| Conservation Biology |
Review
Limited contributions of released animals from zoos to North American conservation translocations
Typhenn A. Brichieri-Colombi,1 Natasha A. Lloyd,1 Jana M. McPherson,1 and Axel Moehrenschlager1,2*
1Centre for Conservation Research, Calgary Zoological Society, 1300 Zoo Road, NE, Calgary, Alberta T2E 7V6, Canada
2International Union for Conservation of Nature, Species Survival Commission Reintroduction Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland
Abstract: With the loss of biodiversity accelerating, conservation translocations such as reintroductions are becoming an increasingly common conservation tool. Conservation translocations must source individuals for release from either wild or captive-bred populations. We asked what proportion of North American conservation translocations rely on captive breeding and to what extent zoos and aquaria (hereafter zoos) fulfill captive breeding needs. We searched for mention of captive breeding and zoo involvement in all 1863 articles included in the North American Conservation Translocations database, which comprises journal articles and grey literature published before 2014 on conservation translocations in Canada, the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America before 2014 as identified by a comprehensive literature review. Conservation translocations involved captive breeding for 162 (58%) of the 279 animal species translocated. Fifty-four zoos contributed animals for release. The 40 species of animals bred for release by zoos represented only 14% of all animal species for which conservation translocations were published and only 25% of all animal species that were bred for releases occurring in North America. Zoo contributions varied by taxon, ranging from zoo-bred animals released in 42% of amphibian conservation translocations to zero contributions for marine invertebrates. Proportional involvement of zoos in captive-breeding programs for release has increased from 1974 to 2014 (r = 0.325, p = 0.0313) as has the proportion of translocation-focused scientific papers coauthored by zoo professionals (from 0% in 1974 to 42% in 2013). Although zoos also contribute to conservation translocations through education, funding, and professional expertise, increasing the contribution of animals for release in responsible conservation translocation programs presents a future conservation need and opportunity. We especially encourage increased dialogue and planning between the zoo community, academic institutions, and governments to optimize the direct contribution zoos can make to wildlife conservation through conservation translocations.
Keywords: aquaria, Central America, Caribbean, ex situ populations, reintroductions, reinforcements, zoos
Contribuciones Limitadas de Animales de Zoológico Liberados en Translocaciones para la Conservación en América del Norte
Resumen: Conforme se acelera la pérdida de la biodiversidad, las translocaciones para la conservación como las reintroducciones - cada vez son más comunes como herramientas de conservación. Las translocaciones para la conservación deben tomar individuos a liberar a partir de poblaciones criadas en cautiverio o de vida libre. Nos preguntamos cuál es la proporción de translocaciones para la conservación en América del Norte que dependen de la crianza en cautiverio y hasta qué punto los zoológicos y acuarios (de aquı́ en adelante, zoológicos) cumplen con las necesidades de la crianza en cautiverio. Buscamos menciones de la crianza en cautiverio y de la participación de los zoológicos en los 1863 artı́culos incluidos en la base de datos de Translocaciones para la Conservación de América del Norte, la cual está compuesta por artı́culos
∗ email axelm@calgaryzoo.com
Article impact statement: Zoos contribute animals to 14% of published North American animal conservation translocations and 25% of linked captive breeding programs.
Paper submitted March 29, 2018; revised manuscript accepted June 8, 2018.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Conservation Biology, Volume 33, No. 1, 33–39
© 2018 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.
DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13160
