file-20170602-8018-k2eiwy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171975/original/file-20170602-8018-k2eiwy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171975/original/file-20170602-8018-k2eiwy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171975/original/file-20170602-8018-k2eiwy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171975/original/file-20170602-8018-k2eiwy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Orange-bellied parrots are ranked among the most endangered species on the planet – their survival depends on zoos.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://one.aap.com.au/#/search/orange%20bellied%20parrot?q=%7B%22pageSize%22:100,%22pageNumber%22:1%7D">Chris Tzaros/AAP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Zoos need clear priorities</h2>
<p>A cost-benefit approach can help zoos prioritise their actions. Taronga, for example, uses a prioritisation system to decide which projects to take on, with and without captive breeding. Their aim is to a foresee threats to wildlife and ecosystems and implement strategies that ensure sustainability. </p>
<p>Developing prioritisation systems relies on clearly defined objectives. Is there value in keeping a species in captivity indefinitely, perhaps focusing only on education? Is contributing to a wild population the end goal, requiring both education and active conservation?</p>
<p>Once this is defined, zoos can assess the <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982215000809">benefit and costs</a> of different actions, by asking sometimes difficult questions. Is a particular species declining in the wild? Can we secure a genetically diverse sample before it is too late? Will capturing animals impact the viability of the wild population? How likely is successful reintroduction? Can we provide enough space and stimulation for the animals, and how expensive are they to keep?</p>
<p><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.12613/full">Decision science</a> can help zoos navigate these many factors to identify the best species to target for active captive conservation. In Australia, some of the rapidly declining northern mammals, which currently do not have viable zoo populations, could be a good place to start.</p>
<p>Partnerships with governmental agencies, universities and other groups are essential to all of these activities. Zoos in Australia are experts at engaging with these groups to help answer and address wildlife issues.</p>
<p><br></p>
<hr>
<p><em>Alienor Chauvenet would like to acknowledge the contribution of Hugh Possingham to this article, and thank Nick Boyle and Justine O’Brien from Taronga Conservation Society Australia for the information they provided.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78533/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alienor Chauvenet does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Zoos’ role in conservation is divisive, but in Australia they could be critical in securing and even recovering threatened species.Alienor Chauvenet, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/537692016-02-02T04:28:51Z2016-02-02T04:28:51ZHow to reverse the decline of southern ground hornbills<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109677/original/image-20160129-3894-925ufe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The southern ground hornbill is endangered in South Africa.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lucy Kemp</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Southern ground hornbills are vulnerable across the world, but their conservation status in South Africa has been raised to <a href="http://www.birdlife.org.za/publications/red-data-book-of-birds">endangered</a>. In the past 100 years they have experienced a two-thirds reduction in their national area of occupancy as well as their population size due to their high site fidelity. </p>
<p>Since 2000, they have been the focus of a number of studies by students at the <a href="http://www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za/">FitzPatrick Institute</a> at the University of Cape Town – investigating their habitat use, reproductive success as well as natal and breeding dispersal. </p>
<p>The main study area is the Associated Private Nature Reserves. It covers some 180,000 hectares adjacent to the central Kruger National Park. It also supports about 30 ground hornbill groups. They are co-operative breeders, each group consisting of the dominant pair – alpha female and alpha male – assisted by adult and immature helpers. The project has reproductive histories spanning a decade for more than 20 of them.</p>
<p>The research has been able to show that positive influences on <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ibi.12042/abstract">breeding success</a> include large group size, the availability of artificial nests, and the amount of open habitat within 3km of the nest site. </p>
<p>There is a fair amount of information on the density of the ground hornbill groups in specific areas. The highest density recorded in southern Africa is one group per 40km² at Mana Pools in Zimbabwe. In most places, however, densities are much lower at a group per 100-250km².</p>
<p>But there were important aspects of the species’ biology – about which we knew very little. This included how big their living area was, whether it overlapped other areas, and how the seasons affected it.</p>
<h2>Satellites come to the rescue</h2>
<p>Trying to answer these questions by following the birds on the ground would take forever and yield less-than-ideal results. We discovered this fairly early in the project while trying to track the birds using radio transmitters. So, the best way forward was to invest in satellite tracking technology. </p>
<p>The first satellite transmitter was deployed on a bird in the study area in February 2010. We have since had up to five devices transmitting simultaneously. Each device sends a positional signal once an hour starting before sunrise, while the birds are still on their night-time roosts, until after they return to a roost that evening. The study now has more than 25,000 positional fixes, accurate to within a few metres.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109682/original/image-20160129-3905-gure2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109682/original/image-20160129-3905-gure2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109682/original/image-20160129-3905-gure2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109682/original/image-20160129-3905-gure2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109682/original/image-20160129-3905-gure2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109682/original/image-20160129-3905-gure2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109682/original/image-20160129-3905-gure2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109682/original/image-20160129-3905-gure2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Southern ground hornbills with coloured leg rings for individual identification.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Quentin Hagens</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our earlier results suggested that the areas used by different groups across the entire year ranged from 55km² up to 103km². In the summer breeding season, however, home ranges contracted dramatically. Three of the four groups bred successfully and, during the breeding season, these groups used only 24%-36% of the areas they used in winter. The fourth group attempted to breed but failed at the chick stage, and ended up using 70% of their winter range during the summer.</p>
<p>In summer, there was no overlap between home ranges. Groups never even got close to one another. In winter, however, when groups ranged over much larger areas, there was a small amount of <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tost20">home-range overlap</a>.</p>
<h2>Where hornbills like to hang out</h2>
<p>One habitat type that was consistently favoured was open ground. Although open habitats are fairly rare, this may explain why those groups that do have relatively large amounts of open ground close to their nests are the most successful breeders.</p>
<p>It also suggests that bush clearance should be used as a management tool to provide optimal sites elsewhere for the placement of artificial nests or for the reintroduction of ground hornbills.</p>
<p>Optimal habitat configurations for ground hornbills include a mosaic of habitat types, including open areas for foraging and dense trees for shade.</p>
<p>With regards to roost site selection, the information we gathered indicated that there was little evidence of strong preferences for specific sites.</p>
<p>But during the breeding season habitats with large trees along rivers were preferred, whereas areas where bush had been cleared, as well as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combretum">Bushwillow and Mopane</a> dominated habitats were preferred during the dry non-breeding season.</p>
<p>Adequate large trees not only for nesting, but also for roosting, particularly in riparian habitats, may therefore be an important and potentially limiting factor for the successful reproduction of southern ground hornbills.</p>
<h2>The way forward</h2>
<p>Reintroductions depend on the availability of birds for release. Fortunately ground hornbills lay two eggs but invariably rear only a single chick. The second hatched chicks are largely ignored by the incubating female and succumb to dehydration after a few days. This means that they are available for harvest and captive rearing. This in turn allows reintroduction with no impact on the source population.</p>
<p>Since 2010 we have harvested 17 second-hatched chicks which have been reared for the captive breeding and <a href="http://www.ground-hornbill.org.za/">reintroduction programs</a>. Reintroduction initiatives are already underway at three sites in the Limpopo Province and release techniques for this socially complex species are being refined. </p>
<p>Reintroduction of threatened wild populations is a common conservation strategy. Our research to improve our understanding of the species’ life history, behavioural ecology and reproductive strategy is important for efficient results or the positive impact of the conservation efforts. </p>
<p>We provide new insights into where best to do reintroductions as a conservation action for the population enhancement of a long-lived co-operatively breeding bird species. We believe that the reintroduction program can reduce and reverse the population declines of the species.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53769/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rob Little receives funding from the South African Department of Science and Technology via the National Research Foundation. He is also vice-chairman of the Mabula Ground-Hornbill Project management board.</span></em></p>Reintroduction programs can really help stop the decline of the southern ground hornbills.Rob Little, Manager: DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/467642015-08-31T04:45:27Z2015-08-31T04:45:27ZCarnivores in captivity: a question of motive and ethics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93286/original/image-20150828-19937-1ny55pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The debate on whether animals should be kept in captivity or not continues to rage on.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Muhammad Hamed</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the aftermath of several – in some cases fatal – <a href="http://ewn.co.za/2015/06/01/Lion-Park-attacks-Tourists-beware">wildlife attacks</a>, social and mainstream media have been alive with the debate about whether wild animals, especially large predators, should be kept in captivity. </p>
<p>Personally, I try to steer well clear of the emotionally charged, and generally not evidence-based, social media feeds and instead focus on the bare facts of the issue. So, what is at play when we start to talk about the merits and problems of keeping wild animals, particularly ones with large teeth and sharp claws, in captive or even semi-captive situations?</p>
<p>On the one hand, animal rights activists argue that no wild animal should be kept in captivity because it is <a href="http://animalrights.about.com/od/animalsinentertainment/a/Arguments-For-And-Against-Zoos.htm">cruel and unethical</a>. </p>
<p>On the other, captive facilities offer a slightly more convoluted argument. Some operations argue that the experience of seeing and sometimes touching an animal in captivity provides people with an important link to nature through <a href="http://clearingmagazine.org/archives/767">practical education</a>. </p>
<p>Other captive facilities argue that they are vital cogs in the wheel of <a href="http://animalrights.about.com/od/animalsinentertainment/a/Arguments-For-And-Against-Zoos.htm">endangered species conservation</a>. In southern Africa, captive facilities take the conservation angle even further by claiming that their animals will be released back <a href="https://lionalert.org/alert/project-detail/african-lion-rehabilitation--release-into-the-wild-program">into the wild</a>. </p>
<p>Some of the studies on wild animals in captivity make no bones about the fact that keeping animals in captivity is harmful to the <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v425/n6957/abs/425473a.html">animals</a>. </p>
<p>But whose argument is based on fact and who is blowing smoke up your sails?</p>
<h2>The ethics are tricky</h2>
<p>Your attitude to keeping animals in captivity will almost certainly change depending on your philosophical outlook. Some may say that as long as the animals are happy, there isn’t a problem. But how do you measure happiness in a captive animal? And does the reason for the animal being in captivity make a situation more or less ethical?</p>
<p>Let me use the example of large carnivores in captive and semi-captive facilities in South Africa. Almost all of these facilities will tell you that their animals are contributing towards the <a href="http://theranch.co.za/conservancy/walking-with-lions/">conservation of the species</a>. </p>
<p>Some may also tell you that their animals will be released back into the wild once they reach a certain age. But both of these statements are false and misleading. It is extremely unlikely that captive-born carnivores will ever be successfully <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320707004417">re-wilded</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93288/original/image-20150828-19916-99xaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93288/original/image-20150828-19916-99xaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93288/original/image-20150828-19916-99xaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93288/original/image-20150828-19916-99xaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93288/original/image-20150828-19916-99xaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93288/original/image-20150828-19916-99xaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93288/original/image-20150828-19916-99xaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93288/original/image-20150828-19916-99xaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tourists watch a cheetah in Kenya’s Masai Mara game reserve.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Radu Sigheti</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Also, if you cannot re-wild a captive-born carnivore, then it cannot effectively contribute towards the conservation of the species. So, what then is the motivation behind these captive facilities and can this be considered ethical? The answer, quite simply, is money. Tourists are willing to pay huge money to <a href="https://www.afrizim.com/Activities/Victoria_Falls/Lion_Walk.asp">“walk with lions”</a> or <a href="http://www.cheetahinteraction.com/">“pet a cheetah”</a>. To me, this is unethical and certainly does not promote any form of carnivore conservation.</p>
<p>Such facilities cannot be considered ethical if there is any risk whatsoever to human life. Recent events in KwaZulu-Natal involving <a href="https://twitter.com/Blood_Lions/status/636227791688704000?utm_source=fb&fb_ref=Default&utm_content=636374277512687616&utm_campaign=Workingwild&utm_medium=fb">cheetahs attacking people</a> indicate there often is a significant risk and this is related to the animals losing their fear of humans.</p>
<p>But what of the argument that getting close to animals and even touching them gets you to connect better with nature and promotes wildlife conservation awareness? A <a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/tri/2007/00000011/00000003/art00004">published study</a> indicates that this is probably not the case for the specific situation they were assessing – particularly not in a captive setting.</p>
<p>The conservation awareness of visitors to captive, semi-captive and wildlife parks did not appear to be affected, even in the more extensive environment of the wildlife park. There are several <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?hl=en&lr=&id=MQDPBQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=the+ethics+of+captive+animal+facilities+for+tourism&ots=0vIlRFzqPV&sig=yNZ8Akyq8ttgILGYAov4Srl_7fI#v=onepage&q&f=false">books</a> on the topic and while we may be divided about the overall educational value of captive animals, perhaps we should take a leaf out of New Zealand’s book and recognise all animals as being <a href="http://www.trueactivist.com/new-zealand-now-recognizes-all-animals-as-sentient-beings/?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=fb&utm_campaign=antimedia">sentient</a> creatures just like us. </p>
<p>If we were to do that, then there probably wouldn’t be a place for animals in captivity.</p>
<p>Most of the research done on the topic is divided, so drawing hard and fast conclusions is not necessarily possible. No doubt this debate is going to continue to rage and the internet and the scientific literature is going to continue to be flooded by opinion pieces and studies attempting to debunk the findings of some previous study – but that’s what science is about. </p>
<p>For now, knowledge is power. Ask the tough questions of captive wildlife owners, do some background research and make sure that you go into any captive wildlife scenario fully informed. If you do that, all you have left to contend with is your conscience.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/46764/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dan Parker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some say that keeping wild animals in captivity is cruel. Others believe they promote conservation and give people a link to nature.Dan Parker, Lecturer In Large Wildlife Ecology, Rhodes UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/431212015-08-23T19:48:33Z2015-08-23T19:48:33ZBringing devils back to the mainland could help wildlife conservation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92654/original/image-20150821-15919-1aesd0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">This furry critter could help save plenty of others, if given the chance.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASarcophilus_harrisii_-Cleland_Wildlife_Park-8a.jpg">Chen Wu/Flickr/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia’s mammal extinction crisis needs urgent attention. Foxes and cats have significantly contributed to the loss of some of our most vulnerable species. Alarmingly, the trend doesn’t look like slowing.</p>
<p>Many researchers agree that the dingo plays an important role in mitigating native mammal declines, because they suppress foxes and, in some cases, cats. So when we remove dingoes to benefit livestock, our native wildlife suffers.</p>
<p>This leaves environmental managers in a difficult situation, because what’s best for a livestock farmer isn’t best for conservation. But our research, <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320715300379">published this month in Biological Conservation</a>, suggests that devils could help slow native mammal declines on the mainland with negligible harm to livestock.</p>
<h2>Top predators</h2>
<p><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.12152/full">Research suggests</a> that devils play an important top predator role in Tasmania. So we modelled what would happen if we reintroduced them back to the mainland, where they existed until quite recently – probably <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03115510609506855#.Vda4wSyqqko">around 3,000 years ago</a>. We found that devils have important ecosystem effects that are similar to, but weaker than, those of dingoes.</p>
<p>Specifically, our modelling suggested that reintroducing devils to the mainland would lead to reductions in fox and cat numbers. Foxes and cats are arguably the greatest living threat to our native mammals, so any reduction in their abundance is going to be of great benefit to our struggling native mammal species.</p>
<p>Overabundance of large herbivores is also a problem in areas without large predators. Our models show that devils, like dingoes, negatively affect wombats, kangaroos and wallabies. The regulation of large herbivores would increase the available food and shelter for our small and medium-sized native mammals. </p>
<p>Essentially, our models show that devils can help maintain a state of ecosystem equilibrium in the absence of dingoes. But there’s another reason why a devil reintroduction could benefit biodiversity conservation. </p>
<p>Devils themselves are facing a real extinction threat from <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22341448">devil facial tumour disease</a>. A disease-free mainland population of devils would be an excellent form of insurance if the species were to become extinct in Tasmania.</p>
<h2>Where could devils be introduced?</h2>
<p>Our modelling showed that there is plenty of suitable devil habitat in eastern Australia. Much of the Great Dividing Range provides similar conditions to where devils are currently found in Tasmania. </p>
<p>It is likely that dingoes contributed to the extinction of devils from the mainland in the first place, aided by an increase in <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-185X.2011.00203.x/full">human persecution of devils</a>. With devils now protected, the threat from humans is now largely gone, leaving dingoes as the only main threat. </p>
<p>However, we provided maps showing areas where dingoes are absent or functionally extinct which could provide potentially suitable reintroduction sites. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92708/original/image-20150821-31397-4kmu22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92708/original/image-20150821-31397-4kmu22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=278&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92708/original/image-20150821-31397-4kmu22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=278&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92708/original/image-20150821-31397-4kmu22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=278&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92708/original/image-20150821-31397-4kmu22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92708/original/image-20150821-31397-4kmu22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92708/original/image-20150821-31397-4kmu22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">(a) Predicted suitable devil habitat on the mainland, and (b) the distribution of all wild dogs (including dingoes) on the Australian mainland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Modified from Letnic et al. 2011</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Devils are not as great a threat to livestock as are dingoes. Their impact is more similar to that of foxes, with young sheep most at risk. Therefore, a reintroduction is likely to garner more support from farmers than the alternative of actively maintaining dingo populations.</p>
<h2>Making it happen</h2>
<p>The next step is to test our model predictions with a carefully controlled, free-ranging captive trial. With many native species under serious threat, we urge land managers to begin planning now.</p>
<p>Undoubtedly there are some risks associated with reintroducing devils, but the risks of inaction are far greater. Because devils lived on the mainland until recently, our native species have already evolved to live alongside it. There is little doubt that the net negative effect of devils on native mammals will be far less than that of foxes and cats.</p>
<p>Our native mammal species are in serious trouble. We need to explore bold, new solutions to our conservation challenges. If we don’t restore ecosystems and their predator networks now, we risk losing even more of our native mammal species.</p>
<p><em>Dr Thomas Britz (UNSW Australia) and Assoicate Professor Menna Jones (University of Tasmania) also contributed to the research described in this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/43121/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Hunter receives funding from the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute top-up scholarship</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Letnic receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>If we brought devils back to the mainland, they could play a similar role to dingoes - keeping foxes and cats under control and potentially boosting the conservation prospects of Australia’s small mammals.Daniel Hunter, PhD candidate , UNSW SydneyMike Letnic, Associate Professor, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/385402015-03-09T15:03:25Z2015-03-09T15:03:25ZReintroduce lynx? Fine, but we must control the apex predator – humans<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74179/original/image-20150309-13585-ck4wfb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Coming to a forest near you?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">lynx image via www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The lynx: a short-tailed felid weighing up to six times more than your domestic moggy. This large carnivore once roamed the British Isles 1,300 years ago but, due to habitat destruction, overhunting of its prey and purposeful killing by humans, the species was driven to extinction in the UK. Now, there are <a href="http://www.lynxuk.org/">plans to reintroduce</a> this species to three sites in England and Scotland. But what are the chances of a success?</p>
<p>The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has <a href="https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2013-009.pdf">strict guidelines</a> for reintroducing species into the wild. One of the key recommendations they make is that the main causes of the historical decline must be addressed to ensure success of the reintroduction. </p>
<p>In terms of the threats to lynx, we now have stringent land management policies in place so it is unlikely that the cat’s preferred forested habitat will be destroyed. The previous decline in the prey base (notably deer) is also not a problem today – in fact, many would agree that we have <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/only-mass-deer-cull-can-prevent-destruction-of-british-woodlands-and-wildife-say-scientists-8523088.html">too many deer</a> due to the lack of natural predators. But it is unclear to what extent the last threat – the purposeful killing by humans – is under control.</p>
<h2>The human factor</h2>
<p>Previous <a href="http://www.catsg.org/cheetah/05_library/5_3_publications/I_and_J/Jule_et_al_2008_Effect_of_captive_experience_on_reintroduction_success_of_carnivores.pdf">research</a> has noted that the main cause of death among carnivores that have been reintroduced is due to humans. Although <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2907.2004.00038.x/abstract?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false">attitudes</a> towards carnivores are generally positive in the UK, they become more negative among the people that could be adversely affected by these species and it is these people who have the power to kill. These are the farmers, gamekeepers and hunters (all of whom are allowed to own guns) who will be sharing their land with this species and may be worried about the damage that lynx can cause.</p>
<p>The IUCN clearly <a href="https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2013-009.pdf">states</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Any translocation will impact and be impacted by human interests. Social, economic and political factors must be integral to translocation feasibility and design. These factors will also influence implementation and often require an effective, multi-disciplinary team, with technical and social expertise representing all interests. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Much research to date has looked into the biological factors surrounding the potential success of reintroducing lynx (eg. <a href="http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.424959">here</a>, <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320707000444">here</a> and <a href="http://www.gisinecology.com/_files/PDFs%20of%20Case%20Studies/Potential%20habitat%20network%20for%20lynx%20in%20Scotland.pdf">here</a>), but far less attention has been focused on these important social, economic or political aspects. And it is the human dimension that will play a large part in dictating whether this project succeeds or fails.</p>
<p>It is therefore worrying that amongst the <a href="http://www.lynxuk.org/">main proponents</a> of the lynx reintroduction, only one social scientist is listed on its team of experts (the rest being biologists). This is not uncommon amongst species reintroduction projects: the <a href="http://www.scottishbeavers.org.uk/">Scottish Beaver Trial</a> reintroduction team also does not have a social scientist.</p>
<p>Given the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1523-1739.2003.01738.x/pdf">widespread call</a> among conservationists to include more social science into wildlife management schemes, it is disheartening to see that more is not being done in this country to integrate the human aspects of conservation into environmental projects.</p>
<h2>Consider the negative</h2>
<p>Although I cannot deny that the lynx would bring positive effects to this country by reducing deer populations (which might have <a href="http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-29519567">additional benefits</a> for young trees), we cannot disregard the potential negatives. Lynx can occasionally <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2907.2004.00038.x/abstract?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false">kill livestock</a>, which could have <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jzo.12088/abstract">economic</a> and <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320712003345">psychological costs</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74298/original/image-20150310-13539-f5fsn1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74298/original/image-20150310-13539-f5fsn1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74298/original/image-20150310-13539-f5fsn1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74298/original/image-20150310-13539-f5fsn1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74298/original/image-20150310-13539-f5fsn1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74298/original/image-20150310-13539-f5fsn1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74298/original/image-20150310-13539-f5fsn1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Reintroduce lynx? Terrible idea.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Roe deer image via www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The frequency of predation may be low, but this has not stopped the continual persecution of reintroduced predators in other parts of the world, such as the <a href="http://www.defenders.org/mexican-gray-wolf/threats">Mexican wolf</a>. Indeed, the reintroduction of lynx in France failed <a href="http://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2012/12/23/le-lynx-perdu-de-vue-dans-le-massif-des-vosges_1809920_3244.html">because of hunting</a>. It is therefore crucial that we do not underestimate the potential for opponents of the lynx reintroduction to negatively impact the success of the project.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10871200701812928#.VP2ELPmsWSo">Research</a> in other areas of Europe has shown that attitudes towards lynx are, in general, positive. It is likely that this is the case in the UK too, and I am sure that many British people would love to have lynx wandering the countryside again. Like the <a href="http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/article/trust-chief-executive-calls-for-lynx-reintroduction/">Scottish Wildlife Trust</a>, I too feel that we have a moral and ecological case to bring this species back, but until more extensive work is undertaken to address the threat of human persecution, I do not hold out much hope for this felid’s future in the UK.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/38540/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Niki Rust does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There’s more to reintroducing wildlife than just releasing a few lynx.Niki Rust, PhD candidate in Carnivore Conservation, University of KentLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/323562014-10-30T09:47:10Z2014-10-30T09:47:10ZCan zoos save the world?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60818/original/btxczznr-1412543112.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Zoos provide succor for species having a tough time of it in the wild.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">B. A. Minteer</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Today, many zoos promote the protection of biodiversity as a significant part of their mission. As conservation “arks” for endangered species and, increasingly, as leaders in field conservation projects such as the reintroduction of captive-born animals to the wild, they’re preparing to play an even more significant role in the effort to save species in this <a href="http://conservationmagazine.org/2013/03/zoo-futures/">century</a>. </p>
<p>It’s a task that’s never been more urgent. The recent Living Planet Index <a href="http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/all_publications/living_planet_report/">report</a> authored by the World Wildlife Fund and the London Zoological Society paints a disturbing picture: globally, on average, vertebrate species populations have declined 52% since 1970. Over-exploitation, habitat destruction and alteration, global climate change, and other pressures have created conditions that scientists now suggest signal a <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140724171956.htm">sixth mass extinction</a> episode for our planet. It’s an event rivaling the extinction of the dinosaurs. </p>
<p>The embrace of conservation by zoos, though, doesn’t always sit well with their own history. The modern American zoo that emerged in the late 19th century fancied itself as a center of natural history, education, and conservation, but zoos have also always been in the entertainment business. This priority has led many <a href="http://www.takepart.com/feature/2014/05/02/do-zoos-matter">skeptics</a> to question the idea that zoos can play a helpful conservation role in the coming decades.</p>
<p>Zoos also face a formidable set of practical constraints – namely space, capacity, resources, and in some cases, expertise – that will continue to bedevil their ability to make a dent in the extinction crisis. It’s also true that some of the most endangered animals are <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/zoo-illogical-ugly-animal/">not</a> the highly charismatic and exotic species that reliably attract zoo visitors. It’s a challenge that might pit zoos’ conservation priorities against their entertainment goals, and perhaps even their financial bottom line.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61316/original/b4zfgmp5-1412881236.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61316/original/b4zfgmp5-1412881236.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61316/original/b4zfgmp5-1412881236.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61316/original/b4zfgmp5-1412881236.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61316/original/b4zfgmp5-1412881236.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61316/original/b4zfgmp5-1412881236.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61316/original/b4zfgmp5-1412881236.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The bison survives today partly because of the Bronx Zoo’s efforts in the early 20th century.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:American_bison_k5680-1.jpg">Jack Dykinga/USDA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the same time, wildlife protection does run deep in the history of zoos. The Bronx Zoo in New York, for example, led one of the earliest captive breeding and reintroduction efforts, helping to save the American bison from fading into oblivion more than a century ago. In the 1960s and 1970s, zoo conservation was energized by a burst of US federal policy-making focused on endangered species, especially the passage of the <a href="http://www.fws.gov/endangered/laws-policies/">Endangered Species Act</a> in 1973.</p>
<p>Many zoos went on to develop <a href="http://www.centralfloridazoo.org/speciessurvivalplan">Species Survival Plans</a> beginning in the 1980s, which coordinate breeding and population management programs for threatened and endangered animals among zoos worldwide. The goal is to create healthy and genetically diverse animal populations of these species across the zoo community, an effort that can ultimately aid the conservation of the species in the wild. </p>
<p>Reintroduction is a dicey business given the many biological and social factors that determine the viability of a population over time. Zoos’ track records here are mixed – but the successes are real. In addition to the bison, the California condor, the Arabian oryx, and the black-footed ferret have been saved due in part to the efforts of <a href="http://www.waza.org/files/webcontent/1.public_site/5.conservation/conservation_breeding_programme/extinct_in_the_wild/WAZA%20Magazine%2013.pdf">zoos</a>. </p>
<p>For animal rights critics, however, these outcomes don’t offset what is seen as the basic injustice of keeping captive animals for human amusement. Earlier this year, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/death-of-marius-the-giraffe-reveals-cultural-differences-in-animal-conservation-23052">case of Marius</a> the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/10/world/europe/anger-erupts-over-danish-zoos-decision-to-put-down-a-giraffe.html?_r=0">giraffe</a> in the Copenhagen Zoo reignited the smoldering international debate over the ethics of zoos. A young and healthy giraffe considered a so-called surplus animal by the zoo managers, Marius was shot and his body was dissected before a public audience. The zoo argued that the decision was made on scientific grounds: Marius’s genes were well-represented in the zoo system and so he was said to have no remaining conservation value. Animal advocates countered that zoos’ noble conservation rhetoric masks a callousness toward the well-being of individual animals. </p>
<p>Whatever you think about the Copenhagen case – and it’s worth noting that the American Association of Zoos & Aquariums <a href="https://www.aza.org/PressRoom/detail.aspx?id=32726">disagreed</a> with it – debates about the ethics of zoos shouldn’t take place today without a serious discussion of our obligation to address global biodiversity decline. That includes thinking about how we influence the future of animals and ecosystems outside zoo walls with a thousand lifestyle decisions, from our consumer habits and energy consumption, to our transportation choices and what we put on our dinner plates. Take just one example, the mass production of palm oil. Widely used for cooking and commercial food production, its cultivation has resulted in severe habitat destruction and fragmentation in Indonesia. This in turn threatens the survival of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/15/orangutans-fight-for-survival">orangutans</a> in the wild.</p>
<p>There is a further challenge. As zoos become more engaged in conservation in the coming decades, the natural world will be further pressured and degraded by human activities. In many cases, nature preserves will likely require more human control than they have in the past in order to deliver the same conservation benefits. As a result, the boundary separating nature and zoo, the wild and the walled, will get even <a href="http://ilarjournal.oxfordjournals.org/content/54/1/41.full">thinner</a>. As it does, our understanding of what zoos are and what we want them to be – entertainment destinations, science centers, conservation arks, sustainability leaders – will also change. So will our idealized views of the <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110112/full/469150a.html">wild</a> as those places in nature that are independent of meaningful human influence and design. </p>
<p>Saying all this doesn’t let zoos off the hook when it comes to caring properly for animals in their charge. We should also expect them to actually deliver on the swelling conservation rhetoric, especially when their entertainment and recreation interests run up against their expanding vision for biodiversity protection. But it reminds us of the scope of the challenge.</p>
<p>To paraphrase Dr Seuss, we all run the zoo.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32356/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ben Minteer receives funding from The National Science Foundation.</span></em></p>Today, many zoos promote the protection of biodiversity as a significant part of their mission. As conservation “arks” for endangered species and, increasingly, as leaders in field conservation projects…Ben A. Minteer, Arizona Zoological Society Chair, Associate Professor of Environmental Ethics and Conservation, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.